Landmark Grill + Lounge

Landmark Grill + Lounge

For LTH, it doesn’t help that Zagat Guide refers to Landmark Grill + Lounge as “see-and-be-seen-hit-in-the-making” or that Chicago Mag calls it “oh-so-hip-looking.” On that basis alone, I’m guessing many of us might be suspicious enough to discount it out of hand. We are about the food, first and foremost, so the sharp upholstery, interior design and the blondes at the front desk are distractions from the principal pleasure of tasting and eating what’s put on the table. Then talking about it here.

LG+L does project a wow-it's-now vibe, but so do Carnivale and Nightwood, and it’s obviously a mistake to write off places like these on the assumption that nothing good can come of a restaurant that does not put food above all else, as do LTH legends like Tacos del Pacifico, Honey 1 and… Little Three Happiness.

Truth be told, last summer, I wandered out of a daylong series of readings at Steppenwolf, glanced in the front doors of LG+L, looked down at my grubby jeans and shirt, and figured I wasn’t dressed cool enough to just wander in. I mentioned this to restaurateur Kevin Boehm, who with partner Rob Katz owns Boka Group (Boka, LG+L, Perennial, and soon Stephanie Izard’s new place). Boehm, who seems the twenty-first century’s answer to Rich Melman, assured me I should have felt no such inhibition. Last Saturday night, looking around the room, I realized he was right and that this place is designed to appeal to anyone with money to walk through the door…and Boehm is making an effort to make it possible for more people to do that.

The economy, even if we’re currently dizzy with the Dow’s recent surge, is still sketchy (ask Pigmon about the coming apocalypse…it’s coming, oh yeah, it’s coming), and LG+L is making a serious effort to make dinner easier with 50 wines by the bottle under $50 and a menu that clearly is trying to serve up good stuff for a reasonable price: apps around $10 and entrées averaging in the low $20s.

I was WC (without camera) at dinner Saturday night, so I’m going to have to rely on words (!?) to describe three dishes that our party thought were exceptional.

• Goat cheese ravioli were delicate, creamy pillows draped in spinach, richness matched by sweet and slightly bitter green leaf in a tomato broth. This dish – despite the greenery -- is red wine’s friend, and when I’m in the neighborhood again, I’d consider dropping in for a glass of something and this dish alone.

• Broccoli ash was salad of the finely chopped vegetable with kasha, mint, almond cream and dried orange zest. The kasha provided a deep bass note to the mint-orange treble, and within that range the broccoli, perhaps the most humble and maligned of vegetables, was deliciously framed. It was the kind of side dish that had us scooping up crumbs to get last bites. I have never before this moment uttered the words, “The broccoli dish was a standout.” That night, it was.

• Lobster club sandwich gives me hope for the possibility of nestling the crustacean between crusts of bread. I had kind of given up on the lobster sandwich after a downbeat experience in Boston with a lobster roll, and you might not think the delicate lobster meat would work within a whole wheat bread, but all of us enjoyed bites of this lightweight club, which also proves (as if we needed any proof) that pork plays well with just about any other land or sea creature.

If you're going to Steppenwolf and don’t want to eat too much heavy stuff before sitting in a dark theater for a few hours, Landmark appetizers and many main courses are high flavor, high value and light enough to ensure that at least half your group maintains consciousness during the performance (The Wife and her sister snoozed during “Fake,” which was as slow-moving as hominid evolution).

Landmark Grill + Lounge
1633 N Halsted St
312.587.1600
http://www.landmarkgrill.net/

David Hammond wrote:LG+L does project a wow-it's-now vibe, but so do Carnivale and Nightwood, and it’s obviously a mistake to write off places like these on the assumption that nothing good can come of a restaurant that does not put food above all else, as do LTH legends like Tacos del Pacifico, Honey 1 and… Little Three Happiness.

Nice writeup David. I agree wholeheartedly that it would be a mistake to dismiss restaurants merely upon the assumption that if it doesn't put food up above all else, it's not worth going to. Such a notion is a red herring. What restaurant would proudly admit that they pay attention only to the food and nothing else? Even Honey 1 has a comfortable eating area set up, paint on the walls, matching chairs -- in that regard, there's certainly some attention paid to things other than the food. Having said that, I understand what you're saying, which is, you can have good meals at restaurants that provide a more well-rounded dining experience.

David Hammond wrote:• Lobster club sandwich gives me hope for the possibility of nestling the crustacean between crusts of bread. I had kind of given up on the lobster sandwich after a downbeat experience in Boston with a lobster roll, and you might not think the delicate lobster meat would work within a whole wheat bread, but all of us enjoyed bites of this lightweight club, which also proves (as if we needed any proof) that pork plays well with just about any other land or sea creature.

You should try the po' boy at Elate, another instance of lobster and bread playing together nicely.

David Hammond wrote:Truth be told, last summer, I wandered out of a daylong series of readings at Steppenwolf, glanced in the front doors of LG+L, looked down at my grubby jeans and shirt, and figured I wasn’t dressed cool enough to just wander in. I mentioned this to restaurateur Kevin Boehm, who with partner Rob Katz owns Boka Group (Boka, LG+L, Perennial, and soon Stephanie Izard’s new place). Boehm, who seems the twenty-first century’s answer to Rich Melman, assured me I should have felt no such inhibition. Last Saturday night, looking around the room, I realized he was right and that this place is designed to appeal to anyone with money to walk through the door…and Boehm is making an effort to make it possible for more people to do that.

I like the Boehm-Melman analogy. I ran into Mr. Boehm outside of the September Wandering Goat dinner.



He was busy, so I didn't want to interrupt with a lot of questions, but I walked away from our very brief exchange much more curious about the Boka Group restaurants than I was previously, having indeed dismissed Perennial et al as too flashy for me. Landmark may be a good start.

happy_stomach wrote:He was busy, so I didn't want to interrupt with a lot of questions, but I walked away from our very brief exchange much more curious about the Boka Group restaurants than I was previously, having indeed dismissed Perennial et al as too flashy for me. Landmark may be a good start.

Frankly, I think Perennial is way less flashier than Landmark. On the flashy scale, I rate the three restaurants thusly from lack of flash to most flash:

Perennial ------------------------------------>Landmark-------->BOKA*

*Not to scale.

aschie30 wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:He was busy, so I didn't want to interrupt with a lot of questions, but I walked away from our very brief exchange much more curious about the Boka Group restaurants than I was previously, having indeed dismissed Perennial et al as too flashy for me. Landmark may be a good start.

Frankly, I think Perennial is way less flashier than Landmark. On the flashy scale, I rate the three restaurants thusly from lack of flash to most flash:

Perennial ------------------------------------>Landmark-------->BOKA*

*Not to scale.

I would agree. Perennial is at least a full time restaurant. Landmark is a restaurant that turns into a bar/clubby thing at night on the weekends. I'm interested in trying their food, but not hanging out there late on a Friday or Saturday night (did that once and didn't enjoy it).

I thought we were doing this by numbers; I need to know if Landmark is over a 6.5. Thanks.

Mike G wrote:I thought we were doing this by numbers; I need to know if Landmark is over a 6.5. Thanks.

I'm the Official Scorer only for the Upscale scale, which is indeed done by numbers. aschie30 runs the Flashy scale.

aschie30 wrote:

happy_stomach wrote:He was busy, so I didn't want to interrupt with a lot of questions, but I walked away from our very brief exchange much more curious about the Boka Group restaurants than I was previously, having indeed dismissed Perennial et al as too flashy for me. Landmark may be a good start.

Frankly, I think Perennial is way less flashier than Landmark. On the flashy scale, I rate the three restaurants thusly from lack of flash to most flash:

Perennial ------------------------------------>Landmark-------->BOKA*

*Not to scale.

Kennyz wrote:I'm the Official Scorer only for the Upscale scale, which is indeed done by numbers. aschie30 runs the Flashy scale.

I'm only interested in the Flashy scale. I don't even know what "upscale" means.

Wendy, I appreciate the clarification. I look into Perennial every time I go to Green City. It has struck me as very cold (which may be what "upscale" means), though that's generally around 8am, and I've never seen people in the space. I was assuming that it was the more intimidating restaurant for a flash-o-phobic, but I've only seen the facades of Landmark and BOKA.

happy_stomach wrote:I look into Perennial every time I go to Green City. It has struck me as very cold (which may be what "upscale" means), though that's generally around 8am, and I've never seen people in the space. I was assuming that it was the more intimidating restaurant for a flash-o-phobic, but I've only seen the facades of Landmark and BOKA.

Of the three Boka restaurants, using the quality of food scale (which is the one I care about), Perennial is the only one of the three to which I continually think about returning.

I've been making the rounds to the Boka Group restaurants these days. A friend and I stopped into Landmark for a late dinner yesterday. The most unusual thing about the place was that it was empty while we were there. There were no performances across the street at Steppenwolf, and my friend said something about Landmark maybe not being open for dinner on Sundays until very recently, but the restaurant was bizarrely dead. As far as Lincoln Park real estate goes, it's a large, two-storied space designed to be a scene. There was a table of four that finished up and left shortly after food started arriving at our table. Then there was one other group of three. That's it. The staff was overly attentive, so my friend and I never felt alone, but the place seemed deserted.

We ordered a mish-mash of food:

Oven roasted mussels, basil, white wine-garlic infused broth:
I liked the small mussels, and the broth with some finely diced vegetables (red bell pepper?) was delicious. I asked for a spoon so that I could eat it straight.

Pepper-crusted tuna tataki, jasmine rice, mustard-soy vinaigrette:
I liked the rare sear of the tuna, but the pepper was too subtle, and I'm pretty sure the rice was undercooked.

Red and golden beets, chioggia-frisee salad, balsamic emulsion, walnuts, fingering chips:
This was my favorite dish of the night. At home I've made beet and potato chips separately, but the combination of roasted and raw beets with potato chips never would have occurred to me. I plan to incorporate beets and potato chips into my regular rotation.

Broccoli ash, cherokee mint kasha, almond cream, candied orange zest, dried red peppers:
This dish was odd and didn't work at all for me. It was like raw broccoli mush over boiled chopped almonds. I found the texture unpleasant. The scant dressing had potential with the zest and heat. These elements just needed to be amped up several times over and the amount of dressing on the plate doubled.

Sauteed whitefish, bamboo rice-swiss chard timbale, shrimp stew, lobster broth:
The fish was a little dry, but the stew underneath was very satisfying--flavorful broth and nice pieces of shrimp.

Pan seared salmon, cauliflower, red pepper puree, red wine reduction:
The salmon was superb--carefully seasoned and cooked perfectly. I just could have done without everything else on the plate.

The kitchen also sent out an order of what I think was listed on the menu as "mushroom and chestnut risotto, housemade horseradish, watercress salad." Last night is somewhat of a blur, but I'm fairly certain the salad was spinach and not watercress, and the bigger leaves looked funny over the risotto. I liked the flavor of the chestnuts, but I don't like crunch in my risotto. The whole thing could have been smoother but was pretty tasty in the end. I'm glad they sent it out.

We also received an order of their brussels sprouts with bacon, which I enjoyed a lot. I prefer brussels sprouts cooked longer than what I think is the norm, and when served with bacon at restaurants, I often think the pork is cut too small. The sprouts at Landmark were tender almost to the point of falling apart and tossed with yummy inch pieces of crispy bacon. The sprout-bacon ratio and overall texture were wonderful. Actually, I may have loved this dish.

While there were several dishes I enjoyed (and 2-3 very much so), I wished for more cohesion at Landmark--with decor and the menu. (BTW, I wouldn't compare the vibe to Nightwood or Carnivale, which strike me as much more up-to-the-moment than Landmark.) It just seemed all over the place, which I guess isn't the worst thing, since there are plenty of seemingly more focused restaurants that aren't able to execute well as many dishes as Landmark. I don't know that I'd make plans to return, but I wouldn't complain if someone invited me. I think it's a fine pre-theater dinner option.

Kevin Boehm just tweeted this pic, which I think is pretty cool:



"Weve got Chefs and they're armed and dangerous."