Marche in Chicago: A Sad Decline (Chicago Area Restaurant Review No. 71)

Marche is somewhat of an institution in Chicago's West Loop, as it was one of the first restaurants on Randolph Street. Both Lisa and Steve independently loved the place when they first tried it, however, neither of us has been there for many years as it was not so good on our last visit. We decided to give it one more try, as a precursor to our upcoming trip to Paris and because it has a nice outdoor eating area and it was a beautiful night.

Steve started with a glass of Volmoissine Pinot Noir, which he liked a lot. Lisa had a French martini consisting of chambourd, pineapple juice, vodka and champagne. It was a little sweet for her, but she enjoyed it, though the waiter admitted that it probably was not particularly French.

The food disappointed us immensely. We started with steak tartare because Marche was out of the salmon appetizer. The presentation was awful. We realize steak tartare is raw meat, but usually restaurants manage to make it look good. Not so here. This looked like (for those of you who like old campy horror movies) the lump of raw meat Michael Landon ate when he was turning into a werewolf in I Was A Teenage Werewolf (note: LIsa is not old enough to remember that movie, even from late night TV when Steve saw it). Steve did think it tasted okay, but Lisa didn't like some of the seasoning. The salads were by far the best part of the meal. We ordered the two special salads, the heirloom tomatoes and the dried beef and goat cheese. The tomatoes tasted fresh and slightly sweet with flavorful greens. The dried beef came wrapped around the goat cheese with a peppercorn coating that set the flavors off well, although Steve thought the peppercorns were a bit strong. We both still really liked the dish, however.

For main courses, Steve had the lamb shank and Lisa ordered the double four ounce filets. The filets were absolutely tasteless and were smothered in bland sauce. The whipped potatoes, however, were good -- very smooth and creamy. The lamb shank was decent, but lacked the tenderness which is what's needed to make this dish top notch. Steve also liked the whipped potatoes.

Dessert was particularly disappointing. Lisa ordered what sounded wonderful -- an ice cream sandwich made with brownies and cheesecake ice cream, with berries on the side. Unfortunately, what little ice cream there was had melted by the time the dessert was served and the brownies tasted like the gummy vending machine variety. Steve ordered the cheese plate because none of the traditional desserts looked particularly good to him. He liked the bleu cheese, but found the two others -- a Gouda and a mystery cheese -- not so good. Both lacked flavor, though Lisa thought the Gouda had a bit of a nutty taste that she liked.

Marche is worth one visit, however, for the decor inside. It has velvet curtains and curving red seats and looks very Parisian. The bathrooms are no exception. The Women's Room has a beautiful gilt framed mirror right inside the door, separate small rooms instead of stalls, and curving bench seats. The Men's Room is spotless and similarly well furnished. This is one of the few restaurants to earn a 3 (the top) rating for its bathrooms. Unfortunately, one can't eat the decor and Marche's food has totally gone down hill, in our opinion, since it opened.

Dinner for two, with drinks by the glass, was $190 (which we feel was very overpriced for what we got).

Our ratings for Marche, 833 W. Randolph St., Chicago, Illinois:

5 of 10 Steak Knives; 3 of 3 Bathroom Brushes; 2 of 5 Bug Zappers (meaning at least two bug zappers would be needed to control the pests -- which was also disappointing because it was a windy night and so we thought there shouldn't be any bugs).

Stay tuned for reviews of actual Parisian restaurants, as well as London restaurants, when we return from our upcoming travels.

RL in Chicago: Hold the Sauce (Chicago Restaurant Review No. 70)

On a recent beautiful Sunday evening, we wanted to eat outside and were in the Water Tower area, so we decided to try RL, about which we had heard many good things. Unfortunately, the outdoor eating area was full, except for a table near much foliage, which we've learned usually means many bugs. However, inside was not bad, as the decor was very much like Ralph Lauren's stores -- lots of dark wood, bookcases, and clubby seats. It also was not too cold, which is a plus for inside in the summer.

We started with wine by the glass. Lisa had the Carmel Pinot Noir, which she liked because of its smooth grapey favor. Steve tried something he'd never tried before, a Cotes Du Rhone (in honor of our upcoming trip to Paris). It was typical of French reds, in that it was a little too dense for his taste.

Our appetizer was a cheese plate. Even though we were not told what the cheeses were, we really liked this dish. It was very nicely presented. We think it consisted of goat, chedder, bleu and Swiss cheeses, all of which we liked. The plate included various berries, including Mulberries, which was a nice treat. Salad choices looked skimpy, so Lisa chose to go with the lobster bisque. She was glad she did, as it this was one of the best she had ever tasted. It was very fresh and not at all fishy. By default, Steve chose the Caesar salad, which was as skimpy as the salad choices. It came without dressing (probably an oversight) and there wasn't much to it.

Ah, what could have been. The bone-in filets were cooked perfectly and, for one or two bites, tasted really great. However, those one or two bites came only at the end when we finally were able to rid the beef of the gobs and gobs of sauce which were splashed all over it. It wasn't even very good sauce, as it reminded us of A-1. Our advice to RL is to hold the sauce and let the beef speak for itself.

We also enjoyed our desserts. Lisa had the chocolate ganache cake, which she liked because it was sufficiently dark and came with vanilla ice cream that set it off well. Steve had a banana split. It certainly was original, although the ice cream was not all that good and tasted more like gelatto (more icy than creamy). LIsa, however, thought the chocolate in the banana split was excellent, as it was quite dark.

The bathrooms were well-decorated in keeping with the rest of the restaurant. Getting to them is rather a fun adventure, as it requires going through a doorway at the back of the restaurant and taking a dark wood elevator to the lower level. Lisa would have liked towels and a waste basket near the door, as it was in a separate waiting area and there was no way to open it to leave without touching the handle. The Men's Room had the same issue and was low on towels.

Dinner for two with wine by the glass was a rather hefty $225, but it would have easily been worth it had they held the sauce on the filets, as nearly everything else was excellent. The room also was quiet and quite pleasant, with plenty of space between tables. The inside part of this restaurant would be a lovely place for a winter dinner, perhaps after holiday shopping.

Our ratings for RL, 115 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, Illinois:

7.5 of 10 Steak Knives; 2 of 3 Bathroom Brushes

Keefers in Chicago: Solid But Not Spectacular (Chicago Area Restaurant No. 69)

It was a fairly warm evening, so we decided to walk to Keefers, which is just north of the Loop area and is known for its steaks (although it is one of the trendy celebrity chef steak restaurants, not a traditional Chicago steak house). Since it was a week night, we had wine by the glass. Lisa had a Reisling which she liked because it was suitably sweet. Steve's Malbec had a nice rich flavor.

As is his wont, Steve took note of the bread basket, which pleased him because it had many different types of breads. We started with a salmon appetizer. Both of us thought the salmon was quite good, and Steve also really liked the potato cake that accompanied it. Lisa found the potato cake a little oily, but that is why she generally doesn't eat them. Lisa's Baby Romaine salad included fresh mozarella, tomato and olives, a good combination. Steve ordered the Hearts of Lettuce salad. It was good, except for the house dressing, which overpowered the salad a bit.

Up to this point, we really liked Keefers, however, as sometimes happens with celebrity chef steak houses, we thought the steak was the weakest part of the meal. Steve's Kansas City Strip was a perfect medium rare, but didn't have much flavor. Lisa had the filet mignon. It also was perfectly cooked, but tasted a bit bland except by the bone. Steve was excited when he saw the pomme frites and fried onions, which he usually loves. But they definitely didn't taste as good as they looked, particularly the frites.

We enjoyed the desserts. Lisa liked her vanilla and chocolate gelato, which included a scoop of very dark chocolate gelato. Steve had the apple tart with ice cream, which was good, but could have used more caramel (one would think caramel was as pricy as gasoline, the way restaurants skimp on it -- they clearly are not listening to us).

Service was professional, but struck us as a little cold. Also, the room, while spacious, was very loud once it filled up (impressively so on a Monday night).

The bathrooms were okay, but the pipes under the sinks in the women's room were spraying drops of water (which Lisa assumes is not usually the case there).

Dinner for two with wine by the glass was $170, which would have been fine had the steaks been very good but was a bit much for the spotty beef.

Our ratings for Keefers, 20 W Kinzie Street, Chicago, Illinois:

7 of 10 Steak Knives; 2 of 3 Bathroom Brushes