mk

Sea Bass Amuse Bouche

Since neither of us were going to be available to go out to dinner on Valentine's Day we decided that Monday the 13th would be our night of celebration.  We went to a restaurant in downtown Chicago called mk. It is located at 868 N Franklin and serves contemporary American food.  It's a fairly fancy (expensive) place and in fact we found out that back in April 2011 mk served as the location for a President Obama fundraiser that cost each guest $35,800.  So I guess you could say that we got a bargain in comparison.

Lobster Salad

As starters we ordered tuna tartare with celery root and olives and baby greens with lobster, shallots and a citrus vinaigrette.  Both dishes were light and crisp.  The citrus vinaigrette made lobster salad pop with flavor.  The tuna was finely shaved and paired well with the saltiness of the olives.

Tuna Tartare

Brussel Sprouts

Short Ribs

Venison

For entrees we ordered venison loin with grits, black trumpet mushrooms and juniper berry sauce and short ribs with root vegetables.  We also ordered Brussel sprouts with truffle butter as a side dish. The short ribs were very tender; they almost fell apart with a fork.  As a side note short ribs are quick becoming one of Natalie's favorite things to order. The venison was cooked to perfection - venison can easily be ruined by being overcooked and chewy. The grits and mushrooms really completed the dish. However we were disappointed by the Brussel sprouts.  The truffle butter flavor was great but the Brussel sprouts themselves were a bit woody tasting and undercooked.

You put the lime in the coconut

All of the desserts have really whimsical names so that makes them even more intriguing, plus they really are good. We ordered 2 desserts.  The first one was "Two bananas walk into a bar" which was a banana souffle cake, marshmallow, macadamia nuts, dark chocolate and malted banana ice cream.  The second one was "You put the lime in the coconut" which was coconut panna cotta, coconut and lime gelee, starfruit and passion fruit sorbet. Both of the desserts were enjoyable. The coconut dessert lived up to its name and was very exotic tasting. From its components we almost overlooked it but upon recommendation from the wait staff we decided to pick it and were impressed.  The gelee pearls were a fun texture in your mouth.  Also this dessert reignited our love of the starfruit. In the banana dessert, the banana souffle cake was moist but not too gooey. By getting a little bit of all of the components (cake, marshmallow, nuts, chocolate and ice cream), it made for a smooth sweet sugary bite.

Two bananas walk into a bar

We would definitely go back to mk just for desserts which you can (kind of like Hot Chocolate).  The food changes seasonally including the desserts.  There were desserts we saw on their menu back in the fall that sounded just as appealing.

Final thoughts on mk:
Food - really good fancy food, the only disappointment was the Brussel sprouts, for us the entire meal would only be for special occasions. But the desserts were amazing as well and we might think about coming back just to their lounge to get dessert.
Service - very attentive, water glasses were always full.  The wait staff was helpful in describing all of the components of the dish when it was served.

Atmosphere - From the top down the architecture was stunning, There was a pyramid skylight that ran the length of the building with arching support beams. There is seating on multiple levels with clean lines and exposed brick walls. There is a lounge in front for drinks and desserts. Although it is a fancier restaurant, there were people in all types of attire, but we'd recommend business casual.