Henri

Yikes! Where did the month of February go? We had planned on going to Henri several times but meetings or other commitments came up; we need to watch our calendars better so we can focus on our lunchicago duties. Sorry we got behind on this project.

We went to Henri's on Michigan Avenue, what a lovely restaurant. It's small with less than 20 tables in the restaurant, but the European atmosphere was delightful. The tables had cloth tablecloths, fabric walls and the bathroom had a wonderful reptile-type textured wall-paper. Our waiter was pleasant, however we were in the last part of the lunch crowd and he seemed somewhat finished for the day. I think Brooke is posting pictures of the restaurant on her blog. We both agreed this would be the place to 'seal the deal'. Clients would be impressed with this environment and definitely attentive to the person who escorted them here and picked up the tab.

We both ordered a sparkling lemonade, but the wine list is extensive along with other types of cocktails. The bar area is near the door, it is a beautiful, ornate wooden bar that fits perfectly into the decor of the restaurant. I ordered the butternut squash potage with caramelized pecans and shrimp. My entree was the Nicoise salad with purple and white potatoes, olives and the usual collection of green beans, hard-boiled egg and tuna chunks. The potatoes were a nice addition, the color variation added a nice dimension to the salad. Here is the down side, our bill was almost $100. You can read Brooke's blog for her meal, but I thought with no alcoholic beverages we would have a bill in the range of $60 or $70 dollars. We both ran out of time and needed to get back to work, so no dessert for us this time. I would definitely have dessert the choices were wonderful. . .creme brulee, dark chocolate tart, the menu is online.

I shouldn't complain about the money part, because we agreed to try restaurants for lunch that were very nice and different. I will merely give you the price without a commentary about how much it costs. It was a lovely place and we were surrounded by business people chatting about business 'stuff'. The gentlemen who sat next to us were definitely on a business lunch. The lead person used his iPad to show the other gentlemen various pictures of environments. They had a great business lunch, with pictures too.

Do try this place, it's an elegant, impressive environment, and the food was great. Their website is elegant as well: http://www.henrichicago.com, notice the unusual meats in the entree's.