The Gallery — Restaurant in Lake Forest

A rare North Shore gem combining outstanding cuisine with art from local artists. As it's name implies, the Gallery is an art gallery, but with a kitchen and an extremely talented chef. The menu and art are both updated every 3 months. We have been to the Gallery for the past 5 menus and every visit has been excellent. The menu is very limited but offers enough options for most people (so far, there has always been a salmon, another seafood entree, a beef entree, and a poultry entree). While limited in choice, the execution of every dish is at the very top of the fine dining scene and could compete with most of the top rated restaurants in Chicago - in our experience the Gallery should be a Bib Gourmand contender. While the entree is the star here, two non-entree items deserve special mention. First, the deviled eggs with balsamic and bacon are so good we have felt many times we could just eat a few orders of deviled eggs and be happy, and are in the "must have" category (thankfully, these are on every menu so far). Second, the pastry deserts are executed at a level that I would not expect except at a Michelin starred restaurant. The deserts have been mostly different each visit, but they have always blown us away. Don't skip desert! Note that the Gallery has a very limited wine and spirits menu, but they encourage you to bring your own wines with a very minimal...

We rented the entire space at the Gallery for a rehearsal dinner. There were about 50 of us. Planning with Cecilia was pretty easy -- she had many great suggestions. It's especially noteworthy how flexible they are, especially compared to some similar venues. We had passed appetizers, a custom non-alcohol cocktail, 3 of their signature cocktails, and beer and wine. We had a buffet dinner, primarily their bao buns and salads. We had a combination of cookies / bars for dessert. I appreciated that the sweets weren't overly sweet. We received many, many compliments on the venue, the food, and the drink. It was a warm evening in October, so we were able to use the outdoor space for cocktail hour. That's really lovely and I'm sure contributed to the overall great experience of our guests. They are also completely easy to work with as far as flowers, our own decorations, moving a few things around, etc. The art on the walls and overall ambiance, I believe, make it unnecessary to do a lot of your own decorating. We were able to get in by about 2:30 for final arrangements for a 7:00 start time. There were a few minor things I had said we wanted that we didn't get. But overall, I do not think that you could do better than The Gallery for your event of 50 people or fewer -- particularly if your numbers make it suitable to rent the entire venue. Thank you for a great and nearly...

I would highly encourage anyone to go here, both artists, non-artists, art lovers, and more!

This was a very enjoyable experience! The woman who greeted us was kind and welcoming, but gave us relaxing space to wander and appreciate the artwork. She briefly told us about the three artists being displayed and mentioned what was even in the back.

The Art was beautiful and great quality, both in the current gallery and also in the shop, where there are a large variety of pieces and prints from which to choose.

After, my fellow artistic friend and I talked with the Lady in depth about the pieces on display as well as about some of our own art. She was friendly and insightful, and even invited us to get in touch with her about displaying our own work.

I will definitely return to see what new gallery is on display next...