After a decade-long procession of new Italian restaurants, we’re seeing one closing after another, while the new tendency is decidedly French. Grappa, Tra Via, and La Risotteria Nord all said ciao for now. Rich Melman, whose trend-spotting talents built a dining empire, shuttered Avanzare and Tucci Milan. He’ll make one French, the other French-Thai. When he sold the Pump Room, it immediately went tres francais. Danilo’s was replaced by Thyme–also French–and Joe Doppes of Francesca’s on Taylor plans an authentic bistro in Old Town. Meanwhile, Elaine & Ina’s reinvented itself as Elaine’s, a bistro wannabe.
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Poilevey has run both fancy restaurants and straightforward bistros, but his soul is with the simple. “Look–it’s still just a chicken,” he says of the magnificent garlic- and thyme-infused bird offered for a mere $13.50 at his new bistro, La Sardine (111 N. Carpenter, 312-421-2800). “It’s inexpensive and there’s just so much you can do to it!”
Poilevey is one of 17 great Chicago chefs whose oil portraits hang in the lounge of the brilliant new haute bistro Savarin (713 N. Wells, 312-255-9520). Chef John Hogan, late of Kiki’s Bistro and the Park Avenue Cafe, arranged this tribute to himself and his peers, but his intriguing mix of classic dishes and innovative specials is an even greater tribute to the palate. Every day there’s a different foie gras presentation–ours had persimmon coulis and wild huckleberries. My companions and I relished the sea urchin and peekytoe crab gratin and adored the wild mushroom ragout. Char, a fish almost as rare as sea urchin, was treated to lobster mushrooms, lentils, and Madeira sauce. Then it was back to tradition with rabbit fricassee in mustard sauce and rich, sauteed skate with black butter. The marquise au chocolat dessert is not to die for–it’s to live for.
A salad of warm, crusty chicken livers atop crisp greens worked well; plum tomatoes stuffed with snails did not. Lamb shank–an essential bistro offering–was enhanced by overtones of lemon and a hint of anchovy. But shellfish bouillabaisse had a sweet, not zesty, broth, and its accompanying rouille–a condiment that’s supposed to breathe fire–was as bland as mayonnaise.
