There are certain fine-dining establishments you walk into where you just know: The weight is off my shoulders. For the next three hours and nine courses, I can sit back, relax, and experience a culinary adventure, a marvel of modern hospitality ..
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The Bear in River North is not that fine-dining establishment. Oh, there are marvels, to be sure: the food, for one, which we will get to; plus, a menu that changes daily; a fresh flower budget to rival that of a Kardashian’s home; and the palpable scent of generational trauma that the aforementioned flowers can’t quite drown out (and, dare I say, the occasional whiff of cig smoke as well?). No, effortless is not the vibe at The Bear.
It’s more like ...
a rock concert where everyone in the band is really mad at one another, but also really loyal to one another; they’re all experiencing some invisible, looming force that’s getting closer and closer; and the encore song/dessert course just might kill them. Yes, The Bear is the Rumours Tour of fine dining! (If you liked that timely joke, feel free to give this review an upvote and follow my food Instagram, @YouCantSpellMichelinWithoutChicago.) As a local Yelp Elite Squad member for more than eight years, I’ve dined at Ever, Alinea, Oriole, and less starred but just as fine restaurants many tim.
