Category Archives: new restaurants

It was a mini cupcake extravaganza at the Glossed & Found launch party tonight, where the new Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique (opening this summer at 115 W. Wabash) offered up a sweet sneak preview of their chocolate cupcakes. While we didn’t get to try the red velvet, they will be on the menu, along with flavors like pumpkin, chocolate caramel and chocolate cappuccino. RVC report to come.

I hadn’t eaten at the former Allen’s restaurant in years, but all I remember is lots and lots of wood. Since former Avenues Chef Graham Elliot recently took over with his namesake restaurant, there is still a lot of wood, but now there are cool mod lampshades, narrow windows that reveal lemons that reach to infinity, and the chef’s own iPod cranking out everything from Postal Service to Led Zeppelin. And the food? Don’t let the kitsch of Pop Rocks, Cheez-its and popcorn fool you, everything is delicious from the Buffalo chicken with blue cheese and Budweiser foam (pictured below) to the Hawaiian wahoo with forbidden rice, peanut sauce and lime foam. 217 W. Huron St., 312.624.9975

Buffalo chicken with Budweiser foam

The centerpiece of the new Perennial restaurant in Lincoln Park are these eerily beautiful birch trees that look stunning in natural daylight or when underlit at night. Food shots and mini review of the dining experience to come.

The soon-to-be-packed dining room at Real Tenochtitlán

The door was open and the tables were set at Real Tenochtitlán on Friday night, but it looks like it’s going to be a few more weeks before Executive Chef Geno Bahena officially opens the doors of his latest Mexican restaurant. The chef was meeting with his staff and let us snap a photo before we left, but we’ll just have to be patient before we can try the daily made-from-scratch moles (like Wednesday’s chicken, duck, quail, chile ancho, sweet potato and chorizo) and entrées like Maple Leaf Farm duck breast with chile guajillo and fresh cilantro sauce. Check out the Web site for a strangely scary intro and the full lunch, brunch and dinner menus. 2451 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773.227.1050