It takes something special for a chef and/or restaurant to impress me, much less write about it. Some may call me a food snob and ya know what? I probably am. Last weekend we celebrated our anniversary with a date night at GT Fish & Oyster and Chef Giuseppe Tentori blew my mind.
Why it has taken us a year to dine at one of 
After the hubs secured our reservation, I started trolling the world wide web for reviews, menu recommendations, tips and tricks for being in the know before we stepped foot into what is currently known as Chicago’s modern seafood eatery.
Our date night begins with a a traditional cocktail at the bar and tonight (as I imagine every Saturday night) GT Fish & Oyster Bar is a rockin’. The cocktail menu offers signature libations with enticing names like Half Baked, Old Money, GT Manhattan and my selection The Waitlist (Grey Goose Vodka, St. Germain, Grapefruit, Lime and Bitters). It was difficult to partake of only one.
After being seated, we were excited to select a 2009 Joseph Phelps Cab that we served at our wedding, a treat considering hubs rarely drinks wine. GT Fish & Oyster’s menu is simple but straight forward, consisting of tapas style seafood dishes meant to share. A petite “No Fish” section (as in 3 items) presents itself discreetly at the bottom of the menu looks tempting, but who wants meat at a seafood restaurant? Not moi!
I’m an adventurous eater so of course this Florida girl started with a half dozen of the East and West Coast raw oysters. Hubs ordered the PEI Mussels with roasted tomatoes, basil, served with ciabatta bread. When I say to you these were the most outstanding (not to mention the largest portion) mussels we’ve ever had, I mean it.
Chef surprised us with melt in your mouth sage gnocchi topped with fried sage. How have I never had fried sage before? Genius!
Although we were completely satisfied, we couldn’t resist trying the Fish and Chips – beer battered cod served with steak fries, malt vinegar and dill pickle remoulade. Again, delicious and better than any fish & chips we had during our trip to London.
Our evening concluded with not one, but two desserts (2nd compliments of Chef Giuseppe). I’m still dreaming of the salted caramel tart and can’t wait to go back for another.
The evening concluded with a champagne toast, thanks to my sweet friend (and sassy blogger) Renee who stopped by with her husband to wish us a happy anniversary. Gotta love the power of social media! Also on a date night, they surprised us after seeing my check in on Four Square. So grateful for such good friends!
Thanks to my hubs for selecting GT Fish & Oyster and to Chef Giuseppe Tentori and the team for taking such great care of us on our special night.
Connect with @giuseppetentori.
