La Luce

This week started like all too many lately; another hospital stay, another treatment. sigh...

I got out Thursday morning and after a nap woke up surprisingly hungry. Didn't think it would be wise to go to far, so we hit La Lucé just down the street from us.


Thursday night they have a half price appetizer special.


We opted for calimari. As we waited, the tables around us filled up. That was nice to see when you consider all the dining options in the area.

The owner, Anna, stopped by our table, curious about my pic snapping. I promised to link her to this write-up when I got around to it.

At this point, I really hadn't eaten for four days, and the celebratory Stoli I was sipping hit rather hard. Generally, after one of my treatments I crave comfort food and La Lucé delivered.

Barry had Veal Parmisian...


I had lasagna...


Relaxed neighborhood dining...
La Lucé
1393 W. Lake St.
Corner of Lake & Odgen
312.850.1900

Glad you had such a good experience at La Luce -- makes me want to get back there. I think La Luce has a lot going for it, although based on others' experience, your mileage may vary. Anyway, my experience there has been good, and I think an ideal evening out includes a glass or two of wine at Randolph Wine Cellars, with the awesome picture window views of the skyline and that "just hip enough" vibe in the upstairs room, followed by a short stroll to La Luce for a classic Chicago Italian-American dinner. In fact, for those folks who often post at CH wondering where to take their visiting clients, etc. for dinner, I'd say this would be a grand slam (or depending on the billings you get from this client, you might take them over to Moto for dinner!)

It was the link provided above about La Luce that helped me choose this restaurant for my birthday dinner this year.

I really enjoyed it. It was a weekday and quiet. Also, they offered several discounts for weeknights and I'm pretty sure it was 1/2 price wine night that Tues.

I can say La Luce gave me the ultimate birthday present.

Fettucine Alfredo is one of my favorite dishes when done right. I don't even do a great job of it myself since I want to cut out some of the butter, cream and cheese for health reasons.

They offered the standard Chicken/Shrimp options to add to the dish, but I was looking for more. I asked the server if the chef would consider preparing a seafood version. They delivered perfectly cooked scallops, shrimp, calamari, clams. I had requested no mussels--didn't want to ruin the color scheme, etc. The fettucine was tender and fresh.

There were at least two cups of very fresh seafood added to my dish and though I knew they would adjust the check, I felt it a fair price for this perfectly prepared dish. Though, I would have added some fresh
parsley....

Seafood Alfredo? Don't tell Tony (no, not Tony Shaloub, Don Tony Trismegistus -- though Shaloub's character in Big Night probably would not have been able to avoid a confrontation upon receiving the request). You are lucky not to bear the cross that some others here hold. Illogical tradition perhaps, but it's something to do.

By the way, my wife's been on an Alfredo kick lately. I think Alfredo preps have the distinction of being the single biggest tragedy in Americanized, Italian-American cooking a la Olive Garden and the like. When its bad, it's really, really bad (and it's nearly always bad). But I am now comfortable that at least three additional places make a lovely and correct version of the sauce. Two are not surprising, one is maybe a little surprising, though not really.

Sabatino's, Bruna's, Tango Sur.

Here's everything you need to know about Sabatino's Alfredo: patron asks for some Alfredo sauce on the side. Response: we don't have a big bucket of Alfredo sauce, Alfredo is a preparation that is made a la minute and per order.

Try it, you might like it, or don't. I've bucked tradition my entire life.
It's really fun.

JeffB wrote:Seafood Alfredo? Don't tell Tony (no, not Tony Shaloub, Don Tony Trismegistus -- though Shaloub's character in Big Night probably would not have been able to avoid a confrontation upon receiving the request). You are lucky not to bear the cross that some others here hold. Illogical tradition perhaps, but it's something to do.

Ah, and you call me a rabble rouser, Don Giuffré...

Fettucine Alfredo is a celebration of dairy: butter and parmesan is one of the old basic dressings of pasta, to which then the cream was added to complete the trinity of dairy products that are in especially ample measures the distinctive dressing of the pasta in this dish. Within the Italian repertoire, this preparation is already excessive but such excess is appropriate once in a while. Further additions add to the volume of the dish and presumably to the 'deliciousness' for some but from the perspective of others they necessarily detract from the focus on how the three dairy products work together.

***

From a Scicaghitano or Statiunitese perspective, adding meat or seafood or pesto-primavera-quattro-formaggi or whatever to something 'Alfredo' style is not bucking any Italian tradition but rather conforming to the American habit of combo-primo-secondo ersatz-Italienische Eintopf-creations. Which is, of course, fine, if one likes that sort of thing, and obviously lots of people do very much. Tous les goûts sont dans la nature.

***

I think Alfredo preps have the distinction of being the single biggest tragedy in Americanized, Italian-American cooking a la Olive Garden and the like. When its bad, it's really, really bad (and it's nearly always bad)...

Here's everything you need to know about Sabatino's Alfredo: patron asks for some Alfredo sauce on the side. Response: we don't have a big bucket of Alfredo sauce, Alfredo is a preparation that is made a la minute and per order.

I've never contemplated for very long what it is that so often renders alfredo alla Mericana a toxic substance but what you say above makes me realise that this use of Alfreddy as a sort of all-purpose sauce requires it be made in somehow stabilised batches, a process which -- however it be achieved -- must needs destroy the essential quick and fresh quality of the properly made dairy overdose.

That's very good to hear about Sabatino's unwillingness and/or inability to acquiesce to something that doesn't make sense; satisfying reasonable requests is something a restaurant should always strive to do but in this case, the fact that they do things the right way just made it impossible (or at least very impractical).

I still haven't been to Sabatino's but the evidence continues to mount that they really know what they're doing. One of these days, I'll go... and maybe even order pasta...

***

I also haven't been to "La Lucé [sic] and so far don't feel any particular urge to go there but I must say that it's an extremely handsome looking restaurant, especially in its setting by the elevated train-line. It's also nice to hear that they are able and willing to accommodate a special request with apparent ease and success. They must be keeping their customers happy to have survived in that (still somewhat) out-of-the-way location; certainly the reports on this board have been for the most part quite positive.

But what is that ridiculous acute accent doing on the final <e> of the name?

Antonius

Antonius wrote:But what is that ridiculous acute accent doing on the final <e> of the name?

Looks like the owners of the establishment aren't quite sure themselves and have hedged their own bets (witness the awning and the menu cover pictured above).

Bumping this thread after nine years because after all that time, I actually found myself again at La Lucé for lunch today. I was in the neighborhood to meet a colleague at Urban Belly in its new location on west Randolph, but I could not find parking and, discovering La Lucé has a free customer parking lot, I called an audible.

tl;dr version: La Luce has a lovely free parking lot. Take public transit to Urban Belly.

Actually, there is no long version. La Lucé continues to have a wonderful room, great jazz on the PA, gruff but professional service. All what you'd expect. Lunch was a solid "meh." Unremarkable cream of spinach soup (too thick, a bit too salty, but I finished it). Very nice warm bread on the table; that was the best part of the meal, unfortunately. Chicken Parmesan sandwich was basically lacking flavor, had too much cheese, that same sticky sweet red sauce I remembered from 2005, and other than the bread (which was pretty decent) was not worth anywhere near the $12 charged, even with the pleasant real estate in which to eat it. I did not ask, but my lunch mate's meatball sandwich did not elicit any sort of spontaneous praise from him, and it also looked to have at least one of the same flaws as my sandwich (i.e., the red sauce).

P.S. Antonius, if you are reading this, I have confirmed that the owners really and truly do intend for that acute accent to be present over the final "e" in their name. Not only are they being pretty consistent about it on their website, but I also overheard someone (probably the owner) on a phone call at the bar discussing some new signage he was buying, and he repeatedly pronounced it "La LOO-chay" with such brio and confidence, one could hear that accent hanging in the air, right where he intended to place it.

..shouldn't he have said "la loo-CHEY," then? And, doesn't Urban Belly also have a big lot? I guess it isn't free.

JeffB wrote:..shouldn't he have said "la loo-CHEY," then? And, doesn't Urban Belly also have a big lot? I guess it isn't free.

What he should have said and what he did say may differ, but I would posit it is a difference without a distinction as far as he was concerned. He did not rhyme it with "loose," which I interpret as his way of accenting that accent.

Yes, I believe there was a pay lot at Urban Belly/Belly Q, no doubt the lot that Michael built for One Sixty Blue, but I am a cheapskate. But yes, that option I think is there.

I've called La Luce three times today and get the same message.
"The number you have tried to reach is out of service."
Is La Luce still around? Anyone near that area that knows what's going on?
Thanks!

Diane wrote:I've called La Luce three times today and get the same message.
"The number you have tried to reach is out of service."
Is La Luce still around? Anyone near that area that knows what's going on?
Thanks!

Looks like lights out for La Luce per Eater Chicago:

http://chicago.eater.com/2016/7/14/1217 ... oop-closes

Well, that's sad news We loved going there before events at the United Center! We could park, eat and walk over and walk back after the show. Interested to see what happens to the space.