Chicago restaurant week 2009

Chicago's second annual Restaurant Week is coming up soon (February 20-27), which means 130 top restaurants in the city will be providing special prix-fixe menus at a reduced price ($22 for lunch and $32 for dinner). Since you have just seven days to feast, it's vital to pick the spots with the sweetest deals. And it's just as crucial to get your reservations in before herds of famished foodies take over. We recommend trying these restaurants first.

Dine
It's all about dinnertime at Dine, where you can choose between the restaurant's signature "not so much of a wedge" salad or spice-rubbed prime tenderloin with golden beet vinaigrette and brussel sprout-horseradish salad. And that's just the first course. For entrees, Dine is offering a choice of garlic-rubbed bone-in ribeye with creamed spinach or a slow-dried Rummo pasta with chili flakes, pan-roasted grape tomatoes and baby arugula. For dessert, try the ricotta cheesecake with Bing cherry-zinfandel gelato, seasonal creme brulee with crisp sugar crust or a daily selection of ice cream and sorbet.

Park Grill
After you've spent the day gallivanting around Millennium Park, you can fill up at the popular Park Grill for lunch or dinner. The early menu features dishes like roasted pepper and fennel soup, crisp striped bass, chicken pot pie and lemon thyme panna cotta for dessert. Head over later in the evening and you'll be graced with choices like Kampachi crudo with pickled radishes and hand-cut pappardelle pasta with slow-cooked rabbi ragout.

Farmerie 58
This brand-new restaurant didn't waste any time before diving in with the big boys. And it's holding its own with plenty of prix-fixe choices for both lunch and dinner. During lunch, you can begin with your pick of chopped house salad, arugula salad, butternut squash veloute or lobster bisque. The second course boasts plenty of meaty selections with a bistro burger, amish chicken sandwich with wilted spinach-parmesan fondue, pan-roasted salmon BLT and wild boar pasta with basil and pecorino cheese. If you've managed to save room for dessert, Farmerie 58 is offering a sweet array of chocolate tarts, white chocolate bread pudding and ginger creme brulee. Dinner brings out many of the same sweet selections, with the addition of crab saffron fondue, pork chops with cranberry stuffing, short ribs with veggies and country-fried eggplant with goat cheese and lemon-herb salad.

NoMI
Restaurant Week is the perfect time to take advantage of the city's most posh spots, like NoMI in the Park Hyatt hotel. The restaurant is offering a decadent lunch menu with soup selections like pumpkin-coconut and chicken-apple, entrees like gnocchi with brown butter and black trumpets, crab cakes with whole grain mustard and fennel and desserts like chocolate-caramel brownie macaroons, carrot cake with maple-orange sauce and jam-filled pistachio nougat tarts.

David Burke's Primehouse
Head downtown to this popular steakhouse and you won't be sorry. The lunch special includes appetizers like Kobe beef sashimi and surf and turf dumplings. Entrees feature hearty selections with chicken, salmon and steak, including the restaurant's signature 40-day dray aged steak burger. David Burke's dinner menu lists many of the same choices, with the addition of a bone-in filet mignon and the popular "angry lobster."

Carnivale
Let this Latin-fueled restaurant lead the way with its bounty of festive choices. To start, choose from soup with pork, chiles and hominy, empanadas with spinach, butternut squash and Parmesan cheese or arugula salad with blood orange, olives and Manchego cheese. Entrees include beef tenderloin with peppers, Arctic char with black bean puree and pinon with plantains, vegetable picadillo and mozzarella. Bring it all to a sweet finish with plantain bread pudding, coconut flan or seasonal housemade ice cream. And since you're saving money on the meal, go ahead and splurge on one of the restaurant's signature raspberry mojitos.

one sixtyblue
one sixtyblue is celebrating all the foodie action with a dinner-only menu, featuring a number of appetizer, entrée and dessert choices. To start, choose from leek gnocchi, bibb lettuce salad or house-cured king salmon and follow up with a selection of free-range chicken breast, blue crab ravioli, hanger steak or winter vegetable tagine. Desserts selections showcase the restaurants sweet skills with choices like chocolate panna cotta, sticky toffee date cake and seasonal sorbet with vanilla bean shortbread.

For a list of all participating restaurants, and to make reservations, visit the Restaurant Week website.


This article was first published on Centerstage.

Prix-Fixe for Penny Pinchers

The often-mispronounced prix-fixe concept is popular for a reason: You get to taste several items on upscale menus teeming with appealing choices, and you leave feeling just right, thanks to the scaled-down portions. That is, if you can afford it. Many prix-fixe menus can run well over $100, leaving the average diner out of luck. Fortunately, some neighborhood spots have found a way to keep it cheap; these restaurants offer multi-course meals for under $35.

May Street Market
This tucked-away restaurant in West Town offers a full three-course meal every single night of the week for just $32. May Street Market's menu changes seasonally to reflect the freshest ingredients. Currently the fixed menu boasts plenty of fresh, summery foods like Sangria Summer Salad with peaches, berries and oranges. You can choose from three entrees including the Yukon Gold potato gnocchi, grilled organic pork chop or glazed Maine salmon. The most difficult part might be deciding between desserts. The strawberry shortcake with chantilly cream is a refreshing summer treat, but the Market's flight of cupcakes, including chocolate with peanut butter icing, lavender vanilla with Earl Grey icing and carrot with orange ginger icing is just too good to pass up.

La Donna
At $19.95, this just might be the cheapest three-course meal in the city. Every Wednesday night, La Donna gives its guests a chance to pick three items (appetizer, entree and dessert) straight from its regular menu. This is no easy task when the restaurant offers an entire book of traditional Italian fare. If you're not sure where to start, try the gorgonzola-stuffed mushrooms or opt for a classic caprese salad. Once you've whetted your appetite, it's time to move on to La Donna's rustic pasta dishes. Risotto is one of the more popular dishes here and La Donna offers three different takes on the stuff. We recommend the Risotto Della Donna with butternut squash, goat cheese and fresh sage (regular price, $18.95). Other essential entrees include breaded-pork chops, veal medallions and tilapia filets.

Deleece
A longtime favorite with Lakeview locals, Deleece serves its loyal patrons a steal of a meal every Monday and Tuesday night. For just $20 you get a full three-course dinner, complete with options. The restaurant provides a little something for every palate with its selection of meat, fish and veggie dishes. Past entrees have highlighted grilled salmon with avocado and jasmine rice, basil-ginger chicken with goat cheese and stuffed peppers with sweet corn, chihuahua cheese and refried beans. Deleece's sister restaurant, Shochu, also offers a prix-fixe deal on Wednesdays and Sundays for the same price. Meals to look forward to at this Japanese-inspired restaurant include teriyaki chicken with asparagus and jasmine rice and New York steak with fingerling potatoes.

Marche
Leave it to the French to do prix-fixe right. This classic brasserie can make the worst Monday better with its three-course special. For $28.95 you get full reign of Marche's regular dinner menu. The meal includes any appetizer or salad, one entree and a dessert. The special is also available Wednesday evenings. In addition to its twice-per-week dinner deal, Marche offers a fixed lunch all week long for $18.95.

Lula Cafe
Lula's idea of a good meal is one that comes straight from the farm. Stop in to this Logan Square spot on a Monday night when the restaurant cooks up a three-course, farm-inspired meal. The fixed menu is $28 per person and includes the standard appetizer, entree and dessert. Because Lula's menu changes so frequently, you never know what you're going to get. Past prix-fixe menus have included marinated cucumbers and chioggia beets in red wine vinaigrette, lamb meatballs with borlotti beans and eggplant-pepper caponata. Desserts have been just as seasonally sweet with treats like the blackberry linzer torte, prepared with candied walnuts and ice cream. Entrees from the restaurant's regular menu range from $16 to $25.

sola
Chef of Sola, Carol Wallack, likes to get crafty with her prix-fixe dishes. Every month Wallack highlights a new ingredient by incorporating it into each course on her $30 menu. Currently, she's crazy about peaches and she's serving them up in a baby arugula salad and a blueberry and peach tart. Wallack is always looking for innovative ways to use new ingredients. If you let her know your favorite, you just might see it featured on one of her upcoming menus. Sola's prix-fixe special is available Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

This article first appeared on Centerstage.