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March, 2006
Rating : 7 out of 10
The Tariff : Dinner for one
- Lobster appetizer ($16)
- Rib eye steak with French (what else?) fries
- 1 glass of wine
- dessert
- $75
I stayed at the Sofitel during my stay in Rosemont and would gladly do it again. It is connected to the Donald E Stephens Convention Center by a covered walkway -- all the better to protect us wimpy Californians from the Midwest chill.
The Sofitel is a French hotel chain and manages to keep its French style even in the US heartland. I knew it as soon as the bread was served at the start of the meal in the hotel restaurant, the Chez Colette (yes, named for the French erotic writer). It didn't exactly take me back to Paris but it was a far cry from the stale bread or plain dinner rolls that I have been forced to settle for in Chicago.
I usually avoid hotel restaurants as they are prone to prey on their captive audience, but given the love the French have for their food, I had to try the restaurant at the Sofitel. I have 2 recommendations, the lobster appetizer and the apple dessert.
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Appetizer
The lobster appetizer: lobster claw meat decorates the top of a small tower of lobster meat and avocado pieces topped with caviar. It may cost as much as a meal in most places but it is a work of art.
Desserts
This dessert was so good I had it twice (not at the same meal, though!). It was also in a cylinder, which seems to be the chef's favorite geometrical shape. It consisted of a bottom crust, caramelized apple slices, cream, and ice cream on top. Sorry no picture of the apple dessert -- you can only take so many pictures of your food at a restaurant before people think you're a weirdo.
It wouldn't be French unless it had good croissants--and the small bakery on the premises at the Sofitel does not disappoint. Also, the chocolate-hazelnut dessert served there is so rich, I had to save half for the next day. |
Service was very good. Everyone I encountered at the hotel was exceedingly polite and courteous.
Minor sour notes: No buffet breakfast, which you may have come to expect at a business hotel. Coffee was not especially good even at its otherwise good bakery.
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