In a city that is no stranger to Italian concepts, have Lettuce and Funke truly sought to redefine the genre? Should Chicagoans really wrangle for reservations and pay a premium to experience this vision? Or do you only encounter the same steak and pasta, garnished with a bit of that Beverly Hills glitz, that local diners have enjoyed for generations?
Steakhouse
Over the past few years, you have observed several of Chicago’s notable wine lists undergo a striking change…
You dub Andrés “the Alinea killer,” and you attest that one sprawling meal at Bazaar Meat—enjoyed at total leisure, with total warmth, and built, plate by plate, in accordance with one’s personal taste—negates any need to go to any of Achatz’s concepts ever again.
From the archives: An Exploration of Ethnic Identity and the Persistence of “Prairie” Cuisine
Hype is anathema to a cynic such as you. Yet some places fulfill–dare you say, surpass–expectations from the very start. Some places not only please, but they promise. They stand as a bastion of dynamic cookery and gracious service that is sure to elevate the expression of those arts across the entire city. They beg you not merely to check them once off of your bucket list, but affirm the splendor of those rare restaurants that embody a living organism.
In the final analysis, it is hard not to look back at all four events you attended as a mere cash grab, driven by branding Alinea as the “sort of group” that puts on “wine dinners” in a weak market where they, as usual, will escape any meaningful criticism.
RPM Seafood is the long-awaited third concept in Lettuce Entertain You’s chain of high-end RPM eateries, which includes […]
RPM Steak caters to the 99% of customers who did not make a Bavette’s reservation a month in advance of their special dinner. The restaurant caters to the 99% of customers who are impressed with hulking cuts of meat from unknown ranches–customers who take a bite, find they can chew through it, and think: “fair enough!”
Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf excels in Chicago’s crowded steakhouse scene by consciously subverting so many of the nasty tropes that have plagued this genre of restaurants nationwide. There is little glitz and even less glamour…