Vie

Vie, named after the French word for life, offers seasonal, contemporary American cuisine inspired by Western European cultures and rustic fare. Chef and owner Paul Virant focuses on year-round seasonal eating with a menu featuring housemade pickles and preserves. Locally grown, artisan ingredients from Midwestern family farms are showcased.

Chef-owner Paul Virant (Ambria, Blackbird, Everest) has a gem of a restaurant in a town that had hardly known fine dining before, despite its affluent status. The winding floor plan and neutral dining room with black and white photography offer a low-key (and stylish) backdrop for innovative and artful but not over-the-top cuisine. Virant comes up with some interesting and creative...

Chef-owner Paul Virant (also of Perennial Virant) has a gem of a restaurant in an affluent town that hardly knew fine dining until his arrival. The space, set on the site of an historic home, pays homage to its predecessor---but with a…

City dwellers say this Western Springs New American is "worth the travel" to the 'burbs for Paul Virant's "exceptional" New American cooking that showcases "the season's best" ingredients in "outstanding" "fine-dining" dishes; the space is "warm and inviting but still elegant", and "impeccable" service further justifies the spendy tabs.

It's well worth the trek to Western Springs for Paul Virant's Vie. Not ony will the list of fresh-from-the-farm seasonal ingredients overwhelm (from caperberries to sorrel to baby beets to ramp picalilly), so will then number of credited Midwestern farms. It's a veritable who's who of local farming. Five- and eight-course tasting menus are available.

Vie, named after the French word for life, offers seasonal, contemporary American cuisine inspired by Western European cultures and rustic fare. Chef and owner Paul Virant focuses on year-round seasonal eating with a menu featuring housemade pickles and preserves. Locally grown, artisan ingredients from Midwestern family farms are showcased. The restaurant is open for dinner Tuesday through...