The Luxurious Liver
This smart BYOB started life as a casual deli and cafe, and still does double duty as a catering kitchen, but owners Shin Thompson and Kurt Chenier hit their stride when they spiffed the place up a bit and introduced multicourse prix fixe dinners, now available in 5, 7, and 13 courses. The eclectically influenced contemporary American menu showcases clean, streamlined, seasonal flavors; the spring menu is currently a work in progress, but the restaurant’s offerings include Duck, Duck, Goose, a trio of duck breast, duck confit, and goose liver paté imported from France. On Saturdays the restaurant offers an $85 six-course “underground dinner” with a $5 corkage fee per bottle; to get an invite, sign up on the mailing list at bon-soiree.com. —Martha Bayne
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Cité505 N. Lake Shore Dr. | 312-644-4050
$$$$French | dinner: seven days
Eve840 N. Wabash | 312-266-3383
rrr Most afternoons people line out the door of Doug Sohn’s wildly successful emporium, willing to wait for the Crown Prince of Tube Steak’s Polishes, brats, Thuringers, andouille, and Chicago-style dogs, dressed and cooked to customer preference—whether char-grilled, deep-fried, steamed, or fried then grilled. There are daily gourmet specials with silly names and a “game of the week” sausage—gator, boar, rattlesnake, rabbit, duck, kangaroo—or (now that it’s legal again) the infamous foie gras and sauternes duck sausage with truffle sauce moutarde, foie gras mousse, and sel gris. Fridays and Saturdays fresh-cut fries are cooked in duck fat, and the only request Sohn will refuse is to smother them in cheese sauce. Sohn has duplicated the goofy decor of his previous place, the victim of a fire; the newer spot is chockablock with Elvibilia and hot-dog-related kitsch, and there’s outdoor seating and plenty of street parking. —Mike Sula
F 8.1 | S 8 | A 7.2 | $$$ (5 reports)french | dinner: monday-saturday | closed sunday
