Salute to BIN 36

What a glorious Memorial Day weekend. My wife Ginger and I always do something the week leading up to Memorial Day as it always coincides with an annual golf outing the first several days of the week preceding Memorial Day. We usually book a trip out of Chicago to warmer climes for Thursday through Monday and have a short five day mini vacation. This year we did something different. My wife made a marvelous suggestion that we conserve energy and eliminate the exasperation of packing, sitting in the airport, rental cars and missing luggage and instead do what she called a "stay-cation."

That meant we would trade airline and hotel reservations in another city for limo and hotel reservations in downtown Chicago. Our plans included visiting Navy Pier, the Museum of Science and Industry and the Lincoln Park Zoo as well as take in a Broadway in Chicago show. Nothing too extravagant or pricey. We watched game four of the Blackhawks playoff series at Harry Caray's, Saw a great 3D IMAX movie at the Pier, saw Jersey Boys and generally relaxed and kicked around Chicago.

We had dinner at Smith and Wolensky Friday night and gasped as we got the bill. It was more than a week's worth of groceries or what it would cost to educate a child in Guatemala. Although we will never eat there again the food was very very good. The next night we asked the concierge to recommend something less expensive and she highly recommended a fantastic place called Bin 36. Right next door to the House of Blues on Dearborn near Wacker Drive, this wine, cheese and fine dining establishment provides a contemporary environment with outstanding friendly and knowledgeable staff. The food pairing dinner we were offered was absolutely incredible. Here's how it works. You select the four course meal with modest portions while the wait staff communicates your likes, dislikes and food allergies to the chef. A custom meal is planned and wines are selected to accompany each course. Everything is a complete surprise. Four dishes, four wines. The first course was absolutely incredible. It was a semolina encrusted soft shell crab salad with melon, cucumber and balsamic vinegar. The flavors popped in our mouths and we completely enjoyed the dish. My wife pronounced it the best dish of the evening. The wine was a wonderful chardonnay with a melon undertone and just the right mouth feel. It complimented the salad perfectly and Ginger, coincidentally, pronounced that wine as the best of the evening. The next course was a veal and mushroom sausage with pepper oil with pea tendrils and another interesting white wine. I liked the dish, however the wine ended up third on my list. The peppercorn encrusted marlin was next with an uninteresting Cabernet that lost all flavors on the finish. Good up front but lost all of it's interest when swallowed. This wine and the marlin ended up last on both our lists. Never mind the next dish (it was beef by the way) because I can't say enough about the big fat Cabernet we were served. Rich, jam flavors with a hint of dark chocolate and a luxurious mouth feel made this my number one pick of the evening and an addition to my wine rack at home. Just ask for Bin 45 (2006 Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah/Petite Sirah/Petite Verdot/Merlot D&S, Duncan & Sachs, Proprietary Red)

While dinner was delicious the service was excellent. This wasn't a slow night and our waiter James didn't hover but he didn't forget us either. He was friendly, funny and businesslike when necessary. He made the suggestion for our wine pairing meal and I'm glad we followed his advice. We enjoyed the atmosphere and conversation with fellow patrons so much we came back the next night and sat at the bar and we were served by a fantastic bartender named Josh with the same attention James provided. He was always there when we needed something and even went out of his way to bring extra condiments for our oysters on the half shell appetizer. Bin 36 has a very special menu that allows you to pick flights of four wines to taste or select a particular wine as a full pour. Another section of the menu is dedicated to cheeses or flights of cheese. Josh suggested wines and cheeses and we completely enjoyed his selections. Ginger struck up a conversation with the manager Amy and we were very impressed with how accommodating she was with us when we wanted to buy some cheese to take home.

This was an experience we thoroughly enjoyed and we will visit Bin 36 again. I can't wait to take my in-laws to this wonderful restaurant. I wish very much that Bin 36 would try the suburbs again. It would need to be a smaller version and it would compete with Bacchus Nibbles but I'm convinced it would be a welcome addition to this franchised food court wasteland. Of course we would want it in Schaumburg, Palatine or Barrington. The Bin 36 motto says it all..... Drink Wine. Live Well. Have Fun.

http://www.bin36.com/