Sola - Chicago - What a great place!

As a fuss for my birthday, my wife and I pick somewhere sort out of our sphere for my dinner. This year, we picked Sola, in Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. I have to confess that our niece used to serve there and raved about it, but we never got the time to go when she was working there. What a big mistake for us. It is a great semi casual place with wonderful servers, wonderful drinks, more wonderful food and overall a really enjoyable experience. I strongly recommend that people try it.

They have a great bar and wine list. We opted more for pre-dinner drinks than wine because of the weather and the distance. I had the drink of the month which is the Absent Minded which has Bulleit bourbon, housemade sweet potato -caramel syrup, ginger ale, absenthe, and lemon. Absolutely perfect. Powerful, but perfect. We started with the artichoke fritters which where a great start. I had the tuna which I found to be perfectly done and like almost all the items, a sort of Californian, Hawaiian, Asian twist. My wife had the Ocean Trout. The dish was great, but the fish was a little strong for her tastes and almost a little strong for mine. On the other hand, the presentation and the taste was wonderful. Son 1.0 had Lamb Chops. They looked great, but I don't eat meat, and I was seriously disappointed to not be able to try. Sometimes I put my chef hat on and nibble to see how it was done etc.

For dessert, I ordered one of the items that has a featured ingredient which in December was Chestnuts. I had the Apple-Chestnut Crepe with rum - cider sabayon, vanilla crème fraiche ice cream. Very nice finish.

The service was top notch. The room is tasteful and mildly hip. The layout was well conceived. The clientèle ranged from the tragically hip to older folk (older than me). I saw men in jackets to t-shirts.

The only connection to Naperville is that it isn't that far to find outstanding, independent restaurants doing outstanding food. Darn shame, Naperville attracts the chains and the look-alikes.

Try Sola, 3868 N Lincoln Ave. You will need reservations. They even have valet for we who don't live in the city. I want to go back and will try soon .