RPM Steak (66 W. Kinzie St., 312-284-4990), the eagerly awaited restaurant by the Melman siblings, will make its debut with dinner service Tuesday.
As with RPM Italian, the monogram refers to Bill & Giuliana Rancic, Melman sibs R.J., Jerrod & Molly, and chef Doug Psaltis, who also oversees the kitchen work at corporate cousins Paris Club and Bub City.
So, chef Psaltis: Is there room in Chicago for yet another steakhouse?
The look is certainly more contemporary than other Chicago steakhouses. The sunken dining room is done in creamy leathers, mahogany paneling and dramatic white walls; deep leather booths will line the room’s perimeter. A 100-seat mezzanine (available for private functions) is literally above it all, giving guests there a bird’s-eye view of the dining room while being removed from much of the bustle.
The steak end of the menu includes the expected cuts, but the sourcing is far-ranging; there are USDA prime steaks, wagyu from Japan, grass-fed and bison steaks and “kind cuts” that include prime skirt steak, hanger steak and a short rib steak done topped with bone-marrow butter.
Seafood options include the expected oysters and chilled shellfish (there’s a grand seafood platter for $115), but the fish items show evidence of actual cooking — whole-grilled dorade with tomato vinaigrette, grilled Big Eye tuna with salsa verde, roasted salmon with tarragon aioli.
Desserts will include such classics as Baked Alaska, and at least three dessert souffles will be featured daily.
The owners brought out the big guns for the beverage program. The throwback cocktail list was devised by Paul McGee, and the wine list is the work of sommelier Richard Hanauer, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprise’s wine director, the Langham Hospitality Group’s beverage director and the man who once poured me Pabst Blue Ribbon from a can (keeping a straight face throughout) at L2O