El Ideas

For my birthday dinner / our May date night, Jason and I went down to the Douglas Park area (a little out of our standard radius) for a 13-course, prix fixe, BYO dinner at El Ideas. 

The idea behind the restaurant is "non-pretentious fine dining." The location is definitely non-pretentious :) It feels like it's kind of in the middle of nowhere, but our Uber ride from Evanston didn't end up being too expensive. The restaurant itself is small, with only 24 seats total, so you almost feel like you're at a big dinner party. And just like a dinner party, guests are encouraged to walk around, talk to each other, and watch the food prep and plating.  

Susie and Sean went last year and loved it and I've also started hearing it come up a lot recently in foodie conversations. Does it deliver on the hype? Yes! The food is as beautiful as it is interesting and delicious and the culinary team is laid-back and approachable. It was a really fun way to spend 3 hours. We brought a sparkling rose and a delicious Two Mountain Lemberger, both purchased from my favorite Evanston wine store, the Wine Goddess.

We weren't stuffed after the meal (courses are small), but we were satisfied and happy. I took pictures of everything, but here are a few of the highlights...

First course...no forks.

Squid course

A play on french fries and ice cream (soooo good!)

Onion, many many ways

First time trying antelope. It was wonderful!