TonyC wrote:let me get this right. photos are allowed, but cell phones (convos?) aren't? Can I text? I mean, if I can't Live Tweet that meal I'm gonna die.

Don't worry about having a cell phone conversation while at Schwa. The place is so loud that you'll barely be able to hear the person you're sharing a table with, let alone someone on the phone.

mhill95149 wrote:

TonyC wrote:

mhill95149 wrote:Heading to Schwa on Wednesday night (hopefully) photos to follow!
(Update)
Oops! left the compact flash card at home!
so no photos

let me get this right. photos are allowed, but cell phones (convos?) aren't? Can I text? I mean, if I can't Live Tweet that meal I'm gonna die.

not sure but I forgot a memory card... no photos
meal was OK but the guys I was with (who had been there more than once) said that the kitchen was "not hitting on all cylinders"

Maybe they were missing a few cylinders because they shot (zing!) this Malort-fueled segment earlier that day?
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/ke ... id=4154501

I like the way that she used a light editing hand with Chef's part of the dialogue.

Anyone know what's going on with Schwa right now? Was bumped from my late August reservation and told to call back 8/1 for a September reservation. Each time I got through in August, they said they weren't ready to take September reservations yet. Starting at least yesterday afternoon, the number is "temporarily disconnected."

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Anyone know what's going on with Schwa right now? Was bumped from my late August reservation and told to call back 8/1 for a September reservation. Each time I got through in August, they said they weren't ready to take September reservations yet. Starting at least yesterday afternoon, the number is "temporarily disconnected."

Sounds like a "plumbing" issue (see above)

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Anyone know what's going on with Schwa right now? Was bumped from my late August reservation and told to call back 8/1 for a September reservation. Each time I got through in August, they said they weren't ready to take September reservations yet. Starting at least yesterday afternoon, the number is "temporarily disconnected."

I suspect the phone will be back in service shortly. "Hopefully"

Ha, I love the idea of Schwa's phone being out. As if it couldn't get any more difficult to get a reservation, let alone guarantee a reservation. If I didn't believe in these guys I'd say they did it on purpose!

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Starting at least yesterday afternoon, the number is "temporarily disconnected."

Sounds like they did a last minute cancelation on someone who works for the phone company.

Rumors are that Schwa may close, and Carlson is looking to move on to California

gocubs88 wrote:Rumors are that Schwa may close, and Carlson is looking to move on to California

GrubStreet had an update about this saying Schwa will not close.

We were just told by Schwa's PR that claims that Carlson was in Los Angeles recently are not true, and that the restaurant is not closing.

http://chicago.grubstreet.com/2011/08/s ... ubstreetch

GrubStreet had an update about this saying Schwa will not close.
Quote:
We were just told by Schwa's PR that claims that Carlson was in Los Angeles recently are not true, and that the restaurant is not closing.

Why am I suddenly reminded of Gary Barnett?

Schwa has PR?

riddlemay wrote:Schwa has PR?

Yes. BIZ 3

riddlemay wrote:Schwa has PR?

Exactly my first reaction!

riddlemay wrote:Schwa has PR?

Who do you think the plumber and Patton Oswald's assistant call when they want a reservation?

Darren72 wrote:

riddlemay wrote:Schwa has PR?

Exactly my first reaction!

Willing to bet Carlson would be the first to admit PR is not his strong point.

robert40 wrote:

Darren72 wrote:

riddlemay wrote:Schwa has PR?

Exactly my first reaction!

Willing to bet Carlson would be the first to admit PR is not his strong point.

Really? He's got no marketing, no advertising, isn't paying cuts to Groupon or OpenTable, has virtually invisible signage, and yet everyone is talking about him and he has more business than he wants. Sounds like a PR machine to me.

-Dan

robert40 wrote:

Darren72 wrote:

riddlemay wrote:Schwa has PR?

Exactly my first reaction!

Willing to bet Carlson would be the first to admit PR is not his strong point.

That isn't what I was reacting to. I was surprised he'd even bother with a PR firm, regardless of whether its his strong point. Moreover, I can't think of many restaurants that have worse public relations.

Really? He's got no marketing, no advertising, isn't paying cuts to Groupon or OpenTable, has virtually invisible signage, and yet everyone is talking about him and he has more business than he wants. Sounds like a PR machine to me.

-Dan

I understand your point but I'm not convinced this was some master business concept from jump street. I think sometimes though vary rarely the stars align and the cards fall perfectly. Much like the day David Chang decided to $#@% vegetarians and NY stopped to take notice. For many restaurants it would have spelled doom with his bad boy attitude. In the case of Schwa, I think his genius is his behind the stove. And sometimes you can just pull the handle and get lucky.

So I just got through to Schwa and got reservations for a Saturday in June (my birthday!). Anybody been lately? Sounds like maybe they were closed at the end of 2011, but hopefully they're back to "normal" now.

I've been twice before, but it's been a couple of years.

I was there a couple of months ago, and it was awesome, even if the staff played up the "bad boy" joke to the point of kitsch:

"This dish was inspired by our two favorite things, hookers and cocaine!"

"What looks like powdered sugar is actually cocaine!'

Etc.

I ate at Schwa two nights before christmas 2011 and had the best meal of my life. Going back next friday and can't wait. Here's the dishes we had five months ago (probably out of order):

-red hook 'manhattan' amuse
-crab salad with avocado, guava puree, pink peppercorns
-potato soup with garnishes of fried potato skin, scallion oil, bacon, cold melted cheddar (Wendy's baked potato bar course)
-quail egg raviolio
-"fruit loops" course. i don't even know how to describe this. it tasted like fruit loops (the sugary breakfast cereal), yet was somehow savory. part of it involved cured salmon roe in a passion fruit gelee. opposite that was a key lime fritter, and between was a piece of papaya on the plate that had been pickled with jalapenos and tasted amazing, and i loathe papaya.
-lukewarm salmon in pink lemonade with black truffles and grapefruit. they told us the lemonade was made with sumac in the traditional native american way.
-rabbit with strawberries and bruleed bread pudding. when this was served they poured hot water over mint leaves scattered around the bottom of a second bowl. carlson told us this was the last time the dish would ever be served as he was permanently retiring it; a pity as it was one of the best rabbit dishes i've ever had. I know it's probably anathema to his whole personality but I wish this man would release a cookbook. He's probably forgotten more great dishes than most people could ever hope to conceive in a lifetime.
-chef carlson brought to our table a dish he said he was working on.... a piece of seared foie gras topped with a cocoa nib and brioche brittle, accompanied by a curried mango puree and pickled clementine rind. this was the greatest bite i've ever tasted; i get goosebumps just typing the description. I pray this has made it's way onto the menu, he seemed shocked by how much we enjoyed it.
-pretzel gougere stuffed with chimay cheese.
-lamb leg and tenderloin with pickled blueberries, blueberry sauce, and cashew puree. absolutely sensational.
-tumeric ice cream on top of date puree with mustard caramel. incredible. when i went to the bathroom after this course they were plating more of these and popped another one in my mouth
-the dessert was a deconstruction of Dr. Pepper flavors, served with a can of the soda to drink (prob the weakest of the evening but our minds were already sufficiently blown at this point so it didn't matter)

I'll be there again May 18th and will report back, hopefully with pictures this time if it's not too dark.

xlrbnc wrote:I ate at Schwa two nights before christmas 2011 and had the best meal of my life. Going back next friday and can't wait. Here's the dishes we had five months ago (probably out of order):

Sounds like it was a fantastic meal. Thanks for the post!

Over the past decade, I've managed to hit just about all of Chicago's top restaurants (with Charlie Trotter's as the only exception)...but my one meal at Schwa was the only one I can recall where I actually had fun. The food was excellent, the service was great, the atmosphere was intimate & casual, yadda yadda, but the fact that we also had a blast makes it stand out in my memory.

I think I need to start working the phone to line up a second visit.

Ok, I've read through the entire thread, and while somewhat discomfited by some of the stories, I'm not really inclined to believe in conspiracy theories. That said, I've been having a devil of a time trying to book reservations in July. I've been calling since early May, and on those rare occasions that someone even answers the phone, the answer has always been "try again next week, we're not taking July reservations yet". By my estimate, someone answers about 20% of the time (not including today, when I called eleven times from three different phones) - am I missing something? Are their phones just that busy that I'm just not getting through? Is there a certain hour that I'm most likely to get through? I'm trying rather desperately to fling money at them, and seem to be failing. There seems to be a lot of contradictory answers interspersed throughout the thread.

ETA: Never mind, found the link to the other reservations thread. Don't mind me. It was like that when I got here. Look! A bird!!!

Wife and I went for the first time last night. Had a lot of fun. Reservation system was odd and took a fair amount of work. Their phones are that busy and that understaffed. Call daily when they're open around noon. If it rings and rings hang up. If you get the machine after it rings, hang up. If the mailbox is full, hang up. If your call goes to the machine immediately, keep calling. Someone might be on the other line. After trying for 3 or 4 days I got a guy about 2 weeks ago, told him what I was looking for (2 top any of June 19-21) and he said they were really tight that week but if I leave my number they'll do their best and that he felt really good something would work out for me. They called me yesterday and said I could come in whenever I wanted last night. So that is obviously weird, but the chaos is part of the experience. And it's not for everyone.

Food was all great and the atmosphere is totally fun. Music will be loud, they played a ton of hip hop (friends who have gone recently have said the same) but a 6 song Misfits block was rad.

We've lived literally around the corner from Schwa since 2006, but we have only tried to book reservations fairly recently.

I had been trying to get a reservation for months - I would always get the "mailbox is full" message. Following some advice I received, I finally got through on a Wednesday in April at 2:00 p.m. or so. I booked a four-top for a Wednesday, May 23rd. The restaurant called me the day before and said that they would be closed - no explanation was given - but I was able to book a new reservation for Thursday, June 7th.

Our meal was fabulous - especially the quail preparation, the raviolio, and the halibut. Service was terrific and very friendly - our dining companions were late because of traffic but it was no big deal. Our server told us to check back in six months when the menu will change. We'll be back.

60654 wrote:Music will be loud, they played a ton of hip hop (friends who have gone recently have said the same) but a 6 song Misfits block was rad.

So you have to sit through tons of shitty hip hop and get about 9 minutes of killer hard core punk?!?! The food better be fuckin good for my ears to put up with that!!!!

He didn't say it was shitty hip hop. Maybe it was Tribe!

So you have to sit through tons of shitty hip hop and get about 9 minutes of killer hard core punk?!?! The food better be fuckin good for my ears to put up with that!!!!

Exactly. As much as I want to, this is why I won't eat at Schwa.

I also regret that I may never see Patton Oswalt.

I'm sure they won't miss me.

I ate at Schwa last week, and here's my recollection of some of the songs they played:

Michael Jackson - Beat It, Thriller, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
Notorious B.I.G - Juicy and a couple other tracks
Ludacris - A couple of tracks
Electric Six - Danger! High Voltage!
edit: El-P - A few tracks

Overall, no "shitty hip hop" and quite an eclectic mix and a surprisingly tiny amount of metal that night.