Oh, the Cupidity
Mohammad Islam and Malika Ameen, the married couple in the kitchen at Aigre Doux, have celebrity chef pedigrees (the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, Jean Georges, Balthazar, Craft), and the promise of their restaurant earned it blurbs in glossy magazines months before it opened. Given the boldface print, it’s gratifying and somewhat surprising to discover that the food isn’t crying for attention: it’s simple, elegant, and good, full stop. Islam’s dinner menu on my last visit offered graceful variations on New American ideas—for example, rack of lamb with truffled grits and fennel, an artichoke soup with Nantucket Bay scallops, mussels with a coconut curry sauce and butternut squash that are almost ethereally light. And Ameen’s desserts should not be skipped: sticky toffee bread pudding with candied kumquats and Devonshire cream ice cream was shameless, over-the-top, and irresistible. On Valentine’s Day there’s a four-course dinner with a complimentary glass of champagne for $95 per person; dishes include lobster bisque, white asparagus salad with black truffle vinaigrette, prime rib, Dover sole, and a melting chocolate tart with a candied ginger shake shot and braised cherries. —Nicholas Day
$American, Vegetarian/Healthy | Breakfast, lunch, dinner: seven days | Saturday & Sunday brunch | Reservations not accepted | BYO
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rrr This Bucktown storefront has its little airs—witness the untranslated French preamble on the cover of the wine list. But it also has its comforts: woody decor, pressed-tile ceilings, and chairs right out of your grandfather’s office. Chef Charlie Socher terms his food “cuisine bourgeoisie”—which is to say French, but for the most part without the usual accompanying presumption. The house salad is served simply with a light oil, the liver paté is buttery smooth, and a seafood bourride sings with tarragon. Still, bourgeois or no, it’s all about the sauces, and on this evening (the menu changes daily) rich duck came with a classic pinot noir-green peppercorn number handily sopped up with a Jerusalem artichoke puree. Socher offers a three-course dinner Sunday and Tuesday through Thursday for $23, and every fourth Wednesday is a “cellar raid” with select bottles of wine for $17. On Valentine’s Day, in addition to the regular menu, Socher will offer a four-course dinner for $54. Dishes include roasted-onion-and-garlic soup; linguine with French horn mushrooms, thyme jus, and Serrano ham; lamb scallops with rosemary-fig sauce; and a walnut gateau. —Ted Cox
Chalkboard4343 N. Lincoln | 773-477-7144
At David Burke’s Primehouse there’s plenty of sizzle to go with the steak, including an in-house dry-aging room tiled with Himalayan salt and a proprietary sire bull named Prime 207L. But I was impressed despite myself. All meals begin with addictive cheese popovers baked in individual copper pots; fine starters include Kobe beef sashimi drizzled with truffle oil and pristine oysters. For the main course steak is clearly the way to go: my dining companion’s filet mignon, a lightly aged bone-in beauty, had a distinctive beefy tang, and my bone-in rib eye, dry aged for 28 days, had me composing a mental thank-you note to Prime 207L. A great steak necessitates a great wine, and then-Primehouse mixologist (and former MIT molecular biologist, now beverage director for B.R. Guest) Eben Klemm nailed it with his pick of a Walla Walla, Washington, Syrah that emphasized the subtle buttery notes in the richly marbled beef. There are a number of sauces available, including a bearnaise, a lush truffle sauce, and a house-made steak sauce—all of which gild the lily. For Valentine’s Day, in addition to the regular menu, the restaurant will offer a his-and-hers a la carte menu including toasted almond soup and espresso-crusted scallops (for her) or lobster risotto and steak (for him); “Millionaire Surf and Turf” ($175) can be ordered by either sex. —Gary Wiviott
F 7.4 | S 6.3 | A 6.6 | $$ (7 reports)Italian | Lunch: Monday-Saturday; Dinner: seven days | Open late: Friday & Saturday till 11
