Mon Ami Gabi

Romance For All Seasons in a French Bistro

With February giving us Valentine's Day and March the first hope of Spring, we went for a romantic setting for this February/March restaurant review. Our fabulous feature is a classic French Bistro in Chicago called Mon Ami Gabi.

Mon Ami Gabi is located right in fashionable Lincoln Park inside a glamorous old hotel, The Belden Statford. You'll enter the cozy eatery from the old ornate lobby entrance. The atmosphere is warm and casual with a dark wood and brass bar, wood and cream colored stucco walls decorated with French posters and country artifacts. Our server, Adine, who happened to be French, was a charming addition to the entire evening. 

Our party of 4 began with 3 of us ordering from the wine cart. You can choose wines by the glass from the cart and have a taste before you choose. The selection is quite marvelous. One of us, not mentioning any names, but it was my husband Bob, decided to sample some of the specialty drinks, their champagne cocktails. I helped him to taste. One was called the Millennium. It was an interesting combination of Absolut Mandarin, pineapple juice, and champagne with a twist. He then just had to taste another, The Marie Antoinette (no he did not lose his head). It was made of Ketel One Vodka, Cassis, Kirsch, and champagne. We liked it so much we have made our own recipe of this for drink our cocktail on the site.

Moving onto starters, we sampled the soup of the day which was a Tomato Basil, a delicate sweet and spicy combination. We couldn't resist the escargots in garlic butter, a French staple that was a winner and always on the menu. The mussels marniere in a light cream sauce were a delicate delight. And the Tarte Nicoise had a hearty tomato base with plenty of fresh veggies in crusty tarte. Accompanying all these wonderful appetizers was the baguette of crispy bread at the center of the table.

For our entrees we had the special of the day, Coq Au Vin (chicken in Burgundy), Trout Grenobloise (trout prepared in lemon butter and capers), and two different Steak Frites (steak with fries). One of those is the Steak Classique prepared in a parsley butter. And the other Steak Au Poive, a pepper and cream sauce.

The Coq Au Vin was rich and delicious. A very large portion of chicken served with mashed potatoes. A French classic that is served at Mon Ami on Mondays. A great way to start your week!

The two different Steak Frites were enjoyed by our dining guests, Jerry Stemnock, my fabulous webmeister and his wife Kay. When they came up for air and the bottoms of their plates were shining clean, they allowed as how the entrees were pretty good.

I ordered my personal favorite, the Trout Grenobloise. It is a standard on the menu. A filet of trout prepared with a delicate lemon butter , capers and spices. I will definitely order it again!

Then it was time for dessert. I am not a sweet lover so I simply went for a Martell with a cup of coffee. But the rest of the party helped me out in sampling the sweets. Bob had the Chocolate Mousse. It had a smooth creamy texture and pure chocolate taste without being overly sweet. What Jerry had was a delicious  Tarte Tatin, a caramelized open-face apple pie. This version was heavy on the caramel, but offset by tart apples. Kay sampled the Crème Brulee, which she pronounced agreeably crackly on the crust and wonderfully silky beneath.

It was a wonderful evening of casual elegance and classic French fare. And we were even hailed a cab by the doorman of the hotel to make the stormy cold night an effortless event.