Restaurant Noe — Restaurant in Barrington Township

I just had the fortune to dine at Noe in Barrington. It was an exquisite meal from start to finish. Chef Robert Gadsby was engaging and described each dish as it was presented. The staff was extremely friendly and professional. The meal was very seasonal and based on what ingredients were available. So the meals will change as the seasons change. I've eaten at many fine dining restaurants, including Michelin star restaurants, and this meal had a similar feel, but in many ways was better than those. This restaurant doesn't give off the overly sterile feel you often get at those places. It felt warm and homey with high quality food and service. This is a must try place and even though it isn't cheap you get a quality meal on par with restaurants 2 to 3 times as expensive. I will break down the meal below if you wish to read and learn more, but suffice it to say, if you don't find yourself here at some point you are definitely depriving yourself of one of the best meals you will ever have.

The meal started with an amuse of 4 small dishes/bites. There was a crispy shell sphere filled with tuna and salmon, a small pastry cup with duck confit, small bites of scallops with mushroom and black garlic, and a gazpacho made with carrot and ginger. Every one was spot on and delicious. An amazing start.

The next course was a Scottish salmon combined with multiple citrus juices and fruit pieces. This was incredible and opened my eyes to how you can enhance this fish with something other than lemon and dill. Warm and deeply satisfying.

The next course was a clay pot soup with a rich broth and filled with seafood and vegetables. There was a little bit of a kick to broth and it perfectly complimented the seafood. All was cooked perfectly and the flavors were spot on.

Next came the bread and a potato raviolo covered in a lamb sausage ragu. The bread was heavenly. Still hot, fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside, and a little bit of saltiness from the butter made for the best bread I've had during a meal. Then the pillowy raviolo was perfectly cooked and the lamb ragu was hearty and satisfying.

The last dinner course was the rack of lamb with a sauce of Indian spices, vegetables and some lamb sausage. I requested medium rare and it was cooked perfectly. The flavors were amazing and again it all complimented each other.

The final course was a dessert cup of chocolate cake with fruit and Chantilly cream. It wasn't overly sweet or overly heavy. Certainly a perfect ending to a wonderful meal.

And a word on cocktails. I tried their watermelon-basil margarita and it was a perfect blend of fresh flavors and was very refreshing. I also had an extremely good dark-and-stormy that rounded out the meal.

I will most certainly return to see what they have in store next. Just an absolute gem behind a little store front in downtown Barrington. Cheers to the Chef and the staff for making this one of the best meals I...

Restaurant Noe is an experience, not just a meal. There is no menu, and Chef Robert Gadsby starts by asking the assembled patrons their preferences (vegetarian? Spicy level? Gluten or other allergies? Cilantro?) before preparing the five-course meal. Each course had a beautiful and artistic presentation - a feast for the eye - and each was announced/described to us they were served. Every bite gave an explosion of flavor in our mouths; one course was better than the next. David prepared wine pairings for each course with skill. The servers were attentive and available without being overbearing, bringing drink refills, fresh silverware for each course (and once chopsticks in individual lacquered boxes), engaging conversation, and making sure we always had what we needed or wanted. After our amazing meal, Chef Robert came and asked everyone what they liked, what was their favorite, and what could be done differently. There were no complaints, only lavish praise. It was a memorable dining experience, unique, personal, and one which we enjoyed immensely. The only glitch was that we made our reservation online for the 5:00 seating (there also is an 8:00 seating), using the button on the website. We got confirmation emails for 5:00 and a text 30 minutes before our reservation. When we arrived at 5:00, the restaurant had us down for 8:00. I don't know where the disconnect was, but they immediately and graciously...

Was fortunate enough to dine here on opening night. The food was wonderful and creative. Chef came out and discussed all the dishes with the dining room, being sure to take note of any flavor preferences beforehand. The experience felt more like going over to a friend's house and having them cook for you, except that your friend is an incredible, 5-star chef. We were served two amuse-bouche courses, a fish course, a vegetable course, a beef main course, and desert--all of them incredible.

Being that this was the first night open, they had the usual problems that come with every restaurant opening (in this case, apparently the suppliers never delivered the food product, and chef went out to get his own). But this made it all that more fun and exciting, seeing what he would cook up without knowing what he was able to procure and what would come next. I know that this will not be the same experience to diners in the future, but I wanted to mention it as it speaks to chef's creativity and ability to execute despite challenges. That will surely carry over to their normal operations. The staff was lovely as well.

The future plans, menu, etc. chef discussed sound great. This was a wonderful first impression and I will definitely be back to try their...