Romantic dinner near the downtown loop

[Appo]

I'm taking my girlfriend to Chicago in a couple of weeks, and see's a foodie, and I really want to take her to a great and romantic restaurant. I really don't care what it costs, but I don't want to throw money at the dinner just of the sake of it. She's a foodie first and a romantic second, if that helps. Thanks for any input!

[Appo]

Thanks all!

I have reservations at North Pond!!

I really appreciate the time and effort you all put in to help me.

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North Pond
2610 North Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL 60614

[iheartramen]

piccolo sogno is delicious. refined italian eating, which i feel isn't quite as prevalent in chicago (in contrast to "hearty mobster big plate of rigatoni" italian eating).

great menu items:
chickpea fries
grilled calamari
stracci di farro
braised beef short ribs

[chicgail]

Easy choice and you don't have to choose between food or romance.

North Pond.

Superb creative seasonal farm-to-table food by James Beard nominated Chef Bruce Sherman. Beautiful location on North Pond in Lincoln Park (the park, itself) in a beautiful arts and crafts building originally built as a warming shelter for the people who skated on the pond. Great chef's tasting menu (when we had it a few months ago, most of it was fabulous, but with some less successful courses), and the a la carte menu is also excellent. Entrees in the mid-30s. Appetizers in the teens.

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North Pond
2610 North Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL 60614

[nsxtasy]

Incidentally, North Pond has been booking up lately for its weekend dinners, so you may want to make a reservation now if that's where you'd like to go. They accept reservations at Opentable.com (as well as over the phone, of course).

You can always cancel it if you change your mind or if your plans change for some other reason.

[nsxtasy]

Consider the recommendations in this discussion:

Traveling to Chicago this weekend...need recs for romantic dinner spot - http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/706917

As I mentioned there, my two favorite Chicago restaurants for "most romantic" are North Pond and Everest - North Pond for its exquisite location in the middle of the park, and Everest for its amazing service as well as its view looking out over the city - and both have plenty of foodie credentials as well. North Pond serves contemporary American cuisine from Chef Bruce Sherman, who has been a finalist for the James Beard Award several times. Everest serves contemporary French-Alsatian cuisine from famous Chef Jean Joho. North Pond is three miles north of the Loop, where Everest is located. Everest is more formal (jackets required for gentlemen, whereas business casual prevails at North Pond) and somewhat more expensive (figure $130-200/pp inclusive for Everest, $90-125/pp for North Pond). Either one would be perfect, depending on what you're looking for.

[chicgail]

I was at Everest a couple of weeks ago and cannot give it my full recommendation. The space is beautiful, especially if you get a table by the windows. As the sun went down and the cityscape lit up, the view was wonderful. The food was uniformly superb. Flawless, in fact. Chef Jobo stopped by our table and was totally gracious.

However. The service left something to be desired. My husband ordered a drink before dinner and I requested the same. His came; mine didn't. Bread was offered to one person at the table, but not to all of us until we asked.

We were two couples and we ordered two appetizers each and one entree and for those three courses we felt rushed with each course being replaced immediately upon our finishing the previous one. Finally -- my pet peeve (and Everest should know better) -- one person finished her entree and her plate was wisked away while the rest of us finished. I know that some people like that and many places (at least in Chicago) train their staffs to do that, but it really is bad etiquette and for a restaurant of Everest's caliber to do that is simply not ok in my book.

[nsxtasy]

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that. And those aren't just subtle service errors, but blatant ones.

I still recall the service when I went to Everest for dinner, but it's been a couple of years now. The service was the finest I have ever experienced anywhere. I don't know whether your meal represents a pervasive decline in service, or if it was just a matter of inconsistency, but I sure hope they can turn it around. Especially since, as you note, the space and the food are so wonderful there.

If you're interested, you might let the restaurant know about the service problems, either in Opentable comments or by contacting them on your own.

[chicgail]

I know that mistakes can happen and that restaurants can have bad nights, but with the kitchen operating so flawlessly, the FOH and the enormous number of servers, it just felt so poorly coordinated. I'd be interested in finding out how other people's experiences have been recently.

You suggestion of letting them know about the service problems is a good one.