- Michael Gebert
- Nathan Sears and Paul Virant at Vie in 2010
It’s arguable which restaurant has been the city’s most influential over the past 25 years—Trotter’s, Alinea, Frontera, Blackbird—but there’s no doubt what restaurant has been most important for the suburbs for the past decade: Vie in Western Springs.
One time I interviewed Virant and made an offhand reference to him learning his stuff under Kahan. He gently reminded me (Virant is the nicest, most midwestern guy; the Jimmy Stewart of chefs) that it wasn’t so much a matter of Kahan being his master—they were both kids then, learning as they went. Virant had had a little experience in New York at Wayne Nish’s March, which he described to me in that interview for Grub Street: “I grew up in St. Louis, I probably didn’t have Chinese food until I was 16, and I’d be doing the Chinatown shopping for March—I lived in Brooklyn, so I’d come in on the train and hit Chinatown on my way to work and find all this amazing stuff.” He also worked for Jean Joho at Everest, which is the most classically French high-end restaurant in town, but also reflects a lot of rustic Alsatian traditions like pickling sauerkraut.
Vie will be celebrating its anniversary all next week with a special $80 five-course menu that features “greatest hits” including customer favorites, staff picks, and items from the opening menu. Western Springs is quite a drive from the city, for sure, but note that Metra stops a couple of blocks away; if your idea of a romantic getaway might involve taking the train to a quaint suburb for dinner and back, you can make reservations on Open Table or by calling 708-246-2082.
