Wine Knot - Kenosha, WI

First, let me start by saying we really do like this restaurant, just for the fact that they try to stay a little creative, but they are just not consistent enough with the quality of their food. Not just that, but many times what you actually get doesn't necessarily match what's on the menu. I don't mind a change, but the server should let you know about the change when you order.

We ate here over the summer and sat outside. It was a very nice experience and we had no complaints that day, but this particular day was terrible.

I ordered the Half Portion Caesar Salad. I forgot that I've ordered this before and really do not like it. The dressing is very bland and doesn't remind me of any type of caesar I've ever tasted before.

My husband got the crab cake, which we have had many times before. It was a little over-cooked, but no where near as bad as the rest of the meal.

For entrees my husband got the Cajun Monkfish Oscar, which is served with crawfish tails and hollandaise sauce, dirty rice and asparagus. I got the Macadamia Nut Crusted Halibut served with roasted red potatoes, asparagus, lemon infused beurre blanc topped with crispy capers.

First we were quite surprised when our server put down the two plates in front of us. Mine was a good-sized portion of halibut and you could barely see the monkfish on my husband's plate. We both looked at each other in disbelief. In both entrees, the fish was ok. In other words, it was not fishy. That's always a first step for me, because I'm very choosy where I order fish from. There are some places I would never dream of ordering fish from. I've always trusted Wine Knot for fish and I've never been disappointed. The problem was not the fish, but all the sides. My roasted potatoes tasted as if they were days old and were reheated in the microwave. They were actually disgusting. The asparagus were basically raw. My husband's dirty rice also tasted as if it were reheated. It was so dry, it was barely edible. And this was a Friday night! You would expect the turnover would be such that fresh ingredients would be used - no need to reheat. Not that there is ever an excuse for reheating.

So, this tells me that the quality has really gone down. I think that's the beginning of the end.
Eventually people catch on. Will we give it another chance? Not sure. Too bad.

www.wine-knot.com

Wildfire - Lincolnshire, IL

We have been to this Lettuce Entertain You restaurant many times over the year. 99% of our visits have been positive, so that's pretty good. This visit was no exception.

We made reservations through Open Table, which is just about the greatest way to make, modify and cancel reservations. I just wish every restaurant used this system.

We were three people and got seated in one of the u-shaped booths, which are my favorite. The restaurant is always so busy that I hate sitting out in the middle of the room in a regular table. It's better to be off in a corner.

We started by sharing their Spinach Salad, which I always have to have whether I'm here for dinner or lunch. It's a combination of spinach, bacon, mushrooms, radishes, eggs and a warm mustard dressing, which they toss right at the table.

I had the halibut special, which was served with a buerre blanc sauce. The fish was a good-sized portion and prepared perfectly. I chose wild rice for my side and it went well with the fish.

My husband had the Trio of Beef special, which I believe they have had everytime we've been there the last several years. I normally get this, but I was trying to make a healthier choice. This is three filets (3 oz each I believe) and you can get your choice of topping, such as a horseradish crust, mushroom, blue cheese, bernaise sauce and a few others.

One thing you can't pass up when you dine here is dessert. They all look so good when they bring you the platter and they are HUGE. My favorite is a big chocolate cookie pie served warm with ice cream on top. It's unbelievable.

Other than Lincolnshire, there are locations in Chicago, Oak Brook, Glenview, Schaumburg and one in Minnesota, Georgia and Virginia. When is Kenosha going to get a restaurant like this????

http://www.wildfirerestaurant.com/lincolnshire/menus

David's Bistro - Antioch, IL

One day I was driving through downtown Antioch and noticed this restaurant, which I had never noticed before. Maybe it was the tables set up for outdoor dining that caught my eye. Either way, I was excited! A new restaurant to try. I immediately got on their website, which is very nice, and saw what they had for dinner. It seems that David owned this restaurant for a while, but I'm a little unclear as to what the name was.

The food looked very interesting, a little more creative than normal, so we decided to go there for dinner the following Sunday night.

There are two sides to the restaurant -one side is very bright and the other side has more subdued lighting and just has a more romantic atmosphere. We were disappointed that we were put on the "bright" side. Next time we will insist on the other side.

There are many choices for appetizers, which are very reasonably priced. For example a Crab Cake is $5.99 and a Ahi Tuna Martini is $6.99. We started with a Bacon Scallop Puff Martini, also only $6.99 and it was very good.

For my entree I had the Shrimp and Lobster Newburg (served over sticky rice with a madeira wine cream sauce). This was priced at $19.99, which I think is a reasonable price. The servings are not huge, but it was satisfying.

My husband had Lamb Chops (crusted with pine nuts and pecans with a tarragon cream sauce) also priced at $19.99. He's not a huge fan of nuts, but did enjoy this dish.

For a Sunday night, they were surprisingly busy. And because of this I thought the service suffered a little.

All in all it was a good experience and we will definitely be going back soon.

http://www.davidsbistro.com/

Whistling Swan - Door County - Fish Creek, WI

This inn & restaurant is located in the heart of Fish Creek. We have dined here many times before, but we have never stayed at the inn. It's a charming building.

The menu is not huge, but is is very creative.

We started with Angus Beef Potstickers serviced with a sweet chili dipping sauce. They were pretty good, but did not really exhibit the creativity we've come to expect.

For entrees, we both chose fish. There are two fish items on the regular menu. My husband had the Andouille Encrusted Escolar and I had the Grilled Sturgeon.

You don't find sturgeon very often and the two or three times I have had it, I really liked the taste and texture of the fish. I just did not like it this time. Maybe it was the cut, but it seemed darker in color than I remember. It was served with a sweet potato blini, heirloom tomato, purple broccoli, dill creme fraiche and osetra caviar. The blini was the best part of the dish! The sauce was pretty good, there was not enough to help mask the taste of the fish.

I tasted the Escolar and it was outstanding. The andouille crust was not spicy at all. It was served with a corn, pepper and yukon potato succotash, chive aioli and a red hot butter sauce. My husband really liked a lot.

When we visit Door County I always say that I'm going to have dessert at least one time during our week-long trip. Bread pudding is my favorite dessert and as it always happens, it's not on the menu at many places, so I end up choosing a dessert at the last restaurant we visit before we go home.

So, here we are again, at dinner the last evening and what do you know? They have bread pudding! Unfortunately, it was Huckleberry Bread Pudding with peaches, nectarines and ice wine sabayon. The bread pudding itself was okay, but the peaches and nectarines were too big and not soft enough for my taste. Oh well, there is always next year.




www.whistlingswan.com

Carlos - Highland Park, IL

It's our first time back since fall of 2008. You can read our post dated 11/4/08 where I was somewhat unsure of the changes and once again there are changes.



First, let me say that the service is still excellent. The same servers have been there for years and that must say something about the restaurant.



We had reservations early in the evening and for a long time we were the only ones in the restaurant. I was worried that maybe they were not doing well during this economy, but by 7:00 the place was full.



Last time we dined here there were two degustations to choose from: meat and seafood. This time there were two to choose from - the regular degustation and a mini-degustation. The regular one is one more course than the mini. I chose the mini-degustation only because I thought the choices were much better . The price of the mini was $75, $115 with wine. The regular degustation was $100, $155 with wine.



I still miss the fact that you cannot substitute items from the other side of the menu, but everything was still very good. I do think, though, that when you used to be able to pick from the regular side of the menu, you had one entree that was really the size of an entree. This time I noticed that all the courses were small and nothing stood out as an entree.



I started with the Pan-Seared "Mano de Leon" Scallop served with Caramelized Carrot Puree (wow!) and a Coffee-Red Wine Reduction.



My next course was a Maine Lobster Saffron Tortellii with a Leek Gratin and Lobster Saffron Sauce. This sounds heavy, but it was not. I'm not big into saffron, but the flavors were great.



After the sorbet my next course was Sliced Beef Tenderloin with Roasted Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts, Fingerling Potatoes and a Rosemary Emulsion. Since I don't like cauliflower or brussel sprouts, not matter how hard I try, I gave them away leaving me with not much on my plate. Regardless, the beef was cooked perfectly and the sauce very good.



The dessert course was very good. There was something chocolate (don't remember what) and something made from figs, which was out of this world. I didn't know I could like figs so much.



I did get the wine pairing with each course and the servers were on their toes. We never had to wait for the wine.



My husband and his mother both got the regular degustation.

They started with a Smoked Trout with Goat Cheese Gnocchi, Parmesan Cream and a Basil Pesto. I didn't try it, but they both raved about it.

They had three choices for their next course, but they both chose the Pan-Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Roasted Baby Red Beets, Beet Espuma (foam) and a Balsamic Raspberry Glaze.

Next they had the same lobster dish that I had and for their final course they had the Miso Marinated Halibut with Wild mushrooms, Artichoke hearts, Caramelized Pearl Onions and a Lemon Grass Emulsion. This I tasted and it was excellent.

This is still one of our favorites, not just for the food, but for their well-trained staff.

http://www.carlos-restaurant.com/

Prairie Grass Cafe - Northbrook, IL

We first heard about this restaurant during an interview with Bill Kurtis about his Tallgrass Beef Company. We were going to be in the area, so we decided to give it a try.

We checked out their website before going so we knew that it wasn't anything fancy inside and the dress was casual. I worried, though, before we got there because I thought we were going to be underdressed. There were many people just as casual as we were, but also many who were in suits. It was a weeknight, so possibly people came straight from work.

The place was a little different than expected. First, it was in a weird location. It seemed like it was part of an office building. They had a back corner and the front corner was empty, so when you first drive up you are not really sure if they are open or not.

There was a bar area separate from the dining area. It looked like you could eat in the bar. The main dining area had a mixture of tables, booths and tables against a banquette. We were there early in the evening so we had our choice of tables. One thing we noticed is that the wood tables were really beat-up. I would suggest covering them with tableclothes; it looks really tacky.

I have read other reviews of this restaurant and the biggest complaint is the service. We thought the service was great. As soon as we were seated our servicer came and took our drink order. To our surprise the wine list was very reasonably priced.

This restaurant uses products from local farms, which makes the menu very interesting. They make their own sausages, salad dressings and ice cream.

I chose for my appetizer the Maine "Peeky Toe" Crab Cake over Grapefruit and Avocado Salad with a Citrus Butter Sauce. I was hesitant because I really don't like grapefruit, but I decided to chance it. It was well worth it. The flavors worked really well together and I really could not taste the bitterness of the grapefruit. The crab cake on its own was one of the best I've ever had.

My husband odered the Homemade Pate in a Crock with Apples and Port Wine-Balsamic Reduction. He spread the pate on the apples and drizzed the reduction on top and he loved it!

For entrees I had the halibut which had a brioche crust and what I think was a lemon butter sauce. We were told this dish used to be a special and people liked it so much, it was permanently put on the menu. The menu online is not updated with this dish so I can't confirm what the sauce was. The fish, which was perfectly cooked, was served over a warm green bean salad in a pesto sauce. Wow, was that good. I've never had anything like it.

My husband had the Tallgrass Beef filet special. It was served with sauteed mushrooms and roasted potatoes. However, he opted to substitute the Twice Baked Potato with Caramelized Onions and Gruyere Cheese for the roasted potatoes. In fact, it was so big that we split it.

Unfortunately we had no room for dessert.

I would definitely dine here again.

http://www.prairiegrasscafe.com/

Rip Tide - Milwaukee, WI

This particular Saturday we were looking for a seafood restaurant in Milwaukee. Many times in the past the name Rip Tide came up, but when we've read the reviews we've always decided against it. Most talk about how bad the service is.

We made reservations through Open Table. We wanted 6:30, but they only had 6:00 or 7:00 available. We chose 6:00. We were meeting another couple there and they always like to have a drink at the bar first. They arrived a few minutes before 6:00, so my husband went and checked in with the hostess, told her we were here and asked if we could have a drink at the bar first, then be seated. She said no, that they were busy and we needed to be seated right away. That was fine; we realize how important keeping to your reservation is if the restaurant is busy. In the few seconds it took all 4 of us to walk back up to the hostess station, a different hostess was there and she said we had a wait of about 20 minutes. Ahhhhh. We had just given up our bar stools!

The service was pretty bad at the bar. They had plenty of bartenders, that was not the problem. It was that they were not paying attention to the customers at the bar. We would have to try to get their attention away from their personal conversations to get any service.

I would like to point out that the bar area was extremely loud, and it was very difficult to talk. We hoped that the dining area would not be as loud, but it was. If you expect to carry on a conversation, this is not the place to go.

Once we were seated our server did come right away and take care of drinks.

We ordered appetizers first. We all shared Lobster Lettuce Wraps, Fried Grouper Bites and the "Damn Good Crab Cake". The appetizers were very good. I feel that the Lobster Lettuce Wraps needed a better description because it was actually a lobster salad (with mayo, etc.) wrapped in lettuce leaves. It was really good, but not at all what we were expecting. The crab cake was big and very good also. One of our friends didn't like it because it was made with cilantro. I guess she didn't think that was normal. The grouper bites were my least favorite, but still good.

Salad is included. It's basically a garden salad, mostly iceberg, but nothing special. The server only brought three of our salads, she forgot the dressing for one and actually it took her about 10 minutes to come back.

At this point we'd ordered another round of drinks and that took about 15 minutes. It seemed that there were not enough servers to handle the amount of people.

By the time she brought the 4th salad, the entrees were only a couple minutes after that, not giving my husband enough time to eat his salad.

I ordered Crab Stuffed Shrimp for my entree. It was served with a beurre blanc sauce and rice. It was good, but I wished I would have realized the "crab" was the same crab cake we had as an appetizer.

My husband ordered the King Crab Legs. Anytime we go to Bob Chinn's in Wheeling, Illinois, he gets the King Crab Legs. He said that Rip Tide's do not even come close and they are just as expensive. In addition, he had no accompaniments, no starch or vegetables like all the other entrees came with.

The couple ordered the Crab Stuffed Shrimp also and she really liked it. Her husband ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna, which he liked too.

Overall, though, the experience was not good at all. The food does not make up for the bad service. Because they do have a great view (Lake Michigan), it could be a really nice place to eat outside, but it's just too expensive to suffer through the bad service.




http://www.getriptide.com/