The 70's: a great period for French restaurants in Chicago

Thank you to all LTH contributors, among them Rene G of course, who directly or without knowing it, have helped me with their comments during my 3 year research on a retrospective of 50 years of French restaurants in Chicago. I just posted the 3rd chapter, "The Seventies, a fantastic decade" on my blog "French Virtual Cafe".
For those who, like myself, have dined in Chicago for the last 40 years, reading that piece might be the occasion of a nostalgic journey down a very yummy memory lane.
http://frenchvirtualcafe.blogspot.com

Great piece of writing. I spent my 16th birthday at Jovan. I'll never forget it as long as I live. My first multicourse menu, and first taste of duck and rabbit. Headed over to a piano bar after the meal. It was a great evening.

Very nice, indeed. I appreciate the very detailed history of Cafe Provencal, and the remarkable Leslee Reis. I feel that I must note that that after extensive renovation to the kitchen, the Homestead became the home of the three-way partnership between Henry Adinaya, Gale Gand, and Rick Tramonto, AKA Trio, which in its history and subsequent incarnations with Shawn McClain and Grant Achatz and turned out some remarkable and trend-setting food. Its last hurrah with Henry, as Trio Atelier, featured Dale Levitski, future 'Top Chef'contestant and now the proprietor/chef of Sprout in Lincoln Park.

alain40 wrote:Thank you to all LTH contributors, among them Rene G of course, who directly or without knowing it, have helped me with their comments during my 3 year research on a retrospective of 50 years of French restaurants in Chicago. I just posted the 3rd chapter, "The Seventies, a fantastic decade" on my blog "French Virtual Cafe".
For those who, like myself, have dined in Chicago for the last 40 years, reading that piece might be the occasion of a nostalgic journey down a very yummy memory lane.
http://frenchvirtualcafe.blogspot.com

Great read! Thank you for all of your hard work. I moved to Chicago after college in the mid-Seventies so only had the time and means for a few of these. We also had a quite bizarre experience at Ile de France. Dining room virtually deserted except for our vet - who brought his two cats with him to dinner and who were walking around the room. The service was indifferent almost to the point of hostile. I do not remember anything about the food.

I walk by Cafe Bernard often and am amazed that they are still around. There never seems to be anyone in there. Owning the building and leasing the apartments must keep them afloat.

Thanks for sharing this impressive work. It's one of the best single-topic investigation of Chicago culinary history I've seen. I only had time for a very quick reading but when I have a free evening I'll sit down with a glass of wine (maybe a bottle) and leisurely read the entire series.

In the 70's, there was a fine dining French spot, as I recall seafood-based, at the corner of State & Scott. Anyone remember this?
[edit]
Nevermind. It was Claude's.

alain,

You may want to attend tomorrow's program at Kendall College: Chicago Foodways: Chicago's Classic Restaurants, Feb 4

I am sure you can make a contribution to the conversation.

Regards,

Cathy,
Thanks, it looks like a very interesting program that I wish I had been aware of before. Unfortunately I have some commitments that I cannot escape from Tomorrow morning.
Alain

Fun reading the post and reliving some fond memories. I didn't dine at anywhere near all those restaurants, but I have enjoyed some of the best of them. I started going to Le Français in 1975, and I went every year, at least once, until Banchet retired. Even then, I gave each new chef a try, some multiple times. All the "new guys" were good, but none lived up to Banchet's genius. It was interesting to watch it change, even with Banchet, from completely over-the-top (goose liver rolled out on a cart mounted with a beautifully taxidermed snow goose, five-story dessert carts, that sort of thing) in 1975 to slightly more tame by the time Banchet was considering retirement. Most memorable dishes include the lobster mousse and truffle-stuffed salmon baked en croute and served with 3 sauces, lamb served three ways, triple-strength duck consomme with quennelles, basil ice cream, and a saucisson stuffed with pistachios. However, every meal was amazing. Fortunately, Banchet's sous chef, Patrick Chabert, is still in the area, so once in a while, I still get to sample some of those dishes from the glory days of Le Français.

I dined at Le Titi when it was still in the tiny hut on Rand Rd., but have now enjoyed it for a couple of decades in its new location. Love the place. (It's bouillabaisse season right now, so I'll fit in a few trips before that ends.)

Le Vichyssois is not as frequent a destination as the others, but I enjoy it when meeting someone who lives up north.

As for Le Gourmet, I used to love their dining club. I was a regular until it was destroyed by a bomb.

Having spent most of my adult life in the proximity of Le Français, Le Titi, and Le Gourmet, I didn't feel any real pressure to try places downtown with any great frequency, and I even missed completely a fair number of those on your list. But I have certainly enjoyed making my "neighborhood spots" a regular part of my life.

The French Kitchen was a little bit of heaven on the south side. In those days the area was heavily lithuanian, polish and bohemian. The only mexican restaurant in the area was Pepe's (choke). We enjoyed the option of the French Kitchen on nights when the weather was too bad to go too far beyond the neighborhood.

Thank you for all the kind comments.
Rene G: I will be waiting with anticipation for all the places that you will find out, no doubt, that I forgot, or misplaced...
Cynthia: I would be interested to know where Patrick Chabert is cooking nowadays.
Alain

Merci Alain! I arrived in Chicago in 1972, a poor Architecture student, the son of french immigrants, and had the good fortune, over the past 40 years to enjoy many of the restaurants in your blog....wonderful memories.

I look forward to the time I will spend reading the remainder of your blog.

alain40 wrote:Cynthia: I would be interested to know where Patrick Chabert is cooking nowadays.
Alain

He is primarily doing catering and guest chef-ing, and is a Bocuse d'Or judge. For his catering, he shares space at D&J Bistro in Lake Zurich, and he hosts a dinner there about once every other month -- fixed price, all inclusive. One of his dinners is scheduled for Feb. 19 -- and, alas, I'll be out of town.

We had an amazing dinner prepared by him for a group of LTHers. I keep hoping we can do it again -- just set a price and find a venue.

He also takes trips to France every year -- very food focused. He lives in Buffalo Grove. Jean Banchet has been known to drop in for a visit for some of the bigger dinners.

You can find all the info I've uploaded about him on this thread: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=30035&p=395848&hilit=patrick+chabert#p395848

This includes his email address and phone number -- and details of the 2012 tour, which is to the Basque Country this year.

You can search the forum to see more about some of the dinners we've enjoyed.

Hi,

Is it possible you could give a direct link to your other chapters? I have tried to located your earlier chapters in your blog, but I keep getting stuck in 1980's. I am sure it is Cathy-error, though your help will be appreciated.

Thanks!

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Is it possible you could give a direct link to your other chapters? I have tried to located your earlier chapters in your blog, but I keep getting stuck in 1980's.

From perusing the sidebar Blog archive list, I see that the links to the chapters covering the time before the 1980s are:

PART 1: 1924-1959 A few glorious years and then a big gastronomic desert

Part 2: 1960-1969 A new beginning for French restaurants in Chicago

Part 3. 1970-1979: The Fantastic Decade.

--
edc

edc,

Thanks! This is very helpful.

Regards,

Thanks to EDC for having provided a more than adequate answer to Cathy's question.
I would have done it myself if I had read Cathy's post, which I did not.