I have not dined at El Ideas (yet), but that assortment sounds reasonable for a couple. It's our MO for similar places like Schwa or Bon Soiree. It's better to have options; and you can always share with the kitchen or mix and match with other diners for optimal pairing.

mikelon wrote:Any chance anyone is dining at El tomorrow? I think I may have over bought the vino and have a white, red, and bubbly for 2 people. Do you think they are all needed?

While I haven't dined at EL yet, for other similar places (Goosefoot, etc.) I always figure on a minimum of one bottle per person over the course of a meal. Given the number of courses and the time you'll be at EL, drinking 1-1/2 bottles over that course of time doesn't seem unusual unless one of you is a very light drinker normally.

hi - i just wanted to let you know that myself and dave are the front of the house team and depending on which night you dine determines our presence. that being said we are in the habit of starting the menu with sparkling and then transitioning to white wine by either the 2nd or 3rd course. and then onto the red wine when appropriate. we then return the last of the sparkling selection at dessert which most everyone appreciates. not sure if this is helpful for you.

wmtalbott wrote:hi - i just wanted to let you know that myself and dave are the front of the house team and depending on which night you dine determines our presence. that being said we are in the habit of starting the menu with sparkling and then transitioning to white wine by either the 2nd or 3rd course. and then onto the red wine when appropriate. we then return the last of the sparkling selection at dessert which most everyone appreciates. not sure if this is helpful for you.

That does help, thanks!. I didnt want to be the only person lugging in 3 bottles. Look forward to seeing yall tonight.

mikelon wrote:That does help, thanks!. I didnt want to be the only person lugging in 3 bottles. Look forward to seeing yall tonight.

I know some folks that would look at you and say "wow, he's only got three bottles".

So I dined with them last night... By far the best dinner and culinary experience I've ever had. Not only did some dishes make my taste buds explode, but they warmed my entire body. Im not going to go into every dish and they will more then likely be changed in a week, but I thought every one worked. I had some favorites, but I was not dissapointed with anything I ate, and I had high expectations.

I was orignally had some concerns which I will share... First I thought the 'experience' of eating with the chefs was going to be the main selling point, but no, it was the food. Every dish they served gave at least 2-3 'bites' of food, nothing irks me more then to receive one bite of food for a dish and not be able to savor each ingredient. Also I was truly surprised by how much meat they served, I was truly stuffed at the end, and I'm a pretty big guy. I'm not much of a vino but brought the wine they suggested and it went well. But next time I will bring some beer as well, as I think many dishes would have have paired nicely with a good porter.

All of the chefs were chill, personable, and genuine. They seemed to really appreciate the compliments, which I was probably giving too often When you factor in the dinner, wine, and tip I'm unfortunately not able to be a regular, but I think you are getting the best bang for the buck fine dining in Chicago. I had to shake chef Foss's hand at the end of the night and thank him for such an incredible experience. I just hope they can keep the concept and price point with all of the press they are about to receive.

We ate there the other night and I had to share some of my experience.

First, we were asked and agreed to be seated at the table just outside the dining room. After reading some of the reviews here I was a little bit nervous, but figured I was going with a group of friends I enjoy and no matter what we would have fun.

After dining there I have a few observations:
- I would highly recommend the table outside the dining room -- especially if you're with a fun group of people. We had great attentive service, felt like part of the kitchen when we wanted to, and had a handy shelf to store our stockpile of wine and beer. We did not feel like we missed out on any of the presentations by the chefs and thought we got some extra personalized attention.
- The food is truly amazing.
- The atmosphere is relaxed, inviting and above all lacks any pretension. What a wonderful 180 from our dinner at Next the previous evening.
- The scallop. was. [speechless]. Will remember that dish for a long, long time.


A huge THANK YOU to everyone at El Ideas for such an outstanding evening.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone at El Ideas for such an outstanding evening.

Thank you!!!

Nice to hear that they are working out their issues with that table.

Also, great first post! Cool that you were so inspired to tell us about it!

I had made my dining reservations, for two, back in mid August for October 3. Unfortunately my wife became ill so she was unable to make it. Luckily a friend of mine was able to take her place on short notice. In the past four months I have dined at Eleven Madison Park in NYC, Schwa twice, Alinea, Elizabeth Restaurant, MK Restaurant, Goosefoot and El Ideas. El Ideas definitely belongs in that group and not at the bottom of it. Chef Foss has something special going on here and my friend and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the experience. We both also enjoyed the music and service that Bill provided.

I brought Chef Foss and his crew a bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon which he said was one of his favorites. I was happy to hear that. After dinner my friend and I shared a shot with Chef Foss which was a great way to end the night. Since my wife was unable to attend I decided to take pictures of the different courses and thought I would share them here. However, I forgot to take pictures of the first two courses so I will start with the third course.

Black Cod - Calabrian Chili – Fingerling Potato – Celery – Mustard Puree – Dill – Capers


Corn – Deep Fried Corn Bread – Corn Powder – Corn Puree – White Chanterelle – Tomatillo – Crayfish


Sturgeon – Cauliflower – Leek – Parmesan


Squash – Brussels Sprout – Fig – Brown Butter


Foie Gras – Marcona Almond – Huckleberry – Black Pepper


Black Garlic – Prosciutto – Endive – Snails – Lobster Mushrooms


Squab – Stuffed with Squab Liver and Heart – Beet – Wild Broccoli – Chocolate


New York Strip – Oxtail Au Jus – Matsutake – Horseradish – Celery Root & White Truffle Puree


Exlorateur – Brie – Apple – Date – Honey


Cherry –Cocoa – Hazelnut - Malt


Overall it was a great experience that I know my friend and I will be back with our significant others. I hope next time to score a weekend reservation so that I can spend more time with Chef Foss and his crew after dinner to share some drinks.

Thanks again to Chef Foss and his crew for an outstanding meal, service and experience. Until next time...

Nice pictures - good to see the cuisine continue to evolve. My sister just moved to Chicago and in planning to visit around Thanksgiving the first reservation I made was a return to EL Ideas - 11/15/12, my first meal after getting off the plane.

If anyone has been wanting to try El and wants to join my group, we've booked the place out on Friday, 11/30 at 7:00 which should make for an entertaining evening since I've gotten to know Chef Foss and his crew pretty well. I have 4 spots left--$135/pp + tax and gratuity (they will charge for 18%). So $175/pp total. Please pm me if you are interested. I will remove the post once the spots are filled.

Would I have to sit in the corner?

disagree wrote:Would I have to sit in the corner.

Not unless you misbehave (knowing you, I'm guessing that's a 50-50 proposition )

boudreaulicious wrote:

disagree wrote:Would I have to sit in the corner.

Not unless you misbehave (knowing you, I'm guessing that's a 50-50 proposition )

Uhoh... I'm sensing 'The Dreaded Kitchen Table' might have your name on it

phillipfoss wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:

disagree wrote:Would I have to sit in the corner.

Not unless you misbehave (knowing you, I'm guessing that's a 50-50 proposition )

Uhoh... I'm sensing 'The Dreaded Kitchen Table' might have your name on it

PF--tell "disagree" that you have absolutely no idea what he looks like and that our dinner is going to be so fabulous that it will put all thoughts of corner tables out of his mind

I would love to join you if I wasn't already going tonight. Very excited!

fropones wrote:I would love to join you if I wasn't already going tonight. Very excited!

Well if you love it, come back with us in 2 weeks!!! No such thing as too much El

My extra El spots are taken. Looking forward to reporting back.

Wow! That pretty much sums up my dinner last night; an amazing dining experience through and through. An amazing meal both in terms of the food and the atmosphere. Especially the atmosphere: I loved being able to walk into the kitchen, shoot the shit with the chefs, snap pictures, drink. It was the most unique and quite possibly the best dining experience I've had. Chef Foss said at the beginning that he wanted to take the pretentiousness out of fine dining, and I must say, Mission Accomplished!


El Ideas



Chef Foss plating the first course.


egg - uni / chawanmushi / roe


scallop - cauliflower / curry / tomato

Delicious. The best scallop I've had; perfectly cooked and seared and butter-laden. I really loved the curry flavor.


octopus - kohlrabi / chorizo / potato

Amazing. Perfectly tender octopus with great tasting chorizo and some very nice heat.


sturgeon - marrow / butternut / grape

Cooked on slices of potato leaving the fish nice and moist with a rich bone marrow crust.


mushroom - hazelnut / kale / lemon

I believe the black thing is a sunchoke "rock". The mushrooms were maitake and matsutake and very delicious.


foie gras - cranberry / radish / pomegranate

A foie gras foam was sprayed from a canister into a vat of liquid nitrogen to make the best foie gras preparation I've had. I will say the cranberry "stick" was a little bit tough.


lamb - salsify / dark fruits / sedum

Perfectly cooked.



Bacon wrapped banana for the next course. Yes, I said bacon wrapped banana.


banana - spaghetti squash / cashew / black garlic

There was a "banoodle" on this dish that was awesome. I need to figure out how it's made.



Plating the next course with Chef Foss. Apparently they don't do this too much anymore because people kept messing it up but I managed to convince Chef to let me help.


wagyu - onion / celery root / scallion


buffalo bleu - black walnut / apple / celery

A great cheese course.


prickly pear - white chocolate / guava / tamarind


old fashioned - bourbon / luxardo / chocolate





It's best not to ask...

An absolutely amazing meal. I really can't wait to return; need to start trying to get reservations now.

Awesome shots and report, fropones! Thank you. It's been way too long since I've been to El Ideas. I need to get back there, especially because I've been looking for places where I can wear my Tony Esposito goalie mask!

=R=

@ Fropones,

Amazing photos! Can we upload your pictures as an album on the EL Ideas Facebook page? If you would like to be credited, we can list a name, contact info, or website if you like!

If you feel more comfortable sharing that info via email you can reach me at allison@elideas.com

Allison
EL Office Manager

viataste wrote:@ Fropones,

Amazing photos! Can we upload your pictures as an album on the EL Ideas Facebook page? If you would like to be credited, we can list a name, contact info, or website if you like!

If you feel more comfortable sharing that info via email you can reach me at allison@elideas.com

Allison
EL Office Manager

Sure; I'll send you an email.

Great shots - and even 2 different courses from when we visited on the Thursday prior. I love the direction that EL Ideas continues to evolve...

fropones wrote:
sturgeon - marrow / butternut / grape

Cooked on slices of potato leaving the fish nice and moist with a rich bone marrow crust.

Looks like a riff on the spectacularly successful sturgeon with marrow crust that kennyz, jesteinf, and I shared back in 2010 during Foss' time at the Lockwood.

Marrow Crusted Sturgeon – Pulled Osso Bucco


Great combination, and glad to see Foss putting it in to rotation.

-Dan

Nice catch on the redux... Wish i'd've remembered the osso bucco aspect this time!!

Just a little more than a year after my first post on El Ideas, I found myself back for more. This time, I was part of a group that booked the entire place to celebrate a friend's birthday.



Chefs Foss, McMullen, Dubois and Duncan really threw down for us. While I enjoyed some courses more than others, all were very good and the plating was as artful as ever. Here's what we had:

Roe
soy / cucumber / shiso


Chowder
sturgeon / parsnip / lardo






Octopus
kholrabi/ choriso / potato


Ramada
described as mullett
maitake/ sunchoke / kale


Cauliflower
curry/ gooseberry / popcorn


Bonus Course
Artichoke / cheese (tellagio?)


Foie Gras
passion fruit / banana / oats


Duck
squash / black garlic / malt


Lamb
sage / salsify / black current


Strip Loin
onion / celery root / jus


Guava
white chocolate / coconut / pineapple


Sundae
fountain style

Wow. That reminds me, I have occasion to talk for a minute or 2 from time to time with a macher business person near the tippy top of the financial world - a tremendously nice person who would rather talk about food than biz, particularly when visiting Chicago (which he considers a primo food stop). he eats at fancy places in NY/LON/Paris/HK etc etc regularly and he singled out EL Ideas as one of his favorite dining experiences in recent memory. Sorry to be so vague, but non per niente, this comment and Steve's post both made me much more eager to finally get to this place.

That octopus dish is SUPER good.

I am beyond excited to have dinner at El Ideas next Tuesday. I noticed on the FAQ page the question about what to bring for the chefs. For people who have already eaten there, is it typical to bring something for the chefs? I would love to, but would probably feel strange if almost nobody does. Thanks!