There’s a reason people say “God is in the details” and “The devil is in the details.” It’s because seemingly minor points can make the difference between a heavenly experience and a hellish one. Case in point: two new Fox Valley restaurants with considerable potential. Only one is realizing it.
Isabella’s Estiatorio
Isabella’s Estiatorio is making a lot of friends in downtown Geneva, which isn’t surprising. This restaurant is doing almost everything right and has a refreshing eye for the details that make dining a pleasure.
Isabella’s is Mediterranean with a strong streak of Greek, and the interior bustles like a popular taverna. The oak bar buzzes with happy conversation; the 110-seat dining room is an understated space with wood floors, cream-colored walls and a few pots, urns and lamps decorating the oak-capped half wall. It can get noisy, as open dining rooms are wont to do.
Chef Sean Eastwood’s menu looks obvious at first glance; the very first starter is a quartet of spreads (eggplant, hummus and the like) with pita, followed by mussels in tomato broth. But the broth gets a spark from an undercurrent of Pernod, and from that point on the selections get more and more interesting.
Moroccan-spiced duck, a leg-thigh portion, perches on a pile of shaved fennel root, decorated with ruby-red grapefruit segments and pomegranate-dressed frisee; the presentation is a bit messy, but the fragrant duck is delightful. Another agreeable mess is the ragout of grilled calamari, tight rings tossed with fat cannellini beans, artichoke hearts and cherry tomatoes; dabs of oregano pesto on the plate contribute herby flavor. Bite-sized pieces of mesquite-grilled octopus are the stars of a salad that includes frisee greens and kalamata olives; the octopus has great texture, and the mesquite adds an appealing smoky nuance.
What is quickly becoming a signature entree is the pork filet, which Eastwood brines for 24 hours in olive juice, garlic and rosemary; what emerges is succulent meat, served in two long pieces alongside a buttery sweet-potato gratin and Brussels sprouts, which are cut into individual petals scattered about the plate.
The lasagna is another distinguished dish; it’s an individual pie, more Greek than Italian, baked and served in an earthen crock. Fresh pasta sheets are layered with tomato sauce and a mix of ground pork, beef and veal, crowned by a lemon-yogurt bechamel sauce, a delicious accent that’s light and almost foamy on the tongue. If this won’t get people off their low-carb diets, nothing will.
Seafood offerings include pleasingly firm fillets of John Dory, draped over pureed gigantes (think lima beans on steroids) and topped with a tablespoon of lemony eggplant tapenade; and Ivory salmon, crusted with fennel seed and orange zest and matched to cipollini onions and lentils in a port-wine sauce.
Desserts consist of Greek-accented French sweets and French-accented Greek ones. In the former category we have a yummy pistachio creme brulee, served out of its ramekin (the custard set a bit firmer than usual) on a nest of kataifi, or shredded and toasted phyllo. In the latter is galaktoboureko, realized here as two deep-fried spring rolls stuffed with semolina custard, glazed with Grand Marnier and paired with honey and orange semifreddo.
Isabella’s excellent wine list provides a range of appealing ways to wash down the aforementioned treats. There’s good variety, and a heartening surplus of drinkable bottles in the $30-$40 and even the $20-$30 range. The deep-pocketed are tempted by some superior wines, but there’s also a $35 Beckman syrah that would work nicely with many of the dishes.
Servers discuss the menu with the zeal of newly inducted cult members; I almost felt guilty passing up one waitress’ clearly heartfelt recommendation (I’d had the dish on a previous visit). Bussers are on the spot with refills and silverware changes, and one fellow assiduously crumbing my table went after one tablecloth blemish (it was a food stain and wasn’t going anywhere) like a modern-day Lady Macbeth.
18 North
There are things to like about 18 North. Set in a 150-year-old former church, lovingly restored and decorated and boasting a steak and seafood menu executed with considerable flourishes by chef Matthew DiGiacomo (Tavern on Rush, Riva), this St. Charles restaurant seemingly has it all.
Yet service and other shortcomings are so maddening that I’m tempted, in keeping with the church theme of this review, to nail my 95 Gripes to the front door.
Here are a few:
Gripe One: The price of the surf-and-turf special, a budget-blowing $80, is withheld from customers, even though there’s a printed specials card with prices. The waiter tells you about the special, but doesn’t mention the price. Unacceptable.
Two: A manager (I assume) stopped by our table to chat. But for all his schmoozing, he never noticed that one person needed their wine glass filled (a cardinal sin in a high-end restaurant).
Three: Can somebody get this place a spell-checker? Australian, osso buco, bouillabaisse, Caesar and even blinis were misspelled on the menu.
Four: Prices are very high. A $40 prime steak is not an outrageous price to those who’ve been paying attention to the price of beef lately, and to be fair, the meat quality is unassailable. But how about some relief? The cheapest entree is $26 (a nicely done braised monkfish with a gratin of fingerlings, crab and truffle). There should be some lower-priced options here.
Five: Minor kitchen missteps that add up. A pretty good lobster bisque was too salty, and so thick that it had skinned over by the time it reached our table. Puff-pastry tartlets are flaky and tasty, but the accompanying sweet-corn flan is served refrigerator-cold. A salad containing goat cheese and a puckery vinaigrette was so skimpy on the former ingredient that the latter overwhelmed the dish.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
The maddening thing about all this is that 18 North does many things right. Steaks and chops are just about flawless; the ribeye steak is rich and juicy, the lamb chops meaty and full of gamy flavor and superb venison chops are a treat seldom seen on area menus. Starters such as the vertical Caesar salad (served upright in a tall, parmesan-tuile vase) and the black-tie scallops (sprinkled with black truffles over a tarragon-chervil butter) are delicious.
The limestone building, artfully uplit at night, is worthy of a postcard. The dining room is handsome and spacious, trimmed in rich wood and full of colorful, expensively framed art imported from Russia, of all places.
Gorgeous inside and out, 18 North has the potential to become the jewel of St. Charles dining. But it’s going to take a lot more polish.
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Isabella’s Estiatorio
(star)(star)(star) 330 W. State St., Geneva; 630-845-8624
Open: Dinner Tue.-Sun.
Entree prices: $15-$28
Credit cards: A, DC, DS, M, V
Reservations: Recommended on weekends
Noise: Conversation-challenged
Other: Wheelchair accessible
18 North
(star) 18 N. 4th St., St. Charles; 630-443-8400
Open: Mon.-Sat.
Entree prices: $26-$80
Credit cards: A, DC, DS, M, V
Reservations: Recommended on weekends
Noise: Conversation-friendly
Other: Wheelchair accessible; complimentary valet; smoking in bar only
OUTSTANDING (star)(star)(star)(star)
EXCELLENT (star)(star)(star)
VERY GOOD (star)(star)
GOOD (star)
Reviews are based on no fewer than two visits. The reviewer makes every effort to remain anonymous. Meals are paid for by the Tribune.
