does such a place exist?

[gogol]

Looking for a dinner recommendation for a weekend in late April (Saturday or Sunday night). We're staying in River North but we'll happily jump in a cab for great food.

Here's what we're looking (hoping?) for:

A menu that's creative and offers different, yet proficiently prepared dishes. Ideally it will have more than a few options that I can't (don't) cook at home: sweetbreads, bone marrow, cardoons, heart, pig's ears, tongue...

A smart wine list or - even better - a sommelier who could throw us a curve: Schioppettino? Sure! Bobal? You bet!

I want to be able to have a conversation with my wife during dinner without raising my voice or having to compete with the chef's epic collection of Zeppelin on his iPod, (which, of course, goes to 11).

We also don't want a stuffy room. (Contradictory? Hey, I'm a complicated man).

A tasting menu would be great, but it's not essential.

I'd like to keep it under $250 all-in for two.

Thanks.

[gogol]

Thanks for all the recommendations. We had a very nice weekend in Chicago...for lunch on Saturday, we went to Xoco. I was thrilled to see the special was a beef tongue and bacon torta. It was fantastic, a really great sandwich.

Saturday night, my wife wanted BBQ so we jumped in a cab and went up to Smoque. Our cabby kept asking us if we were sure of where we were going as, “No tourists ever come up here.” Smoque was good. We shared brisket and ribs. I wish I’d known it was BYOB ahead of time as I would have picked up some beer or wine prior to heading out.

Sunday we had lunch at the Purple Pig. A few standout dishes here: the pig ears were great, the charred ramps were delicious (albeit a bit over salted) and the deep fried anchovies with fennel slaw was a great combo of zesty, salty, savoury. The best dish, hands down, was jamon serrano with grilled mushrooms on toast topped with a fried duck egg.

For Sunday dinner we did the seven course tasting at Bonsoiree. Very friendly service and a few nice dishes. I liked the sous-vide duck and a perfectly cooked fish with peas and Japanese pumpkin; my wife’s favourite was the scallop and crab Motoyaki. The surprise hit was a mascarpone sorbet with blueberry caramel sauce. Seriously tasty. Another notable was a ramp sorbet – unexpected, pretty and flavourful. We really enjoyed this meal but were a bit surprised at the size of the portions. This may seem like a strange complaint (and it’s not really a complaint, more an observation) but the portions were larger any tasting menu I’ve ever had. It was a challenge to finish 7 courses. All in all, a really nice meal and a great way to wrap-up the weekend.

Thanks again for the recommendations.

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Bonsoiree
2728 W Armitage, Chicago, IL 60647

Smoque
3800 N Pulaski Rd Ste 2, Chicago, IL 60641

XOCO
449 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654

Purple Pig
500 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611

[twodales]

Not sure all your criteria can be met but if adventuresome outweighs the other qualities you are hoping for perhaps you could look at the menus at The Girl & the Goat, The Purple Pig, Longman & Eagle and for not so adventurous but quieter-Henri.

I'm with you on being able to have a conversation with your fellow eaters. I was recently at a restaurant where the food was good but it was so loud that even though I was no more than a foot away from my friends we were screaming at each other . Really unpleasant and we finally gave up trying to talk and ate in our own silence. We haven't been back there by the way.

[gogol]

I really like the menu at Longman and Eagle. They don't take reservations, does anyone have an idea as to what an average wait for a table is on a Saturday night?

[nsxtasy]

>> does anyone have an idea as to what an average wait for a table is on a Saturday night?

"On most weekend nights, the wait list becomes so long that the staff will take your cell phone and ask you to return 3 or more hours later", according to slide 8 of the photoessay article at http://chicago.metromix.com/restauran...

I would NEVER go on a weekend night to a busy restaurant that doesn't accept reservations. But I'm not a masochist. :) Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of the nicer restaurants in the Chicago area accept reservations (including many via the internet), so there's no need to get stuck at one of the ones that don't.

[gogol]

3 hrs?!? Cross them off the list (and thanks for the info).

[nsxtasy]

Honestly, you may have trouble finding everything you're asking about in one place.

We do have a couple of places that have a really good selection of the organ meats you mention - the Purple Pig and the Publican - but both of them are exceedingly loud, and the Purple Pig doesn't accept reservations and long waits prevail at dinnertime. I recommend going to Purple Pig for lunch, when the waits aren't as bad (they serve the same menu all day long so it's not any less of an experience at lunchtime). Oh yeah, it's also in River North, so it's almost certainly walkable from your hotel. I think you'll find that's the best fit for what you're looking for.

The other places already recommended by others here are all very good places, but it's really unlikely that you'll find any of those organ meats you've mentioned, with the exception of sweetbreads at La Sardine and Blackbird. Also, the high-end places chicgail mentioned won't be under $250 all-in for two.

[HoosierFoodie]

Naha comes to mind first. Graham Elliot is also a good rec as is Takashi. MK and Blackbird are great but can get loud. Sepia, last time I was there, had an interesting wine list and meets your criteria. Also, several of the places allow corkage so if you don't see something on the list that you like you can BYOB. Always call first to confirm corkage policies.

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Naha
500 North Clark St., Chicago, IL 60610

Graham Elliot
217 W. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60654

[huiray]

Mind you, I like Naha (and also in terms of its heading in the direction of the OP's request) but one can have a less-than-completely-satisfying meal there on occasion. At other times one has a marvelous meal. (Yes, I continue to keep the place in my rotation)

At the last dinner I had there in February - I had a couple of apps (with a double portion of the foie gras), the soup, a selection from the lounge menu [short ribs lollipops], an entree, passed on dessert but had a wine pairing (interesting) put together for me at the bartender's discretion. Sorbet (gratis) between last two courses. $200+ (after tax and tip) for one. Left slightly unhappy, particularly over those lollipops - almost all fat, carbonized, too salty. Yes, I murmured something to them.

[nsxtasy]

>> $200+ (after tax and tip) for one.

Wow, that sounds like a lot for Naha. I guess the double portion of foie gras and the wine pairings drove your price up. (Entrees average mid thirties and non-foie apps average mid teens.)

[mountsac]

Some places come to mind, but probably do not match exactly to all your criteria: MK, Takashi, Graham Elliot, Shanghai Terrace, Province, Blackbird

[chicgail]

Bonsoiree comes first to mind. It's small, creative and delicious. Their menu changes regularly so no promises. But no sommelier; it's BYO.

Le Sardine, a French bistro will certainly have sweetbreads and maybe bone marrow. As for the others --??

Any of our top-tier places may have some of what you're looking for: Tru, Everest, Trotter, Alinea. I know I missed one or two. And some of the next tier, more casual options as well: MK, Naha, North Pond. Not a lot of places serve much offal.

Mato did, but they recently closed and they used everything in the animal. Sorry about that.

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Bonsoiree
2728 W Armitage, Chicago, IL 60647

North Pond
2610 North Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL 60614

Naha
500 North Clark St., Chicago, IL 60610

[gogol]

Thanks for this. I really like Bonsoiree's idea of a "no menu" Sunday.

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Bonsoiree
2728 W Armitage, Chicago, IL 60647