Riva
Navy Pier
700 E. Grand Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
312.644.7482
http://www.stefanirestaurants.com/riva.htmI visited Chicago this past weekend, but before going, I knew I wanted high-end seafood. I’ve been to Shaw’s, Nick’s Fishmarket, Bob Chinn’s, and a few other places, so I wanted something different. Several names appeared like Catchy 35, and Joe’s (not Joe’s Crabshack). I chose Riva, because of the atmosphere knowing that I may have to sacrifice some quality. I read many mixed reviews about the food, but my review will go into the positive category. It seems that the dishes to order was Dover Sole and Chilean Seabass. I had the 28 oz. Dover Sole but 1 ½ pounds of Whole Maine Lobster, since I didn’t want two fish dishes. An appetizer of Grilled Octopus and a side dish of Asparagus Parmigiano accompanied the two entrees along with mojitos and cosmopolitan martinis.
Floor-to-ceiling glass doesn’t allow for a bad seat anywhere, but I still wanted a table next to the window. Though I made a reservation a week prior, they couldn’t guarantee a window-side table but did notate the reservation. Upon arrival, they indicated there was about a twenty minute wait for my table, so I took a place at the bar and watched people walk up and down Navy Pier, dinner cruises and boats lazily passing by, and the patrons drinking and eating at the nicely built bar. It wasn’t overly done, not uber-trendy, but just right. I was called for my table, but they asked me to pay for my drinks at the bar rather than adding them to the tab, which I thought was odd, but okay.
The table had the typical white linen, and warm bread with a large, crisp flatbread was served with butter that was too hard to spread. The flatbread was very tasty with a strong garlic presence, which I enjoyed. The bread smelled and felt fresh.
For starters, I ordered the Grilled Octopus. I was thinking it would be something similar to calamari. I waited for the appetizers. And waited. And waited. And ate bread. And butter. And waited. And ate flatbread. And… oh, the waitress stopped by and finally asked about it. She was very surprised to learn about the wait, so she followed up with the kitchen. She returned, apologized again, and stated she will remove it from the bill. Shortly thereafter, a plate with a few much-larger-than-expected octopi arrived on a bed of salad. The presentation was above average but not outstanding. The plain-view of a few octopi the size of your hand, purple in color equipped with tentacles and suckers made for a lovely show. Being grilled, I was imagining a dry dish, but remarkably enough, it was not. The texture, flavor, and enjoyment of eating this dish made me forget all about the wait. The waitress ensured the food would not arrive very shortly after the appetizer, because of the wait, so the time between courses was perfectly adequate.
The description of the Dover Sole on the menu says: “Baked on a cedar plank with lemon-honey glaze, or grilled, filleted tableside, served with potatoes.” There was also an option to choose which one of three sauces to accompany your fish: burre blanc, almondine, or meuniere; I chose almondine and am glad I did. When the server arrived to the table, he immediately began to filet the fish. He took his time, diligently ensuring there was not a single trace of bone. He asked if I wanted the sauce on top or on the side, which I surely appreciated, so my almondine went to the side. When the server started to leave, I interrupted him and asked for the head of the fish. “The head?” Oh yes, leave the head behind. He asked me two more times, and I noticed I piqued the curiosity of other diners nearby. I do enjoy cheek and brain and eat the eyeball “meat,” too. When the waitress stopped by later on to check if how things are, she was surprised to see bones on my plate. I stopped her before going to the manger and let her know I requested the head. Again with the strange look, but she was happy nothing was wrong. Speaking of the manager, he did stop by the table to check on things, apologized again, and carried on. I noticed he stopped by other tables to ensure quality, which I appreciated. About a quarter way through my fish, I decided to taste the sauce. The fish was good enough on its own, and that’s how it should be, but my gosh, the sauce had so much delicious flavor. Pretty soon, I was dunking everything in there; from the fish, to the small potatoes, to the side dish of asparagus, to the lobster. Delicious fish, and bravo to the sauce! The asparagus were normal – not very crunchy, but definitely not limp.
The lobster. What can I say? It was gorgeous. The meat came out perfectly done. A simple shake, and it came out of the shell. Little effort was made to find the meat, unless you went hunting into the leg, which I did. Though I dipped most of it in butter or the almondine sauce, a lot of it was eaten plainly or with a slight squeeze of lemon. Lobster comes broiled or steamed, and mine was steamed.
So the food was good. I was satisfied. But wait, there’s more…
The view. Few cities on this earth offer a skyline as magnificent as Chicago, and the optimal place to see it is from Lake Michigan on a boat. Since this restaurant is located on Navy Pier looking back at Chicago from The Lake, the view was fantastic. At 9PM, fireworks erupted outside, and I had box seats to the entertainment. I changed seats on my table from looking at the skyline to looking out towards the lake and watched the show while eating terrific food. One thing was missing, a date. Though my friend gave wonderful company, that was the moment to have a significant other next to you. In fact, I would recommend Riva as a place to begin a courtship to celebrating an anniversary. In fact, the table next to mine was doing so and drove several hours from St. Louis for their anniversary celebration.
The bill was $170 for the two of us including several drinks but not including tip. Valet parking is available for $16, but Riva’s validation will drop it to $10. Since Riva is located on Navy Pier, it’s nice to be able to walk the Pier and burn off some of the calories while taking in the rest of the entertainment all around you. I did notice outdoor seating for adequate weather. The downstairs portion of Riva seemed more for families and not as upscale, but more… Red Lobster-esque?
Try it; you’ll like it. The view, food, and staff made for a pleasant visit, and I would do it again.
Apologies for the bad pictures of the skyline, but the camera captured the reflection too much. In person, you don’t see that.
- Grilled Octopus - $11.95
- 28 0z. Dover Sole - $34.95
- 1 1/2 pound Whole Maine Lobster (steamed with choice of broiled)
- Market Price (didn't look at bill)
- Asparagus Parmigiano - $6.95
- Mojioto - $9.50 (I think)
- Cosmopolitan - $12.50
- Validated valet parking - $10
Restaurant Politics - These stars are probably accurate if you are a Michelin Food Inspector or NY Times Food Critic. As someone in the industry, if I call in advance and reserve with the use of connections, I am usually taken care of very well. I am assuming most restaurants will go above and beyond the call of duty when they are being rated by an internationally known restaurant guide. This gives us a skewed rating scale and in many ways, it's counter productive to go by their rankings.
***
2 years ago, I actually sent in my resume and application to become a "Food Inspector" for Michelin. I had worked in the industry for 3 years by then, and had extensive training working with our staff and in-house chef, isolating flavor profiles of regional foie gras, beef, pork, chicken and duck. Not to mention all sorts of mushrooms, charcuterie, cheeses and even some exotic game.
But the Michelin family, with their snootiness quickly wrote back saying I was still under qualified and too young to have the palate necessary to assess with their ratings scale.
Oh well... I'm not losing any sleep over it. And after the past 2 editions of Michelin NYC... I'm proud to say I am not a Michelin Guide Food Inspector. I completely disagree with their ratings.