Froggy's

Froggy's in Highwood has been on my short list of North Shore restaurants for a while. On Green Bay Rd. just north of Highland Park, is a mini-restaurant row and Froggy's is right next to Gabriel's. I was expecting good French food at a reasonable price. In addition to that we had very little hassle for a Saturday night. It was, after all, the suburbs.

They offer a $32-$37 price fix with choice of entree, cold appetizer, hot appetizer and dessert. We were in a group of 8 and all of us but one went that route. They brought out a salad for that lone diner during one of the appetizer courses so there would be a plate in front of everyone. That's dining.

I went with the slightly more expensive chef's meal which is more of a tasting menu with four selections from the cold/hot and entree menus per course. Thank goodness there's a menu online because I'd never be able to keep track of it all.

One of the downsides to this route is that unless something is super memorable you won't be able to pick it out the next day. Unfortuately (or fortunately) nothing was truly memorable however everything was good. Certain dishes sounded really good but they all seemed to taste similar.

The pear and roqufort terrine atop an onion/mesculun salad with balsamic was the cold appetizer winner. It wasn't included in the chef's choices but it's the one I remember most followed by the tuna carpaccio. Of the hot appetizers the escargot was rich and good. The goat cheese and sweet bell pepper terrine was tasty but the proscuitto and basil sauce served more to mask the individual ingredients than liven them up. The foie-gras was very good... I tasted a bit off another's plate. It wasn't included in the chef's choices.

The other interesting appetizer was a creamed butternut squash with proscuitto and some kind of cheese. Very creamy and the salted meats were crispy on the baked top.

One downside to the chef's choices was that, as I remember, all of the hot appetizers were cream sauces. They were all very heavy and between 2 bites of A, B, C and D there was no way to really separate them.

The chef's entree choices were focused on fish or meat. I opted for fish and had a sample of skate wing in a caper and butter cream sauce, scallops in an orange and mustard seed sauce (cream), hallibut in a lobster sauce where I was looking for the lobster flavor but not really finding it and something else I don't remember. I did snag a lamb chop from a neighbor's rack and it was cooked very well. After so many cream sauces a simple grill was appreciated.

Dessert was where the extra $4 for the Chef's meal really paid off. This also, oddly, was the least creamy of the courses... a couple of fruit tarts, a wonderful mousse with flaky layers, a taste of creme brulee - which is really all that any of us need... and a chocolate square with a white chocolate middle.

The crowd was a quiet older set. Several larger tables but couples as well. The wine list is extensive and very reasonable and a multi course meal for $35ish + wine/tax/tip is reallywhere this place finds a niche.

There was something akin to a wedding or supper club aspect to the meal. Certain sides and vegetables were shared between entrees. Someone at our table ordered sauceless portions which looked better than the standard menu item. After hunting down their website it all made sense... www.froggyscatering.com

Neither part of the Annie Hall quote "The food is terrible... and such small portions..." is true here. The food was good and the meal plentiful.

Froggy's
306 Green Bay Rd
Highwood IL 60040

Comments

[Pursuit]

Ah Josh you were in my neck of the woods. Sadly, Froggies is not what it once was. Still ok, I wouldn't recommend it. Try Gabriel's next door, the menu is getting a bit stale to those of us who have been there several times, and it's a bit more expensive, but well worth it in my view.

[Marcia Bramson]

Where can I find information on old restaurants from the 60's in Chicago? For instance .... CHARMET'S that used to be on the corner of Michgan Avenue. Also, a place where I had breakfast 3-4 times a week ..... THE LITTLE CORPORAL? Can anyone give me some information & direct me to some old pictures? Would be so nice. Also, does anyone remember having ice cream at GAIETY'S PARLOR on the South Side of Chicago? That would be on Commercial Avenue. Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!

[Josh]

Good Idea.

I'll put a post up (in "the food scene" link) for Restaurant Memories and encourage people to add their info. I don't know of any other source.

[Fellow food lover]

Froggy's was at the top in the mid to late 80's, the time of excess. You could not get in on a Friday or Saturday night, if you did not have reservations a week ahead. We would see every known person from radio,local TV, sports stars and all the very famous of Chicago. Froggy's is making a comeback with a great new sidewalk cafe that makes you feel like you have been transported to Paris. Froggy's always had a great wine selection, now they have great wine cellar to match. It may be changing for the better now that Bill Cartwright curently the assistant coach of the New Jersey Nets and of Bulls champion days is now part owner of the restaurant or it maybe that my favorite restaurant personality is back, Doug Crowe. I think you should revisit Froggy's, you might just remove them from your short list and put them on your top ten list of Chicago.

[christian louboutin]

No country , however rich , can afford the waste of its human resources