CrazyC wrote:The husband and I went to Zealous last night to celebrate the purchase of a new home. Using the Groupon of course!

Wow. They have Groupons for that now?

Wow! Many years ago when Zealous was in Elmhurst it had a good run (early-mid 90's) but the food does not seem as if it has progressed since then and the ego still has yet to be checked at the door. Shame as I hate to see anyone get picked apart on a blog but when I was a young cook I staged there for two weeks and was fired because I "couldn't cook and should never man a stove again for as long as I live". Left hurt but went on to cook for Chef Paul Sartory, 1994 Bocuse d'or winner, who was a humble as american apple pie but the most talented chef I have had a chance to work under so I guess that I should thank Zealous for sending me on my merry way??

I stodged there for two days, Feb 11 and 14th 2006 in hopes of landing the open pastry assistant job. The servers said how impressed they were, but I was never called back. Boo hiss!

I hate to pile on (well, actually since this is the internet, I love to pile on), and I must admit that the meal I had a Zealous was fine - two stars (of four). It was not a restaurant I desired to avoid or return to, but this discussion made me check their website, and I must say that some of their dishes sound astonishing pretentious - almost a parody of modern American cuisine.

Consider (and these are not dishes that I am making up for your amusement):

Napoleon of Truffled Potato Chips & Blue Hawaiian Prawn Salad

Crispy Glass Eels with Moonstone Oyster & Toasted Sesame Emulsion

Scotch Iranian Osetra Caviar with Sweet & Sour Beet Sauce (Scotch Iranian Caviar? Sweet and sour beets? Surely the least appealing dish of the decade).

Foie Gras, Braised Veal Cheek & Squab Pot-au-Feu with Grilled Ramps Fiddlehead Ferns & Fingerling Potatoes in a Veal Broth

Venison Loin with Purple Peruvian Potato-Blue Hubbard Squash Dosa, Black Currant/Pistachio Chutney & Fragrant Quince Sauce

Hickory Nut-Beggar's Purse Stuffed with Roquefort Carles & Preserved Medlar, Petit Basque, Soumaintrain, Bonde de Gatine

Free-Form Pumpkin Pie with Mission Fig Nougat Glace (Free-form pie?)

Now these might be terrific dishes, if we could stop laughing long enough to taste them. Could they have put these up for April Fool's Day and forgot to replace them?

Just opened the new issue of Chicago Magazine and found an update on Zealous.

The opening:

Michael Taus, the chef, delivers a top-notch dining experience in a sleek, airy environment wthout being self-important.

Ok, that would be a welcome change.

Has anyone been here recently? Some friends of ours
have a gift card so we were planning on heading over there
with them tonight. Any thoughts or recommendations?

I am surprised that there hasn't been a review in this thread for over a year - but the comments above were good preparation for us to use a Groupon last night for our 26th wedding anniversary dinner.

We were treated to the five course tasting menu, and with the discount, it was a reasonable value. I cannot, in good faith, say that I would have been willing to pay full price for the same meal. But on the whole, the menu was cleverly designed and well executed, and several of the courses were excellent.

An amuse of a pyramid of carrot gelee' was tasty, and creative. Our first course was a decomposed beet salad, featuring Indian spices (brussels sprouts roasted with garam masala, and pieces of papadums) and citrus, and house cured gravlax. I was impressed, the thoughtful presentation allowed for creative flavor combinations; this was well executed, and fun to eat.

Our second course was an outstanding presentation of a perfectly seared scallop served with oxtails, with essence of sweet peas, actual sweet peas, and carrots. This was also a well executed dish, the scallop clearly fresh, and perfectly done.

The third course was a dual entree - a medium rare slice of roasted, well aged filet mignon, combined with braised beef short ribs served with truffle foam, and a really nice potato/mushroom "lasagna." This was the only disappointment of the evening, as the short ribs simply lacked any flavor whatsoever. The filet was good, and the potato/mushroom dish supplied needed flavors to the other items. And for the record, I did not subtract any points for the truffle foam - although if I dined another 10 years without a foam on a savory dish, it would make me very happy.

Fourth course was a palate cleanser, a white peach/lemon sorbet, served with a tokay soup; this was beautifully flavored, well composed, and made for a nice transition from savory to sweet.

The dessert course also was dual; with a small butter pastry apple tart accompanied by goldschlager ice cream, and a steamed chocolate cake accompanied by armagnac ice cream and brandied cherries. This also was a hit, well flavored, and executed with a steady hand.

We left the restaurant impressed, chef Taus has a creative sensibility, and the execution was almost flawless. Service was impeccable, pacing was good, and the quality of service did not decline as the room filled during the evening.

Now the key question... would I return? Not without some form of discount. On the other hand, I left feeling that there were four hits out of five courses, and that was better performance that I have seen from several other high-end Chicago restaurants.

that's the exactly the kind of commentary that confirms my belief that these discount coupons serve to cheapen a restaurant's product.

Our first course was a decomposed beet salad

I hope you mean deconstructed:)

elakin wrote:that's the exactly the kind of commentary that confirms my belief that these discount coupons serve to cheapen a restaurant's product.

Let me play devil's advocate. There have been many, many restaurants that I have made a first visit to, under the guise of a Groupon, or a Restaurant Week promotion. A fair proportion of them are "three and four star" establishments, that I simply cannot afford under a constrained budget without some incentive.

Some of them earn my repeat business, and hence increase their aggregate profit margin. E.g., I recognized the value proposition at David Burke's, Naha, and Sepia, and realized that they justify their regular prices, although I cannot eat at these establishments as often as I'd like. I am now a diner at Kansaku, because they filled a niche in my dining profile that had been emptied by the closing of a favorite sushi spot. The incentive served the purpose to get me in the door once, so they could convince me that their value proposition was good.

In comparison to these examples, I cannot justify the menu prices at Zealous without the incentive, although I am glad to have had the opportunity to dine there at prices that I can afford. I think that although the cooking was by and large good, the standard prices were not a great value proposition; for the $190 I would have spent for two, I can get a better meal (at Sepia, or Burke's, or Naha...). Let me make this clear, I thought Zealous near excellent in terms of menu planning and execution, but the value proposition was not something I am prepared to engage at their full menu prices. And I say the same thing about Topolobampo - great food, but poor value proposition. Even worse, that visit was NOT under any promotion. I wish it had been.

I also clearly recognize that this is a subjective exercise. But then again, isn't the point of LTH to engage in the subjective? And moderators, if this is not the place for this comment, feel free to move my reply.

When it comes to fine dining, I believe that although I am financially constrained, it is to my own benefit to try to extend and teach my palate, and dine at as many fine restaurants as possible. I think (hope) from the restauranteur perspective, they understand that sometimes their prices act as too great a barrier to entry for someone like me, and offer discounts to persuade me to try them, and give me the chance to readjust my estimate of whether they provide a fair value at the standard menu prices or not.

So that business approach worked for a number of restaurants, and failed for others. But for me, the value proposition is what makes the difference between a single visit to a dining establishment, and multiple repeat visits, and I consider comment on the value proposition fair game.

P.S. I consider Edzo's an excellent value proposition.

please don't misunderstand me; my remark was not intended to be a criticism of you, or anyone who partakes of the daily deal sites. you (and others) are going to do what works best for you. and there's nothing wrong with that whatsoever.




(and now back to zealous, where I've never eaten)....

We had a nice dinner at Zealous last night using a bloomspot deal ($40 for $80). The room was very nice and quite empty at 8pm on a Friday night.

The first appetizer we got was the "Szechuan Blue Crab Cakes, Grilled Bok Choy, Soy Mayo & Hoisin Glaze". I thought that the crab cakes were very nicely done, and I absolutely loved the soy mayo and hoisin sauce that lined the plate (I used some of the bread to sop up the extra). The other appetizer we got was the "Short Stack of Mango Pancakes with Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Sunnyside-up Quail Egg and Savory Carame Sauce". This was incredible, a very generous portion of seared foie gras with delicate pancakes and soft slices of mango. I will probably return if only for this dish.

For our main courses, I got the "Cassoulet, Trio of Duck Breast, Confit Leg, Foie Gras, Cannellini Beans & Roasted Garlic-Herb Crostini" which was very tasty. I will say, however, that the portion of foie gras was tiny. It was probably square inch patch of foie, much less than what was provided for the mango pancakes. The breast was good, although a little more cooked than the medium rare I requested and the fat could have used to be rendered a bit more. The leg, however, was top notch; a really great flavor. The girlfriend got "Braised Kurabuta Pork Cheeks, Chimichurri Broth, Special Chickpeas & Spring Vegetables". I didn't try a whole lot of this but she thoroughly enjoyed it. For dessert we had the "Caramelized Banana Tiramisu with Macadamia Nut Brittle Crust and Chocolate Biscotti" which was a much airier version than I'm used to, almost more like a mousse that was encrusted with crushed nuts. Very good.

Overall I quite enjoyed our meal at Zealous, especially the mango pancakes with foie gras. However, I'm not sure if I'd return without another deal of some sort as I felt that the prices were a little bit high (we payed another ~$50 on top of the $80 deal and didn't have any alcohol).

Eater reports that Zealous will close after New Year's Eve service.



This appears to be caused by another landlord wanting to triple the rent, expecting that they will either get the increase, or get a new tenant to fill the vacancy.
Since I see a number of spaces still vacant downtown, I expect the stupid landlord will eat the taxes and get no new tenant.

Not sad to see it go; it was always empty. Regarding rent, you never know----the owner took back the space that Hop Haus is in just down the street, and instead of the $7 per square foot Hop Haus was paying, a new restaurant will be paying $30 per square foot.