pairs4life wrote:Weird service issues. Before folks could finish their 1st course, the main was placed on the table. These tables are not big enough for 1st and 2nd course dishes to share.

It was awkward. My husband, who isn't a slow eater, started wolfing down his arugula salad so that he could get on to the steak.

I will chalk it up to an off night but service was too fast. Not to worry, I will go back and our friends want to go back as well.

The last two times I went (once for dinner and once for brunch), I had the same fast service.

We went to this restaurant for our wedding anniversary. The prix fixe is a great deal, the portions were a good size, and we really enjoyed the food. The chef sent us a complimentary caprese salad for our anniversary. The Kobe beef burger was good for a change, but we still prefer the more conventional Plaza Burger (with herkimer cheddar) at Park Grill. The Meyer lemon tart was really good. I am sure we will go back. (I just need to remember to bring some wine next time).

Check out todays Groupon! $20 for $40 worth of S+S

http://www.groupon.com/chicago/deals/sweets-and-savories-chicago?utm_campaign=UserReferral&utm_medium=email&utm_source=uu132438

But note that the Groupon cannot be used for the prix-fixe or brunch.

Marija wrote:But note that the Groupon cannot be used for the prix-fixe or brunch.

Yeah, this is ridiculous. If this restaurant wants to stay in business, they had better think of some more enticements to get people through the door. It's a competitive marketplace out there.

The half-price, prix-fixe brunch coupon is all fine and dandy, but when is Sweets and Savories going to make my car payment?

gastro gnome wrote:
The half-price, prix-fixe brunch coupon is all fine and dandy, but when is Sweets and Savories going to make my car payment?

[quote="Darren72
The last two times I went (once for dinner and once for brunch), I had the same fast service.[/quote]


Probably before it's due.

My Kung Fu training partner is a server at Sweets and Savories. I look forward to hearing his comments on the Groupon rush.

I've been going to S&S regularly for about a year now and they have never failed to deliver on a great experience. Both food and service has always been excellent.

I was there last night with some out-of-town friends and the place was on top of their game as usual. Starters included zucchini and pea risotto, caprese salad, and arugula salad, all of which were excellent. The main courses included steak frites, which was a monster NY strip cooked perfectly medium rare. I had the S&S kobe burger with pate and truffle mayo, also cooked perfectly medium rare. Our friends had the butter poached lobster risotto and the fresh oregon salmon, both of which they loved. Dessert included the milk chocolate walnut pie, fresh peach pie, and blueberry cobbler, all of which were great.

Sweets & Savories
1534 w. Fullerton
Chicago, IL
773-281-6778
http://sweetsandsavoriesrestaurant.com/

I love Sweet's and Savories and think it's one of the best dining values in town, but at last night's meal with a group of friend's I experienced a couple of disappointments.

First courses - risotto, Caprese Salad, vichyssoise were all terrific. For the entree, two friends ordered the scallops, and they were thrilled with the dish. My friend who ordered the fois gras burger was also very happy.

I noticed my other friend barely touched her steak frites. She said that, while cooked medium rare as requested, it was quite tough and chewy. I tried it and had to actually saw my way through the meat and it was indeed pretty chewy. It was a very thick cut - about 2 inches thick. Most steak frites I've seen and eaten usually use a thinner cut of steak, so perhaps something was not right with the cut? The waiter noticed and asked what was wrong and offered to bring her something else, but she declined as she wasn't very hungry.

I had ordered the pork loin with corn pudding and a pomegranate barbecue sauce. The corn pudding and sauce were delicious, but the pork loin itself was cooked - rare, I think. I've never had any pork loin or chop cooked less than medium so I was rather surprised by a nearly raw and cool center. I eat my steaks medium rare but I've never had a pork loin this way. Is this some new approach to cooking pork that I'm not familiar with, or was this just cooked improperly? I was going to send it back but wasn't too hungry and just ate the more done part.

They were also out of three of three of the seven or eight desserts, which was disappointing, but the desserts we did have (bread pudding, milk chocolate walnut tart, and blueberry cobbler) were excellent. Service was friendly and attentive, as I've always experienced there.

I'll definitely be back as this is a place I enjoy quite a bit for the food and the terrific value.

I noticed my other friend barely touched her steak frites. She said that, while cooked medium rare as requested, it was quite tough and chewy

I was there last night as well, and upon ordering the steak frites, the waiter advised me that he finds their steak rather tough and pushed me to another option. I ended up switching gears completely and went with the lobster risotto, which was great and very generous with the lobster portion. I also enjoyed the vichysoisse and milk chocolate walnut pie, and the gf loved her scallops with truffled grits. This was our second trip, and agree this place is a fantastic deal. And we've enjoyed great service with this particular waiter on both occasions.

Hellodali wrote:It was a very thick cut - about 2 inches thick. Most steak frites I've seen and eaten usually use a thinner cut of steak, so perhaps something was not right with the cut?

I've had the steak frites there previously and didn't have a problem with toughness. They definitely use a full size steak for the dish instead of thin steak like other places, but it sounds like they're having issues with their steak source.

Hellodali wrote:but the pork loin itself was cooked - rare, I think. I've never had any pork loin or chop cooked less than medium so I was rather surprised by a nearly raw and cool center. I eat my steaks medium rare but I've never had a pork loin this way. Is this some new approach to cooking pork that I'm not familiar with, or was this just cooked improperly? I was going to send it back but wasn't too hungry and just ate the more done part.

There is definitely a move towards cooking pork more to medium rare. This is possible because 1) trichinosis was erradicated in pork about 30 years ago, and 2) Salmonella is killed at 145 degrees (IIRC), so the meat will still be a bit pink in the center. However, it sounds like yours was still underdone and probably should have gone back for a quick hit in the Salamander.

Went here last Valentine's upon a recommendation. Definitely won't return.

I can deal with a predictable menu (greens with parmesan and truffle oil, lobster risotto, some kind of gnocchi convolution, obligatory dish with duck leg "confit", unnecessary berries in at least one savory dish, etc) if the food is good, but I wouldn't say this place delivered at all. When the first thing you smell when you walk through the door is truffle oil, and they finish almost every dish with it, you might as well have smelled a rat. Resorting to truffle oil makes it feel like amateur night.

Between the two of us: wild mushroom risotto with escargot. Finished with truffle oil, and it completely overpowered the escargot.

Blueberry risotto with duck "leg" confit. The duck was just roasted and not confit as advertized, and it was also finished with truffle oil. I thought, of the two non-salad, non-"soupe" apps, it must be safe, but was wrong.

Rabbit fricassee with tarragon biscuit. Fricassee is usually not as thin as water. The sauce was flavored nicely, but you would have to eat it with a spoon because it didn't stick to anything. The rabbit was completely flavorless. It's like they seasoned it, boiled it, and reheated it in the fricassee liquid. The biscuit was super-good, but it certainly didn't save the dish. The broth should have been flavored with tarragon, and not smothered in chives. Not a bad mix of flavors, but the execution was terrible.

Duck "confit" cassoulet. This, again, tasted pretty good, but was slapped together. The duck was, as expected at this point, roasted, not confit. In the top half of the dish, the beans weren't even close to cooked. Bottom half, the beans were tender. Maybe they added some beans after 6 hours of cooking because there weren't enough in the beginning, then let the whole pot just sit. Sausage was totally unremarkable.

By this point we had a collection of bone fragments on a napkin from various places they shouldn't have been.

Her blueberry cobbler arrived with a tiny sliver, about 6 inches long, of the end of a stiff plastic bag or some kind of container. In my dessert, the fruit and cheese plate, the apple slivers were cut from the side of an apple where there was an inch long, 1/2 inch deep bruise. There's no way whoever fanned the slices out didn't notice.

I didn't think I would have had to go safe at a place like this, but I should have just ordered steak frites and the green salad.

Anyone have any current info on S & S? They are offline at open table and the website is down. I called recently and got a relatively current sounding recording talking about Valentine's day reservations.

I was there just after Christmas and had a great meal.

The north lunch group just ate at Bluette in Wilmette, so I suspect all should be alive and well.

Food Nut wrote:Anyone have any current info on S & S? They are offline at open table and the website is down. I called recently and got a relatively current sounding recording talking about Valentine's day reservations.

Ha! I have to assume you found this thread by searching Sweets & Savories Valentine's Day. If this is true, how did you manage to skip reading my post above, relevant to your search? If it's too long, this summary should suffice: STAY AWAY.

izmarkie wrote:Ha! I have to assume you found this thread by searching Sweets & Savories Valentine's Day. If this is true, how did you manage to skip reading my post above, relevant to your search? If it's too long, this summary should suffice: STAY AWAY.

I haven't been to the restaurant since November, but generally I go there fairly often. My experience for the most part is exactly the opposite of yours. With the exception of the steak in the steak frites, which tends to be a bit gristly, the food at S&S is generally very good to excellent. The lobster risotto has always been great. I had an absolutely fabulous lamp pappradelle in October.

izmarkie wrote:
Ha! I have to assume you found this thread by searching Sweets & Savories Valentine's Day. If this is true, how did you manage to skip reading my post above, relevant to your search? If it's too long, this summary should suffice: STAY AWAY.

No, it's not true. After my last visit in November I was so disturbed by the flow of service, and I'm a regular, that it worried me and I questioned returning. One example--the coffee we ordered before dessert arrived 15 minutes after dessert was placed on the table--without apology or explanation. Also, unlike the fast presentation of entrees in prior visits, we waited a ridiculous amount of time between courses. The quality of the food was fine, as usual. I was thinking of returning a weekend or two ago, but yelp had some more recent feedback that is a little bizarre and I thought it strange that the website and opentable were down. We decided to go elsewhere, but it all had me wondering....

Yes...I'm also wondering about S&S. I drove by there on Saturday night on the way back from the Brown Sack and it was completely shutdown and dark inside (at least from the outside), along with Opentable being offline. Anyone have additional info?

It sounds like Mado 2.0. If you read the linked thread, just substitute Sweets & Savories whenever you see the word Mado. It sounds like the owner's same M.O.

bjackson wrote:Yes...I'm also wondering about S&S. I drove by there on Saturday night on the way back from the Brown Sack and it was completely shutdown and dark inside (at least from the outside), along with Opentable being offline. Anyone have additional info?

An outgoing message on their machine indicates that they were scheduled to be closed from January 20-23 and will resume their normal schedule on Tuesday January 25.

=R=

According to someone I spoke to at the restaurant, they closed for a week "to clean up and some chef issues." Guy said they'd be open Friday, maybe before.

They closed for a week in November as well, when the chef went on vacation. Sounds like that's a recurring theme whenever the chef wants a few days off.

I'm not surprised about shutting off OpenTable. I'm running into more restaurants that do not enable prime time reservations to be made through OT. Since they charge the restaurant, it appears that the restaurant doesn't want to pay for a reservation they would have filled anyway.

Well, in that case disregard my previous post (unless they don't open up again due to "chef issues")

John Danza wrote:I'm running into more restaurants that do not enable prime time reservations to be made through OT.

What restaurant(s) are on Opentable but do not permit prime time reservations to be made there?

stevez wrote:Well, in that case disregard my previous post (unless they don't open up again due to "chef issues")

I think you can undisregard your post. Guy on the phone said it was not a vacation and it was an unplanned closing.

nsxtasy wrote:

John Danza wrote:I'm running into more restaurants that do not enable prime time reservations to be made through OT.

What restaurant(s) are on Opentable but do not permit prime time reservations to be made there?

Too many to name.

Mostly higher-end places that don't need Opentable to fill the 6:00 to 9:00 slots.

DMChicago wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:

John Danza wrote:I'm running into more restaurants that do not enable prime time reservations to be made through OT.

What restaurant(s) are on Opentable but do not permit prime time reservations to be made there?

Too many to name.

Mostly higher-end places that don't need Opentable to fill the 6:00 to 9:00 slots.

Under these restaurant slots it usually says "restricted by restaurant."

Food Nut wrote:

DMChicago wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:What restaurant(s) are on Opentable but do not permit prime time reservations to be made there?

Too many to name.

Mostly higher-end places that don't need Opentable to fill the 6:00 to 9:00 slots.

Under these restaurant slots it usually says "restricted by restaurant."

I've never seen that "restricted by restaurant" notice. I've found it through normal usage. Whenever I try to reserve a timeslot between 7:00 and 9:00 and OT says that there's nothing available, I immediately call the restaurant. Nine times out of ten, I get the reservation I want.

nsxtasy wrote:
What restaurant(s) are on Opentable but do not permit prime time reservations to be made there?

Les Nomades is one.

Yes. Many higher-end places block prime time slots on OT so that the reservation has to be made with a human being.