Just wanted to add that my girlfriend took me out for dessert at Tru on Friday. In case it's changed for those who haven't gone recently (and I know that dessert's been discussed previously on these boards, as well as a pretty good description on the Chicago Reader website), here's what happened:
Service was great from the get-go: they knew us when we walked in; no wait to get into the dining room. We had one head server, one, i'd say, assistant server, and, at any moment, at least 3-4 other people who would either give us water or food at any time. I thought our server was very nice although a bit standoffish for my tastes. My girlfriend felt she was not standoffish enough for her tastes. Everything course-wise was appropriately timed. No one ever hovered.
So, onto the wine. First, we get the list, and, it gotta say, we felt pressured to get something right way. Not a bottle, but at least a glass (which we were going to do anyway). But the assistant server comes by, welcomes us, and right way asks what sort of wine we might, perhaps something by the glass like a port or sherry, etc. And he sorta flipped by stuff quickly and stood there while we looked. Eventually, he got the hint that we needed some more time with the list and left. Here's the deal with Tru's wine list: it's a large book--i'd say 50-60 pages long--impressive and I'm sure helpful if you're getting a bottle. But the dessert-friendly wines-by-the-glass offerings, other than port/sherry/maderia, were tremendously disappointing. There wasn't a single "dessert" wine listed under the wines-by-the-glass--no late-harvest rieslings or muscats or Sauternes listed. My girlfriend wanted something sweet, perhaps sparkling, and there were 3 champagnes available, only one was reasonably priced (at $18), which is what she got--René Geoffroy Expression Brut NV. It wasn't great...it was grapefruit-y and almost bitter tasting--like if you're zesting a citrus and you get too much of the pith with the zest. I had a glass of port--20 year Rocha...which was very nice...smoky, chocolately, a little coffee. I understand that most people won't be ordering wine with dessert--either because they're already "wined out" from the rest of the meal or because they prefer other things to wine for dessert, but many other restaurants of that caliber I've been to have had a superior wines-by-the-glass listing.
So we got the menus and we had two options: order individual desserts or order the "tasting." So we go for the tasting. As I go though what we got, keep in mind, the tasting is $25 per person. First, we get what I believe were green apple juice and vodka shooters with a light meringue and crispy butter/sugar topping. Tasty. Then dessert #1: we both got different, full-sized desserts: a layered cake of vanilla mousse and lemon curd along with a lavendar ice cream and a little citrus salad and a sticky toffee bread pudding with oatmeal ice cream and a banana chip thing. Both were quite good. Next, we got full-sized chocolate desserts: a milk chocolate "whoopie pie" - sorta a sandwich of meringue and cake with a sour-cream and milk chocolate ganache, with a smear of semi-sweet chocolate pudding and some cubes of a white-chocolate substance that felt like butter but tasted like white chocolate - and a bittersweet chocolate "box" - it was hard chocolate - that, when broken, contained a dark chocolate mousse and a lime gelee. Alongside was a smear of dark chocolate ganache and some chocolate-coated coffee nibs. I liked the box better than the whoopie pie: the lime gelee i didn't think would work, but it really cut through the richness of the mousse and added a nice sweetness as well.
At this point, both of us are getting sugar fatigue. We went out for a great Cuban meal beforehand, so we had something coating our stomach, but it was getting tough to finish some stuff.
Next--small root beer floats (which is a signature thing for them) with house-made root beer and a vanilla-malt ice cream. very good. After that, house made orange madelines in a little covered pot that kept them warm. then came the cart with about 10 different "mignardises" - three kinds of lollipops (root beer, chocolate-covered caramel, and violet), orange-chocolate opera cake, truffles, strawberry jelly gummies, and some other stuff. The cart is quite a spectacle. They also had a cheese cart (which we didn't get because we didn't have dinner there) which looked incredibly impressive. Finally, they came over with a plate of house-made chocolates (chocolate-ginger, white-chocolate curry, something else). And, when we left, we got a little lemon poundcake wrapped up.
Assessment: The bill came to $111 with tax and tip. When you consider that the "meal" portion is only $25, that's a pretty cool deal. So the value is good. But let me make a few comparisons:
1. The chocolate bar at the Peninsula Hotel is about the same price for everything (including drinks). Outside of service, which is where Tru has it beat, it's a comparable experience. It's a slight knock on Tru, I think, for their dessert service--the supposed jewel of their dining experience, what with Gale Gand's reputation--to be the same thing you get in the Peninsula. Both are really great, but I was really hoping Tru to be a transformative experience, which it was not.
2. Charlie Trotter's, on both occasions I've been, had better desserts. Tru's service was more inventive (4-5 courses, with little whimsical things like the root-beer floats and the candies), but at Trotter's, the first time, with my parents in 2001, we got every dessert in the house (8 full-sized desserts) that we just rotated among us. Of the 8, two were average and 6 were incredible, besting everything at Tru (except, perhaps, the chocolate box). The second time I went in 2005, i was individually served a trio of desserts, all full-size, and all of which complimented each other. I don't want to make this out to be a Tru v. Trotter's thing--there are already enough of those--but again, I'll refer back to my first point: Tru's "thing" is supposed to be dessert. And while I wouldn't classify the desserts as ordinary by any means, they just weren't mind-blowing, which I was I was really expecting.
Verdict: Glad I went. I wouldn't rush back again, but if someone was really interested, I'd go. But I'd probably pick the Peninsula's chocolate bar...or just get 4-5 desserts at Hot Chocolate...before I'd pick Tru again.
So that's the deal.