Go Beyond Wine Flights At Flight 1551

By Melissa Wiley in Food on Oct 5, 2012 6:00PM

Need a quick getaway? Old Town’s Flight 1551 is set for take-off, and there’s not a fasten-seatbelt sign in sight. Steps away from Zanies and Second City, this upscale wine bar complements the riotous neighborhood laughter nicely, offering a spirit-raising panoply of wine flights the likes of the Italian Stallion and Tour de France. What really sold us on this particular vacation package, however, were some alternative flight patterns that made us feel right at home: tasty and shareable flights of artisanal burgers and grilled cheese ($12).

Call us ugly Americans, but we enjoy a little comfort food when venturing abroad. The fact that our grilled cheese sandwiches included Manchego and fig jam on pumpernickel as well as Camembert and lemon confit on wheat made us feel passably cosmopolitan for the evening, while the sliders kept our hermetic instincts happy. True, we ordered the monkey bread ($7) for some exotic flair and were tempted by the charcuterie. But ultimately this particular sojourn was about pleasing, not extending, our sensibilities. And we avoided jet lag altogether.

Flight 1551 is located at 1551 N. Wells.