Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant

A friend at work told me that I needed to take my wife Ginger to a place called Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant at the Arboretum in South Barrington. My friend Carol has never been there but had heard good things about it. Well Carol....I'm happy to report that Cooper's Hawk Winery is every bit as good as you have been led to believe. I whole heartedly recommend Cooper's Hawk and suggest, if you haven't been there, that you give a try. You won't be disappointed. Friday I started to call for reservations but apparently was so busy I was unable to get anyone to pick up the phone until 4:30 PM. I finally connect. No problem I'm told, I have a reservation at 6:30 PM for two and I'm asked by the voice on the telephone if this is my first visit. I tell the voice yes and I'm assured we will enjoy ourselves and that they are looking forward to our visit.
We arrive at 6:25 PM and walk through the front door of the restaurant into what appears to be a gift shop to the right and left rear and a tasting bar on the left wall opposite the expanse of windows on the right. The gift shop shelves are stocked with wines and accessories like logo corkscrews, logo wine glasses, wine racks for your home and jars of exotic jams jellies and relishes. I remember that the shop at Lynfred Winery has similar such products and I vow to check them out later. We let the hostess/host station know we have arrived. Now I have to stop here and say this is a very popular place and the reason I know that is the gift shop is packed coupled with the knowledge that despite having a reservation we don't immediately get a table but instead after looking through what appears to be a library index card file, a note is taken on a white slip of paper, stuffed into the file box and a device that looks like a TV remote is issued to Ginger which we know to be a restaurant pager. We are told that it "will only be a couple of minutes" and we start to wander to the tasting area to see what the process is. As we turn to go toward the tasting bar I spy a work colleague and greet her with a hearty hello and gentle hug. I introduce Roshny to my wife and Ginger and Roshny exchange pleasantries. Roshny explains she is on a ladies night out with seven of her friends and we chat for a moment then excuse ourselves to enjoy our separate evenings. I'm not certain we have enough time to start a round of tasting and suggest that we go into the bar to have a cocktail. The bar, also packed, is standing room only. The seating area is a bunch of "high top" tables that can seat as many as ten. Every high top is full and every bar stool, save one, is occupied. To the left and front of the bar is a glass partition and several tables also fully occupied and we are told this is the Wine Room complete with barrels of wine on a rack that partially covers the exterior windows facing the parking lot. It's sort of a private dining room but reminiscent of a fish bowl. I need to excuse myself and when I return Ginger has ordered a beer for me and a chardonnay for herself. What we find interesting, perched on a few of the tables, is what appears to be an oil lamp in a metal rack but I know they have wine in them and we observe patrons filling their wine glasses from these unusual decanters. They are attractive yet I can't help wondering how often they have been knocked about on a table or sent crashing to the floor with a errant reach for napkins, flatware or platters of food. Twenty-five minutes have gone by and I'm beginning to wonder if our table has been called or if our pager is malfunctioning. I go to the hostess station and ask how much longer and I'm told " a couple more minutes."
I just get back to rejoin Ginger when the pager begins its violent buzzing and flashing light show. Time to eat. We are escorted to a table for two in a very busy and noisy dining area. Again every table is occupied except for our table and two booths on our left. Normally I prefer a booth but before I can make our preference known a hostess has escorted a couple to the booth immediately to our left and another host has escorted four people to the other empty booth.... oh well.... I make a half-hearted attempt at humor by declaring "those people have stolen our booth" as our server arrives on the scene to provide menus and glasses of water. Ginger allays her concerns about our comfort and we proclaim the chairs comfortable and the "table just fine thank you"....no need to move us to a booth. Our server is Lisa and she immediately sets to work providing us an overview of the menu and wines and informs us that all of the wines served are Cooper's Hawk wines. We are told we can have a glass from the wine list or a glass of wine maker's reserve right from the barrel. The wine list covers every varietal and every style of wine from Sauvignon Blanc to Riesling and Gewurztraminer to reds like Merlot, Syrah, Shiraz, Cabernet and Meritage. They have full bodied reds, blushes, whites, specialty blended and desert wines. They also offer flights of wine so that you may have a sampling of four wines at a time so you can have the full sense of their wine making proficiency. Ginger orders another Chardonnay and I order a Sangiovese. Lisa thanks us and returns quickly with two glasses containing only a couple of swallows of the selected wine. We are told this is only a sample and upon our approval she will fetch a full pour. Ginger and I swirl the contents around in our respective glasses, bury our face as deeply into the glass as the rim permits and inhale briefly through our noses. The aroma of my red is excellent and intriguing and Ginger reports a similar experience. We take a small sip of our selections and speak at exactly the same time. "This is fine" and "Thank you" as Lisa hustles away to retrieve a full serving of our wine. Ginger and I trade a quick "This is awesome." and Lisa is right back at the table with our wine. We look over the menu and Lisa points out the flat bread appetizers and Ginger tells me that she wants to "go for" the flat bread and I nod and she orders the Caprese. I didn't hear the order but know that Ginger has it handled and whatever she ordered will be good.
The reason my mind has wandered is I am looking over the menu. All of the menu selections correspond with a bin number. The bin number corresponds with a wine selection on the wine menu. I assume this is a recommendation for a wine accompaniment for that particular food item. I say to Ginger that this is a little like BIN 36, our favorite Chicago restaurant. Ginger says it's also like Lynfred Winery. We are members at Lynfred and get a bottle of wine every month. So what we have is a cross between BIN 36, Lynfred Winery and a casual dining restaurant. This sounds almost Frankenstein-like; concocted by some mad chef in the role of Dr. Frankenstein combining restaurant concepts like body parts to his monster. Unlike the film the villagers don't storm the castle with torches; instead they flock to Cooper's Hawk to enjoy this truly successful concept combination. I notice there is a real eclectic feel to the menu choices and selections. Sharing space with a Roasted Vegetable Cavatappi is a classic cheeseburger and desserts that range from key lime pie to wine and chocolates. I do notice that one item appears on the menu in three different incarnations. First as an appetizer in the form of blackened Ahi tuna, then as a blackened Ahi tuna slider and finally as a main course as blackened Ahi tuna with sides. I mention this to Ginger and she tells me that it isn't uncommon for a chef to reuse product when planning a menu. I just wonder why the use of blackened seasoning is necessary in all three preparations and I'm not a fan of blackened tuna.
Lisa returns with our flatbread appetizer of ripe tomatoes, melted fresh mozzarella, topped with rings of red onion, julienne basil, pesto, and a drizzle of balsamic reduction; all on a rectangular plate cut into pizza like slices. It is delicious. I can't recall ever having a flat bread appetizer like this and the pizza margherita meets bruschetta is fantastic. As we enjoy our newly discovered tidbit the manager Juan introduces himself and apologizes for the poor location of our table. It is at an intersection of two walkways and the aisle into the kitchen. We haven't noticed any issues with the location and Ginger reassures him that we are "just fine" with the table and we praise the flatbread and wine and generally have a short pleasant conversation. Juan punctuates his thanks for visiting Cooper's Hawk by producing a ticket for two to attend a wine tasting in the future. We thank him for the invitation and hospitality as he takes his leave to continue his rounds. Lisa returns to take or order for the main course and Ginger orders the blackened Ahi tuna. I order the Jambalaya. Our server departs to put in our order with the kitchen while Ginger and I continue to enjoy our wine, each other, the evening and before long we have more food in front of us. Ginger digs into her tuna and I into the Jambalaya and we agree it is terrific. Ginger has been served a huge piece of tuna that has been seared perfectly if maybe just slightly cold....and a Mount Everest of jasmine rice. There is no way she needs that much rice and I know she won't eat much it. I am a rice lover but even I could see that it was too much. My Jambalaya is also served with rice and it is just the right amount as I very nearly lick the bowl clean. The andouille sausage is perfect in the marriage of shrimp, chickens, tomatoes, onions and peppers. Ginger likes the tuna and says so but also points to the mound of rice and tells me (as I have already surmised) that it is too much. Nonetheless the food is good and we enjoy it and tell Lisa as much when she visits again to check on us.
With our dinner recently completed, Ginger and I are sipping on the remainder of our wine and I see Roshny and her friends sitting at a large round table at the rear of the restaurant. I excuse myself and tell Ginger I'm going to quickly compare their experience with ours. I arrive at their table and awkwardly invite myself to sit down. Roshny introduces me around the table and explains that this is a group of friends she has worked with at the company where we both are employed. I explain that I'm writing a food blog and ask if they would mind a few questions. "No," they "don't mind" and my first question is "what did everyone have?" I sort of go counter clockwise around the table stopping at each person in turn...."I had the tuna cooked perfectly..... and yes it was a lot of rice." "I had the Jambalaya..... yes delicious I liked it!" I indicate that I find the presence of burgers on the menu out of place and a hand raised up to shoulder height belongs to the woman opposite me at the table as she admits proudly, "I had a hamburger.... and I liked it." We all laugh and I'm exposed as a food snob..... but I say here and now I like my burgers too. I invite Roshny and her friends to enjoy a cocktail on me after dinner and excuse myself to return to my table. Despite Ginger being very tired from early mornings and late evenings she is a good sport and we stay to buy the group a drink and leave a short time later with calls of thank you and goodbye from everyone in the group and from servers and the front host station.
A note in closing. Ginger and I did not see or experience everything at Cooper's Hawk and we need to go back. I would love to do a wine tasting and we will use the invitation from Juan as soon as we can. We enjoyed this experience and will return. I enjoyed meeting Roshny and her friends and sharing a glass of wine with her and her pals. We want to thank the servers we encountered in the bar and in the restaurant and particularly Lisa. She more than made up for the fact that we had to wait to get a table and the quality of service ranks right up there with the best restaurants Ginger and I have eaten at recently. I recommend Cooper's Hawk Winery and Restaurant and hope everyone in the surrounding suburbs gives this relatively recent arrival a try.


http://www.coopershawkwinery.com