North Pond Michelin Restaurant

North Pond Michelin Restaurant

This charming Arts and Crafts building may have started life as a warming shelter for park ice skaters back in 1912, but today it is a celebratory, special and cozy dining room that makes one want to light a fire and pop open some champagne. Regardless of the season however, this inviting setting always sparkles, thanks to such alluring elements as rustic exposed brick, a roaring fireplace, as well as towering windows overlooking both the park and namesake pond.

Despite a change in the kitchen team, the quality of this cuisine remains solid and unchanged. The menu continues to reflect its serious commitment to agriculture by way of a concise lineup of enticing, ingredient-driven, and seasonally influenced creations. Subtle global influences are an equally appealing facet of the four-course tasting carte, which has been known to highlight compositions like fresh tagliatelle, tinted gold by the addition of saffron, and tossed with mussels escabeche and sliced Castelvetrano olives. Chocolate and hazelnut isn’t a particularly groundbreaking combination for dessert, but it is nonetheless impressively executed—as a crescent of flourless cake with creamy ganache and goat milk sorbet.

Chicago Multi-Entry Multi-Directional Visitors Guide © Simon Newbound