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JAPONAIS
600 West Chicago Avenue; (312) 522-9600
Email:
info@japonais.com; Website: www.japonaischicago.com
Japonais is this year’s most glamorous scene. The whole place – dining room,
bar, riverfront lounge – oozed high design elegance, from the giant urns to the
glass backed waterfall. No wonder it’s always jammed with a stylish crowd
sipping Floating Orchids. The creative cuisine, a syntheses of partner
Mile Lim's Mirai Sushi and Ohba menus and a triumph for Chef Gene Kato.
- D.R.W.
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SUSHI SAMBA RIO
504
North Wells Street; (312) 595-2300
Email:
stefani@sushisamba.com; Website: www.sushisamba.com
Just your typical Japanese-Brazilian-Peruvian restaurant via New York, but
glamorous SushiSamba Rio fits right in with the foodie fashionistas who roam
River North. A stunning oval sushi bar signals that high-quality sashimi
and sushi are major draws around the multilevel mango-hued dining room.
- D.R.W.
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PARK GRILL
11
North Michigan Avenue; (312) 521-7275
Email:
info@parkgrillchicago.com; Website: www.parkgrillchicago.com
Park Grill may be Millennium Park’s best perk: The window wall of the
contemporary American spot overlooks the McCormick Tribune ice rink in the
winter and the city’s biggest al fresco patio in summer. Partners
Matthew O’Malley and Jim Horan have outfitted the handsome 300-seat room with a
fireplace, wood laminate tables, and large booths. Chef Bernard Laskowski
offers up bold, likable food.
- D.R.W.
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PLUTON
873
North Orleans Street; (312) 266-1440
{Best
New Restaurant} The small
ivory-toned room is serene and minimalist, set with luxurious embossed linens,
Christofle silver, Bernardaud dishes, and Riedel glassware. Pluton calls
his new menu “contemporary American rooted in French technique.” This
makes the 2000 Beaucastel Reserve California Paso Robles syrah ($76) by the
famed French Chareaneuf-du-Pape winery a perfect choice at
Chicago’s best new restaurant.
- D.R.W.
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FLIGHT
1820 Tower Drive, Glenview; (847) 729-9463
This breezy wine bar and restaurant, tucked into a redeveloped Glenview Naval
Air Station property, has quickly established itself as a destination for
imaginative grazing an sipping. Amid a concrete-and-steel bar,
Miro-pattern upholstered banquettes, and copper-topped tales, owners Jeff
Burklin and Steven Herzon stick to the theme with a menu of international food
and wine flights (wines are listed by claim number instead of bin).
- D.R.W.
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KORYO
2936
North Broadway; (773) 477-8410
This is everything Korean food should be: tender, fresh, and
slightly dangerous. Joanne So and her husband, Chef
Jun Park,
have decked out their sleek Lake
View storefront
with abstract art and black vinyl seats. Seems like an unlikely spot for
a little bit o’ Seoul,
but appetizers of pan-fired calamari, and a browned kimchi pancake prove Koryo
has got the goods.
- J.R.
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10
WEST
10
West Jackson Avenue, Naperville ; (630) 548-3100
“Hey, that table’s on fire,” a guest nonchalantly pointed
out during a recent visit to 10 West. Seems an absent-minded diner across
the room had left a menu too close to a candle. The global restaurant in
the old Elaine space is red hot, all right. The restored brownstone has
become one of downtown Naperville’s
busiest spots thanks to Patrick Cassata’s offbeat dishes.
-J.R./D.R.W.
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LA TACHE
1475 West Balmoral Avenue; (773) 334-7162
There’s an oddball cake at La Tache that mixes pineapple,
cardamom and vanilla mascarpone. It has no business succeeding, much less
being a knockout. That’s La Tache – slightly overpriced; no reservations;
awfully loud for a quiet Andersonville side
street – but the place doesn’t just work, it puts in overtime. Chef Fale
Levitski turns bistro cooking on hits ear.
- J.R.
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BOKA
1729 North Halsted Street; (312) 337-6070
From now on, when I buy tickets for Steppenworf, I’ll make reservations at
Boka. Draped with a sweeping textile sculpture that makes you
wonder if John Malkovich has just dropped in by parachute, this sophisticated
pretheater spot offers delicious American food from Chef Guiseppe Scurato,
previously at Spago and MK. Co-owners Kevin Boehm and Orb Katz put
their names together to come up with BOKA for the marquee, and they put their
heads together to come up with the cell phone booth strategically located
outside the dining room. Both smart moves.
- D.R.K.
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SPEAKEASY SUPPER CLUB
1401
West Devon Avenue; (773) 338-0600
Every neighborhood
should be lucky enough to enjoy an anchor like Jody Andre’s boisterous
spot. Chef Tiffanie Hicks doesn’t mess too much with her contemporary
menus; the best ‘hood joints always keep their fans’ favorites on hand.
It’s even better when the place is BYO so you know what wine to take based on
the dish you’re already psyched for.
- D.R.W.
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MOTO
945 West Fulton Market Street;
(312) 491-0052
{Best New Chef} Homaro Cantu's creative mojo is in
hyperdrive at Moto, the serene new Fulton
Market-district destination. After four years at Charlie Trotter's, the
27-year old Cantu is cooking at a level of creative elan we first saw in Trio's
Grant Achatz a couple of years ago - and his dishes are like nothing you've
ever seen. Calling his food "avant-garde with Asian
minimalism." Cantu's food is brilliant but tiny: If you opt for the
five-course dinner, a swing by Portillo's might be in your future.
- D.R.W.
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TWEET
5020 North Sheraton Road;
(773) 728-5576
Q. What do you get when you cross the
owner of a gay bar with two chefs from Charlie Trotter's? A.
Tweet. Michelle Fire hired Chefs Janice Martin and Kimberly Stewart for
this one-of-a-kind, cash-only BYO charmer last September. All three seem
to be having a blast, and the cheer rubs off on servers as well as diners,
who've turned the bird-themed storefront into the hottest scene Uptown.
- J.R.
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SAIKO
1307 South Wabash Avenue;
(312) 922-2222
Like Japanimation come to life, Saiko unleashes a flood of shapes and
colors. And we're not just talking about the décor. Sushi and maki
by Kenju Horikoshi are gorgeous and fresh.
- J.R.
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AVEC
615 West Randolph Street;
(312) 377-2002
Avec packs so many people into its communal banquettes and hipster bar, the
place should have been named Sur.
This hot spot takes no reservations, and dinners waiting for a prized
seat are practically on top of one another.
- D.R.W.
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FUSE
Hotel 71, 71 East Wacker Drive;
(312) 462-7071
{Best New Dish} Developed by Richard Mott (North Pond) and designed by
Nancy Warren (Kevin Topolobampo), the elegant space is accented with blue
mosaic tiles and textural artwork. Aubriot says he's doing
French-influenced contemporary American cooking.
-D.R.W.
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ISABELLA'S ESTIATORIO
330 West State Street, Geneva; (630) 845-8624
" I just spent two hours on the phone looking for
Lebanese yogurt," Isabella's Chef, Sean Eastwood, told us two months
before the placed opened last October. Right then, we knew Isabella's was a
pretty good bet. And Eastwood who arrived at this smart, noisy
Mediterranean spot in downtown Geneva fresh from
San Francisco's
Kokkari Estiatorio, doesn't disappoint.
-J.R.
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TANK SUSHI
4514 North Lincoln Avenue;
(773) 769-2600
For smart sushi in Lincoln
Square, think Tank. This spiffy storefront is part
dining room and part stylish bar - sparkling so bright that I always head right
to it. Makes sense: Executive Chef Sami Signorino's seafood tastes fresh
enough to have just been fished out of a seawater tank.
- D.R.W.
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LA PIAZZA
410 Circle Avenue, Forest Park;
( 708) 366-4010
Italian is not the flavor of the month. But then there's
Sicilian Chef Gaetano Di Benedetto's cozy trompe I'oeil small-town La Piazza,
shining bright in the western suburbs. Di Benedetto has his
idiosyncrasies - that prosciutto-draped "tree" in a flowerpot looks
wacky, but he told us it was inspired by a Sicilian festival where people
climbed greased poles to reach edible treats. That helped. So did
the fact that it was delicious. La Piazza's flavors blossom with
authenticity, and the Chef's renditions of beloved regional dishes are
scintillating.
- D.R.W.
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CAFÉ LE COQ
734 Lake Street, Oak Park; (708) 848-2233
I'm begging you to ask me "Where's a good place to eat in Oak Park?"
just so I can answer, "Café Le Coq." A dead ringer for a Parisian
bistro, this gem sparkles with the talents of Chef Steven Chiappeti.
- D.R.K.
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VERMILION
10 West Hubbard Street; (312) 527-4060
When I heard Virmilion touted as Indian-Latin fusion, I groaned. But these
exotic cuisines blend seamlessly in the hands of Chef Maneet Chauhan. And the
owner, Rohine Fey, has created a space as vibrant as its eponym, noting that
the color is a symbol of Indian femininity. The Mondrianesque, mostly
white interior is smartly adorned with large black-and-whites by Farrokh
Chathia, a top Indian fashion photographer. The patrons are stylish, too,
sipping grenadine-red-signature cocktails, nibbling tapas-style appetizers.
- D.R.W.
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