CLAUDIA

What an incredible culinary adventure! We did the chefs table and it was a perfect amount of food and well worth the price. The pacing of the meal was perfectly executed, each dish was a stand out experience, and the wait staff were excellent. The cocktails were also very enjoyable - each drink was very unique and layered in flavors. Definitely will be back!

We loved the back bar area, the super creative bar menu (both the actual menu, and the cocktails), and the crystal clear view into the kitchen. It was mesmerizing watching the chefs at work delicately plating each delicious dish. The dishes were all beautiful and tasty. I always love a non-alcoholic pairing - as I feel it gets a lot more creative than your standard wine pairing - and this one didn’t disappoint!

We had Chef's Table reservations on a Sunday evening and enjoyed a front row seat to the kitchen. The menu was inventive and well paced with aesthetically pleasing platings. The explanations of the dishes and reserve wine pairing were detailed and enhanced our ability to enjoy the dishes. We also tried their experimental non alcoholic pairing which was full of refreshing seasonal flavors.

This review is about two months overdue, but still fresh in my mind as it was just. That. Perfect. We live down the block from Claudia and had been eagerly awaiting its official opening all year… and with hype building for that long, the expectations were extremely high. It did not disappoint. We did the Chef’s table menu and it was so much fun to peer into the kitchen while the team worked their magic. And all of the food was fantastic - not a miss in the bunch of the 18 (!!!) courses we were served. I think our favorites, if we had to pick, were the butternut squash, scallop, lobster, snails in the woods, and pork/pork belly. If we had any constructive criticism, it would be that we were actually too full at the end of the meal. I don’t recall feeling that way at Alinea, Ever, Smyth, Next, etc. At the same price point as the others, I think Claudia has absolutely earned its right to compete. Wine pairings were also HEFTY. The lovely Somm (blonde gal - can’t remember her name!) was an absolute delight to talk to, and her selections were really interesting. Some funky natural wines, some classic old world options, really a nice balance of everything. The best part of the evening, however, was when the team surprised us with a hysterical, unexpected interlude that tied into the reason we were there (our anniversary). The thought, care and lightness and humor made the surprise course even better. I don’t want to spoil it, but if they ask for you to share some details on the reason for your visit - definitely tell them! They will make it an unforgettable moment and create a memory that will stick with you far after the meal is over. Chef Trevor is also just the coolest dude. He talked to us for quite a while, and made us feel really welcome. Go here. Now. It’s worth every penny.

I have rarely enjoyed a fine dining experience as much as I enjoyed my visit to Claudia. This was amazingly creative and delicious food, at the highest levels of culinary art, with the added benefit of an experience that was whimsical and theatrical, astonishing for a multi-course degustation. I could describe every course, but that would be beside the point. The whimsy, the creativity, the imagination in the construction of every course of this pinnacle dining experience was outstanding! The photos will provide an idea of the attention to detail in presentation, let me simply say the food tasted even better than it looked. Other points of note... I usually opt for wine flights, but chose the non-alcoholic beverage pairings instead. These were terrific! I would happily go back to Claudia for no other reason than to simply drink my way through the series of mocktails, they were that good. One member of our party did opt for wine, and based on my tastings, the pairings were all on point, and the wine selections were a broad cross-section of the best the world has to offer. The front of the house was equally adept at preserving the sense of whimsy. Service was textbook perfect, but also charming. Claudia is a cutting edge fine dining experience, but one that dispenses with pretense and stuffiness. Not only is the food outstanding, but there is none of the intimidation that usually comes with this kind of degustation. Claudia, holding a single Michelin star, IMHO merits a second, and ranks in the top echelon of Chicago fine dining... no doubt!

Yesterday we went with the expectation of having a first class dinner for my Birthday weekend celebration in Chicago. Unfortunately it was not like that. Starting with the way the reservation website is designed. You don't even know if you're sitting at the bar, since you don't expect in a Michelin star restaurant to sit at the bar looking at the liquors to have a dining experience. That's how it happened to me. Arriving at the restaurant with enthusiasm they sit us at the bar. I tell the waiter if we are going to stay there or is it for something specific. He tells me that I reserve the bar for dining. In fact, when I verified it was like this and we realized that the reservation form of the web, which is compartmentalized by experiences and the bar, which seemed super strange to us. I have eaten in different stars 1 and 2 and they never give us the option of a bar, you arrive for the experience. At Claudia beyond the structure of the little house that looks super charming from the outside, our experience inside was very sad. Then I ask the waiter about the tasting menu and he tells me that they don't have it only a la carte menu when on the website and the instagram profile they talk about a tasting menu of several courses. Already feeling super uncomfortable, anyway we decide to ordered some things of the menu. After a while we see that at the table behind us at bar they were offered a tasting menu and I ask the waiter again if the bar and table menus are different and he answered yes. My annoyance continues to rise and I ask him if a table is possible since there are 3 empty tables, which he answers that the chef already has the amount of food prepared for those reservations and that beyond what is already reserved he cannot do anything else beyond offering us separate menu items. I am shocked by this response. The cocktails we had were great but the communication to explain to the client is terrible in this place. They give you information incomplete and never explain us properly since the beginning was I should expect. They have no idea of ​​hospitality. We literally left the place without eating. It's a shame that places like this exist with such a lack of service and understanding. I have no idea what industry they work for. I do not recommend it.

The Chef's table is the way to dine here! Watching the preparation up close and personal was amazing. The tasting menu is top notch. Special thanks to Chef Trevor for stopping by our table to describe one of his incredible dishes!

We had a great experience at Claudia for my husband’s birthday. The service is at the highest level without being stuffy, and the food is beyond. We had 10 courses and there were no misses. Like the service, the food is sophisticated but maintains a sense of fun. That can be missing from tasting menus (either they take themselves too seriously or they are too focused on being clever - somehow, Claudia misses that.) We did the standard wine pairing and were very impressed by the choices there, too. We’ve been super busy lately, and my husband commented that he almost felt like he’d been on vacation. Claudia is a special place!