Photo Credit: Tia Brindel
ARIA, a restaurant on the second floor of St Kate—The Art Hotel is a place to meet friends, unwind or have a celebration while enjoying the urban vibes of art and culture. The dining room is sleek and modern, yet relaxed and comfortable. The warm wood and lighting, eye catching art on the walls and the cookbooks that line the shelves give you the feel of relaxing in your favorite comfortable chair while the aroma of dinner is on the stove—but turn your head and look out the window and you get that night on the town glam.
The menu has deep European roots combined with local ingredients and classic preparations that are as inspiring as the art that hang on the walls.
ARIA’s artisanal American cuisine has a lovely assortment of vegetarian and gluten free options, salads and the chef’s first childhood recipe, Verne’s Chicken & Dumplings ($7). The baked goat cheese ($13) with tomato jam and grilled bread is tangy, yet sweet with warm creaminess from the cheese and crunch from the bread. The mussels ($17) with a tomato and white wine broth and hint of fennel is enough for an entrée with the grilled bread slathered with an aioli.
The iceberg slab ($13) has a root beer braised bacon and Hook’s blue cheese, sprinkled with fried garlic or the beet and burrata ($14) with earthy, cubed beets, burrata and arugula dressed with a lemon oil and sprinkled with almond. Both salads are riffs on notable classics and highly recommended.
Entrees that Shine
Photo Credit: Tia Brindel
The entrees are where ARIA really shines; the variety of ingredients, preparation and plating all done thoughtfully and simply, but with elegance and refinement. These entrees needed no gimmick, just good solid food with classic preparations.
The grilled heritage reserve flat iron steak ($37) is tender, beefy and served at the perfect temperature requested. It’s juxtaposed with a thyme infused potato pavé, their thin layers of compressed potatoes are a wonderful accompaniment, although the thyme was almost too subtle, but not missed because of the herbaceous chimichurri on top of the steak.
The ARIA Broast-ish Chicken ($26) had me singing like a soprano in a Verdi opera. It’s a generous entrée of breast, thigh and drum—herb brined, roasted and then flash fried for the crispiest exterior and a juicy, flavorful interior. It’s served with crispy potato wedges and blistered green beans.
The salmon salsa verde is prepared exquisitely ($34) with charred oranges and pistachios over a bulgur wheat salad. The salsa verde is very interesting (it includes trace amounts of clams).
Weekends are a Treat
Sea bass with sunchokes and purple potato hash ($38) and even a classic Big Boy burger ($16) are also on the menu. The weekends are a real treat at ARIA with a featured Long Bone short rib “pastrami style” on Friday and Saturday and a Pilsner battered Walleye fish fry ($27) on Friday night. We were so happy not to miss either of these stellar dishes on our second visit.
To finish off the evening there are three desserts ($8) or you can get the flight of all three for ($22). The dark chocolate cremeux consists of velvety chocolate topped with maple fudge, a touch of sea salt and pistachio ice cream. The strawberry rhubarb tart is sweet and topped with Chantilly cream. Rounding out the dessert menu is the creative bacon and root beer pots de crème, root beer and bacon silky caramel topped with Amarena cherries and sugared almonds.
ARIA is adjacent to the posh champagne bar called Giggly, whose libations can be ordered while dining at the restaurant including cocktails such as the Oak Aged Manhattan, the champagne based Sparkling Cosmo or the Je Ne Sais Quoi made with a northern rye, Hennessey V.S.O.P., Antica, Benedictine and Four Corners bitters ($13-$16). Giggly’s wines are offered by the glass or bottle including Veuve Clicquot Brut and a nice selection of bottled beers including some local brews.
The service at Aria (and Giggly) was outstanding on both visits and took our whole dining experience to exceptional.
ARIA 139 E. Kilbourn Ave. Open Tuesday through Saturday 5 p.m.-9 p.m. 414-270-4422 Handicap Accessible: yes $$$
