We’ve been tag-teamed and Sinatra-ed to death. The novelty of the raw meat cart — displaying the restaurant’s featured “cuts” — has worn off.
With slabs of seared beef in close proximity to Milwaukee Street’s Restaurant Row, carnevor had to do something different — because, you know, not much seems unique anymore among the Downtown steakhouses. It’s time for something new. Carnevor’s “something” is a tony interior conceived by the aptly named Chicago firm Slick Design, along with a multiperson style of waiting tables called “swarm service,” music culled from varied pop/rock eras (I recall hearing Journey and George Michael) and a bevy of U.S.D.A. Prime steaks, including posh Kobe beef (an 8-ounce Kobe filet, priced daily, was $75).
The steak joint’s parents are three individually successful partners who all have connections to other Milwaukee Street restaurants: Omar Shaikh (Sake Tumi), Tom Wackman (Eve) and Dimitri Dimitropoulos (who has had ties to Kenadee’s and Tangerine). Marc Bianchini, co-owner of Cubanitas, is the consulting chef. -Shaikh is the on-site guy, the owner who says he makes a point of stopping at every table.
Carnevor’s long but narrow, tri-level interior is about materials (wood, opaque glass) and light. It has an urban, hip design that makes tree branches look chic — a feat in itself.
The menu isn’t a standard steak-and-baked-potato creation. But it fills all of the beef bases. Appetizers are some you’d expect (crab cakes, onion strings) and some you wouldn’t (mac and cheese, deep-fried rock shrimp). The mac, smothered in three super-creamy cheeses (sharp Maytag blue, milder pecorino and mellow goat) and subtly enhanced with cinnamon and nutmeg is a fun dish to share ($9). So are the popcorn pebbles of firm rock shrimp, deliciously sweet with the chili dipping sauce. The crab cake is a single golden chunky cake of shellfish ($13), and tuna citrus, a pile of buttery, lemony minced sashimi-grade fish, feels like the first mark of spring ($11).
Thick and rich are important attributes for a bisque. The menu’s lobster bisque has them. What’s more, its smooth, balanced flavor deserves slow, savored consumption ($9). Salads like the underwhelming Maine lobster and avocado ($19) are eclipsed by the menu’s overall decadence. Steaks are certainly the crucial part of this menu, and what productions they are. The voluptuous filet — 8 and 12 ounces, $29 and $39 — was commanding under a glaze of roasted shallot wine.
But I’m a marbled, bone-in beef -woman, so the moment of truth in a steakhouse comes with the rib eye. Carnevor’s 20-ouncer has singed exterior areas of gorgeous fat and juices that envelop the whole beast ($35). If you’re a blue cheese lover, by all means ask for a blue topping. The 18-ounce Kansas City strip is also a fine, flavorful steak ($35), juicy and tender enough that it doesn’t really need a separate topping, which is fine because the -béarnaise sauce, oddly, had the consistency of -butter. The huge bone-in pork chop -tasted like apple-smoked bacon, but it was dry; in this case, 16 ounces of chop was far more than enough ($21). A simple grilled salmon steeped in its own juices ($17) and pan-seared scallops ($21) — a little jiggly inside and tan on top — are succulent nonmeat choices.
Entrée plates look a bit empty when they arrive because they include only the protein. The best remedies for the loneliness are the dense truffle mashed potatoes and gossamer layers of potato leek gratin ($9 and $7).
There’s serious fun to be had with dessert. Mini doughnuts (too doughy inside) and a trio of floats (root beer to Dreamsicle) are cool ideas, but in the end, I’m a sucker for the fudgy flourless chocolate torte infused with raspberry liqueur ($6).
Now, my caveat. The staff puts emphasis to spare on service. My suggestion is to back off a bit. If you read this column, you know I’m not a fan of having my napkin placed on my lap for me. The “swarm service” they use here is, honestly, suffocating. It felt like a server was at my table almost -constantly, replacing a napkin or topping off a water glass. I’d prefer more subtlety, please.
Still, I can’t think of a better location for a new-brand steakhouse, created by a “Fab Four” of sorts. It’s fascinating to watch, as I dab the corners of my mouth with — ach! — another fresh napkin.
Carnevor
724 N. Milwaukee St.
223-2200
Hours: Mon-Wed 5-10 p.m.; Thurs-Sat 5-11 p.m.
Prices: small plates $9-$13; shared plates $7-$75; soups and salads $7-$19; entrées $17-$39; sides $5-$9; desserts $5-$10
Service: overdone
Dress: stylish
Handicap access: Consult manager ahead of time
Nonsmoking section: yes
Credit cards: M V A
Reservations: recommended
