A visit to Perennial...

Well, here it is. My first posting.

My brother, visiting from Denver and a fellow foodie, accompanied me on a recent visit to the much talked-about Perennial (the latest collaboration of Rob Katz and Kevin Boehm, the folks who brought you Boka and Landmark). Located in the former Bar Louie space in Lincoln Park (adjacent to the new Park View Hotel), we immediately got a good vibe from the place.

The restaurant showcased floor-to-ceiling windows around the entire place (always a favorite) and had a nice-sized outdoor patio with outdoor heaters (I've always wanted Chicago to embrace seasons other than summer and not give up on al fresco dining, so this was a welcome sight!).

Once inside, we were greeted by the charming hostesses (one of whom had a stunning shade of orange-red nail polish, which I promptly commented on ... being a fan of that color myself). Anyway, I digress ... as we were walking toward our table, my brother and I were both absorbing the ambiance and interior and liking what we had seen thus far. We were eager to experience more.

As we were seated at our table (a two-top next to two women who were already obviously enjoying their meal and their wine - if you know what I mean!). Once seated we paused to soak it all in. The decor was beautiful. An interesting combination of sea-inspired yacht club sophistication. A series of back-lit, white birch trees served as the centerpiece of the room, with semi-round banquet seating on either side. The cushions were fantastic - slightly retro with hues of blue in different patterns reminscent of boat seat cushions. Chairs were simple in dark wood (no cushions) - clean, simple, modern. Tables had an ever-so-slight island-inspired finish on simple, cast iron bases. I noticed a deep sea blue wall papered wall at the far end of the restaurant, which made for a warm, cozy feeling.

Our server, Stephen, was a dream - truly among the highlights of the evening (my brother and I are both sticklers for good service - No matter how good the food is, if it isn't presented and experienced in a positive way, it'll be a "no go" for me). He was attentive without being overbearing. Knowledgable of the menu and able to provide spot-on recommendations. After the martini cocktail starters :-) and consulting with our wise Stephen, we ordered appetizers. I chose the pumpkin/fig/goat cheese tart (who wouldn't?) and my brother the black, truffle gnocchi with squash and frisee. Both were outstanding, however, I'd have to say the gnocchi edeged out my tart ever so slightly. When there are truffles involved, it's hard to do much better, wouldn't you say?

We then moved on to salads. I had the portabello mushroom carpaccio with serrano ham, capers and jicama, my brother the house salad of greens, heirloom tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. Both were fine, but not remarkable. The fixings with the portabello carpaccio seemed to overpowers the flavor of the mushrooms - the supposed star of the dish. Everything was delicious, but I was hoping for a bit more mushroom to come through.

For entrees, I chose the seared sea scallops with an assortment of wild mushrooms and a sampling of beef short rib with tarragon saboyan. It was delicsious ... scallops done to perfection, mushrooms earthy and flavorful - YUM! The beef short rib with tarragon was also tastey; however the beef was just a tad dry (like it had sat for 2 minutes too long before being served). The tarragon sabayon was intense, and not for those who are not true tarragon fans. but, for me - I thoroughly enjoyed the dish.

My brother selected the flat iron steak with melted leeks ... unfortunatley for him, we had indulged enough by the time our entrees arrived that he wasn't very hungry anymore! But, he confirmed the flaovrs were good, the melted leeks deliscious... however, again, his beef was just a bit on the dry side.

We didn't do dessert in-house; instead taking ours to go. Given the nature of desserts and the travel time, I am foregoing a review of that here... we'll save that for our next visit.

Overall, I we very much enjoyed our experience at Perennial. (I will say that the ladies next to us got a bit loud as the bottle grew empty :) and one (the birthday girl) even tried to take our "to go" bag... !) That aside, I will definitely go back. The menu changes based on seasons and avaialble ingredients so you're always assured something new and interesting.

Perennial wins high marks in both areas for me - Check it out for yourself! Appetizers range from $8 to $15; Salads from $7 to $12; Entrees from $17 to $32.


Perennial
1800 N. Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL
(312) 981-7070
http://www.perennialchicago.com/

Restaurant Maven Cooks Up A Blog

Hi, my name is Teresa. My friends call me T, Tizzy, Leaning Tower of Teresa and all sorts of other things.... and this is my blog.

See, at work I'm known as the Restaurant Maven. Apparently, my friends at work either make dinner for themselves every night, are too broke to go out to eat or are just plain lame. And judging from the dreadful company value proposition meeting I just got out of, I would say option number three is probably the realistic choice.

So I love going out to dinner in this wonderful city of Chicago and I try to fancy a new restaurant several times a month. But every time I say a place that I went for dinner, my friends look at me like I'm naming countries they've never heard of.

"What? Where's that?" is usually what follows or, "Huh? Never heard of it" or "Do they speak English there?"

So they egged me on for months until I finally decided that I would heed their advice and start this blog. The deal is that each time I go to a new restaurant for breakfast, lunch or dinner, I'm going to follow it up with a post that includes the address, what I ate, what whomever was with me ate, how the food and atmosphere were and my overall impression and recommendation.

I've wanted to volunteer at a children's hospital to read books to sick kids; I've wanted to work Tuesday nights at a Soup Kitchen handing out food; I've wanted to learn how to play the flute and perform at the Irish bar's open mic down the street so all the world could rejoice in my flute music. I've done none of those, so this blog is my way of giving back.

So next time you're curled up in a ball lying on the bathroom floor with your throat burning from the nonstop vomiting that was induced by the food poisoning you picked up at the new sushi restaurant in Lincoln Square you thought you would try, think of me.

Think the Restaurant Maven, and how I would've never recommended that dump in the first place.