Bob Djahanguiri, impresario behind celebrity-magnet boites of yore (Toulouse, Yvette), returns with Old Town Brasserie, a jazzy, boisterous nightspot specializing in classic French food with a few tweaks. Veteran chef Roland Liccioni came up in legendary European kitchens (the Parisian brasserie Bofinger and London’s La Gavroche) before conquering Chicago at Carlos’, Le Francais, and Les Nomades, and while this assignment might seem a step down from the high-end nouvelle cuisine he’s known for, it’s modest only in name and price. Appropriately, a trio of patés leads off the menu, including a creamy slab of “chicken” liver that might have rejiggered my opinion of the bird’s potential had a server not hinted it was made from the outlawed organ of another species. Duck consomme with a single truffle ravioli was a paradigm of clear, dark amber purity, and escargots were broiled in a tomato confit, funky with Roquefort, that begged for the bread basket. I want to think the highly salted sauces that accompany meaty entrees such as duck breast with leg confit, rack of lamb with Kobe beef, and veal hanger steak are evidence of the kitchen keepin’ it real with respect to the European preference. On the other hand, lemongrass-seasoned poached salmon and lobster ravioli with a wasabi-based foam show that the Vietnamese-born chef is not enslaved by tradition. For better or worse, that is—the veal was presented with a mound of crinkle-cut frites that momentarily conjured up unhappy associations with Ore-Ida. On Monday nights Liccioni presents an offal special meant to lure in off-duty chefs; I tried a super tripe dish with crispy fried sweetbreads and chestnuts in a velvety reduction. But not everything is meat and
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Brasserie Ruhlmann
Macello
1209 N. Wells, 312-943-3000
500 W. Superior, 312-494-1900
1235 W. Lake, 312-850-9870
