One sixtyblue [not] closing

If you've ever thought about dining at one sixtyblue you had better hurry up. A note in the Trib informs that it will be closing October 25 . . . to be reborn as Michael Jordan's Steak House on November 8.

It's been on my "intend to try" list for a while so I guess I'd better get it in gear while I can.

Linkage (registration required):
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0408200193aug20,1,3690426.story?coll=chi-news-hed

I saw this, and it's too bad. 160Blue is a great place in that price range. I like steaks as much as the next guy, but we don't need another steakhouse, and putting MJ's name in the title seems a little like a concession that the restaurant wasn't getting enough convention traffic. I've heard pretty good things about the NYC steakhouse, though. The chef is staying, for now; maybe they can pull something off like Hogan has at Keefer's.

Well, I must admit my initial reaction was somewhat kneejerk and I decided that it was a "bad thing" (no apologies to Martha).

On further consideration I think I'll just reserve judgement until I see how the new place executes. As I have not sampled the current incarnation's offerings I really can't say from personal experience how much one sixtyblue will be missed.

As to whether the addition of another steak house is "needed" . . . well, as my Dad always used to tell me, there's a difference between "wants" and "needs". I like steak and steakhouses. I'm somewhat in the minority in my likes as I very much like the Chicago Chop House and despise Gibson's. I also like Morton's, S&W, and thoroughly enjoy Keefer's - the latter is especially good when dining with those who would like to opt for something other than big chunks of red meat.

Still - none of the above are perfect. Ideally I'd like to marry the Chop House's cuts and kitchen execution with the space and view of S&W and the service of Keefer's. So . . . I "want" MJ's Steakhouse to succeed if only to offer me another choice for high-quality steaks with a comfortable/attractive space and good service. I do wonder how long Chef Noguier will remain; I wonder if perhaps there is another restaurant down the road for the ownership that he will move to after overseeing the transition.

160 Blue is already at least partially owned by Michael Jordan. I think it's more of a retool than a closing and then something else in that space...although the menu will be different. Come to think of it...I guess that is what a closing and something else in the space is.

It's never been any secret that MJ is part-owner of one sixtyblue. From all accounts the kitchen earned their kudos but the initial buzz over the opening was certainly fueled by the constant mention of MJ's involvement.

I ate there only once, with a group from work, at a dinner in June; the consensus was that it was a decent meal but no one wanted to go back. I can't even remember what I had only two months later. And while my coworkers are lovers of the grape, the red in particular was just plain harsh. I didn't see any reason to mention it here afterward -- pedestrianly pleasant with highs and lows -- but maybe already at that point they were already starting to lose focus.

Kman wrote:I'm somewhat in the minority in my likes as I very much like the Chicago Chop House and despise Gibson's.

I'm with you on this!

Well this closing is now up in the air as it appears Mr. Jordan wants a higher visibility location for his namesake steakhouse.


From metromix:

One sixtyblue is definitely remaining open and the closing events they were to hold have been cancelled.

one sixtyblue
160 N. Loomis St.
312-850-0303

ttt. anyone dine here recently?

I go pretty often, every other week or so. They have a great cheese program in the bar area. I like Martial's cooking, nothing overly done, simple, good ingredients. He has a knack for not manipulating food. Their service is some of the best I have experienced in Chicago.

Last night my husband and I celebrated our 11th anniversary at One Sixtyblue. Choosing a restaurant for the anniversary occasion is always a bit painful for us. We tend to over-think and over-debate the possibilities. Last year, being "10," we took a little trip and had a great meal in Madison, WI - documented here: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... ht=letoile
This year we are saving our vacation days for a trip in August and wanted to keep the evening relatively simple and local. Neither of us had ever been to One Sixtyblue but it seemed to fit the bill for what we had in mind - modern room, comfortable, great service, good food, conversation-friendly noise level. I'm happy to say they lived up to our expectations. It was obvious to me that the management there is spending time and money to train their employees well. Everyone we had contact with, from the person who confirmed our reservation over the phone, to the busboys and server, was warm, courteous and knowlegeable. Service is truely a dealbreaker/maker for me. We can be driving down a street and my husband will say "hey, how come we haven't been to that place in so long?" and I will remind him of a poor service-related incident from 8 years ago.
Our meal was very good. Nothing blew my mind but everything was very well executed and timed. We never felt rushed but there weren't any lengthly delays either. Husband started with an endive salad w/ candied nuts, hazelnut vinaigrette, etc... We've all seen this before, but it was done well. I had a Caesar from the specials menu. It was dead on. The lettuce was very cold and crisp, the dressing was assertive and there were white anchovies and a poached quail egg atop the greens. Yum. Husband went with the beef tenderloin entree. It was cooked exactly as ordered - med. rare, and he enjoyed it. I had the halibut which was also good but not particularly memorable. I know there were some figs and something green on the plate but the wine we had seems to have blurred the specifics on that one. I do recall thinking that if I had been hungrier I would have wanted to order one of the potato side dishes - no starch accompanied the entree. Our server was very helpful with wine recommendations and we went with a bottle of Pinot Noir that truely worked with both the beef and fish. They have an impressive cheese program. We opted for a sheep/cow blend Camembert served warm with apples, walnuts, toasted bread and dressed microgreens. Throughout the meal, a choice of multigrain or french bread was offered. We passed on dessert, but meringues were brought to us as we were enjoying some coffee. With the check came individually wrapped madelines for the trip home or as our server suggested - "with morning coffee." A nice touch.
The chef was visible in the room the entire time we were there. While I was in the ladies room he came over to our table, re-folded my napkin and chatted with my husband a bit. All-in-all, a very nice evening. Before tip, the tab was about $200 which included 2 cocktails and 1 bottle of wine ($70.)

Thanks for the update. I haven't eaten there in a while, but your account sums up my general recollection.

Glad you enjoyed it. Happy anniversary. I will be there Wednesday for the same reason (8 years). I also had difficulty with the choice. We usually go for three + hour meals on our anniversary (Tru, Charlie Trotters, Everest, Alinea) but this year we wanted high quality but simpler.

I will post a full report following.

Longtime go-to place for me as well, especially for work dinners. Great space, bar, food, without the time commitment and pomp of other places.

We might want to adjust the name of this topic.

When Onesixtyblue opened there was some legal business between Jordan and the owners of Michael Jordan's Restaurant who were none too pleased to have their famous partner involved elsewhere; I suspect this talk of a new place bearing his name in Onesixtyblue's space has to do with the fact that their rights have expired, allowing him to stick his name on this property or some other at long last.

Mike G wrote:When Onesixtyblue opened there was some legal business between Jordan and the owners of Michael Jordan's Restaurant who were none too pleased to have their famous partner involved elsewhere; I suspect this talk of a new place bearing his name in Onesixtyblue's space has to do with the fact that their rights have expired, allowing him to stick his name on this property or some other at long last.

Several restaurants with Michael Jordan's name and ownership exist on the East Coast. As it happens, I spoke recently to Martial Noguier, the chef at one sixtyblue. According to him, in 2004, Jordan's partners in the restaurant decided they wanted to open a branch of the steakhouse here and figured the location near United Center was a prime site. (My assumption is that they also figured a steakhouse would be more lucrative than a fine dining restaurant.) Anyway, either they neglected to clear it with Jordan first or he changed his mind, and he put the kibosh on closing osb at the nth hour and told them to find another site for the steakhouse. For whatever reason, that hasn't happened yet. Noguier said that Jordan liked osb as is, and hangs out there when he's in town, even tending the bar when things get busy.

My wife and I celebrated our 8th anniversary there last night.
I will post additional comments later, but the bottom line is that the service was exceptional and the food was very good. It was a great experience. In hindsight, I can't believe this place has been open for nearly eight years and we never went before. Instead of going to NoMi or Caliterra as often as we have, we should have tried this place.

I've always loved osb and, as was posted upthread, have had great business dinners there. I was so happy to hear that its closing was not going to happen. It's also great to read about the recent, positive experiences there.

=R=

3 or 4 visits all very pleasing. Once I made my reservation on opentable and included a note about a seating preference. They sat me where I requested and the MGR came to the table to make sure I was pleased. Good to know they read the "notes" portion of the reservation.

Always good wine recs as well.

Anyone been to the Monday night (early evening) wine tasting/bar food at OSB?

LTH,

Celebrated my wife's B-Day at One Sixty Blue last evening and very much enjoyed ourselves. I liked the open feel of the physical space, found it interesting looking into the large open kitchen with wood burning oven and was hardly even bothered by the low volume obligatory techno background beat.

When last we were at OSB they were in Cigar Program mode, or was it Chocolate Program mode, currently its Cheese Program mode, and all for the better. Our Shepard’s wheel, warm from a stint in the wood burning oven, accented with hazelnuts and seasonal mushrooms w/sprigs of baby spinach was a nice way to ease into our meal.

Ellen’s ahi appetizer was good, though unremarkable, with the exception of a slice or two of “watermelon radish” close as I could figure it was diakon radish infused with watermelon juice. My diver sea scallops w/smoked sturgeon were meaty with a light dusting of crunchy sea salt, and fresh kernels of corn and mushrooms, though the sturgeon was not much, if at all, in evidence.

I went with an over the top entrée of Hudson Valley foie gras with duck confit. The richness nicely offset with a foamy ginger/orange reduction. I particularly enjoyed the accompanying veggies, glazed carrot, small cipollini onions and fava beans.* My wife opted for trout, nicely presented in puddle of tomato consommé with a mix of veggies, the roasted peeled organic cherry tomatoes were especially noteworthy.

Chocolate soufflé with raspberry sorbet went particularly well with the last of our 2002 King Estate pinot noir and I couldn’t resist one of my favorite dessert combos, rhubarb and strawberry, served as pie with a tiny cup of strawberry juice and vanilla ice cream.

When I made the reservation they asked if it was a special occasion, “wife’s B-day” to this effect they brought out, unasked, a couple of One Sixty Blue truffles on a decorated plate with a candle. Nice touch, though I was quite surprised when I checked the bill a little more closely this morning, I gave it a quick once-over at the restaurant, and noticed I was charged $4 for the ‘birthday’ truffles. I can only imagine (hope) this was an honest mistake on their part.

Service was smooth and professional, our waiter, as he should be, conversant with both menu and wine list, though he made the mistake of asking me a direct question just as I took a bite of food, which I find quite annoying**

All in all a lovely evening in a sophisticated, surprisingly romantic, urban setting.

Enjoy,
Gary

*Menu says English peas, but I’m guessing there was a last minute substitution.

** I wonder if this isn't some sort of insider wait staff joke.

Nice report! Here is some info on watermelon radishes, which I think are pretty cool. But I think I like your description better, Gary.

kl5 wrote:Nice report! Here is some info on watermelon radishes, which I think are pretty cool. But I think I like your description better, Gary.

Kl5,

I was thinking along the lines of beet infused pickled turnips common at Middle Eastern restaurants or the occasional razor thin slices of daikon, tinted pink, served with Korean BBQ.

Thanks for the gentle correction.

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:I can only imagine (hope) this was an honest mistake on their part.

LTH,

I followed up with 160 Blue, spoke to the general manager and he stated unequivocally that the charge was an error. He insisted, though I said it was unnecessary, on sending a $25 gift certificate, which I received promptly along with a short letter of apology.

Well handled by One Sixty Blue in all regards.

Enjoy,
Gary

Sorry for the late followup on my part.

I drive by there several nights a week on my long way from the west loop to the Stevenson (via Ashland). If I want to stop in for a light weeknight dinner, can I do it at the bar? Maybe a first course and the cheese program (I am a huge fan of most cheese programs, so this has gotten my attention) and a glass of wine.

My weekend routine consists of going to RL or Four Seasons for cocktails before heading elsewhere for dinner. Since I do this regularly the bartenders have become good acquaintances of mine and invariably will ask where I am going for dinner that particular evening. Their evaluations of the restaurants I've chosen are usually aligned with my eventual review of said restaurants. One exception was onesixtyblue.

"Don't go there," they said. "The crowd is pedestrian," they said. "It's become passe. The food isn't that good. The service is forgettable." I kept the reservation (December 30, 2006) and the experience was fantastic. They were wrong on EVERY count! How does this happen? How do reasonable poeple in the restaurant business get a review so wrong? All I can conclude is that onesixtyblue went through a prolonged period where it was sub-par, tarnished its brand, and has yet to fully recover.

Having lived in Chicago for only a few months I can't speak to how onesixtyblue "used to be." Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

For years I have loved onesixty blue. They have some of the best service I have experienced in a restaurant and Martial's cooking only gets better with time. Their Monday night wine night was always great, as well as their cheese program. It is a fabulous place to stop by for a glass of wine and snacks at the bar or a full meal.

For anyone with dietary restrictions, this is one of our favorite places to go. The first time we went, it was for a birthday. I called ahead and discussed menu options. The day of the dinner, we arrived and they had created a menu specifically for my partner, one that looked just like everyone else's, but had specific substitutions to make them gluten-free. It was the first time anyone had gone to this much trouble for us. We've been back several times since and have always received excellent service and food. This thread has reminded me that we haven't been in awhile. . .

threadkiller wrote:If I want to stop in for a light weeknight dinner, can I do it at the bar? Maybe a first course and the cheese program (I am a huge fan of most cheese programs, so this has gotten my attention) and a glass of wine.

Thread,

I have not eaten at Onesixty Blue's bar, but I see no reason why not. In fact, I'd imagine it would be quite a pleasant experience.

Enjoy,
Gary