Easter Dining Guide 2017
With Easter coming up around the bend (April 16, to be precise), it’s an apt time to map out your holiday dining plans for brunch or dinner. Considering Easter marks the end of Lent and the unofficial onset of spring, it’s an especially appropriate time for a festive feast. Here are some of the best Chicago restaurants for a lavish Easter celebration this year:
Bohemian House: Travel to Central Europe this Easter without ever leaving Chicago, thanks to the special three-course family-style brunch going down at Bohemian House. The River North restaurant is serving its own inspired takes on holiday tradition with dishes like Czech bread, Bavarian pancakes with whipped farmer’s cheese and poached plum, pork schnitzel, cured salmon with Meyer lemon marmalade, beef collar goulash, grilled bacon, rye biscuits and more. Each guest gets to select one main dish and three sides for the table before finishing with raspberry kolackys for dessert. The restaurant’s build-your-own-mimosa bar will be taking place as well. The cost for Easter brunch is $35 per person, available from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., and the regular menu will not be available during this time.
Tortoise Supper Club: There’s something so heartwarmingly apropos about celebrating a holiday at a cozy supper club. For the occasion, Tortoise Supper Club is inviting families to come eat to their hearts’ content as the restaurant rolls out a lavish holiday buffet on April 16. From 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., guests will be able to indulge in waffles, seafood, ham, salmon, desserts and more. The buffet brunch goes for $65 per adults and $25 for children five to 12. Kids under four are free. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling the restaurant.
The Blanchard: Easter adopts an elegant French accent at The Blanchard, where chef Ryan Burns and chef de cuisine Tim Cook are cooking up a lavish spread for their special holiday brunch menu on April 16. Dishes include outhier (creamy scrambled egg with chive, vodka spiked creme friache and ossetra caviar), croque madames, baies moulees (warm berries, toasted oats, grains and seeds, milk curd, honey comb) and steak maitre d’hotel (8-oz. prime hanger steak, fine herb butter, crispy frites, sauce Dijonnaise). Round out your meal with something off The Blanchard’s French wine list or cocktail menu, like the La Vie en Rose made with vodka, lemongrass syrup, Cocchi Americano Rosa and rose water.
The Kitchen Bistro: A slew of springy specials are on deck for Easter at The Kitchen Bistro this year. These include Burrata and strawberries with poppy seed toast, saba and arugula; a surf & turf combo of beef tenderloin and seared scallops with brown butter potatoes, creamed spinach and sauce bordelaise; and a lobster roll made with butter-poached lobster, roasted garlic aioli and fines herbs. Drink specials include Prosecco cocktails and passion fruit punch. Brunch will have special hours on April 16, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
Commonwealth Tavern: Another family-friendly spot for Easter specials, Commonwealth Tavern has an abundance of brunchy comfort foods on hand this year. These include brunch schnitzel with herb aioli, smoked potatoes, pickled red onion and fried egg; “pig muffin” with maple pig head, farm egg, American cheese and English muffin; and Belgian waffles with strawberries or bananas. There’s aslo a new kids’ menu, a build-your-own mimosa bar, and build-your-own Bloody Mary bar. Easter brunch runs from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!: It’s Easter, tapas-style, at Lincoln Park’s venerable institution, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! From 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., the Spanish-inspired restaurant will feature small plate specials like deviled eggs with bacon, waffle-battered chicken sticks, egg dishes, brunch tapas, waffles, a Bloody Mary bar and more. Plus, all kids will get a sweet Easter treat.