The Wine Huntress and Keefer's

Tweet this!

Two years ago, my husband and I introduced our parents to one another at Keefer's. It's a delicious steakhouse in Chicago that somehow always manages to squeeze us in, even with short notice. When my girlfriend and I started talking about setting up a steak and wine night with our better halves, we quickly came to the conclusion that Keefers was the place to be.

My husband and I were looking forward to it all day. When you've had their amazing filet mignon, you salivate just knowing another meal there is on the horizon. So, I put on this knit dress I received for Christmas from my Mother In Law and some tights. It may be cold in Chicago, but I'm definitely not letting it steal my style.

Sidenote: I desperately need to clean my mirror.

We hopped in a cab and headed over to my girlfriend's loft in River North. We were eager  beavers, so we were early and chilled out a while in the lobby. Also, I accidentally texted my mom letting her know we were "here" instead of my girlfriend. So, that happened...

My girlfriend and her husband are members at a wine club in River North called The Wine Huntress. You have to be a member (or with a member) to get in, and then you use a wine tasting card to try a number of different wines via a futuristic looking wine vending machine.

The owner sets out some olive oils, dips, and breads for you to sample as you taste. She also guides you through a progression of wines, including the order in which to sample them.

The four of us were the only people in the wine club, so we had the place to ourselves and definitely took advantage of it. We spent about an hour enjoying the wines and reading the lengthy wine write-ups on each bottle.

It took us a while to nail down what we wanted, but we ended up choosing two bottles of red wine and taking them with us.

Wine bottles in hand, we left The Wine Huntress and walked over to Keefer's. We were seated immediately in the side room, near the fireplace. The first order of business was corking the wine.

Note: Keefer's is not a BYOB restaurant (far from it). But, because of the decent member prices at Wine Huntress, we had no problem paying the corkage fee. Basically, we paid about the same amount for an amazing, truly high quality bottle of wine that we would have paid for the bottom of the line bottles on the wine menu at the restaurant.

We all ordered the filet mignon for dinner, in addition to some shared appetizers and desserts. As usual, the filet mignon was a complete success. 

My husband had ordered a peppercorn glaze to accompany his filet. I typically don't like to add anything to a filet mignon, because I think that, when cooked right, there is nothing needed. But, my husband raved about the peppercorn, so I tried it. He was right. Delicious.

After Keefer's, we couldn't let the night end, so we stopped into The Grid. I wish I had taken a few more pictures of the decor in this bar. 

(Image Courtesy of The Grid)

It is decorated like a super contemporary loft, and had floating Star Wars-like fireplaces set up in the middle of seating areas.

After another drink or two, we finally decided to call it a night and head home. 

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

• Do you have a favorite steakhouse in your town? Our favorites here in Chicago are Keefer's and Bavette's Bar and Boeuf.
• Do you enjoy wine tastings? Know of any good ones we should try? I am a big fan of wine tastings, because I feel like I learn more about what I like every time I am able to sample various wines side by side.