Review: Come to Laurel Chicago in the Talbott Hotel for a Feta Fete

Laurel Chicago, a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant located downstairs in the Talbott Hotel in Streeterville, presents a beautiful fare. Our server, Alexis, had great recommendations and took the lead in our culinary experience. My sister and I began our night out front on the patio area, enjoying one of the first cooler evenings that would signal the end of summer and the beginning of fall. However, around the time we ordered our entrées, it began to drizzle, so we moved inside for the remainder of our meal. This moment of fate gave us the best of both worlds—dining al fresco at first, then enjoying the communal atmosphere of the restaurant's lush interior.

I ordered our server's favorite cocktail as my first drink: The My Passion Negroni, composed of Tom Cat gin, Chinola passion fruit liqueur, Carpano Antica, and Campari. I am definitely not a Negroni guy, but she promised that it would be sweet, summery, and go down smooth. And right she was. It was the perfect citrusy, yet full-bodied drink to usher me into our meal with gusto.

My sister opted for the Hibiscus Sour, featuring High West Rendezvous, hibiscus simple, lemon, and whites. It was beautifully presented with a half-and-half look, mirroring the balance in its flavor profile. It didn't hide the booze and or taste like an alco-pop, which my sister greatly appreciated. Still, it was sweet and fruity enough for me to enjoy the sips I had.

From the Large Sharables section of the menu, our server recommended the Meze Plate: Eggplant mutabal, muhammara, classic hummus, olives, feta, veggies, pita & grilled bread. This dish was so fresh, and the flavors so varied while remaining complementary. It was a perfect encapsulation of the Mediterranean deconstructed plate that serves as a choose-your-own-adventure.

Next was the Barrel Aged Feta & Tomatoes, which was made up of charred tomato vinaigrette, heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, and sesame bread. This aged feta salad was light and summery, letting the ingredients shine, especially the garden-fresh tomatoes, which were large but melted perfectly on a slice of sesame bread and in your mouth. We soaked the bread in the oil vinaigrette, as our server told us to, and it led to delightful bites combining the feta, tomato, and cucumber.

The next choice was also a rec from our server, and we stepped a bit out of our comfort zone—Grilled Octopus with potato, dry cured black olives, and toasted pumpkin seeds. We love fried calamari, but grilled seafood can sometimes miss the mark, becoming rubbery. Not so with this octopus. It was buttery and flavorful, plus easy to chew and delightful going down.

My sister's favorite dish was actually a side: Roasted Squash with pomegranate, goat cheese, za'atar, zhoug, and banyuls vinegar. This dish was citrusy, with rich flavors and fall vibes. My impression was a little tangy, but it had so many textures that one bite could taste like hummus, the next like pesto, and then you'd get a firm burst of a pomegranate seed or the soft shell of a squash. Sweet, acidic, tart, and bright, this dish is sticking around through the fall, so you can enjoy it all season long. We also ordered the Greek fries with feta, oregano, lemon zest, and feta pepper dipping sauce. This American-Greek comfort food might become a new staple in my own kitchen.

Time for entrées. We ordered the Pasta alla Norma: Casarecce, eggplant, tomato conserva, basil, and ricota salata. This perfectly al dente pasta was a little salty from the goat cheese, creamy, and emboldened by the cooked eggplant that provided a subtle, savory flavor. I’m currently trying to enter my eggplant era, so this pasta was the perfect next step in building my admiration for the hard-working vegetable.

Another step outside of my comfort zone, another rec from our server—the Braised Lamb Shank: Pork belly, farro, spinach, crema di pecorino, and bacon fat bread crumbs. Cooked tender, the dark meat was the star of this dish. But it also featured some delicious flavors from the pork belly bits, which blended into the creamy farro and cooked spinach at the base of the plate. Overall, this was super filling, but a delicious leftover if you're looking to make a lamb sandwich the next day.

Though we were obviously stuffed by this point, there is ALWAYS room for dessert. We went with our trusty server's recommended dishes, and got the dark chocolate cake and vanilla gelato. The inside strips of Nutella-level creamy chocolate icing paired perfectly with the moist, spongy cake. Plus, it worked beautifully with the delicious frozen addition from Illinois local Angelo Gelato.

For our second round of drinks, I went with a simple Sancerre, a French white wine that works well in the transition between summer and fall. My sister ordered her second cocktail of the evening to feature egg whites: The Gilded Laurel, though hers was technically ungilded, since the full version is a hefty $75. This cocktail is rarely ordered, so the restaurant’s kind manager, George, helped out and made ours (the $30 option). Its gilded version includes Nolet's reserve gin, Belle di Brillet, lemon, bay leaf, local honey simple, and whites. Our version (with a less rare gin) was just as stunning, glittering gold on a matching platter. "You can’t leave that girl out on the dance floor by herself," my sister assessed. And the flavor was just as scene-stealing—super effervescent and light, balancing perfectly between the lemon and honey flavors.