Erie Cafe: If You Like Charcoal (Chicago Area Restaurant Review No. 95)

Erie Cafe is one of Steve's favorite steak restaurants, largly because the steaks are so charcoaled it looks like they just came out of a five-alarm fire, yet they are still perfect inside. It seems as if men like this type of heavy charcoal a bit more than women, which is why Erie Cafe's clientele is about 90% male. The atmosphere reflects this, as Erie has leather clubby furniture and lots of dark wood.

We started with a glass each of Rosenblum Zinfandel, which is our default Zinfandel, as it is fruity and smooth enough for both of us. Our appetizer was a shrimp cocktail. This dish was acceptable, but not special, as the shrimp were somewhat small and had a slight fishy taste. The cocktail sauce saved the dish, as it tasted fresh and a little spicy, which is what we like. Salads were plain -- chopped up lettuce, a slice of tomato, and dressing. Again, the dressing made the salad better, as it was a nice tangy Italian.

As usual at this restaurant, Steve really liked his bone-in ribeye because of the charcoaling and it was cooked a perfect medium-rare and had a lot of flavor. The T-bone here is actually Steve's favorite, but he thought he would try the ribeye because it looked good on someone else's plate. It was not quite as good as the T-bone, but he still found it excellent. Lisa had the prime rib. It was perfectly cooked, but she didn't think it had a lot of flavor. Continuing on the theme of this restaurant, which is basic, the entrees are accompanied by cottage fries, which we both liked a lot.

Steve passed on dessert because the ribeye was very big. But since Lisa did not eat that much of her prime rib, she still had room for spumoni. It was a bit too frozen solid, but still tasted great.

The bathrooms were in keeping with the rest of the experience. No frills, but very clean.

Steve thinks the Erie Cafe is an underappreciated gem on the Chicago steakhouse scene and highly recommends it to anyone who likes heavily charcoaled meat. Lisa is not as excited about it, as she likes a little less charcoal, but she always enjoys going there.

Our total bill with wine by the glass was $150, which is not bad for a city steakhouse.

Our ratings for Erie Cafe, 536 W. Erie, Chicago:

7.5 of 10 Steak Knives 2 of 3 Bathroom Brushes

Capital Grille - Solid Steak in Nice Surroundings (Chicago Area Restaurant Review No. 94).

On a recent Sunday evening, Steve picked Lisa up from O'Hare after she had been away on a weekend family visit. It was somewhat late, so we decided to go to a nearby restaurant. We had already tried the McCormick & Schmick location at the new Inter-Continental hotel in Rosemont, and it had been pretty good, so we decided this time to try its sister steak restaurant, the most recent Capital Grille location. Capital Grille is known for its dry aged steaks, which is a type of aging that makes the meet juicier. Lisa had really liked her previous experience with dry aged beef, so we were looking forward to giving this restaurant a try.

The location is brand new, so it is all very spotless and fresh. Additionally, everyone was quite friendly, from the hostess to the knowledgeable server and even the manager.

We started with wine by the glass. Lisa had a glass of the Malbec, which she found a bit tart. Steve had the Bourdeaux, which sounded good, but which tasted very dense. For an appetizer, we shared the smoked salmon. We really liked this dish, as well as the rather unusual creme fraiche-type sauce which accompanied
it. The salmon was particularly fresh tasting.

Next, Steve had the wedge salad and Lisa had the lobster bisque. Lisa really loved the bisque, although the lobster was a bit fishy. Steve's wedge was just ok, particularly since the tomatoes were not very fresh.

Our rating for Capital Grille would have been higher, but the steak was not quite up to top levels. Since only the porterhouse and ribeye (not the filet) were dry-aged, both of us had the porterhouse. It was cooked a perfect medium rare, and Lisa thought it had just the right amount of charcoal flavoring (Steve thought not quite enough but he likes heavy charcoal), but both of us thought the filet side was excelleent while the sirloin side was not so good. it was quite tough and only tasted good right by the bone. We can't understand why they just don't offer a dry aged bone-in filet, which would no doubt be great.

It was late, and the desserts actually looked somewhat pedestrian, so believe it or not we passed.

The bathrooms were extremely clean and pleasant. The only problem was that the sink water was on the cool side.

All in all, we liked the dining experience, but given the mixed result on the actual steak, which is of course why people would go to a place like this, we can't put this in our top tier of steak restaurants.

Dinner for two, with wine by the glass and no dessert was $210, which is a bit high given the problem with the sirloin side of the porterhouse.

Our ratings for Capital Grille 5340 N. River Road, Rosemont

7 of 10 Steak Knives 2.5 of 3 Bathroom Brushes

La Petite Folie - Worn But Usable (Chicago Area Restaurant Review No. 93)

Steve convinced Lisa to see a play version of a movie she was lukewarm about, called Wait Until Dark. The play, which was pretty bad, was at a theatre in Hyde Park, and La Petite Folie, which Steve had read about on numerous occasions was less than a mile away, so we decided to go there before the show. Overall, this was a nice dining experience, although some of the non-culinary elements left something to be desired.

When we came, we were the first ones in the restaurant, and the service was very attentive. We did notice, however, that while the restaurant seemed very authentically French, the carpet was worn and had a slight mildewy smell.

We started with a bottle of Le Bon Pasteur Pomerol. We always like wine from the Pomerol region, but this was probably the best bottle we've had. It was very light and drinkable, and had an excellent bouquet. Our first food course was the appetizers. Lisa had the lobster, which consisted of warm lobster claws taken out of the shell. She really liked this dish, although we both thought the lobster tasted a bit fishy. Steve loved his onion tart, which had a great cheese filling.

Salads were not much to look at, but were quite interesting. Lisa's field greens came with pieces of grapefruit and corn kernels, as well as the traditional greens. She liked the variety although overall the salad was only average. Steve had the corsican salad which was very purple, since most of it was cut up beets and radishes, which were not bad, and Steve really enjoyed the cheese in the salad.

Our entrees were mixed. Lisa really liked the salmon, which was a thick and tasty cut, that she ranked among the best she's ever had. Steve had a taste and also liked it alot. Steve's rack of lamb was less thrilling; it tasted a bit gamey. However, the accompanying potatoes were excellent.

The service really started to decline after the entree, largely because the restaurant filled up and there seemed to be only 3 servers for about 25 tables. As a result, we waited almost an hour between the entree and the dessert (good thing we actually enjoy each other's company). When the dessert did come, the experience was again mixed. Lisa liked her chocolate bombe, which was an outer shell of dark chocolate, with chocolate ice cream inside and chocolate cake on the bottom. She thought the chocolate was good because it was sufficiently dark, and she liked the ice cream as well. Steve's pear crepes left something to be desired although, in fairness, Steve hates pears. So why would he order this -- for the cinammon ice cream, which was really quite good.

The bathrooms were nice. Each was a well appointed (although not fancy) single, that was very clean. However, the men's room was rather cold, and it took a long time for the sink water to warm up (although, unlike with some restaurant bathrooms, there was eventually hot water here).

Since there is basically nothing in the way of good restaurants in Hyde Park, this is definitely the place to go if you are going to the theatre or a concert there, or visiting junior at U of C. However, while La Petite Folie is good, the entire experience was less than stellar, and didn't live up to some of the glowing reviews Steve had seen.

Dinner for 2 with an expensive bottle of wine was $300, so would have been more like $200 with wine by the glass. That is about right for the quality of the food.

Our ratings for La Peitie Folie, 1504 E. 55th Street, Chicago:

7 of 10 Berets 2.5 of 3 Bathroom Brushes