Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/385207
photography by anjali pinto aw, shucks Shaw's Oyster Bar is the dining room's boister- ous sibling—the room where shellfsh lovers come for a fast fx of one of the dozen oyster varieties on offer. As part of the restaurant's 30th anniversary celebration, from October 1 to 30 the Oyster Bar will feature a different oyster each day in addition to regular oyster offerings. clockwise from far left: Kevin Brown, Yves Roubaud, and Steve LaHaie, the founding partners of Shaw's; three nights a week the restaurant features live jazz and blues music; fresh stone crab claws. restaurant job in college), and Joe Muer Seafood in Detroit, a childhood favorite of LaHaie. With a straightforward philosophy of, "Get the best seafood and prepare it simply," as LaHaie says, the restaurant opened in late 1984. One of the early restaurants in the Lettuce Entertain You empire, it's still one of the company's crown jewels—which, considering that Lettuce now encompasses more than 100 outposts in eight states, speaks volumes to the restaurant's legacy. When stepping in under Shaw's black awning on Hubbard, what's perhaps most surprising about the restaurant is that, despite its corporate ties, the space has always felt as warm as a mom-and-pop joint. The spacious dining room gives off a vibe that's both urban-chic and old-school, with walls decked with white subway tile and wood paneling; plush, inviting scarlet leather booths; and an abundance of nautical paraphernalia, from oars and old photos to a massive stuffed marlin. The space buzzes with conversation from an eclectic crowd—Chicago visitors, regulars, couples on dates, and families celebrating special occasions—and the crack-crack-crack of crab legs. And crab is clearly the star here, from appetizers of chilled crab fingers and Maryland crab cakes to seasonal dishes of soft-shell crab, stone crab claws, and decadent steamed Alaskan red king crab legs. Oysters are serious business here as well, with a changing slate of bivalve varieties like Beausoleil, Pemaquid, and Raspberry Point available both in the dining room and the adjacent Oyster Bar. Notes LaHaie, "When we opened we served one, maybe two oysters on the menu at a time; now [with expanded air- freight] we can get 12 on the menu at a time." Rounding out the selection of fresh fish, like sautéed Lake Michigan whitefish and sautéed Lake Erie yellow perch ("one of my favorite things to eat," enthuses LaHaie), the menu has in recent years expanded to include sushi and sake, which, says Roubaud, "brought a younger genera- tion to the restaurant." Ultimately, though, Shaw's strength has been its consistency over the years. "We're still using the same crab guy that we started with 30 years ago," states LaHaie. The management team itself—LaHaie, Brown, and Roubaud—has been with the restaurant since it opened. Even servers are passionate about the place: Judy Jonas has been waiting tables at Shaw's for nearly 30 years herself. Asked to explain the place's continued success, she sums it up succinctly: "We've always improved as we've gone through the years, but basically the song remains the same." 21 E. Hubbard St., 312-527-2722; shawscrabhouse.com MA "we're still using the same crab guy that we started with 30 years ago." —steve lahaie sweet tart Shaw's Key lime pie has been on the menu since day one and is still the restaurant's biggest-selling dessert. Made with sabayon instead of condensed milk, it's a light-as-air confection whose refreshing tartness is balanced by a graham cracker and almond crust. 88 michiganavemag.com taste