ML - Michigan Avenue

PHOTOGRAPHY BY NEIL BURGER (PUDDING, SALMON, DINING TABLE); JASON LITTLE (DRINK, INTERIOR) CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Sophie's elegantly minimalist dining room; king salmon with cumin-scented heirloom carrots and carrot-mascarpone sauce; the restaurant offers freshly made cocktails such as a rhubarb-basil gimlet with gin from CH Distillery. A SWEET ENDING Chef Ron Aleman's decadent coconut bread pudding has become Sophie's go-to dessert, but the concept wasn't a slam dunk from the start. "We made a very simple bread pudding, but we weren't sure if it would sell," says Aleman. "Then we decided to add coconut, and that was all she wrote." BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE The six window tables looking out onto Michigan Avenue draw the most requests, but for those in the know (like Saks doyenne Nena Ivon), the true power seats are at the corner table along the wall near the kitchen. Insists Ivon, "It's perfect for a tête-à-tête or by oneself—and a discreet people-watching post!" and sandwiches while sipping the signature martini with lav- ender and grapefruit bitters. "It's a long-overdue, wonderful addition," says the ever-stylish Nena Ivon, president of the Costume Council at the Chicago History Museum and no stranger to Saks herself (before retiring in 2009, Ivon was the com- pany's longest-tenured employee at 53 years). "It's a wonderful place to relax while shopping or just stopping by." With its location adjacent to the f lagship's new Fifth Avenue Man shop, the long, recycled-glass bar also makes an inviting beacon for power players like Johnson Publishing Company CEO and Choose Chicago board chair Desirée Rogers, former White House staffer and current motivational speaker Laura Schwartz, and even actor Billy Zane, who dined here multiple times during his recent starring run in The Sound of Music at the Lyric. Indeed, despite the inf luential clientele, Sophie's maintains a feminine appeal. "Rather than a power room, it's more of a powder room, really. It's why I like it," says Zane. "'Power dining' restaurants are often filled with a lot of BS. The powerful women who drive Sophie's clientele know what time it is. That's why they go there." They also go for chef Ron Aleman's smart, seasonal American menu, which offers decadent dishes like a barely breaded, generously sized jumbo blue crab cake atop San Marzano tomato bisque; garlicky, crisp kale chicken Caesar with the perfect kiss of dressing; and the Summer Barbeque burger with creamy Point Reyes toma cheese and a rich bacon tomato jam. "The food is designed in a fashionable way that ties it [to Saks]," Aleman attests. "The presentations are attractive and beautiful, but nothing is over your head." That has proven to be a winning combination for Sophie's, whose lively lunch scene transitions into a hidden-gem happy hour vibe in the early evening, when an after-work crowd convenes over bites of tuna tataki and black truff le salt pita and sips of rhubarb- basil gimlet cocktails with local CH Distillery gin. As Zane decrees of this stylish destination, "Fellows in the know go there to do deals and dine among beautiful, powerful women. That's a balanced meal." 700 N. Michigan Ave., 7th Fl., 312-525-3400; sophies.com MA Co NTINu e D FRo M PAge 107 "THE POWERFUL WOMEN WHO DRIVE SOPHIE'S CLIENTELE KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS. THAT'S WHY THEY GO THERE." —BILLY ZANE 108 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM TASTE So Many Lunches (So Little Time)

• Cover