CHIC cafe--long

Usually I'm selling raffle tickets, not buying them, but I bought $25 worth at the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus Oscar party and won a package with at least a dozen different restaurant and theater gift certificates. One of the more tempting was for dinner for two at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute Cafe. Bill's up north flailing at trout, so tonight Ed and I took ourselves there.

One review described the view as of the Chicago skyline. That it is, at least once you lift your eyes off the more immediate view, which is of the Institute's parking lot. Tonight was clear, and the evening sun really set off the buildings against the grey skies over the lake. Ed, being 22, also observed that the shadow of the 900 N. Michigan building on the side of the Hancock building created a very mammary contrast to the phallic big John. But I digress.

For those who don't know, the CHIC cafe offers a prix-fixe lunch for $12 on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and a dinner for $25 on Friday and Saturday. No alcohol. BYOB encouraged. Ed brought a nice red which he'll have to tell you about.

The bread basket had four or five different choices. The only dud was a bread stick made from a puff pastry (I think). Just too much fat in the mouth. But there was a very good baguette and a nice brioche. The butter tray had three choices, all whipped: with blue cheese, with chives, or with five spice powder. The five spice powder was the real surprise. It was quite sweet--and more so when spread on the brioche. The same overall effect as the cinnamon rolls in the dinner bread basket at Ann Sathers.

At dinner your $25 gets you four courses. I chose the carpaccio appetizer with arugula and foie gras salad and a truffle vinaigrette. Ed picked the house-made venison sausage. Both were excellent. The salads were the weak point. I had a fennel with radish and orange mustard vinaigrette. It was beautiful, with mandarin orange slices in addition to the radishes, but essentially tasteless. Ed's spinach salad could have been anyone's spinach salad, though it was made with very fresh young spinach.

Things picked up again at the main course. Ed chose the beef tenderloin (served with rosemary potatoes and asparagus). I had the caribbean roasted chicken with yellow rice with chick peas, and a bellpepper and onion relish that also included some very tasty olives. Ed's beef was fine, though nothing he couldn't make as well at home, but was set off by an excellent sauce. My chicken didn't look promising--with the pallid chicken the same color as the rice and chick peas. But the rice only looked bland--in fact it was very nicely seasoned , tasting of cumin and roasted red peppers--and the chicken, all yummy dark meat, was moist and bone-sucking good.

I had the lime flan with raspberries for dessert. Real lime flavor and another good caramel sauce. Ed had the real winner, a berry and peach bavarian charlotte, that looked elegant and tasted superb, served on a very intense berry sauce of some sort. I was sorry we didn't have a camera so we could give you all a photo.

The only review we saw on-line was a Tribune review giving it two forks and saying the service was spotty and the food underseasoned. We didn't find either fault (well, except for my salad), though our water glasses should have been refilled more often. If they had a fault tonight, it was in presentation--though I certainly don't want them to start putting rosemary spears poking up out of every dish--I swear there are whole forests of rosemary giving up their lives every day solely to decorate food in Chicago restaurants. But that is easily forgiven in light of their strengths, particularly in their desserts and sauces. They advertise themselves as affiliated with Le Cordon Bleu and I do get the sense that their students are really mastering the classic French sauces. We were darn close to licking our plates after every one of them.

We'll go again. It was no problem getting a reservation at noon today for 7:15 tonight (and indeed the room was only about half full). I'm thinking it might be a nice place for a holiday office lunch--it has that feeling of a leisurely treat at a very moderate price.

The food, and especially the service at the CHIC Cafe tend to vary with the school calendar -- they get better as the semester goes along. And of course, the food is different every day, as the students get their lessons. Eventually CHIC is supposed to be opening a more elaborate restaurant across the street, possibly in partnership with Lettuce Entertain You.

In general, I've been a little more impressed with both service and the food at the cafe at the Illinois Institute of Art, although I think they're open only for lunch. The dining room is smaller than CHIC's, but it has the plus that there are windows where you can watch the culinary classes in progress.

CHIC Cafe
Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago
361 W. Chestnut St., Chicago
(312) 944-0882

Backstage Bistro
Illinois Institute of Art
180 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago
(312) 475-6920

I have eaten at the Backstage Bistro a number of times. I have always found that the food has been pretty good. The service is a bit formal and sometimes really stiff. I have had a couple of waiters who quite frankly, were very uncomfortable in the front of the house.

As for the schedule of the place, it varies by time of the year. It is ALWAYS better to call ahead to make sure that you are NOT disappointed.

Generally, they are open 11am-1pm for lunch Monday to Friday when they serve off of a menu that they use all term. On SOME evenings during the week, they are also open at dinner time from 5-7pm. On SOME Saturdays, they serve a multi-course lunch for $15-20. The food looked good but I wasn't downtown that day to eat.

AGAIN, please call for specific hours as I coule be wrong.

A couple of years ago, I happened to hit the place on the Saturday when they were having an open house. They tried to recruit me as a student. I kept insisting that I AM retired from commercial kitchens and I plan to stay that way!!