Tru, Alinea or Avenues?

Hi,

My husband and I are planning on coming to Chicago for our anniversary in October and we were looking for a great place to have dinner and celebrate. Looking online and at postings Tru, Alinea and Avenues peaked my interest.

If you had to pick one, which would you choose? We love the experience of dining as much as the food and a good wine list is a must (for me at least).

Any another recommendations would also be great.

Thanks.

Tru, Alinea or Avenues?

I have a lot of posts here on this subject so if you want more detail, please do a search.

Short answer: Alinea may have the best food anywhere right now. Options are a 25 course meal or a 12 course meal. The 25 course is about five hours. The food and service are outstanding and the wine program is interesting. The location is sort of pain though. There is just no easy way to get there. Expect traffic.

Avenues is one of my favorites. Great food (not quite on the level of Alinea, but no place is now), very good service, a good wine program with some real values, and a great location just off Michigan Ave.

I would avoid Tru. The chefs have other projects going on and it shows. The sous chef left a month ago and was replaced by a very young chef. Chefs Gand and Tramanato (spelling?) are by reputation rarely there anymore. The place was one of the best a few years ago but it pretty clearly is winding down now. I don%26#39;t see the point. The menu is nearly the same as it was three years ago, and they are not doing much seasonal stuff.

Another option would be Everest which tends to have more heavy French influence. Spiaggia and Topolobampo (Chef Bayless%26#39;s place) are also worth considering