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lconnor Jul 17, 2009 12:04 PM

Restaurant Recommendations, Please

My husband and I are going to be in Chicago next weekend. We're looking for a two semi-nice to nice places to eat: on Saturday night somewhere near Steppenwolf and on Sunday evening, early, somewhere near Union Station. Any ideas?
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›7 Replies . Latest Jul 21, 2009 by ms. chow
  1. m
     mountsac Jul 20, 2009 02:46 PM

    to me, the west loop is still walkable from union station. so if you don't mind walking for about 10-15 minutes, i recommend avec or blackbird (both owned by the same person, but the former being casual Mediterranean and latter more upscale contemporary american) - delicious food!

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    Avec Restaurant
    615 W Randolph St Ste A, Chicago, IL 60661

    Blackbird Restaurant
    619 W. Randolph, Chicago, IL 60606
    ›3 Replies
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    1. re: mountsac
      m
       ms. chow Jul 21, 2009 05:34 AM

      A block south, or a block north, there's Sepia and Province. Sepia is an upscale, sexy restaurant serving refined food. I think there is some Sunday specials, but escapes me right now. Province a block north offers very creative options in terms of food. It is not exactly small plates format, but you can order from several sections of the menu, and their entrees have the largest half portion options that i've seen anywhere. I have been a follower of both chef Zimmerman (Sepia) and Zweiban (Province). Glad that they are in town and doing new things.

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      Sepia
      123 North Jefferson St, Chicago, IL 60661

      Province
      161 N Jefferson, Chicago, IL 60661
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      1. re: ms. chow
        m
         mountsac Jul 21, 2009 06:24 AM

        haven't tried sepia since they changed the chef... how does it compare to before?
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        1. re: mountsac
          m
           ms. chow Jul 21, 2009 07:07 AM

          I have been a fan of Chef Zimmerman since his days at Mod and Del Toro, so i'm probably not as unbiased. Objectively though, i think Sepia 1.0 was more rustic and bold in terms of the food. The rillete, the flatbread, the grilled items. With the new team (Chef Zimmerman and also Scott Tyree, former TRU sommelier), the menu is more refined and creative. Some signatures (the rillete and flatbread) still remained. The Pinto box too at lunch. I think the new changes showed that the restaurant is maturing in the right direction.
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    2. chicgail Jul 20, 2009 02:07 PM

      Boka is a very nice option. There is also Vinci on the corner is very decent Italian and they are sensitive to time constrains of theater-goers.

      If you have the time and money to spend, of course there's Alinea.

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      Alinea
      1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614

      Vinci Restaurant
      1732 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL
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      1. re: chicgail
        m
         ms. chow Jul 21, 2009 05:30 AM

        VInci is one of my go-to comfort Italian places. Being a Steppenwolf subscriber, we've actually made it a tradition to go there after every show. They are very good at accomodating theatergoers before or after the show.
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      2. g
         gls_junk Jul 20, 2009 01:59 PM

        across the street from steppenwolf is Boka - been there a couple of times and was pleased

        http://bokachicago.com/

        near union station on a sunday i think the pickings are slimmer.
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