![]() Whether enjoying the bocce ball court, the happy hour experience, or a celebratory dinner with friends, Wit & Wisdom is the ideal dining experience for visitors and locals who are looking for a different type of tasting room in wine country. The restaurant features regional California cuisine cooked on a hearth oven, buoyed by a magnificent wine program as only MINA delivers. This charming wine country tavern offers American comfort food and a robust wine list nestled in the heart of Sonoma. If sharing a steak strikes you as sacrilege, not to mention caring about the specific farm where a cow once grazed, you’ll probably leave disappointed.Why us? Wit & Wisdom Sonoma is Chef Michael Mina's first venture into wine country dining, and delivers Mina's signature flair with a highly curated culinary experience perfect for any time of day. But the interior already has the lived-in feeling of an old-school Chicago classic, one where everything is on the verge of feeling cramped, yet still comes off as cozy and vibrant.Īs excited as I am about Asador Bastian, its eccentricities and prices will undoubtedly alienate some. This probably won’t mean much to the majority of diners, especially considering not much but the exterior survived the recent renovation. It’s located in the Flair House, a townhouse originally built in 1883, which was named in the 1960s by Flair Communications’ owner Lee Flaherty. Tiny and seductive also neatly describes the River North restaurant. Each sip is silky, aromatic and seductive. Batched out ahead of time and kept in a bottle chilled below freezing point, the drink arrives in a thick little glass, along with a fat green olive. This sterling take on the martini features gin, Spanish vermouth and Manzanilla sherry, fortified Spanish wine. But after trying the Spanglish, that’s all I wanted to sip. Considering one of Chicago’s finest mixologists, Paul McGee, consulted on the drinks, I’m confident they are exceptional. Sadly, I failed to try all the cocktails. Ready for a jolt? The springy rum cake comes with a hearty shot of booze drizzled on top. Need chocolate? Go with the golden chocolate hazelnut cake, which is pretty enough for a Parisian pastry case and accented with unexpected pops of crunch. Require a palate cleanser? The delicate citrus coupe provides a bright and invigorating finish. “I want people to enjoy more than one dessert.”Ĭitrus coupe at Asador Bastian provides a bright and invigorating finish. “I really wanted to create a dessert menu with a lot of variety that was portion size appropriate,” Chen said. ![]() Instead, each is petite and impeccably prepared. With Chen leading the pastry program, there are no plate-sized slices of chocolate cake. Save as much room for dessert as you can. Though it sounds like something you’d reluctantly scoop up at a school cafeteria, the melody of vegetables features cauliflower, peas and artichokes so impeccably cooked my guest and I polished off the whole plate. ![]() Even random side dishes showcase a careful eye from the kitchen. The classic Spanish dish is about the size of a CD and contains supremely thin and soft slices of potato encased in creamy eggs. The restaurant also offers a terrific tortilla española. If you’ve ever been scarred by cheap tinned seafood, these might be a revelation. The restaurant cures its own sardines and anchovies, which come out with a pleasingly firm texture and a hazy saltiness reminiscent of a seaside stroll. ![]() While you can order an enormous turbot for the table, the smaller options are entrancing. The couple also brought in chef Christian Eckmann, who spent time in Spain honing his skills, to lead the kitchen. Like Psaltis and Chen’s first restaurant, the excellent Greek-influenced Andros Taverna, all the fish is imported from markets in Barcelona and Athens. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)įortunately, you’ll want to order other things, especially the seafood. Erie St., is the latest project from couple Doug Psaltis and Hsing Chen and is modeled on the asadores, or grill houses, of San Sabastián, Spain.
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