Four of my college friends-Amy, Alyssa, Neha and Meghan-and I have formed the Tuesday Night Dinner Club. Every other Tuesday, we’ll go to a different restaurant in Chicago with a rotation of who chooses each time. If you can make it, great. If not, no big deal. It’s a great way to try new restaurants.
Last night was the first meeting of the club, and all members were in attendance but Amy, who got tied up at work. It was my choice, and I picked The Purple Pig, 500 N. Michigan Ave.
The Purple Pig is one of THE hottest restaurants in Chicago right now. Bon Appetit named it one of the best 10 new restaurants in America; it was a 2011 Michelin Guide Chicago Bib Gourmand winner; and it’s been featured on numerous other lists as one of the best restaurants in the city.
Naturally, we were excited.
The Purple Pig does not accept reservations, but initially, we weren’t too worried since we were meeting at 6 p.m. on a Tuesday. City-dwellers rarely eat dinner before 7 p.m. any day of the week.
The original plan was for me, Meghan and Neha Blossom to meet for drinks at Rock Bottom before our 6 p.m. dinner. We all get off work before 5 p.m., so we usually like to have few spirits before we meet Amy and Alyssa.
But then the more I started to think about the no reservation thing, the more worried I got. So we changed plans and decided to have our drinks at the bar at The Purple Pig. That way we could either get a table right away or they would see us there and know we were serious about eating there that night.
I was the first arrive at the restaurant (big surprise). I immediately congratulated myself for having such a good idea because this place was teeny tiny. And it was already filling up before 5 p.m. I informed the hostess there would be three for drinks but eventually five for dinner. Jerk Hostess said she could only seat our full party. I told her the fifth probably wouldn’t arrive until after we had ordered (at that time Amy was still in the mix but was going to get there late) and she repeated she would only seat the full party. So I put our name down for four, hoping Amy might arrive before we were seated or that they could pull up a chair when she got there.
I parked myself at the bar, ordered the bartender’s red wine recommendation and waited for my ladies. Meghan arrived next and agreed to help cure my starvation by ordering some prosciutto bread balls. They were OK, tasted more like spinach bread balls than anything. At that point, Amy texted us she wouldn’t be able to make it.
Alyssa arrived next and then Neha, after wandering aimlessly down Michigan Avenue claiming to be lost (not seeing the big sign that said “The Purple Pig). By this time, the place is packed, but there are still seats available. We inform Jerk Hostess that our entire party has arrived and she gives a “yup” and a nod as if she’s going to seat us ASAP. After five minutes, she tells us she’s just seated everybody waiting and it would be about an hour wait for a table for us.
(Cue head explosion).
I pound my glass of wine, and we immediately left. I found the entire exercise ridiculous, considering she knew we wanted to eat dinner there, we already had a $60 bar tab and were the first to arrive among the people she seated. Sorry, Purple Pig, but we won’t be back for a club meeting. And yes, I’ve told my friends about this bad experience. I’m close to posting this entry on Yelp.
We walked over to Bandera, 535 N. Michigan Ave., which is a sleek-looking upscale Latin (I think) restaurant that overlooks the Mag Mile. The food was good but quite pricey for what they offered. I had the steak and enchilada platter, which I thought was deceiving. To me, platter means an entire platter of meat and enchiladas. What I got was a very tasty cut up filet and one chicken, cheese and spinach enchilada. That was combined with some Spanish rice and a vegetable medley tossed in a champagne vinaigrette. For $28. Too much.
So that concluded the first, lackluster meeting of the Tuesday Night Dinner Club. Here’s hoping the March 1 meeting at Gilt Bar, 230 W. Kinzie, will be better.
