At first glance, Brasserie Jo looks charmingly Parisian, from the hard-boiled eggs set up in their funny stands at the bar to the little pots of mustard on the tables. But after you take off your coat and before your first aperitif that eerie Lettuce Entertain You feeling sets in.
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Ice water will be served upon request: There’s this ridiculous routine the waiters go through with each customer, pretending tap water is foreign to the tables of Chicago. I doubt it sells Evian, but it does strike a pretentious note mercifully avoided elsewhere.
Smoked salmon, crispy potato: Hills of fine, thinly sliced, smoked salmon rolling over a mountain of shoestring fries, accompanied by a small cloud of whipped horseradish. While the fish is delicious, the dish seems a tad out of water here. With a few toasted bagels, it would make an excellent breakfast for four.
House salad: Startlingly tart.
For dessert we tried the fabulously creamy lemon sorbet with vodka, the overly moussy and insufficiently chocolate chocolate mousse and the unusual but satisfying ice-cream fruitcake billed as kougelhof. Also profiteroles, which were pretty good. The best part is the chocolate sauce waiters pour (liberally, if you whine a little) from big yellow drippy pitchers. I’m a sucker for good props.
