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