On Feb 21, 1:14*am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> This weekend, Jean and I took Andrew off to Chicago for a bit of R&R
> (which was to have extended into Monday until Andrew's school used
> Monday's holiday as a makeup snow day - snakebite #1). *After a day of
> playing tourists, during which time we went "ice skating" on a
> polyethylene surface on the 94th floor of the John Hancock building,
> Jean and I went out for dinner at Everest, Jean Joho's haute cuisine
> palace atop the Chicago Stock Exchange building in the South Loop.
> Though we dressed for the occasion, my appearance was slightly marred by
> the swaddling of bandages that enveloped my left thumb, the result of
> catching an edge during the skating and taking a spill, after which Jean
> noted a profusion of blood on the "ice" -- oops! (snakebite #2).
>
> Everest is a classic white tablecloth French dining experience with a
> thick wine list especially strong in the wines of Alsace, Chef Joho's
> homeland. *We started with a Cremant d'Alsace Brut Ros from a producer
> I'd never heard of and who hailed from Chef Joho's home town. *It was
> quite pleasant with an herbal edge to the strawberry fruit. *Jean was
> going to start with a Presskopf of duck and pheasant followed by a
> roasted lobster starter whereas I was starting with a sea scallop
> starter on a mousseline of apple. *All the starters were phenomenally
> tasty and the scallops were the finest I've had in ages. *To go with
> these foods, we selected a half bottle of 1997 Trimbach Cuv e Frederick
> Emile.
>
> Before our starters arrived, though, the sommelier appeared to tell us
> that the CFE was badly oxidized and that he'd have to go down to the
> cellar for another bottle (snakebite #3). *Fine, we said, so off he went
> and we were left with no wine. *No sooner than that had happened,
> though, when our waiter appeared with more Cremant d'Alsace for us to
> while away the time with. *Major kudos to the staff for such
> thoughtfulness. Eventually, the sommelier David returned with a second
> bottle of CFE which he opened and brought to our table. *When he poured
> it, it came out dark golden in color and Jean, who is very sensitive to
> oxidation in white wines, no more than smelled it before declaring this
> bottle, too, as oxidized. (snakebite #4) Our sommelier agreed, averring
> that the first bottle had been worse. *I then floated the suggestion
> that PremOx might not be restricted to White Burgundies and he responded
> by saying that Jean Trimbach had complained of bad corks in the '97-99
> era and that the corks of both half bottles were noticeably loose.
> Paring our losses, I instead requested a half bottle of the '99 Weinbach
> Gewurztraminer Cuv e Laurence so we ended up with that: pungent nose of
> lychee and spice, an oily texture with just enough acidity to manage
> with our fishy starters. *Because Jean had ordered an extra starter, the
> chef very graciously threw in a small sample of a second starter for me:
> sturgeon wrapped in sauerkraut and cured ham and baked, a truly
> remarkable combination of flavors and sensations. *Again, kudos to the
> staff of Everest.
>
> Moving on to our main courses of venison in huckleberry sauce with red
> cabbage and chestnuts, we had ordered another half bottle, of 1989
> Guigal C te-R tie Brune et Blonde which the sommelier had decanted and
> brought to the table with our food. *A sample was poured for me and I
> discovered that the wine was badly corked! (snakebite #5) *The server
> brought the decanter back to the sommelier, who agreed, brought out a
> second bottle and decanted it. *When that second decanter was poured for
> me, I found that it was corked worse than the first bottle!! (snakebite
> #6). *By now, the situation had descended into near absurdity. *We had,
> by this point, returned 4 half bottles of wine to the kitchen. *With the
> stricken sommelier back at our table, we jointly agreed to try another N
> Rhone Syrah, but alas others were available in half bottle. *At this
> point, the sommelier went above the call of duty and offered to open a
> bottle of 1990 Rostaing C te-R tie and let us have a glass each. *Deal,
> I said, so off he went and come back with the Rostaing in decanter.
> Huzzah! *This wine smells fine, a nice nose of bacon fat and meat with
> some dark fruit lurking underneath. *The wine, alas, promised more in
> the nose than it delivered on the palate, disappearing a bit mid-palate,
> but it was still a fine accompaniment to the most excellent venison.
>
> We ended our meal with a lovely cheese course (5 Midwestern cheeses,
> each fantastic, the last of which tasted like a Neal's Yard Montgomery
> Cheddar). We had the last of the C te-R tie with the cheeses and were
> feeling quite sated when the sommelier appeared with yet another gift
> from the kitchen: a small dessrt and two pours of the 2001 Les Cypres de
> Climens. *The wine, as expected, was intensely botrytised, which for me
> is hard to get past, and smelled of the usual orange rind, apricot and
> bergamot. *Very rich and long finish, but I'm just not that fond of
> botrytis to really enjoy it. *Still, a most touching gift to round out
> the evening.
>
> As we left, I told the sommelier that we'd never had such a string of
> bad luck ever in a restaurant and he replied that he'd never had such a
> string of bad luck and hoped never to again! *I told him to pour himself
> and our servers something nice at the end of the night and to relax. *We
> felt overwhelmed with the generosity of the service there.
>
> Never in my life have I had such bad luck with wine, but the overall
> experience at Everest was overwhelmingly positive. *The food was
> outstanding, the service tremendous and, although far from cheap, the
> value was excellent. *The staff may run screaming if they ever see us
> again, though...
>
> Mark Lipton

Back in the late 70's we I worked in Chicago and we dined on the 95th
floor of the John Hancock building many times...quite a view. The
restaurant was then called "The 95th" but locals just called it "The
Top of the 'Cock". High end, expensive but very very good then.
Great memories.