The Dining Room at Kendall College - Restaurant Review

Quite possibly the best fine dining experience for the price in Chicago.

Pros

Cons

I tried this restaurant with three companions for a celebratory birthday lunch one gloomy January afternoon. We couldn't have been more delighted.

First, the waitstaff was genuinely charming. Their enthusiasm for their newly chosen careers was palpable, but tempered with a cool professionalism. There was not a hint of the hautiness, cynicism, or boredom that you sometimes encounter from the waitstaff at some of Chicago's other fine dining restaurants.

The lunch menu was expansive and full of complicated choices that indicated the culinary cartwheels taking place in the teaching kitchen. Here are some of the choices our group especially liked:

• Appetizer: Escargot, crispy applewood smoked bacon breadcrumbs, poached garlic puree, and salsa verde
• Entrees: Chicken breast saltimbocca, apple parsley root puree, soft white polenta, parmesan brodo, and tart apple salad; Grilled charmoula marinated kona kampachi (a type of fish), spiced tomato onion sauce, cinnamon and black pepper scented couscous, harissa aioli

What didn't work so well for me was the roasted beet appetizer with marinated fennel and goat cheese. Although the ingredients were fresh and well-prepared, the flavor of the dish did not amount to much more than the sum of its parts.

I would also say that in some instances, with the kona kampachi fish dish for example, the colors were just a bit off even though the flavors and freshness were good. Perhaps a few things sat a bit too long under the heat lamps?

At any rate, what delivered this restaurant as a wonderful experience was joining in the fancy teaching and eating at an affordable price point. Our fixed price lunch of an opening course, entree, and dessert (picked from a lovely assortment of "teaching" pastries) was an unbeatable $18.

Reviewed: January 2008