Henri Opens Its Doors

Posted by Bridget at 7:29 am

Aug 232010

Torchon of foie gras.

Henri, the elegant sister restaurant to The Gage officially opened Saturday, but we sampled the menu in advance last week, as owner Billy Lawless and Chef Dirk Flanigan took their new restaurant concept out for a test drive.

Owner Billy Lawless pulls out a chair for you.

Henri is located across the street from Millennium Park on Michigan Avenue right next door to The Gage, one of our favorite gastro pubs. I’ve been excited to see what Henri will bring to the Chicago dining scene to complement and expand upon the menu I already enjoy at The Gage, and I must admit that I wasn’t above curiously pressing my nose to the glass during construction to peek behind the sheers hanging in the window.

Dover sole meuniere.

Peel them back now, and you’ll find a chic dining space decorated in comfortable sage tones and over-sized upholstered chairs pulled up to tastefully set tables — ultimately creating a place that is fancy yet approachable and a menu that is reasonably priced for what you get (entrees range from $15 to $38).

The menu has Flanigan’s distinctive stamp and features a variety of meats that run the gamut — from duck and rabbit to chicken and steak — and all are prepared with French American influences. The Thursday special, rabbit from the oven served with house bacon, English peas, baby carrots and a natural reduction as well as the dover sole meuniere both deserve a shout out. It’s dishes like that that make us look forward to watching Flanigan continue to flex his culinary muscle.

Garlic soup with braised short rib.

We will find our way back to Henri for a complete review once they’ve settled in, and until then we raise a glass in honor of a successful opening. Now, get over there, check it out, and let us know what you think.

Henri
18 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60603
312-578-0763

We dined at Henri free-of-charge during a private tasting.

Also check out our review of The Gage.

Neopolitan dessert.

Feelin' French: A Visit to LM

Posted by Bridget at 8:56 am

Aug 092010

The dining room is small but comfy.

LM is what a bistro should be. Its dining room is intimate and friendly, its staff knowledgeable and attentive, and its food strikes the right chord. Sandwiched between the bars and larger restaurants on Lincoln Avenue, LM is across the street from the Old Town School of Folk Music where the restaurant Tallulah used to be.

The interior looks quite different from what we remembered, decorated in warm oranges and earthy tones, but the layout of the restaurant is the same. It’s a tight squeeze between tables — in fact while we were there, two empty wine glasses were knocked to the floor as the staff rushed by — and it might feel a tad claustrophobic if the restaurant was overflowing with customers. It was fairly quiet when we went though and proved to be an excellent place to linger.

Tuna tartar with citrus.

The food itself is worth lingering over. LM offers a three-course prix fixe menu for $35 per person that is an excellent deal, but in the end, we ordered off the menu. We started out with the tuna tartar with espellette aioli and heart of palm and a spinach salad with Saint Agur, pears and candied pecans. The tuna was particularly good — fresh with citrus undertones that our waiter articulated perfectly in advance of our order.

For our main dishes we tried the monkfish with wild mushrooms and mussels and the roasted leg of lamb served with tomato jam, chanterelles, and toasted hazelnuts. The monkfish came in a cider broth that was tasty and the lamb and its accompaniments were fantastic. The meat was juicy and tender, the tomato jam a perfect complement. The portions were right-sized too… I wasn’t hungry after finishing my meal, but I wasn’t about to pop the button on my jeans either.

The apple tart is meant to share.

For dessert we shared the tarte tatin. Meant for two, its essentialy an upside down apple pie, with one of the best flaky crusts I’ve tasted in a long time. Gobbled down between sips of french press coffee, it was a worthy finish to a solid meal all around.

LM is a place you should absolutely check out. At roughly $45 per person, you can’t go wrong. It’d be a great place for a date or to catch up over a meal with a friend, but don’t plan on it for large groups.

LM Restaurant
4539 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 942-7585
Get directions

Pop the Champagne and Let Them Eat Foie Gras!

Posted by Bridget at 7:25 am

Jun 182010

Foie gras slider tasting at Cyrano's.

Foie gras is a always celebrated at Cyrano’s Bistrot — there’s even a museum-like tribute to it nestled by the bar — and all this week, you can sample foie gras starters for the bargain price $12 in honor of Foie Gras Week 2010. This special appetizer menu runs for two more days and features dishes created for the occasion both in-house and by guest chefs. I’ll tell you this… the foie gras I had last night was so incredible that I’m tempted to go back tonight for more!

It appears that the special menu changes daily depending on the availability of ingredients and which guest chef is featured. I was initially disappointed when I discovered that I couldn’t order foie gras sliders because they were out of the right kind of bread, but my disappointment was completely forgotten when my taste buds started doing the neutron dance over the fresh goose rillette with foie gras — a pate served simply with grilled toast (although we preferred it on the house French bread).

Then, things were taken to a whole new level with guest chef Michael Foley’s foie gras truffle pasta, a rich creamy dish that quite literally melted in my mouth.

We topped of the meal with a sampling of what the sliders would have been, foie gras with cherry and foie gras with grilled onion, served open face on a different kind of bread compliments of the chef. These birdie bites were as unique and tasty as their predocessors.

T will no doubt accuse me of gushing about foie gras here — and I say, in this case, rightly so and well deserved! If foie gras is your thing or you’ve always wanted to try it, get thee to Cyrano’s before the deal is done. It’s money well spent!

Cyrano’s Bistrot
546 North Wells Street
Chicago, IL 60654-8191
(312) 467-0546
Get directions