Carlyle Club steakhouse opens on the Chicago River
Las Vegas restaurateur Steve Gogolab's second Chicago project pairs steaks and sushi with marble counters and river views in the historic Reid Murdock Building.
Carlyle Club, a 762-square-metre steakhouse with sushi and river views, opened on Thursday, 1 October, in Chicago's historic Reid Murdock Building.
The restaurant is the second Chicago project from Las Vegas restaurateur Steve Gogolab, who opened Bucktown's two-level Italian steakhouse Dēliz last December. Two more Chicago openings are already planned for next year, he says, though neither location has been announced yet.
Gogolab signed the River North space at 316 N Clark Street, formerly Kitchen American Bistro, after beating out roughly 40 other bidders for the lease. "I told him I knew when I walked into the space that it was meant for me," he says of his pitch to landlord Albert Friedman of Friedman Properties, which also leases to Frontera Grill and Sunda nearby.
A steakhouse, a sushi bar and two hundred and fifty seats staring straight at the river.
Marble, chandeliers and a river view
Deeply veined Italian calacatta viola marble tops the 28-seat bar, while Brazilian quartzite covers the neighbouring sushi counter. A 100-seat dining room mixes oversized burgundy booths with midcentury-style tables under massive crystal chandeliers, and floor-to-ceiling windows look straight onto the Chicago River and the downtown skyline.
A glass-enclosed wine room offers lockers for members' own bottles, and a 62-seat cocktail bar and 72-seat patio extend capacity to more than 250 covers. There is even a DJ booth, though Gogolab says the room's heavy soundproofing should keep conversation audible.
A steakhouse built for three different crowds
Chef and partner Jakob Peterson, who also runs Dēliz's kitchen, describes Carlyle Club as a classic American steakhouse with global influences, built to satisfy the lunch, dinner and bar crowds its location pulls in: Loop office workers, downtown tourists and River North residents alike. Early dishes include roasted chicken and a French dip.
Negotiations with Friedman Properties started in April; construction began in June. Carlyle Club lands the same season another steakhouse opened an ocean away in SoHo, part of a broader run on marble-and-chandelier rooms this autumn.
Whether the sushi counter draws its own following, separate from the steak crowd, is the open question for Carlyle Club's first winter on the river.
