Quince in Evanston?

[stellamystar]

Has anyone been to Quince in Evanston? It occupies the old Trio space (on Hinman). The menu looks good - any reviews?

[jn2001]

A quick update - I dined there last night and expected to be able to partake in their 3 course, $30 deal on Tuesdays through Thursdays that is advertised on their website. I was told that they stopped that deal about two weeks ago, but they haven't had a chance to update their website yet. I ended up ordering off the menu, and I agree with previous posters - food was good, not great.

[foodbeast]

was that at quince, chefs station, or va Pensiero ?

[nsxtasy]

It must have been at Quince, since Quince is the only one of the three that has such a deal shown on their website.

[rrouilly]

Oceanique is extremely good - agree with the poster who said it is the best in Evanston. Parking was never that big of a deal when we went, but then, we were willing to walk a bit. Otherwise, we used the valet.

Trio under Gand/Tramonto was a lot more pleasant than Tru, IMHO. Their generousity came through a lot better. The whole Tru thing is just so "yeah, baby!" Achatz shines wherever he goes...an unusual talent.

Also like Campagnola quite a bit. The food has integrity.

[eiland]

Went there Saturday, 4/14. Food was good, not plentiful. Wine list was sketchy and pricy especially glass pourings. Duck was the best at our table. Service was good, but kitchen was loud, even in the main dining area. Not the same level as the old Trio, but then Trio was pricier. I like the restaurant in the Margarita Inn (can't remember the name) better for about the same money. But then Quince is only a few months old.

[stellamystar]

ANyone know the name of the Margarita Inn place? I heard it was good, too.

[nsxtasy]

The Italian restaurant in the Margarita Inn is called Va Pensiero. It's very, very good. www.va-p.com

[eiland]

Bingo! Cozy bar in which to await your table.

[EvanstonFoodGuy]

I have never eaten at Quince but from what I've read I would agree with nsxtasy, there are better restaurants that fit this category in Evanston namely Stained Glass and Chef's Station, both outstanding restaurants. Chef's Station has a great six course tasting menu I think the price is around $55 per.

If you have been to both the Chef's Station and Stained Glass and what to try something else Quince would be a good experience IMO. And yes it is no Trio having had the lucky opportunity of having one incredible special tasting menu with wine there a few years ago... what a shame it is losing the once great Trio.

You can find some opinions from actual diners here.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?s...

[nsxtasy]

> what a shame it is losing the once great Trio.

In all fairness, most of the previous chefs responsible for Trio's greatness have moved on to other projects in the Chicago area - Grant Achatz to Alinea, Rick Tramonto (with Gale Gand) to his namesake restaurants in Wheeling as well as to Tru in Chicago - so their experience and expertise are not really "lost", just moved 20-30 minutes away. ;)

Incidentally, in my previous post above I neglected to mention Oceanique, mostly because it can be *slightly* higher in price than Chef's Station and the other places I mentioned. IMHO Oceanique continues to be the very best restaurant in Evanston, and fits the "casual fine dining" moniker. And I didn't mention Pete Miller's, which is very good but as a steakhouse seems to fit better into that separate genre. All of which is no slight to the other places I mentioned, which are also very good indeed.

[EvanstonFoodGuy]

Yes Oceanique is excellent, parking can be a challange, though the train is right across the street. All three are very good with Oceanique taking the edge for servce and food, Chef's Station being the best value, and Stained Glass getting special mention for the trio wine samplers.

[leek]

Oceanique has valet parking, if needed. Spots are sometimes available on Chicago avenue, but mostly north of Main street.

[nsxtasy]

There is also a parking lot around the corner from Oceanique, on the east side of Hinman just south of Main, and it has some metered spaces. Most people don't know about it because it's not visible from the intersection.

[EvanstonFoodGuy]

I Just had dinner at Chef's Station this past Saturday and the food was excellent.

For an appetizer I had two perfectly cooked medium sized scallops on creamy potato filled ravioli with a white truffle sauce. And for an entree the special that night, pan seared fresh Walleye Pike on a crab ratatouille (I think that is the right word). They have a very nicely laid out wine menu with many low to mid priced wines to choose from.

We both had appetizers, entrees and shared a dessert along with a very good medium priced bottle of wine. Dinner for two came to around $145.

[nsxtasy]

It's trying to be a mid-priced casual fine dining place, so don't measure it based on the previous occupants of that space. I went there, and it was fairly good, but not great; few of the dishes really excelled, and the desserts, in particular, were disappointing. I think you can find better food for the same money at some other casual fine dining places in Evanston (e.g. Chef's Station, Campagnola, Jacky's Bistro, Stained Glass, etc).

[mousse]

I really have to weigh in here on Stained Glass. The last (and I do repeat, LAST) time my husband and I ate there, we had such bad service (waitress not showing up initially for 15 minutes; not giving us the specials as she was to all our neighbors--and then when we asked if we could also hear them, we were told that she thought we looked like we had decided so thought we didn't need them--; brought the dessert menus before the main course came--and then when asked why were being given the dessert menus, were told she thought we might like to read them; waiting almost an hour for the main course, etc.) When we asked to speak to the manager or owner, we were told the owner was busy and didn't have time to talk to us! Unbelievable. When we tracked her down anyway, she couldn't have cared less that we had such a disastrous meal. If the owner doesn't care.......you won't see us back there again and we used to really like the place.

[EvanstonFoodGuy]

With the competitive nature of the restaurant business there is no excuse for the horrible service you experienced not to mention the brush off when trying to speak with the manager or owner. You seem feel pretty strongly of you bad experience I think you should try to contact the owner one more time to express your dissatisfaction. I would hope the owner would appreciate the information, especially from a repeat customer.

[nsxtasy]

I agree.

The name of the owner of Chef's Station is Peter Mills.

[EvanstonFoodGuy]

Nsxtasy, Mousse was commenting on Stained Glass, I believe the owner is the Chef Victor Hernandez.

[nsxtasy]

Oops! Sorry... (and thanks for the correction!)

[johnh91011]

THe question is: did you leave any tip?

I have used my tip as a proper way to show my displeasure and left a 0% tip at at least 5 restaurants in the past. In all of them I also add the reason (bad service, bad food, unresponsive management) on the credit card receipt.

[nsxtasy]

The tip goes to the server. If you are undertipping for bad food or unresponsive management, you are "punishing the messenger" rather than those actually responsible.