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Sep 2009  |  By Peter Wren  |  Comments

Bank Lane Bistro

I once asked a rather prominent Chicago chef, who shall remain nameless, why so few "big name" chefs chose to migrate north to our fair shore. We have, I argued, beautiful locales, a hungry public and an affluent enough population to sustain quality fine-dining establishments.

His response? "Slave over an inventive, elegant menu full of surprises, and they'll go and order a house salad and a steak on you."

If I may, for a moment, play Witness "A" for the Prosecution. Bank Lane Bistro, a Monday night in early November. There are three beautiful, wallet-conscious tasting menus positively glowing from Bank Lane's sprawling menu — a four-course "you choose two, chef chooses two" option for $48, a six-course "chef picks 'em" option for $62 and a bargain 10-course free-for-all for $88 — and what did I see marching in lock step out of Bank Lane's kitchen? You guessed it: four salads, two steak frites and a yawner of a pistachio-crusted salmon.

Poor folks. They have no idea what they missed out on. Chef Michael Gottleib, a graduate of Carlos' and Gabriel's, is at his best when you sit back and hand him the reins to your supper.

No other restaurant on the North Shore improvises so often and so consistently as Bank Lane does. So even if you and your family order the same tasting menu this holiday season, be prepared to sample different variations on the same theme. Your scallop dish (spicy coconut sauce with jicama and jalapenos), for example, is not likely to look much like your neighbors' (Israeli cous-cous with seaweed salad in an Asian barbecue sauce), which not only makes for an education in wine pairings but one of the most diverse menus north of Michigan Avenue.

Despite its rather misleading moniker and a décor of mustard walls, torch-shaped light fixtures and tiny topiaries that look like they've been lifted from an orangerie at Versailles, Bank Lane has never really been a bistro. The cuisine is globally eclectic, fluctuating wildly from hemisphere to hemisphere, from twists on American classics (a Maker's Mark-brined pork chop with red Incan quinoa, Brussels sprouts and a grape gastrique) to Asian-inspired curious (a surprisingly effective salmon tartare ringed with wasabi vinaigrette and yuzu set next to rice-paper chips and matchstick bundle of apple strips).

I can't say that all of Chef Gottleib's inventive creations hit the mark (our paprika-dusted lamb chop dish retained a gamey flavor), but more often than not you're going to be deliciously surprised by the results, as I was by a deconstructed campfire smore topped with foie gras that melted just enough salt into the graham cracker and mounds of chocolate to remind me that even the most childlike of dishes can make the transition into adulthood.

And so it seems can an inventive fine-dining restaurant find its way into the pantheon of the North Shore's most distinguished restaurants.

3 1/2 out of 5 Stars.