The truth is that seldom does a restaurant like Tru come along. Tru is love at first bite, a splendid example of what fine dining is.
Even though it is a new restaurant, I am giving Tru four stars. It is now, and I am sure will continue to be, one of Chicago's finest restaurants.
After nearly 15 years of doing this work, I can easily recognize a restaurant that is peerless in its pursuit of perfection. It starts with the pleasant voice heard when making a reservation. It continues with the top-notch valets who take your car. It is the smile of the people at the reception desk. The greeting and attention once seated. And the service overall is outstanding. Tru offers four dinner options: A three-course affair is $65; a multicourse ''vegetable collection'' is $70; a ''seafood collection'' is $80, and the ''grand collection,'' a multicourse extravaganza is $95. It ain't cheap, but in this category of fine dining it is actually a bargain.
Tru is pleasant without being prissy, savvy without being snobby, clever without being cerebral, and the food, ''progressive French,'' is to die for.
The contemporary cuisine is splendidly creative but emanates from a position of intelligence and know-how. The food is immaculate in its conception, precise in presentation, and perfectly realized in taste and flavor. For example, the presentation of the caviar service (a slight upcharge over the fixed prices) takes place on what amounts to a staircase miniature in glass with the steps holding the various caviar accoutrements--finely chopped hard-boiled egg, shallots, capers.
Who are the kitchen magicians who have conjured up such fine food? Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand. They are not only husband and wife; they are a culinary team that is passionate about food.
A first course of black truffle risotto with fava beans and lobster was served in a small saucepan. Lush, flavorful, and perfectly finessed.
Ditto for the seared Muscovy duck carpaccio. The ''birdlike'' arrangement featured almost paper-thin slices of duck breast (medium-rare) that led to a ''nest'' of vegetables, held together by toast crisps that trailed off to a ''tail'' of sweet-as-candy tomatoes, some no bigger than a pea. A sensational fig vinaigrette dressed this creation.
An entree of ''day boat'' lobster was as inspired as it was delicious. The sweet lobster meat was out of the shell and arranged with roasted beets, horseradish cream and a beet reduction sauce. Words cannot convey its excellence.
Could words do justice to the lemongrass steamed Icelandic salmon? The perfectly cooked fillet, lush in flavor, reposed on a bed of ''lobster mash,'' mashed potatoes infused with bits of lobster.
Desserts are the forte of Gale Gand. She is, in my opinion, the Michael Jordan of desserts. Gand mixes together a strong sense of purpose with a bit of whimsy and pulls it all off in an easygoing way.
For example, you have to have a lot of confidence in your talent to list a ''parade of ice creams with animal crackers'' on a menu in this caliber of restaurant.
And to do dishes like roasted pineapple ''carpaccio.'' Thin slices of pineapple formed a sunburst on the plate, in the center an oval of buttermilk and Key lime sorbet. Then the plate was dressed with a coconut and cilantro affair (no taste of the cilantro, though), dappled with bits of macadamia toffee and served with a little side dish of macadamia shortbread.
Gand struck again with her ''not-your-usual lemon meringue pie,'' the ''pie'' being more of a sweet lasagna with layers of crust and sauce and puffy, light-as-a-feather meringue. Blackberries and a blackberry syrup rounded out the dish.
You get a lot of gifts with purchase here. The French call it an amuse-bouche, a little something to nibble on while you look over the menu. A dab of smoked pheasant mousse perched atop a tiny square of raisin toast, for example. Or a small triangle of frog leg pate accompanied by a tasting cup of silky-smooth vichyssoise.
After the entree, a ''predessert'' arrived, a dainty cup arranged with a dice of perfectly poached white peaches atop which rode a marble of grapefruit sorbet. And then AFTER dessert, the mignardises started coming. These dainty bites of chocolate truffles and cookie ''hamburger'' and pecan brittle (plenty to choose from) were the
