www.atwoodcafe.com
1 W. Washington Street
Chicago, Illinois 60602
312.368.1900
Note: This picture is from the Atwood Café website (www.atwoodcafe.com)
The Background: DG, MM, and I dined at Atwood Café on Sunday, September 20, 2009. A week prior, DG, a Facebook friend and co-chair of Friends of Muntu volunteer group, sent out a FB email asking people if they wanted to go see Stoop Stories at the Goodman Theatre. So, four of us planned to attend and eat at Atwood Café. Although, CND had planned to meet us for dinner, she could not meet us at Atwood due to traffic and wether issues. However, we hooked up with her at the Goodman.
The Food:Initially we were going to pop in the Atwood Café for a light fare but I was really hungry and ordered from the Chef’s Menu, that is, a three course prix fixe menu. For my first course, I ordered the mixed baby lettuces with tangerine-basil vinaigrette and teardrop tomatoes. I found the salad refreshing and for some reason, the tomatoes triggered bittersweet thoughts about the ending of summer. The tomatoes also added the right amount of color to the greens. My main dish was grilled organic chicken breast with bacon-scallion mashed potatoes, french green beans, port wine reduction. I ate half because I wanted to save room for dessert which was a dark chocolate soufflé cake with rum zabaione, chocolate sauce. Heavenly.
The Wine: I ordered one glass of a 2007 Adlesheim Pinot Gris from the Wilamette Valley, Oregon (http://www.adelsheim.com/). I feel the need to add that I am not a wine expert. I order what I like. If I do not gag when I take the first sip, then I think it is pretty good. My standards are a bit higher than that but I order what stikes my fancy at the time of dining. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about pairings. And, and, more often than not, I will ask the waiter to make a suggestion (Note to self, It might be a good time to do another wine tasting class with Bin36.).
The Ambience: I love the decor. On the www.atwood.com website, they descibe the dining room as vibrant and I agree. I am usually winding down on Sunday evenings, so the food, the company, and the ambience gave me a boost for the show.
The Service: The service from the waiter was below average but not terrible. There are waiters and waitresses that look at a table and decide how much of a tip they might get. If they think the tip is not going to be “large” then they will not spend a lot of time with the diners, especially inexperienced wait staff. That is what I felt about the waiter we had. Once he saw that only one 3-course meal was going to be ordered (the other ladies ordered a drink and one course), then he did not feel obligated to spend a lot of time with us. He showed up, took the orders, and came by at his leisure. Even when we told him we had to be at the theater, he did not seem too concerned. The bus staff made him look better than he was. In this instance, it was the waiter. I have been to the Atwood Café on a number of occasions and never had an issue with service.
A few more details: I have been to the Atwood Café for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is one of my favorite “contemporary comfort food” restaurants. It reminds me of home. It was a perfect night to dine there as the weather was rainy and almost fall-like night. On such nights, I want to be in familiar surroundings where I know the food is consistently good. That’s the way I feel about Atwood Cafe. The evening could have easily come undone because the first 20 minutes of the meal DG was on a business call and could not get off. I did not know MM but we clicked and were able to find things to discuss while DG completed the call.
The Atwood Café is in the heart of the loop. It is situated on the southwest corner of State and Washington Streets and diagonally across from Macy (formerly Marshall Fields). It is within walking distance of the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Theater, Millinium Park, the Art Institute, the Architecture Foundation, Symphony Center, and the Chicago Cultural Center.
Finally, The Atwood Café is apart of the Burhnam Hotel, an architectual landmark. Atwood Café is named for Charles B. Atwood who was an artictect in Daniel Burnham’s firm. As many of you know, Daniel Burnham was a city planner and architect and much of what you see in Chicago is his vision, especially the lakefront and the Emerald Necklace which connect the city’s major parks (or did). There are many books about Burham but the most fascinating one is not about his at all. The book “Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson gives a good account about who he is and his role in shaping the architecture of Chicago.
© 2009, Cynthia Smith. All rights reserved.
Tags: American Cuisine, American Cuisine, breakfast, brunch, Burnham hotel, comfort food, theatre
