The Pump Room - Restaurant Review

Dining date:  July 20th, 2013
Website:  http://www.pumproom.com/

A quintessential Chicago restaurant, the Pump Room is a destination everyone in Chicago should visit at least once.  Established in 1938, the restaurant quickly became a celebrity hot spot.  The restaurant was recently re-opened (2011) and has now become more approachable.

The restaurant itself is very open and the lighting is some of the best I have seen.  The service was excellent and I found our waiter to be attentive and very knowledgeable about the food.  I also appreciated his recommendations, which I am sure he delivered because we informed him early on that this was our first time at the restaurant.  The true hallmark of a great waiter is someone who listens to his guests, and reacts accordingly.  In our case, we were newbies to the restaurant that needed some guidance, and he was quick to offer suggestions without being overly pushy.

The food itself is comparable to some of the best restaurants in the city.  Great care is put in appropriate presentation of all the dishes.  Any of the dishes when photographed could grace the cover of a food magazine.  Some of the culinary highlights include:

Watermelon salad with goat cheese -- A light, refreshing starter.  The watermelon and goat cheese combo bring together the perfect ingredients to get the taste buds firing.

Black truffle, fontina cheese, frisee, and chives -- Whole wheat flat bread with a generous helping of black truffles.  Would highly recommend if you are a fan of black truffle.

Fried chicken -- Both white and dark meat chicken fried perfectly.

Dessert -- The star of the evening.  I don't recall the exact name of the dish, but it was the perfect ending to a great dinner.  Essentially an elegant lava cake with ice cream.  The ratios of chocolate to cake to ice cream were perfect and expertly made.

Overall, I would highly recommend this restaurant for a special event.  This restaurant is perfect for birthdays, anniversary's and those days when you just want to dress up and go to a great restaurant.