Chicago Restaurant Week Round-Up

The 10th annual Chicago Restaurant Week is upon us! From January 27th through February 9th, check out a variety of Chicago's finest restaurants who are pulling out all the stops. 

Tanta 

• It is said that the best way to learn about a place is through its food, so for Chicago Restaurant Week, Tanta’s Executive Chef Jesus Delgado offers guests a two-course lunch menu ($22) and a three-course dinner menu ($44) both designed to take guests on a culinary tour of Peru. A sample of the lunch options include Salmon Anticuchero with quinoa salad, avocado mousse, and huacatay sauce; Super Soltero with chickpea escabeche, cucumber, and queso fresco; and Arroz Con Pollo with cilantro rice, avocado chalaca, and huancaina. A sample of the dinner menu includes Cebiche Criollo with seasonal fish, scallop, shrimp, and aji amarillo; Anticucho Carne with New York strip, potatoes, choclo, and huacatay; and Planca Veggie with nikei sauce, and chaufa. The dessert for both lunch and dinner is Alfajor (shortbread cookie) with dulce de leche, and lucuma ice cream. A link to Tanta’s full Restaurant Week menu can be found here.

Cindy's

• The rooftop restaurant pairs a three-course lunch menu ($22) with the sweeping views of Millennium Park and Lake Michigan. The lunchtime prix fixe features a first course option of Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese or Crunchy Lettuces with vegetable crudité and three peppercorn dressing; for the main course, guests select from the Braised Pork Sandwich or Rigatoni with charred broccoli and mushroom conserva; and finally, a sweet ending with the Citrus, Tea & Honey features orange, gingerbread dream cake, lemon yuzu, and honey ice cream. To accompany the view, guests can pair their menu with Spirit Guide Nandini Khaund’s mocktails such as the refreshing Reanimator ($8) devised of blueberry, ginger, and activated charcoal or the delightful Golden Lime ($8)made with calamansi, honey, and tarragon.

Ada St

• Ever wonder what dishes our Presidents loved to eat? Find out this Restaurant Week, as Ada Street’s 2017 menu offers takes on dishes adored by Thomas Jefferson, Barack Obama, Richard Nixon, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, George Washington and John Tyler. From dishes inspired by Obama’s first-ever White House home brewing, to JFK’s love of New England clam chowder, and Lincoln’s affinity for Chicken Fricassee, diners will be treated to a positively Presidential experience. The Restaurant Week menu will be offered for dinner ($33), and can be found here.

Green River

• Indulge in a Michelin-star meal on a budget as Executive Chef Aaron Lirette prepares a three-course prix fixe lunch ($22) and dinner menu ($44). Chef’s seasonally-focused modern Midwestern cuisine allows guests to choose from starters like Tuna Carpaccio with olives, butter, and fine herbs; or Cauliflower Salad with grapefruit, watercress and mimolette. Main options include Pork Belly with soubise, apples, and fennel or Risotto with root vegetables, truffle and parmesan. Pastry Chef Ji Hyun Yoon creates her take on a globally-inspired Doughnut with Spanish anise, chipotle caramel glaze, and horchata.
• Lunch is available Monday- Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner service runs Monday- Wednesday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday-Saturday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Roka Akor

• Warm up to Executive Chef Ce Bian’s three-course prix fixe lunch ($22) and dinner ($44) menus with dishes prepared on Roka Akor’s massive twelve-foot robata grill. Savor premium steak, seafood, and sushi flavors of Japan via dish selections like Tuna Tataki with carmelized red onions and apple mustard vinaigrette and Robata Grilled Skirt Steak with sweet garlic soy from the lunch menu. At night, Chef prepares Flame-Seared Salmon Maki with crispy shrimp, honey miso, and micro hearts of palm; Lamb Cutlets with Korean spices and grilled eggplant salad. Dinner’s dessert offers a choice between Warm Chocolate Cake with coffee ice cream or a delicate Ube Pot de Crème with fresh berries. A suggested $22 sommelier-selected wine pairing is available for both lunch and dinner.
• Lunch is served Monday-Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Dinner is served Sunday-Wednesday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. and Thursday-Saturday 5 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Travelle Kitchen and Bar

• Travelle Kitchen + Bar is featuring lunch ($22) and dinner ($44) with choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert. Menu items include Chef Ricardo Jarquin’s restaurant favorites including: Red Curry Sweet Potato Soup, Octopus Anticucho, Hanger Steak al Pastor, Seared Branzino, and Grapefruit Terrine.

American Craft Kitchen & Bar

• Hyatt Regency Chicago’s farm-to-table atrium restaurant serves a fresh take on classic American comfort food. The restaurant welcomes Chicago Restaurant Week diners with a three-course prix fixe dinner menu ($33) with three options per course. Highlights include an Organic Kale Salad served with locally-sourced Mindoro blue cheese, a House Smoked Legacy Farms Turkey sandwichpaired with full cream Swiss cheese and mushrooms, and a Spice Rubbed Rotisserie Chicken with corn succotash, roasted marble potatoes, lemon butter, and fresh herbs.

Filini Bar and Restaurant

• Nothing cures the winter blues like the comforting embrace of Italian cuisine. Filini Restaurant and Bar is offering a prix fixe three-course menu for lunch ($22) and dinner ($33). Diners can enjoy lighter Italian fare over the lunch hour, including the restaurant’s take on Stracciatella, a classic Italian soup. The second course continues with more Italian favorites, including a Panino with prosciutto cotta, fontina and radicchio or Canneloni with ricotta and spinach. The final lunch course offers two decadent Italian desserts, Affogado or Zabaione. Filini offers more robust Italian dishes for its dinner menu, which includes grass-fed beef Carpaccio with parmigiana reggiano for the first course, Cinghiale Ossobuco, served with gremolata, polenta, and broccolini, and a savory scallop dish, Capasanta, paired with blood orange, salami, and porcini mushrooms among the entrée options. For the final course, diners have a choice between the Torta Tre Monti, a rich chocolate and hazelnut dessert, or Semifreddo al Kumquat to finish on a lighter note.

The Blanchard

• Lincoln Park’s award-winning brasserie, The Blanchard, offers a four-course French prix fixe menu ($44) in honor of Chicago Restaurant Week 2017. Chef de Cuisine Ryan Burns takes guests on a culinary tour of Parisian flavors beginning with Frisee aux Lardon with poached farm egg and pommery mustard vinaigrette or
  Roasted Beet Salad with chevre and candied hazelnuts. The menu then moves to the second course, with options including Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Moules Marinieres, or Escargot. Entrée choices include Steak Frites with beef fat hollandaise and bordelaise; Pouli Roti, Dover Sole Meuniere, or Duck a l’Orange. The meal finishes with a choice of Dark Chocolate Oeuf with peppermint, sea salt and cream, or Banana Tart
  with toffee cremeux, coconut sorbet, and marshmallow. The full menu can be viewed online here.

Enolo Wine Bar

• Executive Chef Adam Grandt prepares a special three-course prix fixe menu for Restaurant Week guests during lunch ($22) and dinner ($33) service. A sampling from each of the three-course tasting menus include options like Brussel Sprout Salad with radish, pickled mustard seeds, and bacon vinaigrette; Cassoulet  with house made sausage, chicken confit, and country bread; Rosemary Gnocchi with mushrooms, braised fennel, and a poached egg; or Roasted Amish Chicken Breast with Brussels sprouts, fingerling potatoes, and parsnip puree. Save room for dessert as Chef Grandt offers a choice of Chocolate Mousse with chocolate soil, chocolate tuile, whipped cream, and pomegranate puree; or Pistachio Cake with orange buttercream, pistachio power, whipped cream, and orange glaze.

Presidio

• The Northern California-inspired intimate craft cocktail lounge and restaurant in Bucktown offers guests
  a three-course prix fixe dinner menu ($44) by newly appointed Chef Nicole Bayani. For their first course, guests can choose one of three options including Burrata  with honey comb, toasted pepitas, pickled sultanas and a
  grilled baguette. Presidio’s second course continues with rich entrée options including Pork Milanese, a bone-in sakura chop with napa cabbage, pickles and a house katsu sauce or a red wine braised Short Rib with celery root puree, currants and sunflower shoots. For their final course, guests can savor in a Vanilla Crème Brulee with smoked blackberries, honey and sea salt or Chocolate Cake with Fernet Menta ice cream, Magic shell, caramel and toasted pistachio.

SideDoor

• The gastropub attached to Lawry’s The Prime Rib serves up more playful iterations of the steakhouse’s classic fare. The Chicago Restaurant Week dinner menu consistsof three courses ($33); the first course includes the SideDoor Wedge Salad or Spinach Salad, followed by several entrée options ranging from a hand-sliced to order Prime Rib Sandwich, a Chicken Pot Pie made with Lawry’s classic Yorkshire Pudding, or a Fork and Knife Pastrami Sandwich with house-smoked and cured natural brisket. Dessert selections include the Sticky Toffee Pudding or Key Lime Pie.

Sepia

• Let acclaimed Chef Andrew Zimmerman curate your meal during restaurant week at Michelin-starred Sepia. A three-course lunch menu ($22), along with two menu options for dinner ($33 for three courses; $44 for four courses) give Chicagoans an opportunity to sip and savor bites at one of Restaurant Row’s original spots.

Dolce Italian

• Escape the blustery wintertime streets of Chicago to the warm sophistication of a 1950s Roman ristorante. From January 27 through February 9, Dolce Italian will offer guests prix fixe menus all day long for brunch ($22), lunch ($22), and dinner ($33 for three courses; $44 for four courses) at the
  restaurant in The Godfrey Hotel Chicago. With Dolce Italian classics, such as the popular house-made Dolce Meatballs, Pappardelle Bolognese, and the beloved star-shaped Dolce Stella Pizza, there is something to be enjoyed by all foodies on the spot’s Chicago Restaurant Week menus. Executive Chef Nate Cayer also takes his fine Italian fare to the First Bites Bash on January 26 – offering attendees a coveted first taste of Dolce Italian’s special spread to kick off Restaurant Week.

Coco Pazzo

• Enjoy a taste of Tuscany at River North's iconic Italian restaurant, Coco Pazzo, who is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. During Chicago Restaurant Week, the restaurant is offering guests a 3-course lunch menu for $22 or 4-course dinner menu for $44. Highlights from the lunch menu include Salmone alla Griglia (grilled salmon, Tuscan farro, winter vegetables and saffron) and Rigatoni alla Buttera (sausage, peas, tomato, parmesan, cream). Dinner guests can enjoy special menu items including Maiale Milanese (crispy breaded pork chop, arugula, tomato)  and Merluzzo alla Carlofortina (Roasted cod, Sardinian fregola, winter vegetables, saffron).

STK Chicago

• STK Chicago, River North's vibe dining steakhouse experience, celebrates Chicago Restaurant Week with a prix fixe dinner menu for $44, which includes menu highlights 8oz. Delmonico steak, Duck Cake and Braised bone in short rib.