Lobster Roll and Chardonnay at Legal Seafood Chicago
Highlights of a Day in the City …
Yes,
Legal Seafood in CHICAGO … that
Boston institution opened in Chicago a year ago in the iconic landmark Marina City Complex, overlooking the Chicago River, above the marina boat slips, right next to Smith & Wollensky (another east coast restaurant institution, from NYC).
Notably, we blogged in these pages about dining at Smith & Wollensky on another day such as this, during a day trip that also included the Art Institute - Chicago Experience - Museums, Architecture and Smith Wollensky Riverside Lunch.
Just like in that previous post, we spent the day in the City (Chicago) touring the Art Institute of Chicago and the current exhibit of Impressionist artist Gustave Caillebotte. Caillebotte is most known for his monumental painting Paris Street; Rainy Day. This iconic painting is one of the standards of the AIC collection, one of the best in the world and consistently ranked one of the top museums in the world. Highlights of the classic collection are featured in the Art Institute Essentials Tour which is available in this on-line virtual tour.
We’ve been premium members of the Art Institute for decades and regularly tour each exhibit, taking advantage of one of Chicago’s greatest assets. Moreover, Linda and daughter Erin (Teacher of Art and Art History, who ironically toured the exhibit today separately with friends), visit the Art Institute many times during the year, beyond just the special exhibitions.
A typical outing in our beloved Chicago, we took advantage of the many assets of our City - transportation, museums, architectural landmarks, and restaurants.
We took the Metra train into the city, convenient, comfortable, economical, then connected with the Water Taxi, from Union Station to Michigan Avenue. We love it that the Chicago River boat tours have become such an attraction (I counted more than a dozen such boats on the river this day) - especially the architectural boat tours that give backgrounds and insights into more than twenty-five magnificent and historic architectural landmarks of the cityscape. (As a docent interpreter of other Chicago architecture tours, I know several of the docent interpreters and how much is required of them to be certified to give these tours!)
Even though we’ve done it dozens of times, (I used to take the Water Taxi daily as part of my commute to work - from the train to Michigan Avenue), the Chicago River boat tours never get old. Riding the Water Taxi on the Chicago River, we boarded at Union Station, below my former office (shown).
And, we saw today for the first time from the riverside, the completed Wolf Point and the recently completed SalesForce Tower, (where son Alec works), and the recently finished Bank of America Tower (shown below, at night, from across the river).
We also discovered a new restaurant, new to Chicago - Legal Seafood, from Boston, located in the Marina City complex overlooking the river.
While it’s been here for a year, we just discovered Legal Seafood in Chicago and made plans to lunch there later in the day.
The Caillebotte exhibit was spectacular, as are all AIC special exhibitions. The exhibition, initially opened at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris in October 2024, included more than 120 works including paintings, works on paper, photographs, and other artifacts covering Caillebotte’s career. In addition to recognizable works like the Art Institute’s Paris Street; Rainy Day, the show presents lesser-known but pivotal works like the Musée d’Orsay’s recent acquisition, Boating Party, and the Louvre Abu-Dhabi’s The Bezique Game, as well as many works from private collections that are rarely seen by American audiences.
A centerpiece of the exhibit was Paris Street: Rainy Day, Linda’s favorite painting.
One of the highlights for me was the map of Paris, showing the location of several of the Caillebotte paintings featured in the exhibit. This pinpointed several sites in Paris and brought back many memories of visits to one of our other favorite cities, walking the same streets and neighborhoods of Caillebotte.
As mentioned, we lunched at Legal Seafood, alfresco, overlooking the river, and naturally had their lunch special featuring their famous Lobster Rolls, served with choice of Boston Clam Chowder, or Shrimp and Corn Bisque (shown).
With lunch, we each ordered from the limited but fundamental winelist two familiar and favorite Sonoma Chardonnays WBTG - Wine By The Glass.
Linda tasted the Sonoma Cutrer ‘RRR” (Russian River Valley) Chardonnay 2023
Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay 2023
From the basic fundamental wine list, we ordered this standard pleasant drinking Chardonnay. Sonoma Cutrer are consistently recognized for good value Chardonnay.
This was ideal for pleasant easy sipping pairing with our fresh seafood.
Wine Spectator-California - Sonoma County - "Appealing for its seamlessness and texture, this white is creamy and supple, with lemon meringue pie, shortbread and peach notes at the core on an elegant frame. Accents of lemon zest and wildflower honey linger on the finish..."
For my wine accompaniment I had the Jordan Sonoma County Chardonnay 2021
Like Linda’s wine accompaniment selection, this wine has also been featured recently in these pages as part of another restaurant dining experience - Parmesan Crusted Grouper and Jordan Chardonnay at Fat Clemenza’s Miramar Beach.
Jordan Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2021
This is an iconic well known brand known for Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, crafted in a European style that allows them to pair well with a broad range of foods. Jordan’s winemaking focuses on the ‘wine's fruit and acidity rather than alcohol and tannin, and achieving elegance and balance in the bottle
Founders Tom and Sally Jordan acquired the 1200 acre property in Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley, and established Jordan Vineyard & Winery in 1972, inspired by the great wine estates of France.
They enlisted the legendary André Tchelistcheff, as consulting enologist, and he was instrumental in establishing Jordan’s Francophile style of winemaking becoming one of the best wineries and brands in Sonoma County, with the help of winemaker Rob Davis. Davis guided Jordan winemaking from the inaugural 1976 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon and inaugural 1979 Jordan Chardonnay achieving the remarkable quality and consistency of Jordan wines for more than four decades until his retirement in 2019.
On the 1,200 property they planted Jordan Estate with roughly 120 acres of a dozen small vineyard blocks of grapevines, 16 acres with four parcels of olive trees, a two-acre chef’s garden as well as, their home and a second lake. Unique amongst Healdsburg wineries, they left more than three-quarters of the scenic estate, roughly 900, preserved as natural habitat with open spaces, craggy oak trees and lakes providing habitat for geese, rabbits, turkeys and coyotes.
Winemaker Maggie Kruse took over for Rich Davis and produced this classic California Chardonnay in 2021, sourced from cooler vineyard sites in the western Russian River Valley. The wine spent half of its life in stainless steel, and was aged 5.5 months in 100% new French oak. Winemaker Notes - “One of the most balanced Jordan Chardonnays to date. Flavors of juicy citrus, Asian pear and lemon peel balance seamlessly with the subtle French oak notes. The cooler-climate vineyard sourcing this year brings even more lively acidity and purity of fruit on the palate—making this vintage especially food-friendly and cellar-worthy.”
J'nai Gaither of Decanter gave this release 93 points.
Pale golden straw colored medium bodied, rich but nicely balanced full round ripe fruit notes of pear, Meyer lemon and apple with flinty spice notes and hints of vanilla accentuating the vibrant acidity masking the French oak on the lively finish.
RM 91 points.
