PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

This fine-dining restaurant inside Symphony Center (with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking an outdoor dining area and a small park) is a hit with the concert-going crowd, as much for the setting as for the food. In the summer the restaurant's outdoor garden is a mini oasis of flowers and greenery, definitely the most charming outdoor dining spot in the Loop. (A note to the noise-sensitive: You still have to contend with the squealing wheels of El trains passing overhead.) The menu emphasizes contemporary American dining with European influences. Escargot and carpaccio show up on the appetizer list, as do crab cakes and seasonal soups (asparagus in the spring, mushroom in the fall). Recent entrees included grilled pork tenderloin with sage jus and date chutney; mahi mahi with spinach-curry sauce; and a beef filet with truffle spaetzle. There is also always at least one vegetarian option, in addition to the chef's daily risotto, which is often meat-free. The lunch menu features mostly salads and sandwiches (brie, tomato, and pesto served on a baguette), as well as casual bistro entrees such as steak frites.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Chicago 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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