Restaurant Review: Fixture, Chicago

We kept hearing fun things about Chicago's Fixture restaurant, so we stopped in for dinner recently. Tucked away in the West Lakeview neighborhood, Fixture is a slip of a place, with around a dozen tables and a dozen bar chairs - all of which, by the by, were filled with happy, pretty, sparkling, affluent-looking wine drinkers.

It is a wine bar, after all, with an eclectic, selective wine list prepared by Wine Director Michael Willison, who we can only conclude is also eclectic and selective. His 30 or so wines are offered by the bottle or the glass, and include small production Washington Pinots, a fizzy Alsace cremant, a range of aromatic whites, and off the beaten path red grapes. Prices are good, encouraging risk-free experimentation. Loved it!

The same spirit of fun and adventure infuses the menu. Amped up "bar food" is the theme here, with small plate offerings that are priced from $6 to $14 and include dishes like wild mushroom risotto cakes, rabbit spring rolls, and a peppered elk carpaccio served with Humboldt Fog goat cheese and chestnut honey dressed mache salad.

Service in the restaurant's casual-chic interior is as easy going and comfortable as the room's banquettes, with a definite neighborhood joint vibe that invites long evenings of solving the world's problems over multiple rounds of wine and food.

Dessert included a dreamy orange cheesecake, courtesy of Chef de Cuisine Sarah Nelson - a sweet ending to a great evening. If Fixture were in our neighborhood, we'd be there all the time!

Fixture
2706 N. Ashland Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 248-3331
www.fixturechicago.com