Nomi: Adventuresome Dining (Chicago Restaurant Review 36 )

We bid handsomely at a recent fundraiser for alleviating hunger in Chicago for the opportunity to have dinner at this restaurant, which is located on the top floor of the Park Hyatt. We had been to Nomi for brunch and enjoyed it but had heard it was much better for dinner, which the maitre d' reiterated when taking us to our table. From our perspective, however, brunch was better. Steve particularly felt the entire experience was designed more for show than good food.

The highlight was a bottle of Two Hands Shiraz, which has become our favorite. Its flavor is light with a nice grape aftertaste. They started us out with an amuse bouche, which had many ingredients (which you wouldn't think would go together), but was tasty. We had to have only an appetizer to start because no salads were offered (although there is a sushi choice for eaters more adventurous than we are -- tuna tartare is our limit). Lisa had the nantucket bay scallop tart. She had really liked that type of scallop at Max's in Hartford but did not care for this because the scallops had little flavor. But we both liked the tart (crust). Steve's lobster carpaccio was bad but the gelatinous goo accompanying it was vile.

For entrees Lisa enjoyed her wild mushroom risotto. Steve also liked it, because the mushroojms were overpowered by the rice. Lisa particularly liked the sauce/spice which nicely set off the taste. Also the risotto was firm, not "mushy". Steve had Maine lobster which was ok, but not enough to feed even a slightly hungry five year old.

Dessert was really bad. Steve had carmel beignets. The beignets were no better than Dunkin Donuts donut holes (although the carmel custard was good). Lisa had the "chestnut gift", which was definitely misnamed because we wouldn't give it to anyone. It looked like a candy bar, the dark chocolate coating, which Lisa would expect to love was mediocre and the center was tasteless. We did like the dessert amuse bouche which they brought out to complete the meal.

Our review of Nomi would not be complete without mention of our waiter, who was miserably unfriendly. Lisa thought we didn't meet his high standards for patrons; Steve thought he just had bad gas.

The bathrooms at Nomi were the second highlight of the meal. Both got perfect scores because they were clean, beautiful and had an interesting decor. The total bill would have been about $250 with wine by the glass, which is ridiculously overpriced in our view for the lack of quality and quantity of the food.

Our ratings for Nomi, 800 N. Michigan, Chicago, Illinois:

4.5 of 10 Steak Knives; 3 of 3 Bathroom Brushes