Few restaurants have delivered such a one-two punch of eye candy as Alhambra Palace and Room 21, two large-scale properties that opened within days of one another in April.
The former is a Middle Eastern fantasy on the Near West Side with an onion-domed exterior and enough decorative bling to stock a museum; the latter is restaurateur Jerry Kleiner’s latest South Loop effort, a conversion of an old Al Capone warehouse with a lavish, nouveau-bordello interior.
At both places, however, the front-room glitz was masking chaos in the kitchen, and both restaurants quickly replaced their opening chefs. It’s starting to become clearer what kind of restaurants these two will be; Alhambra is a successful entertainment venue still struggling for culinary respectability, and Room 21 is already a very good restaurant with excellence within its reach.
Alhambra Palace
On looks alone, Alhambra Palace is worth a visit. And when the kitchen and front room get their respective acts together, the dining experience likely will justify your presence as well.
Owner Naser Rustom sunk a sultan’s ransom into this property, a massive space on the west edge of the Randolph Street restaurant corridor. Alhambra encompasses a dining and bar area that can hold 200 patrons, plus a two-story nightclub area with a two-tiered circular balcony that overlooks a beautiful wood-inlay floor and a large stage.
It’s all adorned with ornate Moroccan-made furniture, outsized wall sconces resembling oil-burning torches and bas-relief artworks so authentic-looking that I wondered if someone had robbed a museum. If the makers of the next Indiana Jones flick need an indoor set, this one’s good to go.
On busy nights — those would be Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, not coincidentally the nights featuring belly dancers and other live entertainment — you’ll find a dress-to-impress crowd in impressive numbers, some of them puffing away on hookah pipes, many of whom are there for the Middle Eastern singing stars Rustom books into the nightclub. (On those nights, the nightclub often offers a dinner-show package, but the regular dining room remains a la carte.)
The complex opened in April with chef Eric Aubriot (ex-Carlos’, Fuse, Aubriot) in charge, but he was replaced in short order by Daniel Wright, who previously worked for Rustom as chef at Souk. Wright has made significant progress turning a badly disorganized kitchen operation into something worth visiting, but more work remains.
My first visit, shortly after Wright came aboard, was a disaster. A few feet from where we were seated, a cluster of employees seemed to be sorting out which of them was responsible for our table. Eventually we were handed menus, then told that only a few items were actually available; one of them, sadly, was an overcooked and flavorless chicken tagine (though the lamb tagine was fine).
A month later, the front room was doing much better, and the errors I experienced and witnessed were far more forgivable. Our waiter didn’t know the finer points of wine service, pouring my wife’s glass two-thirds full before either of us had been given a chance to taste and approve the wine. Across the way I saw a table of three receive just two entrees, though the missing plate arrived a few minutes later.
There are genuine delights on Wright’s menu, now that everything on it is available. The appetizer lists the obligatory hummus, tabouli and baba ghanoush, but the hummus is particularly good and there’s also zaalouk, a spicy take on baba ghanoush that was the highlight of my first visit.
Other menu highlights include the addictively good lamb ribs, seasoned with spicy harissa and glazed with a pomegranate-date barbecue sauce. Cumin-crusted salmon, a carry-over from Wright’s menu at Souk, arrived to my table as medium-rare perfection, accompanied by Israeli couscous mixed with caramelized onions and a coarse almond pesto. Shrimp charmoula, marinated in a complex spice blend, are as flavorful as they are fragrant. And if you still have room for dessert, Alhambra’s baklava is as good as you’ll find anywhere, lacking the sensory-overload sweetness that bogs down other versions.
There’s reason to be hopeful about Alhambra, but it comes down to Wright’s ability to keep his food at a consistently high level on a very large scale — and for the front-room staff to continue to improve.
Room 21
Compared to Alhambra, Room 21 is polish personified. Service is smooth, poised and professional, and the kitchen output is of a consistently high quality.
And yet, like Alhambra, Room 21 is not yet the restaurant I think it will someday be.
The restaurant opened with chef Aaron Whitcomb, who came from a highly regarded and intimate restaurant in Denver. I had some very good food at Room 21 while Whitcomb was in charge, most memorably a roasted organic chicken alongside a savory truffled bread pudding. But Whitcomb apparently wasn’t happy overseeing a 180-seat dining room that was SRO from its first week — not to mention the large outdoor patio that would open soon (and since has).
Enter veteran chef Fred Ramos, who had been running Gioco, another Kleiner South Loop restaurant. Ramos has been altering Whitcomb’s American-International menu slowly (as much for seasonality as anything else), but Ramos’ personality is starting to show through in dishes such as a chilled watermelon-tequila soup with cilantro and candied watermelon rind, a delicious and refreshing starter. Ramos’ softshell crabs are things of beauty, fat and meaty under a dusting of pecan flour, as are the truffled sea scallops with sauteed onions and mushrooms.
The menu includes a couple of prime steaks for those who must, but I preferred the steak Diane (currently off the menu), a shoulder cut served sliced in a delicious cognac-mustard sauce. Served with a mountain of beautiful hand-cut fries, this dish hovers somewhere between a classic steak Diane and steak frites; it probably needs a new name, but it’s very good.
An Asian-style tuna tartare, a plump lump crabcake and Caesar salad “Kleiner style” (meaning whole romaine leaves and plenty of white anchovies) are the best bets among appetizers.
The decor is pure Kleiner, from the pink and raspberry hues to the stenciled walls. The flocked fabric on the chairs reportedly was rescued from vintage curtains; a curious see-through artwork (half sculpture, half room divider) is composed of old street-sweeper brushes connected with built-in lights. The mirror behind the bar sits in a zebra-pattern frame, there are damask patterns painted on the ceiling and black-clad servers wear colorful ties whose patterns echo the exploded fleur-de-lis stenciling on the walls.
And the courtyard, filled with greenery and white-linen umbrellas, is one of the prettiest and most intimate (despite its 120 seats) outdoor spaces in the city.
Room 21 is in the middle of building a new pastry kitchen, to give pastry chef Jered Brown, a potential star, more creative space. Given Brown’s pitch-perfect blueberry creme brulee and his deeply satisfying chocolate-raspberry tart, I say give the man all the space he wants.
Alhambra Palace
*
1240 W. Randolph St.
312-666-9555
Open: Dinner Mon.-Sun.
Entree prices: $17-$28
Credit cards: A, DC, DS, M, V
Reservations: Recommended weekends
Noise: Conversation-friendly
Other: Wheelchair accessible; valet parking
Room 21
**
2110 S. Wabash Ave.
312-328-1198
Open: Dinner Mon.-Sun., brunch Sun.
Entree prices: $18-$44
Credit cards: A, DC, DS, M, V
Reservations: Strongly recommended
Noise: Conversation-challenged
Other: Wheelchair accessible; valet parking; no
Ratings key:
OUTSTANDING ****
EXCELLENT ***
VERY GOOD **
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.
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pvettel@tribune.com
IN THE WEB EDITION: Watch Phil Vettel’s video review of Alhambra Palace and Room 21 at chicagotribune.com/stew
