Table Fifty-Two

Went there on Saturday for lunch...was surprised (and pleased) to see that the lunch menu was 90% the same as the dinner menu. Good thing, since dinner reservations are impossible to get (thanks, Oprah!).

Everything on the menu looked delicious. The dining area was so great and quaint. The waiters' uniforms, though, kinda look like something a monk would wear.

My mom had the shrimp and grits (yum) and the famous pistachio-crusted chicken breast (we thought the chicken was just a smidgen too dry). I had the arugula/blue cheese/pecan/pear/champagne dressing and the pumpkin and apple risotto (delicious). The portions are HUGE. I took the leftover risotto home and the two of us had it for dinner last night and I had the rest of it for lunch today.

I have to say, I thought it would be a "gimmick" restaurant and that everyone would love it because of Oprah - - I only went there because my mom was in town and wanted to go, and my initial notion was misconceived. I will definitely be going back and will recommend it to others! Should probably have made a reservation when I was there given that I hear the phone lines are as busy as Oprah's.

Table Fifty-Two
52 W. Elm St
Chicago, IL
312-573-4000

A group of friends that I dine with regularly have requested Table 52 as the next restaurant we visit. I made reservations (for three months out..) and I was wondering if it's worth the hype or if it's going to be a let-down. Has anyone been there? I'm not going to change the reservation (unless reviews are resoundingly horrible) because I don't want to disappoint my friends who really, really want to eat there (I think there may be a rogue Oprah fan in the bunch) but if's going to be really underwhelming I'd like to prepare myself.

Thanks for the tip....I just saw this place in the back of Chicago Magazine and have been thinking about it ever since. I am calling for a reservation soon!

PB and Fluff - the trick for the reservation is to call exactly three months in advance right when they open their phone lines (11am) - that's how they take their reservations and the only way I was able to get one for 7pm on a Friday. Previously when I had called they were only able to accomodate me for lunch or at 5pm pr 9:30 for dinner.

My mom and I had an amazing experience at Table Fifty-Two in February.

The food was delicious. We started with the Fried Green Tomato Napolean with Goat Cheese and Applewood Smoked Bacon which impressively managed to feel delicate, despite its individual ingredients. The pork chop was the juiciest I have ever eaten and was served on top of the most amazing persimmons. Even the brussel sprout leaves were remarkable. Our server insisted we should try the macaroni and cheese, even if we were to take most of it home, which we did. It came straight from the oven, bubbling like a cauldron, too hot to eat. With four kinds of cheese and a crispy top, we were glad to have taken his recommendation. For dessert, we had the Hummingbird Cake, which might be compared to a carrot cake, but it's made of pineapple. Again, it managed to be light and not overly sweet.

The tiny dining room feels both exclusive and totally comfortable. The service at Table Fifty-Two was impeccable.

I would highly recommend this restaurant.

Heard about Table Fifty Two from somebody and wondering if it is worthwhile or just hype?

If you are a fan of bacon/pork products, you will love Table 52. I think that most of the items ordered at the table had them in one form or another.

The goat cheese biscuits are insanely good. I had the catfish dinner entree which was very tasty and came with grits and greens. There is also a nice wine selection.

My reservations are finally coming up this Friday - I'll be sure to take detailed notes and post about my meal.

I had a nice dinner at Table Fifty-Two that, while being quite pleasant, didn't leave me with much of a desire to ever return. The dining room (downstairs) is successful in delivering the homey ambiance it seeks and is a very nice room, complimented by great service.

While some of the food was as wonderful as I'd expect at that price point (the crab cake appetizer, the mac n cheese, the pork chop, even the amuse bouche), much of it was merely good and not very noteworthy (the filet, fried green tomatoes, chocolate desert cake). To top things off, one of the people I was with ordered a $60 Malbec that bordered the line of pedestrian and mildly unpleasant. It was a wine (I can't recall the vineyard) that should never have made it onto the limited wine list Fifty-Two offers and wouldn't have been worth half that price.

For me, I think it's coming to grips with the fact that if I'm spending $350 for three people, I could have gone someplace like Schwa for the same money (or Bonsoiree for a lot less) and had an exponentially better meal.


Finally, while their mac n cheese really is worth all the praise it's been receiving in reviews, I'm going to have to contest the "best ever" designation it's been bestowed. I did myself the (dis?)service of finally trying Kuma's Corner's version with bacon and scallions the night prior (Friday) and that's taking home the best ever prize for me, bar none. (I guess I walked in there with the bar being set pretty high. )

there was a debacle about this place some time last year... in some magazine article about the restaurant, he mentioned he would be making montreal style bagels... does anyone know if they're actually doing this?

dddane wrote:there was a debacle about this place some time last year... in some magazine article about the restaurant, he mentioned he would be making montreal style bagels... does anyone know if they're actually doing this?

Could you educate me on what Montreal style bagels may be?

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Could you educate me on what Montreal style bagels may be?

There's an entry in Wikipedia here. It describes the distinguishing features as follows:

Wikipedia wrote:In contrast to the New York-style bagel, the Montreal bagel is smaller, sweeter and denser, with a larger hole, and is always baked in a wood-fired oven. It contains malt, egg, and no salt and is boiled in honey-sweetened water before being baked in a wood-fired oven, whose irregular flames give it a dappled light-and-dark surface colour.

We ate at Table Fifty-two with friends in May, and I have to say it was one of the most disappointing "hyped-up" restaurants I've been to in a long time. The collard greens were undercooked, the deviled egg h'ors d'oeuvres was basic at best and something most people could easily whip up for a backyard bbq. The mac 'n cheese was good -- but nothing great, though I'll admit that the cheddar biscuit that's presented to you at the beginning of the meal was hot, buttery, and fantastic. Everything else was really quite fair to middling, and I felt that some dishes didn't even seem Southern at all. All in all, I'd give far more praise to Stanley or Chalkboard for their Southern-style comfort food - and at more reasonable prices. (And BTW, if you haven't been to Chalkboard in Lincoln Square, I think it's definitely worth a visit.)

Take this with(out, for a Montreal-style bagel) a grain of salt from a terrier lover, but even dogs love 'em:

http://scottishterrierdogs.blogspot.com ... asure.html

My sister (who lives in Ohio) got Oprah tickets and subsequently got reservations for lunch at Table 52. She wanted to make it a complete "Oprah-rific-day". Being the resident Chicagoan, I got invited along for the O-ride along with my two sisters and mother. Over the past few years I've spent time in the SE of the country on business and have developed more knowledge and taste for Southern Home-Cookin'. I was looking forward to trying Art Smith's take, in fact more so than seeing Oprah!

Since I was dining with my sisters/Mom, I was able to try everything they ordered and feel that I sampled a solid representation of the lunch menu.

My mother ordered: Soup of the day (some type of Gumbo) and sweet potatoes side
My sisters ordered: Pulled-pork sandwich, Burger and split Mac-n-Cheese side
I ordered: Tomato Bisque and Pizza of the Day (Featuring duck)
For dessert we all split the Pecan Pie and Hummingbird Cake

I tried everything that was served to us. Yes, indeed the biscuits served at the beginning of the meal are outstanding. In fact, I believe it was the best part of the meal by far. The rest of the food I tried was good... but not great. I could think of much less expensive alternatives in Chicago and from my business travels that are more worthy. Here are my quick impressions:

- Good lord, those biscuits were excellent. Licked my fingers and tried to steal my sister's off her plate.
- Sweet potatoes were excellent. Sugary, honey glazed, melt-in-your mouth good.
- Soups were pretty good. Both my Mom and I wished we would have ordered something else though.
- Pecan Pie and Hummingbird Cake were nice. I think if I ever go back to Table 52 I may just do dessert and coffee/drinks. It would be a nice place to meet up for a late afternoon post-shopping dessert fix.
- Mac-n-cheese is not all that. It was good, but there are many better options out there.
- Better pizza, sandwich and burgers elsewhere in the city.

Art Smith was a cordial host. He came out of the kitchen and welcomed each table in the downstairs dining room. I did notice a nicely-decorated upstairs private dining room that would be perfect for a small event (business, wedding, etc). Very classy decor and somewhat of a private location out of the fray.

I would go back for a business lunch with out-of-town clients that would respond to the "celebrity of the restaurant" or possibly book a small event their private room. But I don't think I'll be fighting the crowds to obtain reservations for myself anytime soon.

Are we sure this isn't a reveiw of Red Lobster: "Geez the fish was OK but is so much better at ______, however the cheddar biscuits were dynamite!"

I can't wait to take my wife here next month.

Not too long ago, TPA and I had a meal sans Thor at Table 52. What a disappointment, especially given a $250 tab. Like everyone else, we had the gratis biscuits and the devilled eggs amuse. Given that devilled eggs can be one of most sublime simple pleasures on earth, I found their blandness a troubling sign of things to come. At the server's suggestion, I went with the BLT pizza, which was heavy on the L. Mike's crabcakes were clearly mixed with a heavy hand and also unfortunately bland. My entree, the catfish, was good but having recently been in New Orleans, it really couldn't hold a candle with the similar preparation I had at Mr. B's Bistro, part of the Brennan familly. I got the better end of the bargain. My husband had the beef, pictured here http://www.tablefifty-two.com/menu/dinner.html#nogo, albeit without the twine which remained on my husband's plate. A beautiful piece of meat marred not just by the twine, but also the lack of salt. The biggest disappointment was the side dish the hand cut fries with manchego. I'm assuming that this was to be a play on cheese fries had they arrived hot. Unfortunately, they came to our table over salted and lukewarm.

The room is lovely, though surprisingly stiff for Smith's emphasis on Southern hospitality. In fact, there was a point where the music reminded me of the dining room scenes in American Beauty (anyone remember Peggy Lee's Bali h'ai?) In my head, I relished the idea of throwing the cheese fries against the wall a la Lester Burnham, though for different reasons. The wine list matched the stiffness of the room. Surprisingly, the website does not list any prices so I'll have to work on memory. I recall the cheapest red being about $45.00 and a merlot. The majority of the wines were in the $75.00 and up range. I was shocked about the number of $200.00 and up wines on a non-reserve list. The staff matched up the room. They had a spiel, which varied not. I was hoping that one of them would notice the little pile of twine on the edge of TPA's plate. And perhaps this is little thing, you can say I'm being over critical, but what's up with the body exfoliant substituted for hand soap. I don't really like the sensation of scrubbing crystals on my hands prior to dining.

Oh and by the way, the cheese biscuits, in my opinion, could have stood a minute or two prior to being brought to the table. They were a bit gummy upon first taste - they need to cool just a touch.

Can anyone give me an idea on the prices? Online menu does not have, thanks

Expensive especially considering a value to price ratio. Our wine was $75.00, we had 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and the potatoes as a side, no dessert. Tab was over $250 with a 17% tip.

MAG, no need to throw cheese fries when you can finish them off with a neat shot to the back of the head like you did.

I've suspected that "Oprah's chef!!!!!!" would fall under the heading of Mike G's Law ("if there's a reason to eat somewhere besides the food, the food's no good") and this confirms it.

I dined at Table Fifty Two last night with my wife for our anniversary and had mixed feelings heading into the meal based on the mixed reviews from the board as well as others I know who have dined in the past. I thought the layout and simplicity of the dining rooms was different in a very good way. I enjoy the homey feel which is more comfortable and less art gallery like. The wait staff was wearing some weird type of shirt/coat which looked like they were right out of a Star Wars movie. Simply did not get that and it was actually a bit distracting to the overall experience.

On to the food:
The cheese biscuits which were brought to the table upon arrival were to die for. I wanted to ask for a second helping, but passed as I did not want to fill up on the biscuits, especially after seeing the prices on the menu which I found to be on the high side for fairly simple dishes. We were also brought the complimentary deviled eggs, topped with pickled radish, which were creamy and had the perfect flavor.

For an appetizer, we ordered the fried green tomato Napoleon, which to me was the most interesting item from the list. As a fan of fried green tomatoes, I was excited to try this creation, but in the end, we were both disappointed. Too much breading, and the flavor combination with the bacon, olive and sun-dried tomato tapenade simply did not work. It really tasted weird to me.

For the entrees, my wife had the pistachio crusted chicken, while I had the ancho chile crusted pork chops. Both were cooked perfectly, and had very good flavor. Portion sizes were also very nice. I finished the chop, and the wife had lunch for today with her leftovers. The pork chop was served with maple glazed cauliflower, which I found to be quite awful. Again, the flavors just did not work together in my opinion. For a side we tried the sweet potatoes, which were good. Nothing fancy, but then again, most of the menu is quite simple.

For dessert we shared the Hummingbird Cake, which was very good, even for someone who is not much of a dessert eater. It was a combination of banana and pineapple cake, with layers of cream cheese frosting, served with vanilla bean ice cream.

Overall, we had a very nice time, and I am glad that we got to experience this form of dining, although I don't think I will head back as I would rather try other restaurants in the city, which I have yet to make it to, before ordering something else off of Chef Smith's menu. As mentioned earlier, it is pricey for what it is, guessing mainly due to his celebrity chef status, but also, which I can appreciate the ingredients are mostly organic. From a price standpoint, the entrees were not too bad, but the appetizer/salads/desserts were definitely on the high side, and the wine list is simply scary.

Finally bit the bullet and decided to try out Table Fifty-Two last night, and I did not come away impressed.
Despite being in our thirties and very well dressed, we were banished to farthest table upstairs in siberia. This would not have been a big deal, but we must have been there close to 25 minutes before we received drinks (we had already devoured the biscuits and the deviled eggs) and it was extremely noisy with some large groups and a very loud crying baby.

As has been noted here, this place is not cheap so thus I feel the service should make you feel good about high priced comfort food. Apps were good but the biggest issue came when 2/4 entrees- both the filet and pork chop came to the table on the colder side of luke warm. After finally flagging down our server, he was a bit incredulous and offered to go heat up the meat- to which I responded I did not want that as it was cooked perfectly. I asked if I should talk to the manager since our server clearly was not trained in either southern hospitality or fine service. Finally the chef came out, and i explained that something must have happened between when he plated the dish and it was served. He offered to replace it, and i inquired if there were other dishes that would be quicker as the rest of the party was more than 1/2 through. He suggested the fish special and brought it up a few minutes later. It was well prepared albeit a bit bland.

The kicker was that the pork chop was taken off the bill- but I was charged for the more expensive grouper. This was just one more small example about how Art Smith may be a well known southern chef, but that service was clearly not something taught to him by Oprah.

I knew coming in that this would not be a restaurant that was a good value and was ready to overspend for a special occasion but at this price level ($100/head+, MaCallan 12 for $20, more over-priced wine list than most) there needs to be a greater focus on the customer.

I will not be returning anytime soon.

Chico

misterchico wrote:The kicker was that the pork chop was taken off the bill- but I was charged for the more expensive grouper. This was just one more small example about how Art Smith may be a well known southern chef, but that service was clearly not something taught to him by Oprah.

Why is this a "kicker?" I fail to see why you expected to be comped on the grouper... when you went ahead and ate it, and it was the pork chop which you had issue with. He offered a replacement - you didn't want one. You asked for a swifter substitute - and you got that. You eat fish - you get charged for fish... not pork.

I completely understand why he expected to be comped on the grouper. The pork chop was what he wanted. They screwed it up. The grouper was a choice based purely on speed and convenience, as the flow of the meal had already been disrupted. When your customer is asking for the quickest way to get food to the table after YOU screwed up, I think you need to take your screw up into consideration. In this case, I think it's entirely appropriate to charge for the cheaper dish that the customer planned to eat, rather than the more expensive dish that the customer received out of convenience.

Agreed. Using screwup as opportunity for upsell is not right.

I also agree that charging full price for the grouper was in bad form. A better alternative would have been to charge for the price of the pork and then comp a dessert/glass of wine/after dinner drink for the inconvenience caused by the cold food. Comping the grouper wouldn't have killed them either, but I'm still surprised that absolutely no gesture of goodwill was given, especially given how well Table 52's doing based on endorsement from the big O lady rather than its culinary merits.

However, I don't understand your issue with where you were sat. Unless you specifically requested a certain table (i.e. a quiet table; not upstairs due to mobility issues, etc.), being in your thirties and well-dressed doesn't give you the right to dictate a restaurant's seating plan.

I feel that when you are shown to an undesirable table, it does not start the night off on the best note.
As I stated, if the service had been more attentive, perhaps I would not have felt the chill of "Siberia."
However, you are absolutely right- I could have requested a different table, and if I were to go back (which I don't plan to) I certainly would!

Would anyone recommend going here? I have a friend coming in town from NY and she wants to go here but know nothing from it. Oh and the search tool didn't pull anything.....sorry.

Shaggywillis wrote:Would anyone recommend going here? I have a friend coming in town from NY and she wants to go here but know nothing from it. Oh and the search tool didn't pull anything.....sorry.

I went Nov. 2007 on Wed. before Thanksgiving with my family. I'm sorry to say from reading this thread that neither the food or service hasn't gotten any better. I guess you could try, since #44 & 1st Lady dined there this year maybe it has gotten better.

It is a pretty room, but everything else from service to food jibes too well with my experience. I had hoped that if I waited things (service & food, I don't drink so price was less of an issue) would improve.

PS If she just wants to go because it is O's chef and she doesn't care about price, service, or food, then the answer is yes, take her. There are a lot of folks out there who care more about saying they've been there than the food. The restaurant will make it because it doesn't need repeat customers/local given the spread of Oprah's audience flying in from around the country and the adorable & tiny dining room.
Sorry,

Had dinner last night at Table 52. While I have heard of the restaurant and the Chef, Art Smith, I knew little about the menu other than that the food was inspired by the chef's southern upbringing. In retrospect, I am happy that I did not read the reviews posted upthread, as they are not consistent with my excellent meal and experience.

The restaurant is housed in an historic coach house on Elm St in the Gold Coast. I can't remember what used to be here, but I can tell you that Smith has done an excellent job of transforming the space into an elegant room that quietly evokes a southern blue blood vibe. We ate upstairs and both my wife and myself were reminded of the upstairs at Commander's Palace pre-Katrina. The staff was professional and attentive. On to the food...

They are still doing the deviled egg amuse and it was delicious. After the egg came a complimentary drop biscuit made with cheese fresh from the oven. This was easily the best biscuit that I have ever had. For starters we had the Southern Pickle board, fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits and the zucchini and sweet corn fritters. I was really excited by the pickle board, and was not dissapointed. There were plenty of house cured pickled peppers and okra in a very spicy brine accompanied by a very fine white cheddar, homemade strawberry jam, chicken liver pate that was more of a mousse and some homemade crostini. Great starter. The fritters and tomatoes were fried to perfection and the cheese grits and shrimp in a tomato stew were great.


For our entrees we I had the excellent Frogmore Stew. This was an excellent and refined version of what can be an uninspired dish in the wrong hands. Chef Smith really ramped up the stew with a lobster stock base and homemade sausage. This is not a dish that you are going to find often locally and it was a real homerun. My companions had the catfish, short rib and a fish (pink grouper) special. I only tried the short rib and it was excellent as well. They make a bid deal about the sides and for my money the homemade mac and cheese was as good as it gets. The greens and fried okra were also terrific

For dessert we tried Arts signature Hummingbird which is a pineapple banana cake with cream cheese frosting. We also tried the 12 layer chocolate cake which seemed to be and amazing feat of engineering. I have never had a Hummingbird before and this was great. The chocolate cake was a lot less chocolatey then I would have anticipated but was also delicious.

If I had one criticism of Table 52 it would probably be that the wine list seemed kind of scattered. As it wasnt particularly large it could probably stand for a a better curation.

Anyway, I really enjoyed Table 52. I didnt feel that it was at all gimicky, as others have suggested, and i would certaintly go back.