With a strikingly luminescent and minimalist dining room, wildly popular Blackbird has packed diners elbow-to-elbow at its sleek, shiny tables since 1998. James Beard award-winning Chef/partner Paul Kahan crafts his seasonally changing contemporary menus based upon the freshest available ingredients. Like the décor, less is more with his cuisine. You won’t find architectural monstrosities here, but the richness of flavors makes the dishes far from simplistic. Past entrées have included braised pork belly and slow-roasted baby lamb.
"The
question for me is whether Blackbird is a four-star restaurant with
three-star amenities, or a three-star restaurant with four-star
cuisine."
— Phil Vettel,
Chicago Tribune, (****)
"This
sterile white-and-steel space would make a lab rat feel at home. But
for fine dining with a rotation of top-notch seasonal ingredients,
served by a crack cadre of skilled food-service ninjas who would die for
your smallest whim, chef Paul Kahan is still at the top of the game."
— Mike Sula,
Chicago ReaderJames Beard Foundation: Paul Kahan,
Outstanding Chef finalist (national), 2011-12; Best Chef: Midwest, 2004;
Patrick Fahy, Outstanding Pastry Chef finalist (national), 2011
Food & Wine: Mike Sheerin, Best New Chefs, 2010
Full bar. Serving lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat. Closed Sun.
With a strikingly luminescent and minimalist dining room, wildly popular Blackbird has packed diners elbow-to-elbow at its sleek, shiny tables since 1998. James Beard award-winning Chef/partner Paul Kahan crafts his seasonally changing contemporary menus based upon the freshest available ingredients. Like the décor, less is more with his cuisine. You won’t find architectural monstrosities here, but the richness of flavors makes the dishes far from simplistic. Past entrées have included braised pork belly and slow-roasted baby lamb.
"The
question for me is whether Blackbird is a four-star restaurant with
three-star amenities, or a three-star restaurant with four-star
cuisine."
— Phil Vettel,
Chicago Tribune, (****)
"This
sterile white-and-steel space would make a lab rat feel at home. But
for fine dining with a rotation of top-notch seasonal ingredients,
served by a crack cadre of skilled food-service ninjas who would die for
your smallest whim, chef Paul Kahan is still at the top of the game."
— Mike Sula,
Chicago ReaderJames Beard Foundation: Paul Kahan,
Outstanding Chef finalist (national), 2011-12; Best Chef: Midwest, 2004;
Patrick Fahy, Outstanding Pastry Chef finalist (national), 2011
Food & Wine: Mike Sheerin, Best New Chefs, 2010
Full bar. Serving lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat. Closed Sun.