Restaurant Debuts By NoMI, Bridge House & Autre Monde Offer Some Hits, A Few Misses

This spring and summer I’ve had the pleasure of taking in a few restaurants new to the area.

NoMI Kitchen

Beautiful bays overlooking Michigan Ave.

My first was NoMI Kitchen, which I had the privilege of attending a pre-opening event a few weeks ago. It’s an old new, revamped and focused more on the trendy farm-fresh experience.

It’s hard to imagine NoMI not being a success, whether the food’s any good or not because nothing beats its location.

The setting, at the Park Hyatt, offers beautiful views of the city, from a spacious deck, to expansive panoramic bay windows that jut out over the street below and overlook Water Tower park, Michigan Avenue and the lake.

It’s an impressive venue. For the most part, I had no problems with the food. The fish, raw veggies and meats – all communicating the restaurant’s new farm-to-table emphasis – were fresh, presented beautifully and creatively, and were superb. The only exception was the strawberry rhubarb tart, which I just didn’t care for. It was too sweet and had barely a hint of the signature rhubarb.

Bridge House Tavern

Looking down from the Clark Street bridge.

Not long after, I got a chance to check out Bridge House Tavern, which is right below my office downtown. Again, this place has location going for it.

So far, the restaurants I’ve seen there haven’t had much luck, despite the river-level charm. Most have had over-priced drinks and mediocre food. I’m afraid this place isn’t much better.

I wasn’t impressed with any of the bites I had a chance to taste. I may try it again for a business lunch, but I wouldn’t risk it for dinner.

Autre Monde Cafe

Then last night, I got to try a new Mediterranean restaurant — Autre Monde Cafe — in Berwyn. Unlike NoMI and Bridge House, Autre Monde isn’t blessed with a picture-perfect location. Indeed, I spent my evening gazing at the CVS across the street.

But the food more than made up for the view. Most of the menu was foreign to me, but our waitress was patient and very knowledgeable. I have to mention my drink – Baies Rose, featuring Santome Prosecco, Jo Snow Rhubarb, Pink Peppercorn Syrup. It’s not a combination I would have considered. But it was excellent. And so was the food. We tried a combination of a couple small plates and shared a large plate, the recommended steak. All came perfectly prepared, in larger portions than many small-plate restaurants I’ve visited. Plus, each plate was beautifully presented. The final tally was more than reasonable.

My big negative was that it took more than 20 minutes for us to get the check and pay our bill, well after we’d finished our meal, declined dessert, had our table cleared and started getting impatient. The inexplicable delay caused us to be late to our show at nearby Fitzgerald’s, missing one of my favorite Rosie Ledet songs (several actually). That left a bad taste in my mouth, so it may be a while before I go back. Certainly, I’d think twice about cutting it so close to an event following a meal there.