The lighting is moody. The music pulsates at deafening volume. The dressy crowd is highlighted by women favoring sleek, racy outfits with the babe throttle wide open.
The hottest restaurants in town these days arguably aren’t restaurants at all. They’re hybrids that combine elements of fine dining and nightclubbing, and they’re attracting a free-spending and youngish crowd almost every night of the week.
Make that every late night of the week. Walk into one of these hotspots at, say, 7:30 p.m., and you’d be forgiven for thinking that a bomb threat had been phoned in recently. Even mid-week, the trendoids rarely wander in before 9, and most places, which stay open until 2 a.m. and beyond, don’t get revved up until 11.
56 WEST
“I definitely would like to do more food business, especially early,” says Christopher Stoye, chef of 56 West (previously at Gramercy Tavern and Les Celebrites in New York), a subterranean space that is typical of this new restaurant breed. “For the longest time, people didn’t know about our food.”
That may because nothing about 56 West’s exterior even suggests food. Minimal signage directs you to the entrance, heavy, metal-clad sliding door that faces an alley.
But, after descending a long, wide staircase, you come upon a grottolike space glowing with candlelight and low-wattage supplements. Cozy booths overlook a candle-filled fireplace; there’s a long banquette with throw pillows, some free-standing tables, and one 10-foot long, onyx-topped table lit from underneath.
Amid pounding dance music, you peruse a menu laden with sushi, fine caviar and contemporary appetizers and entrees. The food is remarkably good; the sushi is first-rate, the mustard-crusted ahi tuna with ponzu is a keeper and potato gnocchi is properly delicate. This place really ought to do more early dinner business.
PASHA
The hottest space in River North belongs to Pasha. Here is a hybrid whose dining component is more apparent; linen-topped tables occupy about 60 percent of the space, spilling out onto a sidewalk cafe (via flung-open French doors) in pleasant weather.
Even so, the atmosphere, charged with danceable music (and this is before the deejay warms up around 9), is decidedly clubby. The crowd is not as relentlessly youthful here as at some of the others — but stick to stylish and expensive attire to fit in.
Oddly enough, general manager Giovanni Liuzzo envisioned Pasha as a casual restaurant.
“We just wanted a nice, unstuffy place with some entertainment,” he says. “But the lounge business has been great. It’s just one of those things you can’t explain.”
Pasha’s menu favors light, easy-to-share appetizers, such as a good chilled seafood salad and nicely steamed mussels in a tomato fume. Entrees include venison with a raspberry-flavored reduction and risotto studded with shrimp and fresh strawberries, and the irresistible dessert is the Black Passion, a chocolate cup with fresh fruit doused with Absolut Peppar vodka. Not everything sings; a scorched phyllo-pastry triangle stuffed with escargots was a disaster, and whitefish over a potato galette is even blander than it sounds.
THYME/SINIBAR
Thyme, the bistro-ish newcomer along Halsted Street a bit north of Greektown, is a two-headed beast. There’s Thyme itself, a crowded and noisy dining room that features the cooking of John Bubala, formerly executive chef at Marche (an early pioneer in this restaurant/nightclub combo business). And there is Sinibar, a small, plush room that is almost womblike in its soft, enveloping textures and muted colors. This clearly is a lounge with food; most of the space is standing room, though anyone lucky enough to secure table space will be very comfortable.
In theory, one can order anything off the Thyme menu in Sinibar. In practice, tucking into, say, roasted sea bass with charred tomato sauce (one of the more appealing menu options) would be tricky at one of Sinibar’s tables — assuming you get one.
So do as most do — dine in Thyme (or elsewhere) and visit Sinibar for drinks and desserts, such as custardy cherry clafouti, fudgy chocolate gateau or dessert crepes with hazelnut mousse.
NARCISSE
Narcisse is another sensual, seductive environment. The place looks expensive — burnished gold is the predominant color, contrasted with dark fabric — and, true to its name, Narcisse is filled with mirrors; if you like looking at yourself, you’ll love this place.
Champagne and caviar are the menu’s one-two punch; the beverage list divides champagnes by house, typically offering one bubbly per label by the glass. Martinis are named for famous names in couture (the Coco Chanel) and Russian royalty (the banana Karenina). Drinks, happily, are served ice-cold.
There are food options, many forgettable, and it seems everything is served on a large bed of mixed greens. The highlight is the cheese plate, which is presented prettily and is quite generous in portion. There are ports available.
I wouldn’t eat often at Narcisse, but I’d drink here any time.
THE LIVING ROOM
The Living Room in Lombard has been blurring the restaurant-nightclub line for five years. There’s music and dancing nightly until 1 or 2 a.m. Patrons sit at cushy sofas and oversized chairs, nibbling on appetizer-sized dishes from a large menu that ranges from andouille corn chowder to grilled lamb chops. The food isn’t adventurous but is surprisingly good.
DRAGON ROOM
Finally, there is the Dragon Room, a nightclub with vaguely Asian decor, a dance floor and a sake and sushi bar. The crowd here is very young and the sushi bar is very small. The sushi bar is a clever touch, but this is not the place for serious eaters.
WHERE THERE’S MORE TO DO THAN POWDER YOUR NOSE
A memorable gimmick never hurts a new restaurant trying to make a name for itself, and Pasha seems to have a good one with its ladies’ room, which is equipped with a free-standing bar, complete with bar stools, a love seat and an on-duty (female) bartender dispensing champagne drinks and other creations in cute frosted glasses.
Women can seek relief, refuge and libation in one trip.
If there’s a problem with the ladies’ room bar, it may be that it is too inviting. There can actually be a wait for a seat (of course, women are accustomed to this). And male companions, who are gently escorted away when they attempt to view the bar (this happens several times an evening), can feel, well, neglected.
I speak from experience. My wife and I dined at Pasha and I sent her to the ladies’ room bar on a fact-gathering mission. She disappeared for an hour.
So gentlemen, be aware that if the female person with whom you struck up a conversation excuses herself to the ladies’ room, she might not be coming back.
OTHER ADVICE
– Arrive late — but not too late. True, these places don’t really heat up until what my 40ish body now refers to as the wee hours (anything past 10:30 p.m.), but arriving with the crowd means a fight for every inch of space. Dessert at Sinibar loses its cachet when you’re eating on your feet, trying to balance a plate of crepes St. Germain and a glass of wine at the same time.
– You don’t have to dress up, but you can’t afford to dress down. Show up in athletic wear and you likely will be refused entry. If you’re disinclined to throw on your best duds, just wear black. Work on your pout.
– Make sure there’s some room in your credit limit before delving too deeply into the caviar and champagne options these places provide.
– Though there’s no cover charge at these places, the doorman at Sinibar one night hit me up for a $10 cover when I tried to walk in one Saturday night. Damn, I knew I should have dressed better that night. Whether this was a case of personal enterprise or an attempt to save room for more Important people, I advise declining such demands.
THE HYBRID HOT LIST
56 WEST
56 W.Illinois St., 312-527-5600.
PASHA
642 N. Clark St., 312-397-0100.
THYME/SINIBAR
464 N. Halsted St., 312-226-4300.
THE LIVING ROOM
801 E. Butterfield Rd., Lombard, 630-368-0069.
DRAGON ROOM
809 W. Evergreen Ave., 312-751-2900.
NARCISSE
710 N. Clark St., 312-787-2675.
