GAYOT's Blog

by Jennifer Olvera

 

So, you can’t make the trip to Tuscany you long for. It’s a bummer, for sure. On the other hand, you can sip seriously good wine from the region—with Paolo De Marchi, no less—at Sepia on April 26.

 

The storied (some say visionary) winemaker from small-production Isole e Olena will pour six of his rare vinos, including his complex flagship Sangiovese, Cepparello, and Uvaggio, a blend of Nebbiolo, Vespolina and Croatina from Proprietà Sperino, his Piedmont estate in the shadows of the Alps.

 

Continue reading “Paolo De Marchi Makes Appearance at Sepia in Chicago” »

by Jennifer Olvera

 

Earning a following that hasn’t waned, Chicago’s decade-old Bin 36 entered a new era. After closing for a few days for a quick face-lift, the menu changed.

 

 

Just like its down-to-earth wine program, Bin’s new cheese selection takes a 101 approach. Themed cheese classes will begin in April, and they’ll mimic the approach of Wine Director Brian Duncan’s take on vino education. Expanded and affordable, the cheese program continues to focus on small producers from the world over—including those from lesser-known American farmers.

Continue reading “Chicago’s Bin 36 Enters New, Cheese-Centric Era” »

 

by Jennifer Olvera
Easter is right around the corner, and we’re mighty excited about the ridiculously tasty-sounding—not to mention, atypical—options out there. Since we like a bit of savory with our sweet, we’ve set eyes on the three-course spread at one sixtyblue. You can choose between items like grilled shrimp with curried cucumber-yogurt sauce and fried chickpeas and slow-cooked pork belly with buttermilk biscuits and spicy sausage gravy. From there, opt for a flat iron steak with braised spring radishes, fiddlehead ferns and spring onion gratin or, perhaps, ricotta-English pea ravioli with Parmesan gratin, followed by sorbet with rosemary shortbread. The cost is $39 per person, and a waffle bar ($12) is available for kids under 12. On the other hand, Eve’s $32, three-course brunch features the likes of Toulouse sausage with caramelized onions and sauerkraut; slow-cooked Swan Creek Farm ham with fennel-poached eggs and caramelized fennel; and eggs Sardou with soft-shell crab, creamed spinach, poached eggs, crispy artichokes and béarnaise. Are you thinking Greek? Then head to Taxim, where the $55, five-course lineup includes items like kokoretsi, charcoal-grilled caul-stuffed offal; magiritsa, hearty lamb offal soup; tsouknidopita, nettle pie with house-made phyllo, sheep’s milk butter and feta; and tsoureki, braided sweet bread baked with a red-dyed egg. For the main course, it’s on to whole charcoal-roasted, milk-fed spring lamb. Seatings are at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Want some more ideas on where to eat? Check out our comprehensive list of the best Easter Brunch restaurants in Chicago.

by Jennifer Olvera

 

We love a good, posh meal—especially when it’s based on our favorite ingredients. That’s why we’re excited about Sixteen’s newest promotion, “Feasting at Sixteen with Frank Brunacci.”

 

The skyline-framed, 16th-floor restaurant in the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago will shift its focus to serve an a la carte menu for a week each month, from March through September, while emphasizing a single, indulgent ingredient.

 

First up is beef from March 29-April 4. The carnivorous component will be honored in various ways, starting with dishes like Kobe carpaccio with chickpea crunch and cucumber-cilantro salad and Waygu beef cheek ravioli with foie gras-port sauce and chipotle mayo.

Continue reading “Chicago’s Sixteen Launches Week-Long Theme Menus” »

by Jennifer Olvera

 

 

It’s the time of year when Chicagoans desperately look for a reason to think spring. Showy gastro-lounge Sable Kitchen & Bar offers just that, rolling out on March 24 in Kimpton’s soon-to-open Hotel Palomar.

 

 

Chef Heather Terhune—a veteran of Atwood Café in the Burnham Hotel—has developed a seasonally minded opening menu, which relies heavily on local farms and purveyors. Well-versed in both sweets and savories, Terhune expects to serve crisp, fiddlehead-topped flatbreads spun from 00 flour and homemade, boiled soft pretzels with smoked Wisconsin cheese fondue and whole grain mustard butter.

 

 

 

The kitchen will have plenty of Staub cast-iron cookware handy for dishes like steak frites and mussel frites, though Terhune is quick to note she won’t be locked into a single concept.

 

Continue reading “Sable Kitchen & Bar Opens in March” »

Big Jones will be one of several Chicago-area restaurants serving up bacon-themed treats.

by Jennifer Olvera

 

Do you love bacon like we do? Because we really, really love bacon. Fortunately, Chicago chefs do, too, and many of them are gathering for the porcine extravaganza known as Baconfest on April 10, beginning at noon.

 

The seemingly endless number of participants—from The Bristol and Big Jones to Longman & Eagle, Chalkboard, Province and Eve—will fashion dishes (some of them quite edgy) to elevate one of life’s greatest eats.

 

Bacon-makers and bacon-entrepreneurs will hawk wares, plus there will be oodles of bacon-inspired activities, spirits and culinary and cultural events revolving around… well, you know.

Continue reading “Baconfest Fattens Up Chicago” »

by Jennifer Olvera

 

The second annual Chicago Chef Week is on the horizon—make note to clear your schedule for March 22-28—bringing with it an endless array of affordable prix fixe menus at top tables all over town.

 

More than two-dozen restaurants will be dishing up special menus. Among them is The Publican, which will usher in a $30 three-course meal of Little Gem salad with crispy pig ears, followed by grilled country ribs. As for dessert, look for a tweaked version of its famed waffle.

 

Admittedly, though, you may be lured to the ’burbs for Paul Virant’s menu at Vie, which happens to be one of our Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S. He’ll kick things off with a salad of La Quercia prosciutto, scarlet turnips, caramel apple jam, Werp Farms arugula and Spanish olive oil. Next up, it’s Milanese-style Gunthorp Farms chicken with organic polenta, fried Tuscan kale and garlic-herb vinaigrette and warm, gooey butter cake with Tahitian vanilla ice cream, brittled peanuts and chocolate sauce.

  Continue reading “Chicago Chef Week Ushers in Spring” »

Goose Island Clybourn will kick off spring with maple-bacon-infused beer.

by Jennifer Olvera

 

The highly anticipated Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America—geared toward brewpubs and breweries—will take place at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Chicago April 7-10. While the festivities are trade-oriented, there is a way for day beer lovers to partake.

 

By Andre Gayot

 

Hey Laurent, isn’t there a better way to let us know that this is a fish-oriented restaurant — and an excellent one for that matter — than this esoteric acronym of L20? L is for Laurent, we understand, and replaces the H which is half of the chemical symbol of water, H20.

 

But Laurent, you have nothing to do with chemistry except maybe when, with a funny allusion, you mock the molecular cuisine concealing your succulent foie gras under a cloud of sugar candy. Moreover, you make it difficult for the search engines to find this elegant and worthy eatery hidden in the chic Lincoln Park West area of Chicago in the databases of good restaurants, a pity for the uninformed who will miss a memorable dinner in this serene, almost spa-like space filled with Makassar ebony columns, plush couches and white leather chairs. The single onyx two-top has “it table” status written all over it.

 

Continue reading “L20 the Place to Go” »

by Jennifer Olvera

 

Chaise Lounge has officially become The Southern, a Chicago drinking den where comfort food gets a sometimes-irreverent spin. The cocktails? Classic. The tunes? Southern rock. As for the food, chef Cary Taylor kicks off the edited menu with aged cheddar cheese straws with truffle mayo, hush puppies with smoked trout and Johnny cakes with Gunthorp Farm pork and chow chow.

  Continue reading “Chicago’s Chaise Lounge becomes The Southern” »

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »