I managed to visit four participating locations this year and I intend to give each of them a quick rundown.
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1. Demera Ethiopian Restaurant
I always say that if you've never had Ethiopian food, you should try it just for the life experience. It is also a great place to go with your vegetarian friends if you happen to associate with people who make such atrocious life decisions (just kidding!) because the cuisine is heavily plant-based. Also, because the cuisine is communal you can share a bunch of dishes amongst each other without breaking the bank. The Restaurant Week deal at Demera was $22 for two people so I was able to enjoy a three-course meal for just $11 pre-tax. Win.
Ethiopian food is also some of the most exotic food I've ever had and by that I mean it is unlike anything else I have ever tried. They essentially line this huge platter with a flat spongy bread that is soft and quite sour - I like to call it sourdough on crack. Then they put all these curried vegetables and meats on top, and you're supposed to tear off the bread and use it to pick up the food with your hands.
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| ...and it looks like diarrhea |
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| I especially enjoyed these. |
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This year's dessert was a rich chocolate cake with the same sorbet they served me last year. Also delicious. They definitely go hard and heavy on the chocolate.
This place is such a gem. I'll definitely be returning next year.
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3. Quartino
I'm about to confess something pretty egregious.
I don't love Italian food.
Don't get me wrong - I do like it - I just don't love it. I find any cuisine not inundated with an aromatic blend of spices and herbs to be hopelessly bland, and to be honest I just don't taste a huge difference between restaurant Italian food and home-cooked, well-prepared Italian food. Nevertheless, I decided to give Quartino a try.
The result was pretty unmemorable. I ordered some fondue, tortellini, ravioli, and fried octopus legs. I do, however, need to go over one thing.
These donuts.
They were so warm. They were so fried. They were so soft.
And they were beautiful.
The two sauces you see on the right are chocolate and honey, both of which went well with these deep fried balls of sweet dough doused in powdered sugar (I mean come on, anyone who doesn't enjoy that is out of their minds).
All in all, though my opinion of Quartino is not overly positive, I feel the need to emphasize that this is because of my personal taste. Anyone who enjoys Italian food more than I do will probably say this place is great.
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4. Bistro Campagne
This place is another one of my favorites.
My favorite part of this place is that the tables are covered in white paper tablecloths and they bring you as many fresh, warm baguettes as you could possibly want in a lifetime, along with copious amounts of butter at perfect spreadable temperature. Then once you're done devouring your baguette they come in with this metal sweeper and remove the bread crumbs off your table. Every time.
I don't know why, but I just think that's great.
I ordered French onion soup and seared salmon as my appetizer and meal - both of which I enjoyed - but the star of the show was the dessert: bread pudding.
Let me preface this with another confession; I don't love bread pudding. Not only am I not a huge dessert person in general, but bread pudding is also definitely not my dessert of choice. For some reason on this fateful day, however, the bread pudding spoke to me and I decided to go for it.
I would go as far as to say that this bread pudding was life-changing only because it opened up the possibility of me becoming a "bread pudding person," so to speak. Bread puddings that I've tried in the past were kind of soggy, very meh - but this one was different. This one was crispy on the outside. It was soft on the inside (in case you haven't noticed, I'm a fan of this crispy-soft dichotomy in my food). It reminded me of pain perdu. It melted on my tongue. The contrast between the ice cream on top and the warmness of the bread along with the heavy dose of cinnamon resulted in a party in my mouth.
I would go back specifically to have this bread pudding again if nothing else.
I am salivating as we speak.
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5. Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba
Quick PSA: The Restaurant Week menu here is really not a good deal unless you are ordering the most expensive tapas they have. I ended up forgoing the prix fixe menu and just ordering an empanada and seafood paella, both of which were really good, but I just wanted to make this announcement.
--
This ended up being a lengthy review, but I could literally go on for hours talking about the things I've eaten. This year's Restaurant Week was an epic success, and I hope to achieve the same results next year.
Restaurants Mentioned:
Demera Ethiopian Restaurant
4801 N Broadway St
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 334-8787
demeraethiopian.com
GT Fish & Oyster
531 N Wells St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 929-3501
gtoyster.com
Quartino Ristorante
626 N State St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 698-5000
quartinochicago.com
Bistro Campagne
4518 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 271-6100
bistrocampagne.com
Café Ba-Ba-Reeba!
2024 N Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 935-5000
cafebabareeba.com
2. GT Fish & Oyster
There's not much I can say about this place other than that it is one of my favorite places to dine in the city. I went last year for Chef Week (post here). I got the same clam chowder and it was as good as I had remembered. They unfortunately took the lobster roll off this year's lunch menu (they must have figured out they weren't making much of a profit - it is, however, still included in the dinner menu), but I had an oyster po boy with kimchi that was equally sublime (my unwavering opinion on the fried onions and pickled veggies can be found in my previous post).
This year's dessert was a rich chocolate cake with the same sorbet they served me last year. Also delicious. They definitely go hard and heavy on the chocolate.
This place is such a gem. I'll definitely be returning next year.
--
3. Quartino
I'm about to confess something pretty egregious.
I don't love Italian food.
Don't get me wrong - I do like it - I just don't love it. I find any cuisine not inundated with an aromatic blend of spices and herbs to be hopelessly bland, and to be honest I just don't taste a huge difference between restaurant Italian food and home-cooked, well-prepared Italian food. Nevertheless, I decided to give Quartino a try.
The result was pretty unmemorable. I ordered some fondue, tortellini, ravioli, and fried octopus legs. I do, however, need to go over one thing.
These donuts.
They were so warm. They were so fried. They were so soft.
And they were beautiful.
The two sauces you see on the right are chocolate and honey, both of which went well with these deep fried balls of sweet dough doused in powdered sugar (I mean come on, anyone who doesn't enjoy that is out of their minds).
All in all, though my opinion of Quartino is not overly positive, I feel the need to emphasize that this is because of my personal taste. Anyone who enjoys Italian food more than I do will probably say this place is great.
--
4. Bistro Campagne
This place is another one of my favorites.
My favorite part of this place is that the tables are covered in white paper tablecloths and they bring you as many fresh, warm baguettes as you could possibly want in a lifetime, along with copious amounts of butter at perfect spreadable temperature. Then once you're done devouring your baguette they come in with this metal sweeper and remove the bread crumbs off your table. Every time.
I don't know why, but I just think that's great.
I ordered French onion soup and seared salmon as my appetizer and meal - both of which I enjoyed - but the star of the show was the dessert: bread pudding.
 |
| I apologize for the blurry photo |
I would go as far as to say that this bread pudding was life-changing only because it opened up the possibility of me becoming a "bread pudding person," so to speak. Bread puddings that I've tried in the past were kind of soggy, very meh - but this one was different. This one was crispy on the outside. It was soft on the inside (in case you haven't noticed, I'm a fan of this crispy-soft dichotomy in my food). It reminded me of pain perdu. It melted on my tongue. The contrast between the ice cream on top and the warmness of the bread along with the heavy dose of cinnamon resulted in a party in my mouth.
I would go back specifically to have this bread pudding again if nothing else.
I am salivating as we speak.
--
5. Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba
Quick PSA: The Restaurant Week menu here is really not a good deal unless you are ordering the most expensive tapas they have. I ended up forgoing the prix fixe menu and just ordering an empanada and seafood paella, both of which were really good, but I just wanted to make this announcement.
--
This ended up being a lengthy review, but I could literally go on for hours talking about the things I've eaten. This year's Restaurant Week was an epic success, and I hope to achieve the same results next year.
Restaurants Mentioned:
Demera Ethiopian Restaurant
4801 N Broadway St
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 334-8787
demeraethiopian.com
GT Fish & Oyster
531 N Wells St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 929-3501
gtoyster.com
Quartino Ristorante
626 N State St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 698-5000
quartinochicago.com
Bistro Campagne
4518 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 271-6100
bistrocampagne.com
Café Ba-Ba-Reeba!
2024 N Halsted St
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 935-5000
cafebabareeba.com
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