Weekday Planner: Shaya avec Nico Osteria, Lunch at Imperial Lamian, and Prime Time Bar Menu at Gene & Georgetti

Shaya avec Nico Osteria

On the heels of the James Beard Foundation Awards, yet another collaborative event is set to take place the day after the gala. With acclaimed New Orleans chef Alon Shaya in town for the event, he’ll take up residence at Nico Osteria for a Southern Mediterranean dinner on May 3. The chef is teaming up with Nico’s own chef Erling Wu-Bower and pastry chef Leigh Omilinsky, along with avec’s Perry Hendrix, while acclaimed award-winning chefs Paul Kahan and John Besh will be behind the bar serving up Creole-inspired cocktails. The menu for the dinner features a variety of crudos, followed by shareable starter plates like roasted cabbage with hazelnut muhammara, Persian rice with saffron and sunflower seeds, Burrata with stewed artichoke, and squid with avocado, peas, and toasted sesame-mint vinaigrette. Next are main courses like Romanian kebabs, lamb shank, black cod, squid ink chitarra, rabbit leg tagine, and chicken thigh paella. For dessert, there’s coffee affogato, beignets, chocolate babka, and coconut rotolo. Reservations for the special dinner event can be made by calling Nico or visiting their website. 



 

Nico Osteria
Nico Osteria; photo by Jeff Kauck

 

Lunch at Imperial Lamian

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There’s a new lunch option downtown, thanks to recently implemented daytime service at River North’s new Asian hotspot, Imperial Lamian. Available weekdays beginning at 11:00 a.m., the lunch menu focuses on soups, salads, barbecue items, fried rice, dim sum, wok dishes, and of course lamian noodle dishes. There’s also a special “lunch set” option, which includes dim sum, miso soup or salad, and options like fried vegetable lamian, salmon, kung pao chicken, black pepper beef, and sweet and sour pork. 

 

Prime Time Bar Menu at Gene & Georgetti

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One of Chicago’s most iconic steakhouses is joining the happy hour fray, with Gene & Georgetti’s new prime time bar menu available weekdays from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Special menu items for the occasion include crab cake sandwiches, pizza bread margherita, pigs in a blanket, chicken diavolo wings, and filet bearnaise with steamed asparagus and bearnaise sauce. 

 

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