La Grande Vie

Reviews & Tips

• 0

  Pros: mostly good food, great restrooms, attentive manager. Cons: bad vibe, indifferent staff, usually empty, bad music that never stops.  I'd give it another try in couple of months because it's in neighborhood and its only few months old.  Would have to take different girlfriend.

  Review Source:

  Posted on 03.05.13 peter m.

  • Report
• 0

  Went to LGV with my g/f a little while back so figured I would write a quick review.  
  The interior is very comfortable and attractive, high-end but not overly so.  The place itself is tucked into the 1st floor of a nice 1920's apartment building just east of the Hancock.  Good spot for a date or post-work cocktail, IMO.  We briefly chatted with the owner who was very friendly and he recommended the drinks we eventually ordered.  
  
  We had 2 different cocktails (one was Pimm's cup, I think other was French), both were very tasty and refreshing.  I can mix a pretty good cocktail myself but I don't think I could recreate what the bartender made for us, which is how I usually judge a decent drink.
  
  We also had the hummus and calamari, both of which were very good.  Calamari was light and crispy and the hummus was well seasoned.
  
  We had dinner earlier in the evening so we weren't starved while we were there but next time I visit I will be trying the filet.  The table next to us had one and it looked pretty damn good.  
  
  Anyways, to do the "Check Please" wrap up, it's an attractive, off the beaten path, comfortable place to bring a date for dinner or have a drink with coworkers.  Worth a visit.

  Review Source:

  Posted on 03.02.13 Dan M.

  • Report
• 0

  This is a really weird place. It's inside an apartment building. Once you walk in, to the left close to the street is the dining area, then to the right is the bar. It feels like a River North or Gold Coast wannabe. Clubby music, cocky bartender, and WEAK WEAK cocktails. I don't think I'd ever return again.

  Review Source:

  Posted on 12.08.12 Lu H.

  • Report
• 0

  I'm confused.
  
  This place opened for business on Saturday, December first.  We went for dinner their first night.  The opening was very low key, with little if any publicity and no information on the major food sites and blogs.  It's hidden in an apartment building on Chestnut St., a block east of Water Tower Place.  Even their exterior sign is easy to miss as you walk down their block.  
  
  All but two things point to this being an upscale cocktail lounge that also serves food.  The decor is very comfortable, well designed, modern and attractive without being over the top.  As you walk in, after going through the apartment building lobby, to the left is a small lounge area with chairs and sofas.  To the right heading toward the back are three normal dining tables for four patrons each, then 8-10 high top small tables in the bar area.  The bar is long and spacious, both behind the bar (where four bartenders were working) and in front, with space for 10-12 stools.  That's it for seating, so they certainly don't expect a big dinner crowd.
  
  The drinks menu reinforces the custom cocktails concept - lots of specialty drinks, a nice list of exotic beers, and very little wine selection.  There are only five white wines on the menu, each available either by the glass or by the bottle.  So they're not trying to be a wine bar.
  
  Now we come to problem #1 with the cocktail lounge concept.  The menu is huge!  Twenty-nine items, in a place with a dozen tables.  Everything from calamari, oysters, mussels, poutine, lobster quesadillas, and steak spewers on the small plates list, to four complex salads, several soups, six sandwiches -including French dip, lamb burgers, beef burgers, croque madame, and tuna steak, and six entrees.  The entrees included steaks, chicken, porkchops, porkbelly, and a vegetarian combo but, surprisingly, no fish dishes.  That's a huge menu, and an eclectic one.  No focus, and way too many alternatives to be serving fresh ingredients night after night in this small space.
  
  After getting through several first-night problems, we settled with a nice bottle of Italian Pinot Grigio and their hummus plate.  With a generous pile of pita chips and some carrot and cucumber slices, we had two hummus, one roaster garlic and one red pepper.  The crunchy pita was tasty and both hummus were good, a bit mild on the red pepper, but not overly garlicky on the other.  Good start.
  
  For our main courses, my wife had the French Dip and I had the Braised Porkbelly.  Her French Dip, with herb garlic butter and Gruyere but served without the jus to dip in, she enjoyed.  Her side of fries, with garlic Parmesan and truffle salt, were delicious (I helped with those), with just a light taste of truffle.  My  porkbelly was huge, a very generous portion, and it was absolutely delicious.  Not overcooked, juicy, and very flavorful.  With it were a potato puree, covered in pork jus, and spinach.  The potato puree was creamy and perfect with the porkbelly.  For dessert we shared a pumpkin calufotis and beignets with a chocolate dipping sauce.  The pumpkin salufotis was fabulous, thick and creamy and tasty.  The beignets were good, but, as always, not as good as those in New Orleans.
  
  So there is problem #2 - why is a cocktail lounge that also serves food, with a way-too-big-menu, serving such fabulous food?  It's high quality restaurant food, but in an establishment with only three tables seating a dozen people in the whole place, unless you want to eat at hightops or in overstuffed chairs.      
  
  We stopped the proprietor and asked him.  He acknowledged that they are pursuing the cocktail-lounge-with-food concept, saying his background is on the cocktail lounge side.  Asked about the large menu, he said "Those are all my favorites."  Hmmm, I've never seen a restaurant following an "All the proprietors favorites" concept.  Asked how he can keep some many varied items fresh, he dodged the questions with references to his contacts in the meat wholesaling business.
  
  I really hope this restaurant does well.  But I'm very confused about what La Grand Vie's concept is and how they expect to make money and stay in business with this menu in this space.  Maybe I underestimate the demand for expensive custom cocktails.

  Review Source:

  Posted on 12.02.12 Dennis S.

  • Report