Atwood Cafe

Atwood Cafe is often recommended for pre-theater or other downtown events, but it has no thread of its own. I think it deserves one.
We had an excellent pre-theater dinner there last night. We had:
Frito Misto: this had some of the best fried calamari I've had in a long while. Tender, lightly breaded, and tossed with a pickled pepper relish that provided some needed acid for fried food.
Lamb Carpaccio: who knew lamb make an excellent carpaccio? And the addition of chanterelles was an excellent touch.
Pheasant Crespelle: the only slight miss, a dough wrapped pastry, it had more cheese than pheasant inside.
Scallops: A very simple entree, but the scallops were perfectly sweet and crispy, with a nice cauliflower puree.
Rabbit scallopini: another simply, but well prepared dish.
Peach Bread pudding with salted caramel ice cream.
Chocolate cake with blackberries and blackberry ice cream. Both desserts were simple and very well prepared.

I don't think Atwood is a destination place that I'd go to if I had my pick of the whole City, but after last night, it has risen up as one of the best pre-theater options. The food was perhaps a little less creative that The Gage, but just as well prepared, and I like the room a lot better (The Gage is simply too noisy).

Jonah

1 W. Washington St. - Hotel Burnham
Chicago, IL 60602
(312) 368-1900
http://www.atwoodcafe.com/

We dined there last night prior to Alton Brown's Edible Inevitable Tour (he was at the bar having drinks prior to the show).

Very nice food. Nothing floored me, but all excellently prepared and with pristine service.

Drinks were a Perfect Manhattan (quite nice, balanced sweet and bitter) and the special wine of the month, which was a blend including grenache and syrah -- delicious.


Bread service was a focaccia with sun-dried tomato butter. Nothing special, and my photo came out blurrier than the rest.

Starters were a frito misto (which I felt wasn't particularly misto: one scallop, none of the purported lemon that I could tell) with a light coriander aioli; and pumpkin soup with creme fraiche and pumpkinseeds, which was perfectly poised between sweet and spice.



Sue ordered the duck, which was the hit of the evening: perfectly crisp skin, atop spaetzle with guanciale and chanterelles.


I had the rabbit which included braised saddle and a breast crepinette, atop baby root veg, and a pecan carrot-top gremolata (as written, although the nuts and carrot greens were entirely separate). I had a couple minor issues with the dish: there were a lot of tiny bones in the braise, and the crepinette should probably have been a bit crisper on the outside -- a lot of the fat still remained chewy.


For dessert we split the salted caramel cheesecake, which came with the pretzel crust as a separate "dust" in which we rolled spoonfuls of cheesecake. Very, very good, but the huge plate (on which a nearly-decorative-only guinness syrup was drizzled) made eating a little awkward.


The current menu is being replaced as of February 11 -- instead of starters and entrees, the menu is divided into Grow, Graze and Swim, viewable on the website.

Although it's still called the Atwood Cafe on all the signage, they've gotten a little snootier on their website: The above link forwards to http://www.atwoodrestaurant.com/

spaetzle with guanciale and chanterelles....right up my alley

I've eaten business lunchs here twice and I'd call it servicable. Nothing "wowed" me. It was fine but not outstanding. I don't think I'd ever spend my own money here.

Atwood closing December 29th for renovation - http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... ion-dec-29

Atwood (which dropped the word "Café" from their name) also recently announced the appointment of Brian Millman of Sable as their new executive chef, replacing Derek Simcik who escaped to Santa Barbara. (link)

Atwood and Sable are in the Burnham and Palomar hotels, respectively; chefs move between the two (Heather Terhune went in the reverse direction) because they are both part of the Kimpton Hotels group.

Atwood, the Loop restaurant in Kimpton's Hotel Burnham, has reopened after a three-month renovation. The restaurant features a remodeled dining room and expanded bar area. Atwood is the first installment of Hotel Burnham's $4.1 million renovation, which involves redoing guest rooms and public spaces.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... loop-today