Elizabeth Restaurant

My husband and I enjoyed our first gatherer style dinner last night - the 18 course Deer menu.  The experience exceeded our expectations. Chef Regan and her team brought the feeling of the forest and farm alive with great authenticity.    

Our favorite courses were:  the salmon roe shooter, the bird's nest, acorn gnocchi, terrarium of 'earth', smoked salmon, quail egg with potato puree,  mushroom tea with music, and a knockout rice and curry bite.   Special mention to the palate cleansing spruce soda with birch tree straws which was oh so refreshing.

We loved the use of fowl eggs - quail, duck...all delicacies and creatively paired.

The foraged leaf tea in the owl cups was delicious and just plain cute.  

The sommalier was gracious and smart. His wine list covetable. We had an amazing German Rhinehessen Pinot Noir -- who knew? It was delicious with the meat courses.  

The communal table seating was fine - thankfully, our dining companions were a lovely couple that were wonderful and not overwhelming.  We are new parents in need of some down time. We really wanted to just dine in peace and take in the experience of each course. The communal setting could be hit or miss.

The few missteps here and there were charming. It didn't bother us one bit.  However, one immediate change that should be implemented is to have the staff greet the table with a small aperitif or at least offer a cocktail.

We arrived 20 minutes early out of respect to the other diners and the staff - the last couple was about 15 minutes late which was not a problem. But it took a very long time to get our first drink once we were all seated. That was an unnecessary miss.  We imbibed too much Pelligrino during the 40 minute wait.

So, please have mercy on your guests and get them a drink while they wait especially if they're considerate enough to arrive early.

It was a pleasure to experience Chef Regan's artistry through Elizabeth and to watch her accomplished team bring each of her personalized vignettes to life.  

We will be back this summer!

man, i had to think hard between 3 and a 3.5. I will go back just to make sure.

Reservation process was incredibly pleasant.

The ambiance, interior - fabulous. this place would have fit well in amsterdam or berlin.

service. very good but certainly not as impressive as the type of restaurant they want to emulate.

food. be easy on my tender taste buds baby....the ginger snap with its strength and sweetness, like clipping someone's tongue and then offering a long waited for french kiss.

Other dishes...beautiful presentation ...only a couple of many dishes were absolutely impressive. Others nice but i have had better....much better, within the same category.

the short rib at the end - man, that mama was heavy.

the kitchen looked impeccable...so clean...felt like no dust there.

in fairness, we went with our son, and i was a bit feeling guilty putting a 10 year old kid through a few hours of wait. he did not like anything...and i wish i had put the money towards a fancy lego for him.

i sincerely wish them success...i am delighted they are in chicago....and will go there at least once more...just to be for sure, for sure.

A wonderful, creative dining experience with most courses being an A+.  It truly is a dining theater & the star is the owner/chef. We order wine by the bottle because we knew we would like it. Our table mates did the tastings & weren't pleased by a few choices. I thought I would get nuts sitting for so long but I was sad to see it end.

I did the deer menu.