Well, maybe this change of direction was the reason for the unspeakable arrogance and sheer unfriendliness I was met with when I called and tried to reserve a table during my chicago-trip in mid-september...(but unfortunately I have to say that this was not the only bad service encounter that I had in this city...)

kai-m wrote:Well, maybe this change of direction was the reason for the unspeakable arrogance and sheer unfriendliness I was met with when I called and tried to reserve a table during my chicago-trip in mid-september...(but unfortunately I have to say that this was not the only bad service encounter that I had in this city...)

It may be "unspeakable," but is it also unwriteable? If so, not much point in posting about it in a discussion forum. Either way, I hope you still had an enjoyable trip to Chicago.

Kennyz wrote:

kai-m wrote:Well, maybe this change of direction was the reason for the unspeakable arrogance and sheer unfriendliness I was met with when I called and tried to reserve a table during my chicago-trip in mid-september...(but unfortunately I have to say that this was not the only bad service encounter that I had in this city...)

It may be "unspeakable," but is it also unwriteable? If so, not much point in posting about it in a discussion forum. Either way, I hope you still had an enjoyable trip to Chicago.

Good point, Kennyz. After all the advice we gave kai-m in advance of his trip, I'd love to hear where he went and how he enjoyed out city, although from the little we have heard, it doesn't sound like kai-m had a very good time.

Sorry about the short and vague comment - I have just returned from my usa-trip (14 hour flight from Vegas).

To be more precise: When I called GE's, some lady picked up the phone, just saying, already in a less than welcoming voice: "Graham Elliot's". When I asked for a reservation she just replied "we are booked", in a tone that was a mixture of tight lipped arrogance and robot-like rejection. When I asked if maybe for a later time on the requested night something might be available, I got - no reply. Just silence. Not the silence as in "I'll check this for you", but enervated silence. After several seconds I inquired: "hello...?". Reply, in the exact same tone and words as before: "we are booked". Then, while I said something like "well, too sad, thank you", she hung up on me before I was even finished.

greetings
kai

PS: @stevez: reports will follow! Thanks again for all the good advice! Chicago was great (even though we were there when the city had the "day with the heaviest rainfall in chicago history" according to the TV news). Our dining ranged from world class (Alinea) to very good (Keefers, Primehouse) to very disappointing (Moto) and downright bad (Kinzies Chophouse).

While no one should be rude to you, is it possible that they were, in fact, completely booked? It does happen...

When a host(ess) says "we are booked," it's usually taken to mean for the night. The response you received was likely given in that manner because the hostess assumed you were trying to weasel your way in after she told you there was nothing open. Possibly a miscommunication, rather than flat-out rude?

Hey, miscommunication or no, if somebody asks you a question, you answer politely, correct? Extrapolating from the rest of this thread, I would assume that either kai-m encountered an anomoly, or that there's more to the story, but as described, that's pretty poor service.

No need to make a big deal out of this - maybe I caught them on a bad night.

But fact is, that the conversation went exactly as described, which means: not exactly "friendly" from the beginning, without any of the usual nicety commonplaces and downright rude at the end. In short, it was one of those brief encounters where you ask yourself afterwards "ugh...what hit me there?!". Not nice.

Anyway, forget about it.

Mhays wrote:Hey, miscommunication or no, if somebody asks you a question, you answer politely, correct? Extrapolating from the rest of this thread, I would assume that either kai-m encountered an anomoly, or that there's more to the story, but as described, that's pretty poor service.

Agree. Correct response to kai-m's second question? Not silence, and not a verbatim repeat of the first answer through clenched teeth, but "I'm sorry, sir, I'd like to accommodate you, but we really are booked for the whole evening." If I know that's the correct response, and I don't even work there, you'd think the young lady on the other end of the phone--who does--would know it.

I returned to GE last night- the first time i had been back since a few mid-summer visits. While I enjoyed the meal and will return, I couldn't help but come away with the feeling that they still are not firing on all cylinders and perhaps never will.

The food is still very good. Foillipops are new and improved- cylinders not balls- and more awesomely outrageous than ever. I had two and would love to see how many I could gobble up before diminishing returns set in. Maybe 6? Both apps- smoked salmon and sweetbreads on rosemary skewers were strong. Desserts- not so subtle but awesome as usual. Apple fritters and "reconstructed" snickers bar were both fun and tasty. Main courses of Pork Belly (too sweet/cloying) and Skate (could have been crisper) were good, but not great.

Our server was affable but a bit lost in the headlights. Friendly and willing to provide pours of wine to taste. But also absent for long stretches.

The room looks very nice and autumn-y and noise was not an issue on a Monday.

Our biggest concern was that the kitchen was excruciatingly slow. We put our order in soon after sitting down (w/ the drinks) and were not served our entrees until 1.5hours later. Granted, I didn't put a rush on our food- but it was very slow the gap between the apps and the entrees was close to an hour which diminished our enjoyment of the evening and of our entrees. I don't think GE was there, but on a 70% full Monday night this shouldn't be an issue. Our server was very nice about it and very professionally comped our desserts which is the right thing to do.

I look forward to returning when the menu evolves again and would certainly spend some time at the bar for some snacks and a glass of wine. But my hopes and dreams of making this a place I frequent monthly are disappearing as quickly as the Chicago summer.

chico

We went pretheatre a couple of Saturdays ago;GEB was there-I wanted to ask for a photo to post on the forum-just kidding! No problem with the wait;there even was time for coffee and dessert.

Well thought out, good tasting, cocktail specials, even if a bit fussy. Tangueray martini, not a special, not a problem.

Appetizers Ceasar salad, fois gras, sweetbreads-all good to excellent. The fois gras though should be called essense of mousse of pate de fois gras-it had the consistency of a light quenelle-okay, but I'm glad I didn't order it. Sweetbreads, perfectly cooked, a bit small, although cliche served on a sprig of rosemary, were offset well with turnips and green apples and supposedly boudin noir (I found none).

Signature dishes should stay on the menu. The wine risotto even paired with short rib just doesn't make it compared to cheddar cheese risotto. The pork belly though was worthy of lust from Big Jones. Grits, topped with collard greens, pork belly, plum marmalade, and corn nuts. I thought the proportions were just right;nobody forces you to eat all the marmalade. Duck and monkfish were flawless.

The restaurant is all decked out for fall with apples and herbs boiling away at the hostess desk. Hundreds of gourds decorate throughout the space. Perhaps relatedly we kept being buzzed by an aggressive fruit fly, not many, just one. Slow though, I actually killed him on the plate. In a quiet moment when others when to the bathroom, I showed it to the waiter who offered the faintest of apologies and showed little concern. I don't know what I wanted, but maybe a little more attention would have helped. I'm sure the info never moved up the ladder.

The deconstructed snickers was good, but I prefered the al dente apples in the apple fritters-one of the best desserts that I have had lately.

Good Lavazza coffee, no eau de vie.

Nice segue into the new season, but cheddar cheese risotto should be without season.

We were tormented by a fruit fly or two as well! I know the DOH doesn't take them lightly but they are very difficult to completely eliminate.

Chico

Given the changes in GE's menu that have been in the news lately we decided to go back and check it out. I really liked the place before the changes, and I'm just as enthusiastic about the restaurant now.

We started off the night with a plate of foielipops. As has already been mentioned, the shape has now been changed to more of a "pinwheel". The consistency is now closer to mousse than frozen foie, but the Pop Rocks and sea salt remain making for a playful and tasty starter.

Since we already had some foie, I decided to skip the foie/rice krispie treat appetizer and have the "gently smoked salmon" instead. The salmon was served in very small slices and held together by (I think) a very small amount lemon curd. The fish itself was very tasty and went well with the bagel chip and little bit of egg that were also on the plate. I wasn't nuts about the cauliflower sauce that was painted across the plate, but the rest was good enough so I didn't really mind.

The kitchen was then exceptionally generous enough to send out 4 sample sized appetizers for the table (there were 4 of us at the table...I wouldn't want you guys thinking I was some sort of glutton ). We were able to try the potato bisque, buffalo chicken, sweetbreads with rosemary, and the foie with rice krispies. The sweetbreads and the foie were really the two standouts. The sweetbreads were really elevated by the health amount of rosemary on the plate as well as some boudin blanc which I think was incorporated into the sauce. The foie was outstanding. It was a mousse served on top of a long rice krispie treat. This was served along with a cranberry compote and what is described on the menu as "yogurt sorbet". The mix of textures, flavors and temperatures made this dish a true standout.

For my main I had the "deconstructed lamb rueben". Corned lamb ("corned to order" as described by our server) served with rutabaga sauerkraut, a couple pieces of toaster pumpernickel, a bit of 1000 island, and a side of gruyere spaetzle. The lamb was underseasoned for my taste, but when combined with the sauerkraut was very good. The gruyere spaetzel was as tasty of a riff on macaroni and cheese that I've had. High marks at the table were also given to the crispy pork belly, scallops and beef tenderloin.

For dessert I had the "reconstructed Snickers bar". Chocolate torte, nougat, toasted peanuts and salted caramel ice cream. Nothing to complain about there. I also managed a bite of the apple fritters which were hot, fried, and tasty.

So, all in all a very good meal. Is the food at GE a bit more "refined" than it was before? Hard to say. Like I said, I didn't really have issues with the food before so the changes didn't seem that overt to me. Maybe there are some "fancier" ingredients on the menu (more foie, some truffle coulis on one dish, etc.), but this is still Chef Bowles cooking in the style he wants. His food may not "speak" to everyone, but I really enjoy it and I wish him and the restaurant continued success.

We went to GE last night; a short 5 minute walk from our apartment. I thought the food was quite good--especially the Chicken Buffalo. The ceasar salad was good--not earth shattering, but quite good. The lamb deconstructed reuben was also good but not earth shattering. Still, I would rate the food as "very good" but short of outstanding.

The pacing of the food from the kitchen was a real problem, however, and the service not really correct. Food was brought well in advance of the wine (by 10 minutes or so, a real faux pax in my book), and the wait between the second savory (chicken buffalo) and final savory (lamb) was a good half hour. The waiter at one point said "It will be 5 more minutes for the lamb; sorry. At least that's what the kitchen said." I commented that the word was appreciated, but the kitchen obviously has a timing problem and if they are aware enough to comment on it, they should do something to make ammends. (I would have sent out some little mini-course or something as a gesture). "I'll see what I can do" was his reply. Well, he did try. He brought out demi-cups of an apple cider type thing. OK, sort of a palate cleanser analagous to a sorbet. But it was so syrupy sweet it really didn't go between two savory dishes. Still, the gesture was appreciated.

We'll go back (and back, and back) because its so close to us and the food is very good. But for such a talented chef, the place has a lot of missteps--a few in the kitchen but more problems in the FOH.

For those who've been there recently and were there a few months ago, is there really anything to the widely publicized change in philosophy posted about upthread a bit. From the description of the latest menu items, it sounds exactly like the place it used to be (not a bad thing in my book). There's still buffalo chicken. There are still rice crispy treats. Now there's a snickers bar too. Sounds to me like the more upscale, fine dining "GEB 2.0" was just a publicity stunt, but maybe I'm missing something..

Hi,

I have a friend who lives nearby. I drove by to check the change in the lighting. Yeah, they changed it to autumn colors of orange and red. Who can take a decent ambient light picture in that enviroment?

I went to Graham Elliot's once back in June. Every time I think about it, the steam rises in my ears. I just feel a little ridiculous commenting (complaining, really) about a five month old experience. I'm sorry I missed the GEB Avenue's experience.

Regards,

Kennyz wrote:For those who've been there recently and were there a few months ago, is there really anything to the widely publicized change in philosophy posted about upthread a bit.

IMO, not really. Maybe a couple more luxury ingredients on the menu and a slightly different dress code for the servers. That's about all I could detect.

I don't want this to come across as a self promotion tactic as I usually hate doing this, but I feel I have to throw my two cents in to shed some light on the "how have we changed" question...

1) We eliminated the late night bar snack menu.
2) We eliminated the edible cocktails.
3) We don't have any dishes featuring rice kripsie or cheez its.
4) We recently invested $10K in our wine list and hired Scott Noorman, formerly of Trio/Alinea, to oversee our wine program.
5) We recently added 15 micro brewed beers to our drink list.
6) Server uniforms have gone from brown tshirt to brown button up with seasonal tshirt underneath.
7) Here are a few menu changes to show you the direction we've taken...

"Beef Tartare" has been replaced with "Foie Gras Parfait, Yogurt Sorbet, Cranberry Mostarda".
"Artichoke Soup" replaced with "Baked Potato Bisque, Chive Marshmallows, Candied Pancetta, Nine Year Aged Cheddar".
"Tuna Carpaccio" replaced with "Terrine of Smoked Salmon, Pickled Red Onion, Bagel Chips, Caper Powder".
"Whitefish and Fried Pickles" replaced with "Monkfish Wellington, French Lentil, Chantenay Carrots, Black Truffle Puree".
"Salmon BLT" replaced with "Grilled Swordfish, Preserved Lemon Hummus, Green Olive Tapenade, Saffron Bubbles".
"Chicken Breast" replaced with "Wisconsin Pheasant".
"Shortrib Stroganoff" replaced with "Beef Tenderloin, Smoked Bearnaise, Creamed Watercress, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Parsnip Tater-Tots"
"Chocolate Brownie" replaced with "Reconstructed Snickers" (chocolate fudge torte, peanut nougat, salted caramel ice cream).
"Spice Krispie Treats" replaced with "Green Apple Fritters, Apple Paint, Cider Reduction, Cinnamon Gelato"

As for the lighting and displays, we continue to change seasonally. The day after Thanksgiving we will be going to white, red and green and will feature pomegranates and chestnuts in our mirror box displays, and will be simmering pine needles and pine cones near our front entrance.

I hope this helps answer some of the questions posted above....

ChefGEB wrote:4) . . . and hired Scott Noorman, formerly of Trio/Alinea, to oversee our wine program.

A most excellent move. Congrats to both of you.

=R=

Those look like wonderful changes to me. I'm looking forward to a return visit to try a few of those new dishes! That pheasant is calling my name.

timing can't be better! I am going there coming tues, can't wait to try all the dishes (hopefully the foiellipop is still there though)

My wife and I stopped by early evening this past Saturday and had a very nice meal. Our waiter was pretty knowledgeable and even offered my wife a few tastings of wine to pick which one she wanted with her meal - an unnecessarily nice touch.

We started with the foiellipops and my wife ordered the oyster cold appetizer and I went with the homemade sausage risotto. The foiellipop was excellent and the oyster "flight" was well received by my wife. The sausage risotto hit the spot on such a cold night.

For main entrees, we had the monkfish wellington and Kentucky fried pheasant (breast). The monk fish dish was nice and also very rich, thanks to the black truffle puree. The Kentucky fried pheasant was equally nice, crusted in a corn flake batter and served with Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes and buttermilk biscuit. We finished the night by splitting the reconstructed snickers and we were stuffed. The portions were more than we anticipated but not overworked. I really think our appetite was satisfied by the richness/flavors of the meal more so than the total amount of food but we left very satisfied.

I'm not sure what there really is to complain about at GE's. For the price (everything mentioned above plus 2 micro beers for me, a champagne cocktail and glass of wine for my wife plus 20% tip) - $200 - the service was very good, the food quality along with the preparations/presentations/creativity was great - a real bargain. We'll be back for sure.

Graham Elliott is closed for their "winter break" until Jan. 16th.

This has been a public service announcement.

Chef GEB is reporting, on Facebook of all places, that "changes that are afoot at the restaurant!"

I view that with mixed emotions. The place is great but at the same time, I've learned to trust the Chef. I was a huge fan of Avenues and a huge fan of the current place.

Of course, if he decided to move the place to south Streeterville, I would strongly support that change.

DML wrote:Chef GEB is reporting, on Facebook of all places, that "changes that are afoot at the restaurant!"

I view that with mixed emotions. The place is great but at the same time, I've learned to trust the Chef. I was a huge fan of Avenues and a huge fan of the current place.

Of course, if he decided to move the place to south Streeterville, I would strongly support that change.

I don't know about the Facebook comment, but was he possibly just referring to new dishes for the spring menu?

I saw this on Twitter from Chef GEB about an hour ago:

grahamelliot wrote:kitchen team training on new stations, developing new dishes for spring menu (prob out around end of march/begining of april).

The last round of the restaurant's highly publicized huge transformation included such momentous, newsworthy shifts as replacing rice crispy treats (apparently too casual) with snickers bars (apparently more upscale), and having the servers throw a button down on top of their t-shirts. I wonder what this new metamorphosis will bring. Replacing light tan tablecloths with dark tan tableclothes?

Anyone sampled the Spring menu yet?

Heading there tonight but was looking for recent intel.

I'll report back. Online menu looks as interesting as always.

http://www.grahamelliot.com/



Graham Elliot
217 W. Huron St.,
Chicago, IL, 60610

DMChicago wrote:Anyone sampled the Spring menu yet?

Perfect timing. Just tried the spring menu last night with my sister and her BF. I don't have time to do a full report now, but... The spring menu is definitely worth a visit. Graham Elliot remains my favorite newish Chicago restaurant. Not everything is perfect, but I think they're doing very interesting things. Highlights from last night include:

The foie gras torchon--texturally very different, pleasantly surprising, than any other foie gras I've experienced


The shaved asparagus salad--it's probably easy to be skeptical of GE's deconstructed salads, but I really do believe that taste and texture are top priority with these dishes. Execution is outstanding.


Get the tartare--We actually didn't order this, but Chef sent it out ("goodwill: LTH" is what our bill read). It's very special, possibly my favorite dish of the evening (still processing the whole meal). The anchovy really works, in all of its manifestations, as did the fingerling chips and olive paint. And it's beautiful. I'm very grateful that GEB had us try this.


Both sous vide dishes we had last night were very good--the kung pao chicken (I'd eat a lot more chicken if it was prepared sous vide) and the lamb (the lamb is tied with the tartare for my favorite dish of the evening). The latter was like a spring circus--a lot going on, very vibrant...just outstanding overall. (Don't have access to all of my pictures right now.)

Dishes I wasn't crazy about:
-I didn't like the drier form of the risotto.


-The rabbit presentation was beautiful, but I thought the flavors were flat and the cuts of meat rather dry. I thought the same of the scallops--flavor was flat, though the breading on the scallops and green tomato was crunchy. (No more daylight by the time we got to our last dishes)




The desserts were OK. There was some inconsistency in the texture of the chocolate cake, which was distracting. I enjoyed the floral sorbets, but though I like the bouquet idea, I think perhaps four flavors was too many. I would have liked to savor perhaps just two for that dessert--my favorites were the rose and the hibiscus. The hibiscus was the real deal--not just coloring like I see in a lot of teas, for example. Also, the presentation of the sorbet was peculiar. I don't have access to that picture right now, but it looked like sashimi on a glacier. Order it (because it's worth tasting)--you'll see.

We only tried two cocktails--the Sublime and the Escape from Alcatraz--neither of which were interesting to me. I kind of wish I had stuck to beers.

Again, our meal last night wasn't flawless, but GE deserves a lot more love. They're playing with things, and when they get a dish right, it's very impressive. I'm looking forward to returning for Easter brunch.

Yep. Thanks for that.

Beautiful.

happy_stomach: great field notes. Excellent photos!

I hate it when rabbit is dry. Dry rabbit is almost worse than dry chicken.