CDA — Restaurant in Chicago

Food: 3 Decor: 4 Service: 2

Came here with the gf and her parents for lunch around 1pm Saturday. 3-hour non-dinner valet parking is $13 with restaurant validation.

Bread basket was good - chocolate croissant, small baguettes, and some other items.

Brunch sampler, 25 Served with fresh fruit juice and coffee or tea ~Good. Opted for oj.

Trio of exotic fruit kebabs ~Good. Instead of pieces of fruit on a stick, the kebabs were actually three tall shot glasses of fruit juice. Last time I checked the dictionary, a kebab is "a dish consisting of small pieces of meat, tomatoes, onions, etc, threaded onto skewers and grilled, generally over charcoal."

pastrami smoked salmon with caviar crème fraîche mesclun greens chicken and waffle mini white truffle omelet ~Okay. Smoked salmon was okay, but the bread and onions didn't pair well. Mesclun green salad was pretty good, and whatever ingredient looked like dirt underneath the salad was amusing and creative. Chicken and waffle was mediocre, as was the omelet.

assorted mini desserts ~Mediocre. We got honey vanilla parfait, a chocolate layered cake, and a strawberry panna cotta with nuts and strawberries. Honey vanilla parfait was too sweet, and I didn't like the pairing on top. Cake was okay, and the panna cotta was more like a marshmallow.

Service was disappointing. They gave my gf oj instead of the grapefruit juice she ordered. I brought it up to a male server, but they still didn't fix the problem. I then brought it up with our original server, who was nowhere to be seen until the end of our meal, and it was...

My five star rating is for breakfast only.

This restaurant does something better than any other place in the city. You’ll have to wade through my review to find out what. Trust me. It’s worth the wait.

Breakfast is the only meal I have eaten there. It’s not cheap. With a tip, it’s always $26-$28 for me. It’s my splurge for the week. I go there every week. It’s amazingly consistent. I’ve yet to have anything that wasn’t terrific. I highly recommend the yogurt, granola, compote bowl. The pancakes are out of this world. Well of course it comes with real maple syrup and French butter. I should mention the coffee. It’s a French press and it’s impressive for. $5.00. I’m a bacon and eggs guy. The bacon is always freshly cooked, not dragged off the north-forty of the grill for a quick heating job. The French cooks ( and it is a French kitchen) cooks eggs perfectly. A secret from me to you, let your waiter know you’d like to skip the potatoes and instead have a taste of fruit. This isn’t your ordinary fruit. It’s blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc. picked at perfection. Best berries in the city. One of the things I love about this place is food temperature is right on the money. I’m saving the best for last. Shortly after coffee is poured your waiter will come by with a long tray of croissants, chocolate brioche and bread. There is no better bread or pastry. I’ve never, ever, ever had a better croissant in my life. Not...

Cafe des Architectes was simply not what I thought it would be. However, that does not mean it was lackluster. On the contrary, it was tasty but neither me or my lunch date were WOWed by the lunch menu.

When we arrived for a 12:30PM reservation on a Wednesday afternoon, the dining room was completely empty. Shortly after seating, it was half booked.

The space itself is absolutely stunning. It is very modern and bright and open. The flatware was of quality design and so were the linens. The details put into the aesthetics no doubt mirror the type of modernity you find in the hotel.

The service here was good. Almost too good. The waitstaff approached us too many times during the meal to refill water or inquire as to how everything was or if we wanted more bread.

The chicken sandwich was delicious and so were the fries. My enjoyed his pork belly sandwich, but did feel as if it was overcooked. Pork belly tends to be very juicy (due to the fact) but he mentioned it was a tough a just a bit dry.

I won't be running back to CdA but if I do come back, it will...