OT--Romantic Dinner in Chicago?

General Knitting
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Since half of y’all are from the windy city, I wondered if you could point me to a great restaurant. DH and I will celebrate our 10-yr there, since the kids are too young to leave for long enough to go any further. I :heart: Chicago, and besides, I figured I could hit a few yarn stores while I’m there, since it’s “the knitting center of the universe.” (I’m a real romantic, huh?)

Anyway, any suggestions for a fabulous evening, either really elegant, hip, or just small and really good, would be greatly appreciated!

Kirstin

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I haven’t been myself, but I have lots of friends who have been to Geja’s and raaaave about it. Very romantic, I’m told, and the food is fabulous. :thumbsup:

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A restaurant in Greek Town would be fun, too if you like Greek food. Have a GREAT TIME, and happy anniversary!!!

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Speaking of Greek food, I’ve only been to Chicago once, but one of the things I remember best is the super yummy baba ganoush (eggplant spread appetizer) from a restaurant called (I think!) Santorini. It was really lemony and bright, if that makes sense. Sooooooo good. Whenever I’ve ordered it at Greek restaurants since then, I am always disappointed, because no one around here seems to prepare it that way. DH (the chef in our house) is pretty close, but I’m not sure it’s quite as good as I remember.

P.S. Happy Anniversary!

ETA: I looked up the restaurant, and found their website:

http://www.santorinichicago.com/

I guess what I remembered as being baba ganoush is actually called melitzanosalata. Apparently they are very similar, but baba ganoush has tahini and the other doesn’t. I have to tell DH so he can try it without. I think I see some eggplant in my very near future!

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Mmmmm…it’s VERY good!!! And saganaki is a fun Greek appetizer. When my kids were really little, I just told them it was “fire cheese” since they couldn’t remember/say “saganaki”. Pastitiso is SOOOO good, too. Now I’m all geared up for Greek food!!! :drool:

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OMG, your options are ENDLESS!!! Geja’s is alot of fun, and yes, romantic. Its a fondue restaurant.

A restaurant that we tried recently is Opera in the south Loop area. If you go, I highly recommend being seated in “the vaults” which is VEYR romantic, and do the chef’s tasting menu. WOW its ALOT of FABULOUS food, albeit pricey.

OOH! You might like either Emilio’s or Cafe Ba-ba-reeba for Tapas!

A REALLY good resource for Chicago restaurants in general… you can search by type of food and/or area of the city, is MetroMix

Have SUCH a great anniversary!! :heart: :heart: :heart:

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That is soooo weird. I was craving baba ganoush this morning (see earlier post), and it turned out that DH bought some eggplant yesterday just for that purpose. (insert twilight zone music here)

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I have been to both Gejas and Santorini a couple times each, and I like them both. But I like Santorini better. Gejas is almost a bit too . . . gimmicky? to be romantic. I mean, the food was alright, and truly, it was dim, but I saw someone burned by overheated oil!

If you have big bucks to spend, a totally outrageously expensive place I went to is called Tru, it’s downtown, and the hoity toity-est French food you can imagine. Waiters pouring everyone’s glasses in unison, escorts to the restroom, the whole nine yards. But in all honesty, I’ve had better French for 1/4 the price.

I also quite liked Thyme Cafe, food is very good, I guess you could say the atmosphere is romantic.

There is a very nice French cafe called Bistrot Margot, which will be dim in the evening, I think, though less romantic, I guess, than the other places.

My current favorite is a fabulous tapas place called Del Toro in Bucktown. That is some good eating. Try to get a seat in the back, everything is red lighting and red velvet and candlelight. Or if that’s too much for you, any of the other dimly lit seats are okay. Good bar, great food, fun and chill place to go.

I know there are more, but I can’t think of them all right now. I’m told the restaurant at the top of the John Hancock building is expensive, romantic, touristy, and genuinely very good.

Reservations for all of the above, probably.

I love to eat, in case you couldn’t tell.

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:shock: For that much money I’d tell 'em to let me go to the restroom by myself!!!

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:shock: For that much money I’d tell 'em to let me go to the restroom by myself!!![/quote]

Yeah, there are definitely some things I prefer to do by myself, and that’s one of them!

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Kirstin, I just noticed this sentence of your post–can you share some good knitting shops in Chicago (names and locations)?

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CHIX!!!

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Kirstin, I just noticed this sentence of your post–can you share some good knitting shops in Chicago (names and locations)?[/quote]

Cook… there is a whole thread where Illinoisians have documented our knit-togethers… I think It’s called “Attn: all Illinois knitters” or something./… You can read about the several LYSs we’ve been to. :thumbsup:

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:shock: For that much money I’d tell 'em to let me go to the restroom by myself!!![/quote]

:rofl: Well, they just escort you to the door. I remember thinking it was probably so you wouldn’t try to run out and ditch that enormous bill. “um, i have to go to the bathroom for a bit, i’ll be back (not)” :teehee:

But it’s a very nice bathroom. Dry your hands on fresh white soft cloths. It’s an experience.

And did I mention dessert? You can choose a traditional sweet dessert or you can take 3 cheeses from their cheese cart, which they wheel out and describe in detail the 15 cheeses on it. I, of course, chose the fancy cheeses. I can have that standard stuff anywhere.

But really, my favorite is Del Toro these days. If you go, be sure to try the sardine bruschetta (or whatever the spanish word is for the rough equivalent of bruschetta). I promise you, it is delicious. Also the warm figs in the cherry sauce over ice cream. Aw man, I have got to get back there soon . . .