With a name like Epic ( 112 W. Hubbard St.; epicrestaurantchicago.com ), I expected to be dazzled. However, while it was far from an "epic" fail, the food was good, not great.
My friend and I started with drinks from the specialty cocktail list. The Effen Avocado ( Effen Cucumber, avocado purée, lime, agave nectar ) was refreshing and sweet, but not cloyingly so. The Ginger ( Brugal Extra Dry, Pama, Domaine de Canton, cranberry, ginger beer ) had a mild ginger flavor. Both seemed appropriate for summer sipping.
For our first course, we tried the seared foie gras with buttermilk donuts holes, balsamic and strawberry-rhubarb jama dish that sounded intriguing, for sure. The preparation was small but pretty and the foie gras was expertly seared; however, the dish lacked balance. The foie gras overpowered the donuts, and some additional crunch was needed.
Next up was the large kale and mushroom salad ( perfect for splitting ), with manchego cheese, pork-belly croutons, radishes and white balsamic. The flavors worked well together and the salad was nicely dressed, but the true stars were the croutons, which were essentially small, crunchy bits of pork belly.
After that, we had three house-made pastas. Mostly out of curiosity, we ordered the generous half portion of the almond orchiette, a pasta made from almonds and served in a goat-cheese sauce with roasted cherries. Neither of us had heard of almond pasta before, and our opinions were split after tasting. To me, the pasta was too dense and tasted nothing like the nut; my friend liked the density and flavor more.
The mac-and-cheese side ( manchego, triple cream brie, goat cheese ) just didn't work, as it was a bit bland.
For his entrée, he ordered the parmesan gnocchi with Swiss chard, lamb sausage and fennel butter. He thought the flavors played off each other well but that the dish could use a bit more meat.
I ordered the daily catcha large, seared hunk of albacore tuna served with onion, squash, roasted tomatoes and tarragon butter. My friend found the dish to be too salty, but I thought everything was tasty, albeit a bit oily.
Each month, Epic donates its proceeds from a particular dessert to a charity. This month, it's mocha tres leches cake and The Michael J. Fox Foundation. This very moist cake was by far our favorite dish of the evening. In fact, the accompanying cocoa-nib biscotti wasn't needed.
If anything is epic about the place, it's the size. There's a bar/lounge downstairs, a dining room upstairs and rooftop seating. We sat in the dining room on the second floor. It's modern and trendy, with floor-to-ceiling windows, varying textural elements and metallic accents. The crowd mostly was young and professional, with a smattering of couples. It also helps to have a server as attentive as the one we had.