Wine Bars in Chicago.. and CASUAL Tasting menu, if that's possible.

[aknabe]

Hola fellow foodies. I'm headed to Chicago first of Sept and planning out our culinary adventure...

I'm taking a break from trying to find an awesome tasting menu.. I have a rez at TRU so far, but I REALLY want to try Alinea, but probably just need to give up with them moving to the annoying ticket system like Next.

But I also want to find a casual wine bar, low noise preferrably. We like to just sit back and have a few flights and nibble on some fruit and cheese, but still be able to hear each other talk. OH, and we don't want to HAVE to dress up in dress/slacks... we're already doing that for TRU and wherever else I pick for the dinners. I'm staying inside the Loop so close would be nice, but we don't mind taking a cab or the train.

As a separate request... if you'd like to give opinions on NorthPond, Goosefoot, L20, Blackbird, North Wood, Girl and a Goat, or Acadia.. they are on the radar. And also open to suggestions for any casual tasting menus that aren't so fancy.. if there is even such a thing. We love adventurous, good food.. but don't like to dress up all the time.

[camusman]

It would be worth your time to venture to Telegraph Wine Bar, which has great food along with the wine. Just hop on a Blue line train and get off at the Logan Square stop.
http://telegraphchicago.com/

[deesher]

I second Telegraph. If you go to the web site, you can find their glass pours and their bottle list.

[BSpar]

aknabe, Are you staying downtown? There are a few great wine bar spots around, but my faves are in the north a bit.

[kathryn]

If you find yourself on Magnificent Mile, Purple Pig is a fantastic wine bar with great antipasti, meats, cheeses. It gets a little loud inside, less so on the patio. We usually try to go on off hours to avoid a wait. Today we had a fantastic rabbit meat and herb salad with truffle vinaigrette, fried sweetbreads with apricot jam and charred fennel, and a JLT, an open faced jowl sandwich with tomato, frisée, and a fried egg. The atmosphere is casual.

I love the cocktails at Sable and the food is pretty good, but the front area can get very loud. We were there, late, on both a Weds and a Thursday, and it was pretty loud around the bar.

Girl and the Goat is excellent. Call NOW to book a reservation in September. They book 3-6 months in advance. It is also casual.

For a casual chef's tasting, try Yusho, a Japanese small plates/yakitori inspired restaurant in Logan Square. The atmosphere is that of a ramen bar/yakitori place. The tasting is based upon whatever the chef feels like cooking that day. Great cocktails, technique, ingredients.

Based on your parameters, Next would actually work pretty well. It's a tasting menu format but not terribly formal at all. They have been putting tables on sale sans announcement several times over the last few weeks.

[delk]

Try Vera.
Easy L ride on either the Pink or Green line to the brand new (and beautiful) Morgan Street stop.

http://www.verachicago.com/

[ferret]

Not a tasting menu, but Sable might be a good choice to check off the wine bar and give you food options, they have lots of wines and a variety of small plates. Bin 36 offers a more traditional wine and cheese menu (lots of cheeses).

[aknabe]

Thanks, I've seen the name on boards here and will check it out. I should have clarified my post... it was really 2 separate requests for info! =) One for a wine bar, and another request for causal tasting menus. But thanks for the response!

[aknabe]

Question about Bin 36... which has all the CHEESE? =) The restaurant on Dearborn, or the Cafe on Milwaulkee?

[camusman]

the cafe

[deesher]

The restaurant on Dearborn also has a list of 50 cheeses.