Chicago - July 06, 2004

Lan Star

Le Lan Restaurant Opens

Great things come in pairs: Woodward and Bernstein. Dolce & Gabbana. Ben & Jerry.

And now Liccioni and Sampanthavivat.

A mouthful? More like mouth-watering. Four-star chefs Roland Liccioni (Les Nomades) and Arun Sampanthavivat (Arun’s) are packing a wallop into Le Lan, their new French-Vietnamese restaurant in River North. The collaboration promises to be a blissful marriage of East and West.

Le Lan — which means orchid in Vietnamese — inhabits a converted townhouse dotted with modern French and urban Vietnamese accents. Downstairs, a formal dining room is done up with fresh bamboo, orchids, walnut and jade-green tiles, black leather chairs, and backlit onyx insets; the second level is a warmer, cozier haunt for private parties.

Delicate, rich French flavors combine with Southeast Asian spice to make dishes that push the envelope on culinary creativity.

Good luck getting a table for two.

Le Lan, 749 North Clark Street, at Chicago Avenue (312-280-9100).