NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2001 15:11:28 CST X-SessionID: [email removed] X-Hash-Info: post-filter,v:1.4 X-Hash: a5d78c25 f0be30c1 c4f051a0 a6a478d3 8e16b6a6 Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2001 21:11:28 GMT Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu chi.eats:12278 A friend treated me to dinner at Park Avenue Cafe for my birthday a couple of months ago. Last night we celebrated her birthday at Va Pensiero. I think there is a compare-and-contrast review dying to be written, and, seeing how these are the only two new restaurants I've been to in months, and how I was curious about them and turned to chi.eats to ask questions but got shy, promising myself I'd write my own review eventually... well, here it is. Park Avenue Cafe, a New American restaurant in Streeterville, has tasting menus, so we both got that. Here's what I remember about it: a 13-tomato salad, really fun and not only because you get to count tomatoes. I didn't realize there are so many varieties, especially teeny ones, nor that they make a tomato especially for me, with a pH in the 2.0-range, which is yellow, I think, and teeny. I was impressed -- guess it doesn't take much. The main deal was crispy duck in a fig sauce, which was delicious... I don't have much more to say about it, except that you will have to trust me when I say I have been craving more ever since I ate it. Other things of note were a custard of some sort served in the egg shell, a soup that I don't remember now, and the dessert, some kind of chocolate + nougat + other stuff sculpture of a scene in a park, replete with bench and tree, proving that they like to play with their food at Park Ave Cafe. It was just shy of silly, and good but not spectacular. Service was good, but it could have been a little more attentive. The food definitely outstrips the service. Va Pensiero is a Southern Italian restuarant a few blocks west of downtown Evanston. I chose it based on reviews only, which unanimously praised the excellent service. On this point they were correct. I would not say that the food is as good as a 25 rating in Zagat, but then I have learned that those ratings are +/- 5 points at least. The goat cheese souffle appetizer tasted good but texture-wise it seems like a bad idea, at least around the outside. Next up for me was a spinach and tomato salad, yes, kind of hoping for a repeat of the 13-tomato extravaganza, but winding up with something far more ordinary. I was going to order the duck (deja vu) but my friend wanted it, and it was her birthday, and we were there to try new stuff so I went ahead with beef tenderloin with asparagus wrapped in prosciutto plus gorgonzolla bread pudding. The beef was exceptionally tender, the gorgonzolla b.p. was subtle yet flavorful, and it was a fine complement to the meat and the sauce. The sauce (some red wine reduction) unfortunately was too salty, but not so much that I didn't enjoy it. My friend's duck was delicious, slightly undercooked according to what she said she wanted (the way she ordered it I could see how the waiter might have misinterpreted her -- I'm still confused about what the two of them eventually negotiated), and the sauce ... I don't remember what it was, I'm sorry, but it was much less salty than mine, and it was also very yummy, AND it did not go with my beef at all. I had a couple of bites of duck which I enjoyed very much. It was served with corn polenta -- nothing special here, but very good anyway. Dessert: I had a walnut and sour cherry tart with cranberry gelato -- I love sour cherries, and there were enough to keep me happy. The slightly toasted walnuts was an extra treat. Yum. My friend had a chocolate amaretto tort with that like truffle-filling chocolate fudgy inside. Not quite transcendental, but close. The service at Va Pensiero: imagine being carpet-bombed by waitstaff, except it's not a bad experience. There were a couple of times when I felt like I was being watched so closely that I couldn't enjoy my meal in peace, but overall it was not like that. They had my name wrong for the reservation but it was worked out smoothly and the hostess apologized for it (no big deal!). Five seconds after we sat down a waiter was at the table. We never had to ask for anything. The main waiter guy had a little trouble with champagne recommendations, and he didn't go much beyond what was already on the menu when it assisting with our eating decisions, but he was on the ball otherwise. He asked my friend if she was unhappy with her champagne, which she drank only about 10% of, but that's about all she can handle before she gets really goofy. One final note about Va Pensiero -- the rear dining room looks a lot like the complimentary breakfast room at a hotel. I would recommend asking for a table in the front dining room if you're at all sensitive to decor. Note that the front dining room is only open on weekends, and it apparently gets book for private parties a lot. In sum, the food at Park Avenue Cafe was exceptional and the service at Va Pensiero really lived up to the hype. Overall I give Park Avenue Cafe a slight edge because I really am lusting after that crispy duck. Park Avenue Cafe 199 E. Walton Pl. (Mies van der Rohe Way) Chicago, IL, 60611-1509 (312) 944-4414 Va Pensiero 1566 Oak Ave. (Davis St.) Evanston, IL, 60201-4298 (847) 475-7779
Chicago, IL