Nellcôte

I have been reading all about Nellcôte for a couple of months now.  Located on Randolph's "Restaurant Row" (former location of the beloved Marché), it is certainly a great spot for meeting people after work (you want to "get out of the Loop," but don't want to go too far).  Two girlfriends and I had reservations for 5:30 pm.  No issues - seated right away and not pressured in any way to make immediate decisions. 

Drinks
The cocktail menu is intriguing, but we ladies were in the mood for vino so out came the wine menu which is quite diverse.  So diverse, in fact, that we consulted the sommelier.  The sommelier was fantastic and listened to our every unsophisticated desire.  Out comes the 2009 Sant'Elena pino grigio, which is orange in color, so fun.  It was FANTASTIC.  Question:  The sommelier sampled our wine before we did.  He sampled immediately after showing us the bottle and then we sampled.  Is that normal?  I have never had that happen before this experience at Nellcôte.

Dinner

The menu is technically a sharing menu, but some of the plates are quite large.  To be completely honest, I was disappointed with everything, including dessert (big sweet tooth here) except the bread and pizza, which were both "something to write home about."  I would absolutely come here again for one of these delicious pizzas.  Nellcôte mills its own flour and it makes all the difference - the crust is absolutely amazing. The toppings were so very fresh.  The fennel sausage pizza tasted like an Italian summer.

Decor

You would never know that you are sitting in the former digs of Marché.  For a former "small town gal," this place just makes you feel like you are in the "Big City."  I highly recommend it for celebratory drinks and for every girly girl who loves to put on her heels and bring out her inner rock star goddess.