Trinna Schramm Rob Warner

April 13, 2007

TRINNA SCHRAMM HAS never cooked in a restaurant kitchen, nor has she ever aspired to. But how you enjoy your dining experience at Alinea -- the best restaurant in the country according to Gourmet's most recent list -- depends heavily on her. As Grant Achatz's unglamorously titled "expediter," she does a job that at most other restaurants falls to the chef or sous-chef, coordinating the kitchen and dining room staffs to make sure your meal is perfectly paced.

The job is harder than it looks. Alinea seats 70 people at 20 tables; meals consist of either a 12-course tasting menu or a 24-course "tour," and can last up to four hours. Schramm orchestrates the presentation of every dish in every course. From her post at the head of the hot station just inside the kitchen's entrance, she collects orders and calls out instructions to the team of about 20 cooks and seven runners, who pick up the plated courses and deliver them to the dining room.

When an order comes in, she marks down the time she receives it, takes note of any dietary restrictions, and shouts, for instance: "Order in, two tour, one person no pork." The appropriate cook acknowledges the order verbally and then plates the first course, currently a sour cream and smoked steelhead trout roe croquette. Schramm will then call to the runner something like "Two croquettes coming up for table 24"; and he'll respond, "Thank you, 24." If there's a restriction, she'll state it -- "No roe, P-1," for example -- and he'll repeat it. P-1 indicates the position of the diner; it is one of many terms the staff must use to avoid mix-ups among the dozen or so people who wait on a single table. Schramm also alerts the cooks to what's "on deck," so they can start setting it up; this extra prep time is crucial at Alinea, where dishes may have as many as 20 elements. After receiving a "clear call" from the dining room, she'll let the cooks know to "fire" the next course.

Schramm says the call-and-response system is essential: The food is plated at six different "passes" along an aisle created by two long stainless-steel tables where the cooks have their mise en place; most restaurant kitchens have one or two passes. And on busy nights runners are getting courses for seven or eight tables at a time.

Almost nothing is conventional in Alinea's kitchen. Achatz has redefined everything from the cooking stations (fish may come from the meat station and vice versa, for instance) to the service pieces (his dramatic pedestals and steel bows and juniper-scented pillows) to the roles of his staff. Because his complicated multicourse menus require greater coordination with the servers, when he was planning Alinea he wanted an expediter with front-of-the-house experience.

Schramm, 32, came into Achatz's orbit as a food runner. She'd waitressed at a Big Boy during high school in Sandusky, Michigan, and at coffee shops, delis, and a couple of upscale spots while a student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She left school and moved around a bit, but returned to Ann Arbor, where in 2000 she earned an associate's degree in photography at a community college and found administrative work at the university. In August 2001 she decided to join some college friends in Chicago and seek the security of a "regular job." Customer-service work at a printing company fit the bill -- until they switched her to the afternoon shift. She left and ended up at Chez Joel on Taylor Street, where she says she enjoyed waitressing but couldn't earn enough to make a living.

For several months she tried to land a job at Trio, where Achatz was executive chef; she says she was attracted by its good reputation. She was finally hired in February 2003. "That was my introduction to team service, and Grant was doing food like no one else," she recalls. "Most of all, it was the first time I was proud of working in a restaurant, because Henry Adaniya, the owner, inspired me to think of it as a career."

It was Adaniya who introduced her to expediting work. His longtime expediter, a former busser, left a few months after she started, and he wanted someone else who'd put in time in a dining room. Schramm became the liaison between the service staff and Achatz, who continued to give orders to the cooks himself. Over time, Schramm took it upon herself to do whatever she noticed needed doing -- and she could do -- in the kitchen, like keeping the service ware in order, allowing Achatz more time to concentrate on the plating of the courses. "Grant trained me, but not in a direct verbal way," Schramm says. "I'm very intuitive and could see how high his standards were, so I did what needed to be done."

The trust he developed in her set the stage for her expanded role in his kitchen at Alinea, where she's trained a dining-room staffer as a second expediter so she can work some shifts as a front waiter to keep in touch with the customers.

Achatz, who says he taught Schramm the job so he "wouldn't be chained" to it, appreciates her efficiency. "She's like a computer mainframe: everything funnels in, and she pushes out the commands for the restaurant to run smoothly," he says. "She combines the self-confidence and capacity to process a lot of information rapidly, communicate quickly and efficiently, make split-second decisions, and assimilate an enormous amount of stress, including the pressure of me looking over her shoulder and holding her to a higher standard. You might say I built the perfect expediting robot." --Anne Spiselman

For more on restaurants, see our blog the Food Chain.

The Name Game

Twenty-five restaurants with celebrated chefs

Arun's
4156 N. Kedzie | 773-539-1909

F 9.1 | S 9.2 | A 7.8 | $$$$$ (10 reports)
THAI, ASIAN | DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY

I'll admit the most oveRRRated Thai restaurant on the planet is a fine-dining player. But for the price of the degustation with wine pairings, you could put together five more surprising, authentic, and delicious meals at, say, Spoon Thai. If you can't be convinced of that, $85 and your willing suspension of disbelief gets you 12 courses of Arun Sampanthavivat's exquisitely plated but domesticated versions of his homeland's cuisine. The event begins with six appetizer courses, in which every wonderful detail seems to be unbalanced by an inappropriate one: maybe a one-bite salad arrives perched on a perfectly shaped betel nut leaf, but then an oyster pancake will be drizzled with Sriracha, the Heinz ketchup of the Far East. Appetizers are followed by four main courses served all at once, family style, many of which overrely on the sweet end of the Thai spectrum; fat, fresh prawns with an unusual and tangy purple mountain fern might come with a lobster Willy Wonka'd by a sweet, brown, cornstarchy sauce. On my most recent visit the dish that was perhaps the least authentic was my favorite -- a fist-size hunk of tender pot roast in green curry drizzled with coconut cream. Given the notorious challenges in pairing Thai food with the grape, someone at Arun's does a really good job matching things up. Then again, the delicate Brut Laurent Perrier that came with crispy fried pike on chard, bean sprouts, and sweet-and-sour rhubarb would get its ass kicked by something like a real papaya salad with chiles and dried shrimp. Mike Sula

Avenues
108 E. Superior | 312-573-6754

$$$$$
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL | DINNER: TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY, MONDAY

The "foielipop" -- a dense, sweet, creamy disk of foie gras impaled on a stick and coated with Pop Rocks -- is obviously no longer on the menu, but showstopping as it was, several other dishes on chef Graham Elliot Bowles's ambitious tasting menus actually topped it on my last visit. A delicately roasted squab, for one, came dressed with a dark, smoky bacon and laurel-scented kalamata olive tapenade. Paper-thin rounds of slightly gamy kangaroo carpaccio, served with tiny "noodles" made of cantaloupe and cucumber, lime caramel, and an aromatic eucalyptus foam, were another winner. But despite all the experimentation Bowles has become famous for, my friend and I voted a simple beef tenderloin best in show: velvety and rare at its core, it was ever-so-slightly charred and dusted with sea salt. Not every dish made the finals: a single seared scallop over a sunchoke panna cotta was oddly monochromatic, and the mild flavors in a quintet of rabbit loin, leg, rillettes, bacon, and kidney were no match for the exquisitely fussy presentation. Still, this gracious Peninsula Hotel dining room well deserves the buckets of praise heaped on it since Bowles, a vet of Trotter's and Tru, took over three years ago. Martha Bayne

Blackbird
619 W. Randolph | 312-715-0708

F 9.0 | S 8.2 | A 6.9 | $$$ (17 reports)
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL | LUNCH: MONDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11:30

This sterile white-and-steel space would make a lab rat feel at home. But for fine dining with a rotation of top-notch seasonal ingredients, served by a crack cadre of skilled food-service ninjas who would die for your smallest whim, chef Paul Kahan is still at the top of the game. Don't do what I did last time, succumbing to my basest instincts and ordering every course that had a cured pork product in it. By the time I'd finished my endive salad with poached egg and pancetta, seared diver scallops with guanciale, and grilled pork chop with braised pork belly, my alimentary canal felt like the Bonneville Salt Flats, and my plan to finish with the chocolate semifreddo with waffles and bacon was foiled. You owe it to yourself -- and to Kahan's sense of balance -- to give green garlic soup with sauteed frog's legs a slurp or try the seared venison loin with date molasses. Challenges in the area of wine selection are sometimes met by the guidance of your Joseph Abboud-clad waiter, sometimes not. Mike Sula

Carlos'
429 Temple, Highland Park | 847-432-0770

$$$$$
FRENCH | DINNER: SUNDAY, MONDAY, WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED TUESDAY

Carlos and Debbie Nieto have operated this intimate French dining room in Highland Park for over 25 years. The atmosphere is regal, with handsome dark-wood trim, richly toned fabrics, and elegant porcelain dinnerware. Ramiro Velasquez runs the kitchen, dazzling patrons with the expertise he gained under such powerhouses as Jacky Pluton, Don Yamauchi, Eric Aubriot, and Alan Wolf. A la carte dishes include Hot and Cold Foie Gras -- seared Hudson Valley foie gras with grenadine-infused caramelized onions and chilled La Belle Farms foie gras on banana bread with vanilla syrup -- and herb-crusted rack of lamb. A seven-course degustation menu ($90) with optional paired wines ($130) is a dining adventure, with appetizers like huckleberry-glazed squab breast with grilled pears and New Zealand venison loin with a smoked-parsnip puree, root vegetables, and a cassis gastrique. (A vegetarian tasting menu can be prepared upon request.) The encyclopedic wine list is mostly French but also offers American, Australian, and German options. On Mondays diners can bring their own wine -- there's no corkage fee -- and servers will suggest food pairings from the menu. Laura Levy Shatkin

Charlie Trotter's
816 W. Armitage | 773-248-6228

F 8.6 | S 8.8 | A 7.6 | $$$$$ (16 reports)
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL, GLOBAL/FUSION/ECLECTIC | DINNER: TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY, MONDAY

When I last dined at this Lincoln Park landmark, the eight-course grand tasting menu started with salty-sweet Tasmanian ocean trout with spiky, even saltier hijiki; then came halibut served with tender, glowing baby asparagus on a bed of turnip puree. The vegetable tasting was even more attention grabbing, with an amuse gueule of morels and fiddlehead ferns and a caramelized Maui onion soup with a sweet-onion flan at the bottom that made our eyes roll back in our heads. The wine degustation is what puts the average per-diner cost over $240, and it's well worth it. Our meal began with a pale Bellini, then moved on to a crisp Larmandier-Bernier blanc de blancs brut, a delicate Kruger-Rumpf Riesling Kabinett, a Movia pinot nero full of leather and smoke, and a Bodegas Catena Zapata "Alta" cabernet sauvignon. We ended with an Olivares "Dulce" Monastrell and a petal yellow honeysuckle-flavored Tokaji-Aszu "5 Puttonyos" Chateau Pajzos, and after five happy hours I walked into the evening with the scents of lavender, peas, and fennel still playing in my nose. Elizabeth M. Tamny

Custom House
500 S. Dearborn | 312-523-0200

F 9.4 | S 8.8 | A 8.4 | $$$$ (5 reports)
AMERICAN, STEAKS/LOBSTER | BREAKFAST, LUNCH: MONDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

Try as I might, I can't believe Shawn McClain's third big splash (after Green Zebra and Spring) completes any sort of holy trinity. A restaurant this expensive shouldn't screw anything up, and while on an early visit tender veal cheeks with tomato-anchovy preserves were very good and baby beets with mascarpone explosively flavorful, black truffle risotto was salty enought to clear Tarmac and the cannellini beans served with the baby lamb were undercooked. On the other hand, a piece of marinated yellowtail was flopping fresh and tasty, and a bone-in rib eye with a red-onion tarte tatin was the best thing on the table. On a second occasion cured sturgeon with julienned apples and pumpernickel toast was similar to the yellowtail and every bit as good, and a sea bass fillet was delicately cooked, with crispy skin. Once more, though, I think the best thing was the beef, however much I regret the kitchen's paternalistic decision to cut up steaks and fan them out like a duck breast. Custom House is a tranquil, open space conducive to business meals, prettily decorated with pebbles, twigs, and rocks like a Zen garden. Mike Sula

Everest
440 S. LaSalle | 312-663-8920

F 9.3 | S 9.5 | A 8.3 | $$$$$ (8 reports)
FRENCH | DINNER: TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY, MONDAY

If the leopard-print carpeting and white lacquered columns at this dining room on the 40th floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange seem dated, that impression is quickly dispelled once the meal begins. The wine list, now under sommelier David Johnston, remains justly renowned for its superior Alsatians and eye-popping selection of Chateau Lafittes and other top-notch Bordeaux. We opted for chef Jean Joho's seven-course tasting menu with pairings. Dinner began with an amuse bouche: a mousse-light brandade, a sip of artichoke soup, and a dab of celery remoulade festooned with a crispy piece of fried fish. A single scallop served atop a bed of shredded cabbage was dressed in a hauntingly good sauce featuring melfor, an Alsatian honeyed vinegar, with hints of bacon and pleasant bursts of caraway. The crowning dish, a medallion of venison served with tiny portions of spaetzle and red cabbage, was a revelation. Throughout, the wine pairings, which included classic Alsatian offerings such as a Tokay, a Riesling, and a pinot gris as well as a big American zinfandel with the cheese course, were right on the mark. We floated through the desserts on a cloud of bliss right up to our after-dinner coffees, offered with a selection of petits fours. Kathie Bergquist

Le Francais
269 S. Milwaukee, Wheeling | 847-541-7470

$$$$$
FRENCH | LUNCH: TUESDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY

Chef Roland Liccioni dazzles: on one visit his perfectly prepared dishes included a foie gras napoleon with abalone mushrooms, mint-parsley pesto, and a carrot-curry espuma. While the lobster bisque served with the gateau de St. Jacques (scallop cake) was heavily salted, the cucumber salad that accompanied it alleviated the salt a bit, and the cake itself was pan-seared to crispy perfection. A moist skin-side-up sea bass fillet was served with pureed eggplant and a refreshing watercress sauce, with extremely thin strands of spaetzle tossed across the fish. Liccioni's signature duos and trios don't dominate the menu as they did at Les Nomades and still do at Le Lan, although the duo de veau poche et entrecote age -- an ample portion of veal wrapped first in steamed cabbage and then in a thin layer of crispy dough -- was served during his first tenure here and makes a welcome comeback. Sadly, while Liccioni has brought Le Francais' food back to its original glory, the artificial flower arrangement in the entryway is only one example of the room's stilted interior design. Laura Levy Shatkin

Frontera Grill
445 N. Clark | 312-661-1434

F 8.6 | S 6.8 | A 7.5 | $$$ (21 reports)
MEXICAN | LUNCH, DINNER: TUESDAY-SATURDAY; SATURDAY BRUNCH | CLOSED SUNDAY, MONDAY | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11

Next door to the more formal Topolobampo, in a room covered with folk art, Frontera delivers a changing menu of exotically elemental stuff rarely represented on menus north of the Rio Grande -- enchiladas dulces, for example, Colima-style shredded pork in a peppery chocolate sauce with pickled cabbage. On my last visit an ancient, weedy vegetable called quelites appeared in a cream soup that was one tremendous blast of green amped up with guero, poblano, and Anaheim chiles. Then there were Mayan-inspired dishes: we had poc chuc de puerco, orange-marinated pork with a sharply defined habanero salsa. Frontera's marisqueira ecologica, a "sustainable seafood bar," lays out gorgeous oysters and vuelve a la vida, the classic seviche cocktail. Yellow mole cushioned a trout dressed with hoja santa and garlicky purslane, an herb common in Mexico but less so on stateside platters. For sides, jicama sprinkled with red pepper was a fine balance of moist crispness and dry heat, and platanos with homemade crema made a suitably rich and sweet dessert. With it, consider spending a few extra bucks on "Coffee for a Cause," a 100 percent Oaxacan brew that will go down as one of the most full-flavored straight-ahead joes you've ever tasted. David Hammond

Green Zebra
1460 W. Chicago | 312-243-7100

F 9.0 | S 8.4 | A 7.4 | $$$ (24 reports)
SMALL PLATES, VEGETARIAN/HEALTHY, AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL | DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

It's been three years since chef Shawn McClain transformed a dilapidated East Village storefront known to me and my neighbors as the "pigeon palace" into a sleek haven for vegetarian dining, and I'm still impressed with the number he did on the space, all cool earth tones, warm low lights, and bursts of greenery. The seasonally changing menu is currently showcasing crispy sweet potato dumplings with bok choy and a dandelion-miso broth and a creamy sunchoke ravioli with goat cheese, hazelnuts, and fresh dates. Parmesan-caraway gnocchi comes with brussels sprouts, mustard, and hedgehog mushrooms. Desserts include a black truffle chocolate chiffon with currants and candied hazelnuts. After-dinner options include French-press coffee and some wildly exotic teas -- for example, one that according to the menu was once harvested by monkeys. Martha Bayne

Hot Chocolate
1747 N. Damen | 773-489-1747

F 8.6 | S 6.0 | A 8.0 | $$$ (9 reports)
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL | LUNCH: TUESDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY; SATURDAY & SUNDAY BRUNCH | CLOSED MONDAY | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL MIDNIGHT, THURSDAY TILL 11 | RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED FOR LARGE GROUPS ONLY

Heretofore Mindy Segal has been best known for her stints as pastry chef at MK, MK North, March, Charlie Trotter's, and Spago, but at Hot Chocolate Segal serves a small, perpetually rotating dinner menu of seasonally inspired creations -- pan-roasted cod fillet with black beluga lentils, pickled fennel, and serrano ham, Gunthorp Farms chicken with German potato dumplings and sweet-and-sour red cabbage. Of course, Segal's credentials guarantee an impressive dessert list. Her confections often have spare names, but many of them are really multiple desserts in one. Take the Meyer lemon baked Alaska: lemon shortbread, frozen custard, and meringue served with ruby red grapefruit brulee, vanilla-bean-grapefruit sorbet, and blood orange syrup. There's hot chocolate as well, offered in four varieties along with "black and tans" (two-thirds hot chocolate, one-third hot fudge) and "half and halfs" (half espresso, half dark hot chocolate). Segal swears she wasn't thinking of cocoa when she named the place, but the decor is pure Hershey's -- even the occasional white accents in the warm brown room evoke lush marshmallows floating in a mug. Anne Ford

Kevin
9 W. Hubbard | 312-595-0055

F 9.1 | S 8.4 | A 8.0 | $$$$ (14 reports)
ASIAN, GLOBAL/FUSION/ECLECTIC | LUNCH: MONDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY

There's something faintly nostalgic about Asian fusion cuisine, which flourished during the late 20th century at places like Yoshi's, where Kevin Shikami once worked. He carries the torch at his eponymous restaurant with appetizers like his signature tuna tartare. With our starters we had an outstanding glass of wine: a GraEagle Red Wing with an unexpectedly buttery nose and deep, tangy herbal notes (one glass is a stiff $14). Many fungi found their way onto our plates, as did ginger, star anise, and other things Asian. I had the pork three ways; loin, belly, and shoulder plopped atop fiercely red and smoky Bhutanese rice. My partner had the duck three ways -- breast, confit, and duck prosciutto mixed with cubed root vegetables and goat cheese. After all this great grub a fitting finale was a modest sorbet done -- how else? -- three ways (mango, cherry, and white peach). Our server was friendly, attentive, and clueless; the room, with its earth tones and brushed metal curves, is gorgeous. Later this month Shikami is slated to open a more traditional Japanese restaurant in the South Loop. David Hammond

Le Lan
749 N. Clark | 312-280-9100

F 9.2 | S 8.9 | A 9.1 | $$$ (11 reports)
ASIAN, VIETNAMESE, FRENCH | DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY

The vibe at Le Lan is a lot more fun than the stuffy, unjustifiably reverent atmosphere at "collaborating chef" Arun Sampanthavivat's eponymous Thai restaurant, perhaps due to the influence of partner Roland Liccioni (Le Francais). Under new executive chef Bill Kim, a veteran of Charlie Trotter's and Trio, they've broadened the restaurant's focus from French-Vietnamese to French-pan-Asian, and rather than being a dumbed-down, diluted mess of ethnic influences, dishes are generally inspired and delicious. A Thai coconut soup was thick -- almost currylike in consistency -- but refreshing, with olive-oil-poached shrimp and a buoyant top note of lemongrass, something that was echoed to great effect in a coconut creme brulee I had for dessert. Wagyu beef carpaccio came with a sprinkling of trout roe and tempura cracklings; the spring roll stuffed with pork belly, shrimp, and cilantro was like an upscale banh mi. Both the tea-smoked duck breast with brioche bread pudding and kumquat-star anise reduction and the venison marinated in mirin and red wine were well suited to their fruitier accents. The basmati fried rice of the day on my visit was bright and gingery and couldn't have been more different from the spicy saffron basmati that came with my venison loin. On Tuesday nights (and every other weeknight between 5 and 6 PM) there's a $38 prix fixe option, with choice of soup or salad, entree, and dessert -- a terrific value. Mike Sula

Moto
945 W. Fulton | 312-491-0058

F 9.6 | S 10.0 | A 8.0 | $$$$$ (6 reports)
GLOBAL/FUSION/ECLECTIC, ASIAN | DINNER: TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY, MONDAY

In a few short years Moto chef Homaro Cantu has earned a global reputation as one of the most gonzo practitioners of "molecular gastronomy." His Fulton Market restaurant is a surprisingly subdued showcase, one small, dimly lit dining room and bar. But perhaps that makes sense: the food supplies the bells and whistles. On a recent visit we tried the ten-course menu and were by turns excited, amused, befuddled, annoyed, impressed, and delighted. Consider, for instance, "blue cod and popcorn": lightly seared fish served over a popcorn puree, topped with coconut powder, accessorized with noodles made from gelled passion fruit, and finished with an electric green dollop of shiso syrup. It's a riot of strong flavors, but though each is fun on its own, there's no alchemy to them combined. And I could do without gee-whiz novelties like the candied packing peanut and laser-smoked orange zest entirely. Other dishes are more successful, putting Cantu's trademarked (literally) technical shenanigans to work in the service of food that actually tastes good. A duo of acorn squash broth and a vacuum-frozen and expanded squash foam focused the rich squash flavor in two enlighteningly different forms; a square of ahi tuna served on a "chill grill" (a small stainless-steel grill run through the very busy liquid nitrogen station) was "cooked" by the cold metal, effecting an intriguing surface transformation. "BBQ pork with the fixin's" was a small serving of savory braised Kurobuta pork cheeks over barbecue sauce served with a trompe l'oeil "charcoal briquet," in truth a chewy white crouton painted with squid ink and mustard. A dessert dubbed "chili-cheese nachos" was a masterful example of the kitchen's ability to mess with your preconceptions of "dinner" and "dessert": candied tortilla chips topped with gelled kiwi-mint "salsa," a lemon-cheesecake crema, and "cheese" made by grating mango sorbet into a liquid nitrogen bath. Is it pretentious? Sometimes. But on balance Moto's a masterful, full-immersion experience that anyone interested in this lunatic fringe of contemporary cooking would be a fool not to try at least once. Martha Bayne

Naha
500 N. Clark | 312-321-6242

F 8.9 | S 7.8 | A 8.2 | $$$$ (13 reports)
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL | LUNCH: MONDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY

Chef Carrie Nahabedian shows a fondness for sweet elements, as in an appetizer of scallops with citrus and vanilla bean, a salad with pear and pomegranate, or entrees like honey-glazed duck breast with caramelized quince and fennel or venison medallions with huckleberries, roasted chestnuts and brussels sprouts, celery root, and applesauce. But she marries savory flavors well, too: the wood-grilled rib eye in an oxtail-red-wine sauce comes with a delicate gratin of goat cheese and macaroni; monkfish is paired with Kurobuta pork belly, chanterelles, grilled leeks, and salsify in a lobster-red-wine jus. The decor is neutral: wood floors, taupe walls, a few natural-toned artworks, and a neat row of ornamental grasses serving as a room divider. There's a lounge menu served in the bar area. Laura Levy Shatkin

NoMi
800 N. Michigan | 312-239-4030

F 8.7 | S 6.5 | A 9.3 | $$$$ (8 reports)
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL, FRENCH | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

This swank restaurant on the seventh floor of the Park Hyatt pulls out all the stops, from a temperature-controlled wine cellar entrance to sleek 25-foot-long taupe curtains framing windows that overlook Michigan Avenue. Under executive chef Christophe David eclectic appetizers include a range of sushi and sashimi platters and rolls, spiced watermelon soup, a carpaccio of Maine lobster, and escargots tempura. Main courses show seasonal and French influences: for example, a dry-aged Four Story Hill Farms beef striploin, risotto with porcini and mascarpone, and Brittany turbot with spring vegetables. The wine list offers a range of affordable New World reds and whites along with some pricier Bordeaux, burgundies, and Rhone wines. Laura Levy Shatkin

North Pond
2610 N. Cannon | 773-477-5845

F 8.9 | S 8.0 | A 9.4 | $$$ (29 reports)
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL | LUNCH: TUESDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY; SUNDAY BRUNCH | CLOSED MONDAY

At North Pond along with the menu diners are given the mantra of the modern sustainability-minded restaurant: the ingredients, whenever possible, are locally sourced and organic and you will love them. On the first page of the menu you're directed to the Web sites of relevant nonprofits. But North Pond isn't the blandly well-meaning restaurant its rhetoric might suggest: chef Bruce Sherman's cooking is surprisingly adventurous. Dungeness crab is paired with a poached farm-raised egg and a smoked-caviar-and-clementine butter, jasmine-crusted sea scallops with a Meyer lemon-radicchio salad. Farm-raised venison, its deep flavor perfect with a cranberry jus, sits alongside black pepper-ricotta gnocchi; gloriously fatty duck breast is accompanied by a cabbage-pistachio "leg roll," parsnip pancakes, and an apricot-cherry mostarda. When I last visited, the tastes of a wonderfully screwy dessert -- a white-chocolate-and-coconut soup with scoops of key lime cream and mojito sorbet in the middle -- clashed, then melded together. Eating it was like playing a new video game -- only as you finish do you feel you're beginning to master it. Nicholas Day

Osteria di Tramonto
601 N. Milwaukee, Wheeling | 847-777-6570

$$$
ITALIAN | BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER: SEVEN DAYS | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11

I didn't care how much of a Midas Rick Tramonto might be as I schlepped up the expressway through a gulag of office parks: would Osteria di Tramonto, his new casual Italian hotel restaurant, really be worth this expedition to Wheeling? But once we were seated in the bustling, roomy space, things got better. The menu ranges all over the boot with antipasti, four crudos, a very sexy collection of cured salumi hanging in a glass "cave," wood-fired pizzas, pastas, and meaty entrees. Among my favorites were an incredibly plush and creamy burrata caprese salad, house-made meatballs in a bright San Marzano red sauce, and big cuts of meat like a lamb porterhouse with salsa verde in garlic jus and a pork porterhouse with baby brussels sprouts and sour cherries. Everything about the place is big, from the menu to the army of attentive waitstaff to the towering two-story glass "wine wall" and the extensive list of Italian liqueurs, which includes some pretty uncommon options. This, one of the latest restaurants in the superchef's ever expanding empire, is one of four in the North Shore Westin Hotel complex, and as befits a place that's gotta play to lots of different kinds of people with different needs, it serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Mike Sula

Schwa
1466 N. Ashland | 773-252-1466

F 9.3 | S 7.3 | A 7.3 | $$$$ (6 reports)
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL | DINNER: MONDAY-FRIDAY | CLOSED SATURDAY, SUNDAY | BYO

The tiny kitchen at this modest storefront is putting out some seriously big food. Chef Michael Carlson, who cooked under Paul Bartolotta at Spiaggia and Grant Achatz at Trio and has done stages in European kitchens including the Fat Duck, combines classical and contemporary techniques to produce progressive American cuisine that's remarkably creative and refined. The a la carte menu is a thing of the past; in its place are two tasting options, three courses for $55 or nine for $95. On my last visit, some old favorites remained: a brioche-crusted soft-boiled egg was served with a tiny spoon of caviar, creme fraiche, and potato puree -- a daring dish, beautifully presented. The influence of kitchen scientists like Achatz showed up in surprising flavor combinations like an amuse of cardamom-dusted marshmallow skewered by a dehydrated carrot chip and a palate cleanser of sunchoke-raspberry parfait, served in a tiny wobbly glass and dressed with a single sunflower sprout. Rich, ethereal quail egg ravioli exploded like egg-flavored Freshen-Up gum on first bite. The pork entree paired juicy slices of tenderloin with dark caramelized belly; it was plated with sauerkraut, raisins, and supercrisp strips of house-made bacon. Dessert was pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin puree, a smear of pumpkin oil, toasted pumpkin seeds, and creme fraiche ganging up on a poor defenseless brownie. Schwa is BYOB -- and BYO glassware unless you like drinking out of tumblers. Martha Bayne

Scylla
1952 N. Damen | 773-227-2995

F 9.3 | S 8.5 | A 8.2 | $$ (12 reports)
MEDITERRANEAN | DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY | OPEN LATE: FIRDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11

Stephanie Izard's Bucktown operation has been getting consistently glowing press since it opened two years ago with a creative, seafood-centric menu. But in the wake of a menu revamp that broadened the focus beyond fish -- and knocked the prices down a notch to boot -- Scylla is hands-down one of the best restaurants in Chicago. Izard, a vet of Spring and La Tache, plays with flavor and texture at a jaw-dropping level of sophistication and confidence. An appetizer of grilled baby octopus paired the sweetly chewy tentaclettes with creamy white beans, crispy slivers of prosciutto, and tiny, tart pomegranate seeds. The much lauded, stunningly tender short ribs with decadent Gorgonzola brioche were sassed up beyond comfort food with the addition of escarole, roasted cippolini onions, and a bold huckleberry bordelaise. And a middle course of rosemary linguine dressed with a pork ragu and rapini was a knockout, the woody herb perfectly accenting the rich braised pig (we scooped the dregs of an addictive rosemary vinaigrette off the plate with our fingers before the server whisked it away). Izard can do delicate too, as evidenced by a trio of carnaroli rice balls filled with Gouda and served over a smoked tomato-apple compote or lightly sauteed trout over grilled endive, fingerling potatoes, and fennel served with a ramekin of bagna cauda that allows you to adjust the dish in keeping with your garlic-and-anchovy tolerance. Dessert was chocolate panna cotta with creme fraiche and raspberry sauce, an effective, no-fuss chocolate-delivery system. The bill was a happy surprise -- we had to do the math twice to make sure they hadn't left anything off. Martha Bayne

Spiaggia
980 N. Michigan | 312-280-2750

F 9.3 | S 9.6 | A 9.3 | $$$$ (9 reports)
ITALIAN | DINNER: SEVEN DAYS

Whoever says people don't dress for dinner anymore hasn't been to Spiaggia lately: the guests are as perfectly appointed as the room. Chef Tony Mantuano offers tasting menus, but on this visit we went full bore and ordered a la carte, starting with sea scallops paired with Italian lentils and cotechino sausage, a trio of pesce cruda, and surprisingly delicate house-marinated anchovies with buffalo mozzarella. Pasta here, as one might expect, is terrific: handmade spaghetti alla chitarra came with sweet lobster, spring garlic, dried tomatoes, and arugula; squid ink and saffron spaghetti with surprisingly meaty Dover sole and baby fennel fronds. Mantuano's risotto is not to be missed, and my grilled pork loin -- served with morels, ramps, braised pork cheek, and a chunk of guanciale -- was so damn good I felt abandoned when they took the plate away. Desserts -- an intense chocolate semifreddo and mouth-puckering lemon panna cotta -- were grand, but Spiaggia's cheese program is second to none, with superior offerings like a signature aged cow's milk cheese and a cheese made with grape must and grape seeds, which crunch under your teeth. Service is seamless, and the sommelier did right by us with a sparkling Gavi di Gavi to start the extravaganza. Gary Wiviott

Spring
2039 W. North | 773-395-7100

F 9.1 | S 8.9 | A 8.4 | $$$ (16 reports)
AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY/REGIONAL, SEAFOOD | DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY

The first restaurant venture of executive chef Shawn McClain, now the overlord of a mini empire that includes Green Zebra and Custom House, Spring's a half-decade old and still fresh. The concept's simple: clean, clever Asian-influenced seafood dishes. The flavor of the fish is usually kept pure; the corruption's confined to the splendid sides and sauces. The meaty monkfish, for example, might sit on top of pork belly, which it hints at in texture, and a rich salsify puree; mahimahi is livened up by jasmine rice and lobster curry. Potato "ravioli" tests the structural stability of potatoes, but the single seared scallop that accompanies them is pristine and a pungent mushroom-black truffle reduction is the perfect foil, like a gastronomic good cop/bad cop routine. Nicholas Day

Timo
464 N. Halsted | 312-226-4300

$$$
ITALIAN | DINNER: SUNDAY, TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED MONDAY | OPEN LATE: FRIDAY & SATURDAY TILL 11

A while back chef John Bubala redubbed his restaurant Thyme with the Italian word for the herb, moving from a French-Mediterranean menu to one influenced by northern Italian cooking. Such transformations can be risky, with the final result neither fish nor fowl; Bubala, however, has successfully adapted the cuisine to his contemporary approach. Butternut squash ravioli with pancetta were smoky and satisfying; a tender organic pork shank came with a homemade gnocchi, ramps, and balsamic syrup. And while I'm not a huge fan of risotto, one with fennel sausage and peas (porcini are another option) was toothsome. For dessert there's a creme brulee trio. Baccala, Bubala's remake of his more casual restaurant, Thyme Cafe, opened in March and is also be feauturing northern Italian cuisine, in this case Piedmontese. Heather Kenny

Topolobampo
445 N. Clark | 312-661-1434

F 8.5 | S 6.2 | A 7.6 | $$$$ (10 reports)
MEXICAN | LUNCH: TUESDAY-FRIDAY; DINNER: TUESDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY, MONDAY

Perhaps more than any other chef, Rick Bayless has brought lesser-known Mexican dishes to the midwest. Case in point: corundas. I'd searched the city for these triangular tamales from Michoacan, and at Topolobampo there they were, stuffed with requeson, a Spanish version of sweet ricotta, and paired with an Alsatian pinot blanc. The five-course tasting menu ($75; $45 more for skillfully handled wine pairings) is a guided tour through some outstanding regional dishes. Yucatecan-style seviche was a delicate melange of finely cut habanero, cilantro, and onion mixed with tiny, flavorful shrimp and razor-thin calamari. Cochinita pibil, another Yucatecan standby, featured flavorful pulled pork under a cucumber-jicama julienne and served with a few slabs of pale loin. Lamb came in mole coloradito, made with anchos, chocolate, and almonds. Somewhat sweet, almost ketchuplike, it overwhelmed the meat a little, but coloradito tamales with cremini were excellent. With dessert there was hot Oaxacan cocoa with a blast of mescal and a small complimentary chest of chocolate and at, candied fruit. The entire menu changes monthly; perhaps because of the shifting lineup, service often falls short of the four-star food. David Hammond

Tru
676 N. Saint Clair | 312-202-0001

F 8.4 | S 9.0 | A 9.2 | $$$$$ (7 reports)
FRENCH, GLOBAL/FUSION/ECLECTIC | DINNER: MONDAY-SATURDAY | CLOSED SUNDAY

At Tru you have a choice of wild tasting "collections" (with courses including executive chef Rick Tramanto's famous glass caviar "staircase") or slightly less wild creations prix fixe. On my last visit my meal began with the tiniest of amuse bouches, a circle of braised leek with a salty eggplant concoction in the middle, served on a kind of porringer spoon. Then followed a little peekytoe crab salad, then a perfect lobster risotto served in an individual copper pot with lobster reduction spooned over at the very last moment. For my main course, with a glass of Tete Cuvee, I marched back to heartier fare: an extraordinary prime beef rib eye that made me feel it was just me and the meat, an ancient tale in a civilized place. My friend and I couldn't resist the cheese course, and despite our dainty requests for portion control ("Just the tiniest of slivers, please," "Just the merest mention of Brie"), I think it sent us over the edge. But it was onward into the all-out decadence that is dessert under Gale Gand: first an amuse of strawberry lemonade, then a chocolate semifreddo with chocolated Rice Krispies that rocked my world. Meals at Tru end with one last spoiled grazing through a selection of small cakes, cookies, and candies, along with a goody bag and a handmade lollipop, a petite green round on a long, long stem. Elizabeth M. Tamny

Send a letter to the editor.

From the Reader blogs

The Food Chain Julia Thiel: This week's talks, tastings, and events.
Friday at 12:25 pm