First Look: RM Champagne Salon
By Anthony Todd in Food on Jul 31, 2012 4:00PM
Over the years we've watched countless restaurants open all over West Randolph Street. In a neighborhood filled with wonderful old spaces, it often seemed like we were watching a perverse competition: how quickly and effectively could each restaurant obliterate the building's previous charm and turn itself into another over-designed modern trendpiece? Thank goodness for Element Collective, the group behind Nellcôte and the new RM Champagne Salon, opening Thursday. They see the value in beautiful old spaces, in vintage quirks and in making guests feel like they are in another time and place.
You'd never know RM and Nellcôte are in the same building. Just as Ada Street uses its twisting entrance to transition guests into a dark, mysterious realm, RM skips the front entrance and uses an adjacent alleyway to take guests out of the world of Randolph Street and into an exquisite place of twinkling lights, silver candlesticks, brickwork and polished wood. Oh, and champagne. Don't forget that.
We first visited RM when it was a rubble-filled construction zone that betrayed no hint of the glory to come. We popped in a couple more times over the next few months, as RM battled permitting problems that prevented it from opening. Apparently, the alleyway entrance concept seemed to baffle city inspectors. Now that it's finally open, we'll be heading back even more frequently. We might even (shh) skip Nellcôte and just head for the quieter back room.
After sauntering down the alley, guests walk into an enclosed outdoor patio that is destined to make it on everyone's "Best Patio" list. After walking up a grandiose staircase past levels of seating, the restaurants front door opens into the cool, dark interior. We know RM is planning to be a summer hotspot, but all we could think about was sitting in that cozy room in the middle of February sipping champagne, watching the snow fall on the patio.
Unlike Nellcôte, which is Chef Jared Van Camp's baby, RM is under the control of Sommelier Jason Wagner. RM stands for "Récoltants Manipulants," the designation for an estate-grown champagne that bottles on-site. Wagner's list of champagnes will be designed to include as many of these as possible. There will be small bites, cheese and desserts - but the menu hasn't been released yet. And it's almost beside the point. All we will need to be happy is a champagne cocktail in our hand and a seat in a dark corner of that room. Come visit us in February.
RM Champagne Salon is located at 116 N. Green Street. All photographs by Anthony Todd unless otherwise noted.