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The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

Restaurant Row never fails; NellcêÑÔäte is no exception

When in search of a decent spot for a girls’ night out, turning to Restaurant Row (the strip of Randolph street between the highway and Ogden) is never a bad idea. The options are plentiful, the standards are high and there’s actually an abundance of parking.

While looking into a completely different restaurant, I read a Yelp! review that compared the place to one I had never heard of: NellcêÑÔäte. Like a sucker, the name instantly grabbed my attention, but not like a sucker – my instincts proved to be correct.

NellcêÑÔäte’s website describes their atmosphere as “rock ‘n’ roll behomian chic,” promoting glamour and denouncing pretense. To tell you the truth, this description was the only part of my research that was a turn-off.

Nonetheless, the place looks impressive. Guests walking into the front door are greeted first by a wall patterned with dozens of mounted glass vases, sporting Midwestern wheat (milled into flour in-house), the host stand around the corner.

Floor-to-ceiling windows reflect candle-lit tables and light from elegant chandeliers dances off the Italian marble staircase that leads from the bar to the bathrooms. The music is bumping, yet low-key – like the deep house/electronica music I tend to play when DJing (so of course, I enjoyed).

Like most establishments that strike my fancy, NellcêÑÔäte’s beverage menu is full of tasty pairings, from prosecco to grenache, and craft brews to high-end hard liquor. The selection gives guests much freedom to pair drinks with food to their liking, but also offers a chance for the bar’s creativity to shine with hand-crafted cocktails and beer flights.

The menu is limited in the right kind of way – still a good variety of ingredients, but no more available courses than necessary: a few pastas, a few wood-oven grilled pizzas and over a dozen specialized entrêÑÔ©e-style courses (meant to be combined and shared).

All options printed on paper were brought to life by the enthusiastic descriptions of each course offered by our server. I always like to ask the server about his/her favorite items and it usually warrants a lot of winded, but colorful explanations. You could see the deliciousness of every course shining out of our server’s eyes as she described them. I like that.

We started with a sea urchin (uni) and burrata course that looked like it came straight from Iron Chef Japan – colorful and delicate. The silky texture of uni dances around the soft burrata cheese, pulled together by a salad of artichoke hearts, shaved radish, fresh parsley and a very light citrus-oil dressing.

My dining companion and I each chose another plate to sample. For her: a roasted rabbit loin with rabbit sausage, bacon, turnips and an olive emulsion. “I like to go out of my comfort zone in places like this,” she said. I followed suit and ordered something that I don’t normally order (per recommendation from our knowledgeable server) – the halibut: served with soft scrambled eggs (more like an airy hollandaise), piperade and sturgeon caviar. I usually associate the flaky white fish with fish ‘n’ chips and malt vinegar, but this was a game-changer.

Perhaps my only complaint was that I underestimated the size of the courses, thinking that one and a half would fill me up. The problem was easily solved by ordering an additional course – venison tartar with smoked egg yolk and fresh greens (surprisingly not game-y in taste at all).

The meal concluded as it should – with some hearty, sweet desserts. The chocolate parfait with bittersweet and dark chocolate and hazelnut praline was very addicting, inspiring us to stick with the theme and order the “drinkable chocolate” with marshmallow and raspberry jelly-filled donut holes. By the end of it, we were in sweet-tooth overload (mission: complete).

Another check mark on my list of must-visit Restaurant Row establishments, and a satisfying one at that.

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