"North Pond, in the middle of Lincoln Park, is a special occasion restaurant that frequently gets overlooked—probably because Alinea absorbs the neighborhood attention. The benefit of this is that it’s fairly easy to snag a last-minute reservation if, say, you completely forgot about your parents’ wedding anniversary. The seasonal American food is always outstanding, and as a bonus, your mom won’t have to figure out how to eat a molecular-gastronomy balloon for dessert." - sam faye, adrian kane, john ringor, veda kilaru
