As long as you’re in the Grant Park area this weekend, sampling the Taste of Chicago offerings (see story below for recommendations), the Friday fireworks and the Saturday free concert, make a little time to check out the best restaurant to open in the Loop in at least five years.
That would be Rhapsody, the fine-dining restaurant inside the new Symphony Center, both of which made their debuts last October. Built with the intention of coddling the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s loyal and well-heeled patrons (and perhaps attracting additional ones), Rhapsody is a luxury dining room in which few expenses have been spared — and fewer are being recouped. With a menu in which most dinner entrees are $19 or less, Rhapsody is designed with long-term relationships, not short-term profitability, in mind.
The complicated partnership that operates Rhapsody includes Symphony Center itself and Jim Horan, president of the respected Blue Plate Catering Inc. The name that matters to average diners, however, is chef and operator Steven Chiappetti, who has made his mark in town with the well-received Mango and Grapes restaurants.
At Rhapsody, Chiappetti is playing on a distinctly grander stage. “Mango and Grapes are basically bistros,” Chiappetti said in an interview earlier this year. “This is definitely one step above.”
It may even be two steps above, but Chiappetti is more than capable of playing at that level. He displays a little flash in his crab parfait, a cunning, tricolor creation served in an oversized martini glass. Bottom to top, the parfait begins with a lively, chunky tomato salsa, not unlike a thick gazpacho, which is topped with a frothy, light-tasting avocado mousse, on which rests a thin layer of sour cream, which supports a quenelle of blue crabmeat and a decorative snow crab claw. The dish is so colorful, so indulgent in its textures, that spooning it up is like starting your meal with dessert.
Another superb starter is the wild mushroom ravioli, the pasta squares covered individually with a gratin of herbed breadcrumbs and butter that adds crispness and richness; complementing the wild mushrooms is a satiny, full-flavored veal reduction sauce.
With otyher appetizers, Chiappetti is willing to let the star ingredients speak for themselves, as with excellent tuna tartar, served over tomato and black-olive oils, or chilled asparagus with roasted red peppers, brightened by a few splashes of aged balsamic vinegar. A salad of warm, walnut-coated goat cheese is matched to endive leaves with a light, lemony vinaigrette, and grilled portobello mushroom takes on Asian overtones with a chive-oil vinaigrette and wasabi-marinated peas.
The onion-crusted sturgeon is Rhapsody’s de facto signature dish. A firm crust of crispy onions adds texture and sweetness to the soft-fleshed fish, which is served with butternut squash puree studded with toasted pine nuts. Roasted whitefish, another soft fish, is contrasted with firm pieces of roasted fingerling potatoes and sauteed artichoke.
Sweet and savory flavors duel in Chiappetti’s molasses-glazed grilled pork tenderloin, which is served with an assertive ragout of white beans, chorizo sausage and broccoli rabe. For a touch of indulgence, try the beef tenderloin, a wonderful piece of meat served with beef marrow — that high-cholesterol no-no — and some hollowed baked potatoes filled with horseradish cream.
Pastry chef Sebastien Cannone provides an appropriately luxurious finale. My favorite desserts are the chocolate brownie, a warm-center cake studded with nuts, and the peach and pineapple tart, a buttery, flaky puff-pastry base topped with pineapple and peach slices and a scoop of coconut sorbet.
Decorating both desserts are shards of chocolate etched with gold notes of music. I didn’t recognize the tune.
Those who opt for a simple assortment of sorbets get a visual treat: The egg-shaped scoops of sorbet are arranged around a nest of spun sugar, with tiny niblets of pineappleunderneath. It looks adorable, and the sorbets are delicious.
The 100-seat dining room is done in white and natural wood tones. The floor is carpeted and the ceiling is coated with sound-absorbing material, keeping noise to a minimum. South-facing windows overlook a manicured park with outdoor seating for about 60.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra season has ended, and as a consequence, reservations are fairly easy to come by. Once the season resumes, however, Rhapsody is packed before every performance and does a brisk postperformance cocktail service as well. Once the maestro lifts the baton, say about 8 p.m., getting a table is a snap.
You could make a case that Chiappetti and his partner, George Guggeis (who serves as Rhapsody’s general manager), lucked into the business opportunity of a lifetime, especially one that lets Chiappetti flex his culinary muscles. But his gain is also Chicago’s.
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Rhapsody
(star) (star) (star)
65 E. Adams St.
312-786-9911
Open: Dinner Mon.-Sun., lunch Mon.-Sat.
Entree prices: $15-$27
Credit cards: A, DC, DS, M, V
Reservations: Recommended
Other: Valet parking available; wheelchair accessible
Rating system
(star) (star) (star) (star) Outstanding
(star) (star) (star) Excellent
(star) (star) Very Good
(star) Good
Satisfactory
Unsatisfactory
Reviews are based on no fewer than two visits. The reviewer makes every effort to remain anonymous. Meals are paid for by the Tribune.
