Heather Shouse finds the food at recently opened Rendezvous Bistro tired and uninspired, and thinks that the “kitchen is already cooking on autopilot.” The steak au poive is the sole highlight, while the steak frites completely missed the mark, saying she was served a “lifeless, bloodless hunk of meat found under a fistful of good-but-not-great fries.” [TOC]
Pat Bruno finds pleasure in the simplicity of Aldino’s menu. “I get irritated with Italian restaurants that load up a menu just to make it look like there is a lot going on (then I wonder if the kitchen can possibly do all of those dishes and do them well).” He mostly loves Aldino’s, “I know the dishes I ate at Aldino’s were done well,” calling attention to the Sicilian arancini. [Sun Times]
Julia Kramer checks out Jam, a breakfast and brunch spot that just started serving dinner. She went for the $25 four-course menu, loving the foie-gras-filled tortellini and the “aggressively seasoned, perfectly medium-rare” beef tenderloin. But it was the olive-oil cake that sealed the deal: “Jeffrey Mauro’s food is energetic, colorful and something most certainly worth sounding an alarm.” [TOC]
