Grill on 21 - Chicago
Grill on 21, so named for its location on the twenty-first floor of The LaSalle Hotel, is an updated version of the classic American grill. The restaurant and lounge merge classic dishes and tastes with modern preferences, perhaps more approachable, healthier and socially conscious.
Read MoreTo start, there's a classic Lobster Bisque and a Chicago original food, Shrimp de Jonghe, invented in Chicago in the last century, but...there's also a heart-healthy hearth-fired cauliflower.
Grill on 21 offers a unique tartare bar, with raw selections including Steak Tartare with classical accompaniments, as well as an innovative Carrot Tartare with fennel, crispy capers, and whole grain mustard aioli.
Perhaps predictably, there are a large number of "bowls," including a traditional Caesar, a salad of baby beets, a harvest grain bowl and a bowl centered around soba noodles. There are also sandwiches like roast turkey, grilled mahi mahi, New York strip steak and, our favorite, the Coronation Chicken Sandwich with roasted chicken, golden pickled raisins, celery, gala apple, and curry yogurt (a lot of good flavors in there).
The entrees shine with favorites like Faroe Island salmon and filet mignon, but give serious thought to the Seafood Campanelle (grilled gulf shrimp, scallops, tomato) and the Westholme Wagyu Coulotte in a mushroom demiglace with a stuffed savoy cabbage.
For dinner, in addition to the filet and the Coulotte, there is an excellent selection of steaks. The Butcher's Reserve is a six-ounce filet alongside a six-ounce New York strip, three-ounce dry-aged Filet Mignon, and the four -ounce Wagyu Coulotte. There's also a tomahawk ribeye and a bone-in pork chop (with parsnip puree, dried cherries, dried cherries and bacon red-eye marmalade sauce). All these selections can be "enhanced" with truffle butter, Maytag bleu cheese crust, cognac sauce, G21 Steak Sauce, mushroom demi or béarnaise -- or what the heck, pick a few enhancements!
