Reviews: The MCA’s New Restaurant Earns 4/5 Stars

The Museum of Contemporary Art has a shining new centerpiece in Marisol, where the “oft-changing, inventive menu befits its locale.” The culinary minds behind Lula Cafe, who have championed Chicago’s farm-to-table movement, are running the show and they “approach ingredients, technique and presentation with a similar artistic sensibility.” A chilled octopus appetizer features “addictive morsels” of “silky and tender” tentacles atop caper aioli and lemon oil. Winter squash with ‘nduja vinaigrette is another winner that’s “sweet, heady” while a “cloud-like” pear semifreddo provides a lovely end to the meal. The “funky” low-proof cocktail list is also “palate-tickling and soft enough to complement” the food with options like the “clean and harmonious” Found in Photo. [Time Out]

Porter Kitchen & Deck “isn’t worth a lot of cold-weather walking,” writes Graham Meyer. The lunch menu ranges from “good to mildly disappointing.” First, the positives: A smoked salmon board offers fish that’s “drier, smokier and more opaque than lox,” and the lobster roll really homes “in on the seafood flavor.” Conversely, steak frites lack butter or sauces to Meyer’s dismay; “pedestrian” ranch dressing “dominates” the chicken Cobb salad; and a fried chicken sandwich does nothing to “rise above regularity.” In the end, “the thing Porter has going for it most is [its] location” along the river. [Crain’s]