birthday dinner

[gsingal]

hi everyone,

i'm looking for a romantic restaurant for a birthday dinner for my girlfriend. i'm vegetarian (she isn't), and so far i've come up with Arun's and Moto as leading candidates, i have read less-than-stellar things about Arun's but we both love thai food (and asian food in general). i'd like to go to a place with a tasting menu, and i'm looking to spend about $75-$150 pp.

any advice?

[ferret]

Vegetarian meaning "no fish" or is fish okay?

[nsxtasy]

My personal favorites as the two most romantic restaurants in Chicago are both excellent choices for both strict vegetarians and those who also eat fish: Everest and North Pond.

For the most romantic restaurant, I really like Everest, one of the very best restaurants in Chicago. Like all of the very finest restaurants, the food (contemporary French-Alsatian cuisine from Chef Jean Joho) is fabulous. In addition to their regular 7-course tasting menu, they also have a 7-course vegetarian tasting menu. The service is impeccable; in fact, it's the finest service I've ever observed in any restaurant. What makes it even more romantic is the setting, at the top (40th Floor) of the Midwest Stock Exchange building, with the entire city spread out below. It's dressy (jackets required for gentlemen). The price will put it around the high end of the $75-150 range you mention, unless you go for the pre-theater special, 3 courses for $50 at 5:00/5:30 every day they're open except Fridays, which would preclude their tasting menus. www.everestrestaurant.com

For a somewhat more casual experience (e.g. business casual attire), North Pond is spectacular. The food (contemporary American cuisine from James Beard award nominee Chef Bruce Sherman) is again excellent, and the service fine. The food specializes in local and seasonal ingredients, and always includes choices for vegetarians; I've taken vegetarian friends there and they loved it. They offer a tasting menu but it must be chosen by everyone at the table; you would need to ask them what they can do for one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian. What distinguishes North Pond is its setting and history. It's located in the middle of Lincoln Park (the park itself, not just the neighborhood of the same name), facing its namesake pond with the city skyline looming over the opposite shore. The renovated building at one time was the warming shelter for ice skaters on the pond. (Skating is no longer permitted.) The small front room has floor-to-ceiling windows with that gorgeous view. Even the rear room is romantic, with an open kitchen along the rear side of the room. It will be right in the middle of your $75-150 price range. www.northpondrestaurant.com

As for Arun's, the primary objection against Arun's is that the food is no better than places costing a third as much (and I'm not a big fan of Arun's for that reason). If you've never been there, and you don't mind the price, and since you love Thai food, and you're looking for a nicer place for a special occasion, I think it's worth considering. Arun's is unique as Chicago's only truly upscale Thai restaurant. All the others are storefront type places. Some are nicer than others in their decor, but I wouldn't refer to any as "finer dining". Which is just fine (even preferable) for the 90 percent of the time that you aren't looking for a celebration dinner.

Here are a couple more possibilities, upscale restaurants featuring Asian (although not Thai) cuisine.

Another restaurant you might enjoy for her birthday is Aria. It's pan-Asian, so there are some Thai dishes on the menu, as well as Chinese and other nationalities, and they also do a darn good steak. They always have a vegetarian entree on the menu; however, I don't think they normally have a tasting menu. The decor is lovely; it's very upscale, which is what you would expect from its location in the Fairmont (luxury) Hotel downtown. In price it will be in the middle of your stated budget. Warning: their chocolate cake dessert can feed an army! www.ariachicago.com

One final possibility along the lines of upscale and Asian is Shanghai Terrace. It's the Chinese restaurant in the Peninsula Hotel (luxury hotel) downtown. The food is excellent, a nice upscale and creative take on Chinese food. They don't have a tasting menu AFAIK, but they have a huge selection of choices of large dishes and small. The service and decor are what you would expect in one of the finest hotels in the country. The price puts it about in the middle of your stated budget (which is very expensive for Chinese food, but not expensive for a nice dinner). It's temporarily closed till January 21, in case you're making last-minute plans. You can view the menu on the Peninsula's website at www.peninsula.com

[gsingal]

thank you for your very thorough response! (to answer ferret's question, i don't eat fish). your list of restaurant sounds great, and having looked into north pond, i love the idea of its location in the middle of the park -- in fact, it sounds perfect. i think im more excited about the menu at Moto though, and am thinking of dinner there, followed by drinks at North Pond. Do you know if they'll let us have a table at north pond just for drinks and/or dessert?

[nsxtasy]

Moto and North Pond are very different places; it just depends what you're looking for. Moto, under Chef Homaro Cantu, specializes in the "molecular gastronomy" type of cooking, with unusual cooking techniques and combinations of ingredients. For example, their "slaw" is cabbage that's blended, frozen solid, and put through a machine to create long strands that look like the conventional kind. North Pond is not quite as unusual, and more so than most restaurants, Chef Bruce Sherman's creations are more assemblages of tastes; for example, a main course might consist of a main item surrounded by 2-4 additional items, each of which with its own taste identity worth discovering.

I'm a big believer in looking at menus to help you choose a restaurant. That being said, it's more difficult when restaurants don't really describe a dish, only listing the "concept" or a few principal ingredients, and unfortunately that's true of both Moto and North Pond.

Also, I'm sure you're aware that Moto is considerably more expensive than North Pond, and with alcohol/tax/tip you'll easily exceed your $150 top end; Moto's 10-course menu is $115 and 20-course is $175, before alcohol/tax/tip. I recently dined at North Pond with three courses all around, and the dinner came to $100 per person including moderate wine, tax, and tip.

I don't know about going to North Pond for drinks and/or dessert (other than obviously the small seating area at the bar at the entrance); you'd have to call them and ask.

HTH