Sepia — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

Unfortunately, a three-star experience where I expected a five.

I'll start off by saying that the food tonight was very nice and a number of the dishes impressed my wife and me. It's quality cuisine with multiple layers of taste combined in creative ways to delight the palate.

However, my disappointment comes from other factors which are also expected in a restaurant of this price-tag: the setting (vibe) and service.

First, the setting. When we arrived, the lady up front sat us by the window, in an area separated by a wooden frame from the main dining section. More odd was that our seats were on a sofa with tables placed next to each other, where my wife and I had to sit side by side, as if in a bar. Except, there was no bar in front of us and the window was far away. We were just kind of left looking out an open space next to each other on a sofa. It felt like a weird set-up and I mentioned the strange layout to the lady and she replied that due to covid they were using every piece of space they had. We get the restaurant's perspective of wanting to use the most space, but as customers paying the same high price, it felt like we had just gotten a made-up temporary seat without regard to what experience that would be. As I later walked to the restroom during the meal, and saw the many people in the proper dining section, it made me feel like we would have enjoyed that space much more as well. Shortly put, it wasn't what we had wanted.

Second, the service. While our server today, Alex, was very kind and waited us very well, we had a higher expectation in a sense. Sepia is a Michelin-starred restaurant and our meal cost over $300 in all today. That's why I have a high expectation for the place. My past experiences with tasting menus were that each dish was presented with an explanation of what we were having, beyond just telling us which dish is which. Even a short 10-second description of either the ingredients, concept, or what the highlight of the dish is really goes a long way for the customer during a tasting menu. But all we got was the name of each dish.

Also, the wine pairing we got with the dishes were great, but the sommelier got busy and the last wines were just served to us by the server instead, with again just a reading of the labels. Yes, it can happen, but at such an establishment, it felt like they were trying to offer the highest level of service.

I frankly think the chef and the waiter/waitresses all do a great job, but today's events are outcomes of missed judgements by the management.

It's a special occasion to visit such an establishment, and I came out satisfied with the food, but not satisfied with the experience. Note these points if you're going for a special occasion, and hoping these points could be addressed by...

My partner made us reservations on my birthday, 2/19. Sepia ruined my birthday. We arrived early as I had broken my ankle, and I knew it would take me a little longer to get in. My partner called before we arrived to ask if they had a way for me to get in and if I should bring my knee scooter or crutches. They said either was fine and they had an “elevator”. I decided to bring my knee scooter as it was more comfortable for me. When we arrived, we were unable to locate the “elevator” as there was no signage. There are about 5 steps at the front door, so my partner just picked me up and then carried my scooter up afterwards. Once the staff saw us struggle, they grabbed the door for us and helped me to the table. We ordered drinks and enjoyed our dinner. To me, all of the dishes deserved the Michelin star rating except for the bass. It was very tough and seemed almost overcooked. This was unfortunate for me as it was my main course, but my partner enjoyed his. Once we were ready to leave, the staff showed us the “elevator”, and we decided to use it so that we could leave a little easier than we had arrived. This is where the night took a turn for the worst. The hostess accompanied me to the chair lift in a small enclosed vestibule. Once we were in, she closed the door behind us and lowered it to the first floor. Then the door would not open to the outside as it had presumably frozen shut. She pushed and pulled from the inside as my partner pushed and pulled from the outside. We were stuck, so we then attempted to go back the way we came, but the chair lift wouldn’t budge. The hostess banged on the inside door for help as she continually tried to get the chair lift to move. The person on the other side of the door said it was locked. The whole ordeal was probably 10-15 minutes, but it felt like forever as I’m claustrophobic. The chair lift finally moved back up, and the door opened. They offered for me to try again, but I refused. Once again, my partner carried me down the steps. I was in tears. The hostess apologized profusely while management said nothing. If I had known that was how the night was going to end, I wouldn’t have come. Sepia needs to ensure all their ADA equipment is in proper order before offering it to their customers, and maybe their management could act like they care after getting...

I visited Chicago this past weekend and was very excited to try Sepia. It was a good experience but fell a little short of expectations.

The atmosphere is somewhat laid back. Which my wife and I really enjoyed. We were seated promptly at our reserved time and we participated in the “chef’s experience” and 8-course tasting menu. The server, Ashley, asked us if was okay to bring out our first course before we were even settled in or had a chance to look at a drink menu. We didn’t love this. We asked for a little time. I then ordered an old fashioned but they were out of the first two bourbons requested. Also not great - but it happens. The cocktails my wife and eventually got were fantastic - a trend that continues through the night.

As for the service. It was attentive. We were never without water, we were given new silverware with every course, and everyone was friendly. The biggest issue was that when our courses were brought we often had different servers and many of them had thick accents. The accent in general is not a concern - god bless anyone that can learn a second language (I sure haven’t been able to). The problem was I could not understand the description of each course (despite asking them to repeat it). And when you pay for this sort of thing, part of the experience is knowing what you are eating and what the chef created. This took away from the experience.

With any tasting menu expect portions to be small. But these were all very small - many wee one or two bites and the others were three maybe four. All told, the whole tasting probably amounted to 10-12oz of food. There were a couple of standout bites like a yellow tail himachi course, and the cavier. But there were also some let downs like a “pasta” course that was just three small fried cream cheese balls with a gremolata. There was also no showstopper like a steak.

It wasn’t that anything was bad, it was just one of those meals where I left feeling that the whole experience wasn’t worth the cost. I think we were in and out in under 90 minutes. And our bill for two (all in) was around $600. If I find myself back in Chicago I probably won’t repeat. Or, if I do, I’ll just order off the menu and not...