Suggestions for DCist coming to town

Greetings. I heard this board was a Chicago doppelganger for donrockwell.com (a renegade DC food chat site that I frequent) so I thought I would check it out before my visit to Chicago in a few weeks. I was hoping someone here would be able to suggest a place for 2 young couples to go get a nice dinner. I am looking for someplace somewhat hip and trendy with a cool vibe but that isn't all packaging. It has to serve up some interesting cocktails and real quality food also. I am thinking entrees somewhere around the $17-27 range. If it is still kind of new or underground like a new neighborhood spot that is just bonus points. If anyone is familiar with DC I was thinking something like a Komi or Zaytinya.

The other couple is from Chicago but being in the restaurant industry and a self-proclaimed gastronaut I told them I wanted to do some research and pick the place for Saturday night's dinner. I would really like to impress them with my pick. Can you guys help?

Start here with our Great Neighborhood Restaurant Award winners and then do a search for more info on anyting tht interests you.

BlakeG,

It might be a little less "hip" than what you're looking for, but I'd recommend Sweets & Savories (which is part of the list that stevez references). The cocktails are very good, the food is excellent, and the entrees meet your price-range. Nevertheless, I'd forget about ordering off the menu and go for the chef's tasting, which is one of the best bargains in town. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better prepared meal at that price.

If hip/trendy is more important than the food, I'd recommend Lula Cafe, also part of the list that stevez links to. You'll still have a very good meal there in a similar price-range, but the piercing/tatoo factor is significantly higher.

Enjoy your visit and please let us know where you wind up.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:BlakeG,

If hip/trendy is more important than the food, I'd recommend Lula Cafe, also part of the list that stevez links to. You'll still have a very good meal there in a similar price-range, but the piercing/tatoo factor is significantly higher.

Enjoy your visit and please let us know where you wind up.

Best,
Michael

Well, you beat me to the Lulu's idea. I've not always loved the food at Lulu's but appreciate the place nonetheless. What made me think of them is their cocktails; they do some pretty neat things, especially taking advantage of seasonal ingredients.

Vital Information wrote:Well, you beat me to the Lulu's idea. I've not always loved the food at Lulu's but appreciate the place nonetheless. What made me think of them is their cocktails; they do some pretty neat things, especially taking advantage of seasonal ingredients.

For the sake of clarity, Lula Cafe is not Lulu's. Lulu's was maybe, possibly hip and trendy ten years ago. But probably not, really.

I've actually had need for a quick weekly dinner in Evanston for a few weeks, and Lulu's has been serving fine even for repeat visits, but Lula Cafe is the place that both EC and VI are talking about.

Lula Cafe
2537 N. Kedzie Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60647
773.489.9554
http://www.lulacafe.com/

Lulu's Dim Sum and Then Some
804 Davis
Evanston, IL
847-869-4343
http://www.lulusdimsum.com/

Okay, if you really want hip/trendy, not a pseudo-restaurant but some place that's actually topnotch, and one that you can get into on short notice (unlike this or this), my list (by no means definitive) would be:

1. Avec.
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2780
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=62644#62644

2. Scylla.
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=8899

Mike G wrote:1. Avec.
2. Scylla.

Both are great restaurants, but neither really satisfies the "interesting cocktails" requirement. Interesting wines, sure. Cocktails, no.

Also, I've never really considered Scylla "hip". It's really more of a place I'd think of going if I wanted to show my mom or my aunt a fun night on the town. Comfy, quaint, and pleasant, but not really hip.

Best,
Michael

Hell, that's pretty much what I'd say about Lula, whose hemp-wearing nose-piercing vibe is so Lilith Fair 2002 to me. But then, keerist, what is hip anyway? I mean, Carnivale is probably the hippest restaurant in town, unless you think it's the most unhip place on earth. Del Toro is uberhip until you get to the food, which is, as I said then, Bilbao Bicycle Club time, mall-ready and suburbanite-friendly. Scylla is Tim Burtonesque paintings on the wall, servers who (this was a year ago, admittedly) can barely overcome their loathing of you to take an order, and quite imaginative food, sounds like hip to me, unless it doesn't to you. You know what's really hip? Orange Garden. The Aon building cafeteria (since you can't get in without a building pass). Mealtime at 26th & Cal.

Harry V.'s great treatise on hipness.

OK, so the very act of calling something hip makes it un-hip just like my presence in an authentic Chinese restaurant makes it less authentic.

Still, no interesting cocktails. So there.

what about Japonais? I haven't been, but from what friends have told me it's super hip, good food and creative cocktails...

http://www.japonaischicago.com/index2.html

Mike, Michael,

what about Follia, where the two of you reported having a great meal a few weeks ago?

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=90770#90770

Let me give a strong second to Avec. I cannot think of a better spot in terms of both environment and food. Here's a link to their website.

I would also strongly recommend Green Zebra. They do mostly vegetarian small plates, the food is excellent and they do a good job with both wine and cocktails. Here are some recent comments regarding Green Zebra: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2011.

I think that Chicago offers some fantastic Mexican food too, and one of my favorites for upscale Mexican is Salpicon -- great environment, great tequila list and great food. Again, some other's comments: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=7327.

If you're interested in Chinese-fusion, I might suggest Opera. The decor is great, as are the cocktails, and although I wouldn't describe the concept as anything cutting edge, the food tends to be quite good. Here are some thoughts from others on this site: http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1988. It's not far from downtown either, and is accessible by the "L". Somewhat similar to Opera (closer geographically to Avec) is Red Light, which is owned by the same group that owns Opera, although I prefer the food at Opera.

Amata wrote:Mike, Michael,

what about Follia, where the two of you reported having a great meal a few weeks ago?

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=90770#90770

Another nice suggestion, although I can't speak to their ability to shake up an interesting cocktail. Quite a few nice wines, though.

Has anyone been to Delacosta in the Fox and Obel building? I've heard nothing about the food, and I'm unfamiliar with Douglas Rodriguez's pedigree, other than the PR, but I think it's finally open and has hip written all over it.

I was looking forward to having an interesting meal option in the building I worked in until I up and decided to move to Kansas. Maybe on a return trip.

Aaron-- I don't think it has opened yet, or if it has, just in the last few days. On Saturday it had a sign saying "soon" (as opposed to a definite date), and they were prepping for an event or a practice night or something.

Aaron Deacon wrote:Has anyone been to Delacosta in the Fox and Obel building? I've heard nothing about the food, and I'm unfamiliar with Douglas Rodriguez's pedigree, other than the PR, but I think it's finally open and has hip written all over it.

I was looking forward to having an interesting meal option in the building I worked in until I up and decided to move to Kansas. Maybe on a return trip.

I went to his website and that was no help, but according to Metromix, it is now open. Years ago I recall having a fantastic meal at Patria in NY, but perhaps he spread himself too thin because I heard it went downhill quite a bit and later closed. But I agree with you that this would have everything that the OP is searching for.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I guess I should have really said "modern" instead of hip. My bad. Avec looked really cool. That is definitely the kind of thing I was looking for. It looked like it was a sister restaurant of Blackbird. Obviously I have heard of that place but I wasn't sure if it wasn't mentioned because of the price or just because it is not as great these days.

BlakeG wrote:Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I guess I should have really said "modern" instead of hip. My bad. Avec looked really cool. That is definitely the kind of thing I was looking for. It looked like it was a sister restaurant of Blackbird. Obviously I have heard of that place but I wasn't sure if it wasn't mentioned because of the price or just because it is not as great these days.

Avec and Blackbird are sister restaurants, and I don't think you will find anyone complaining about Blackbird's food -- especially, their pork belly -- the food is fantastic. But I think people probably steered away from mentioning it because of your price limitation. You can check out Blackbird's menu by going to Avec's website and clicking on the Blackbird link.

I'd second the Follia recommendation. It might be a little more "under the radar" for your Chicago friends. Japonais is an obvious option, but your local friends may not be as impressed by your prowess at finding the path less traveled.

Delacosta is now open for business. You should really go try the amazing food. The ceviche menu is truly a work of art, and the entrees are wonderful. As for Chef Douglas' credentials, he is a James Beard award winner, and that is a pretty credible source to me. The place "turns" into a lounge afterwards and has great signature cocktails and muddled drinks.

Welcome,

I had been looking forward to the opening myself.

Are you affiliated with Chef?

Also, your tag line is very provocative. Could you explain its provenance? Thanks.

chef121 wrote:Delacosta is now open for business. You should really go try the amazing food. The ceviche menu is truly a work of art, and the entrees are wonderful. As for Chef Douglas' credentials, he is a James Beard award winner, and that is a pretty credible source to me. The place "turns" into a lounge afterwards and has great signature cocktails and muddled drinks.

Had the fortune of meeting up with the always hilarious Aaron Deacon for a pre-dinner cocktail at Delacosta last night. Sadly, the only real fortunate part of the experience was having some great chuckles with Aaron.
As far as Delacosta went, not much good to report, James Beard award or not. Before I go on one of my tirades, I should state that I usually hold it against any restaurant that gives me the impression that their more concerned about style than cuisine. And on that front, Delacosta put a huge amount of effort in its beautiful Marche-esque ambiance.
As a martini drinker, I’ll never understand the use of stemless glassware which transfers the heat from your hand directly to your cocktail. What’s the point of chilling it down? A classic sign of style over substance.

We sampled 3 of their ceviches; white shrimp, fluke, and tuna/squid combo. All were ridiculously salty and/or over-limed. I made use of my cocktail napkin with 2 of them because of their sinewy-ness or because of their use of fairly low grade and flavorless fish. In addition, it was served ice-cold.
Some kinks obviously need to be worked out on the fish front.

Having 3 appetizers (one given as a consolation) and 11 drinks, the bill came out to around $225.

Cocktail hour came to an abrupt halt when we realized that we were late for dinner!







DeLaCosta
465 E. Illinois Street
Chicago, IL
312-464-1700

I somehow missed Pigmon's report earlier--I thought I posted on this, but guess not--and I agree with what he says. I didn't dislike it quite so much, but there's not much to recommmend. Now the place had only been open, what, a week? But goodness, those ceviches were quite a disappointment. Well, a disappointment given the hype perhaps, not my actual expectations, which were pretty low. One of them was served with popcorn, and I thought the gimmick worked surprisingly well. But when one's praise for a ceviche bar is that they serve decent popcorn, well, that ought to tell you something.

Before moving on to the Trixie-pea-approved Hendrick's martini, I slurped a caipirinha highly recommended by the bartender. Pretty tasty, sure, but in a pint glass of crushed ice, I sucked that puppy down like Kool-Aid, and felt none the better for having paid 10 bucks for it. I'm no caipirinha expert, but I've had them where you felt you had a drink when you finished, and this wasn't one of those. But, ah, the Hendrick's.