The Bedford (by Kevin)

This post is going to be a little different than those in the past for a couple of reasons. First off, Cece isn't writing it, I am. Second, I have a distinctly different writing style than Cece does, so I apologize in advance if its not what you've come to expect from the "Groark Board".

A little about me. If you've read the blog in the past I am (or at least hope that I am) the "Kevin" being referenced by Cece and act as the guinea pig for all of her new recipes. I'm more of a meat and potatoes type than Cece, but I will generally eat just about anything put in front of me (to which Cece can attest). I tell you this so you can better gage my opinion of food as it pertains to your own taste. When I say something was "kinda spicy" or "tasted pretty good", take it at face value, I'm by no means a true foodie with specific likes and dislikes, nor do I have any sort of taste for haute cuisine.

The Bedford


The Specifics: The Bedford is located at 1612 W. Division on the edge of the Wicker Park Neighborhood near the intersection of Division and Ashland. Hours are from 5pm to 2am M-Fri and 5pm-3am on Saturdays. It is located in what was once the basement of a bank and boasts a lounge in the bank's retired vault.

The Menu: Dinner

My Experience: Going into my dining/drinking experience at The Bedford I had very little in the way of expectations either good or bad. The restaurant has only been open since April 29th so I hadn't heard anything via word of mouth in terms of whether my friends thought it was a good time or not. Based on what I could find online in a brief search I had been able to determine that it was supposed to have the feel of a speakeasy circa 1920's Chicago and was supposed to be a sort of Mixology bar.

Walking into The Bedford we were greeted by a bouncer/doorman who seemed to be dressing the part of a 1920's thug. We arrived at a little past 8pm on a Saturday so there wasn't much for him to do other than stand aside and let us down the stairs to the restaurant a floor below.

The Good: The restaurant, looks awesome. Safety deposit boxes line the walls and the old bank vault has been converted to a drink lounge (which is available for rent). The restaurant doesn't take reservations so after putting our names in w/ the hostess we were able to snag a table near the bar (I assume the actual tables were the booths lining the walls, we didn't pick up when they called to tell us a table was ready) where we were able to be served our dinner and drinks. After sitting down we were promptly greeted by our waitress and made our orders.

We ordered a bunch of different things off of the menu and while nothing really stood out as spectacular, it was all very good. I can't say that any one item on the menu would be what someone would consider a meal but since we wanted to try as many things as possible we shared and it ended up doing the trick. The list of items is below, for a more specific description of each Dinner.

• Hand Cut Fries
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Potato Gnocchi
• Duck Confit
• Grilled Cheese (came with fries) 
• The Scallops

The Bad: I assumed the bar would be a mixology bar in the mold of The Violet Hour offering a relatively limited food menu, but more than compensating with a thorough drink menu. Unfortunately this was not the case. We were presented with a paper menu that listed wines, beers, and only 4 "Bedford" cocktails. The cocktails we did order were good but the lack of options was definitely disappointing. Determined to try some new cocktails made by supposed "mixologists" I pulled out my trusty iPhone and started googling only to find that AT&T doesn't get particularly strong reception inside of bank vaults, which was frustrating but understandable.  I had also assumed, that like The Violet Hour, there would be an attempt to recreate the ambiance/nostalgia of a 1920's speakeasy. The architects and interior decorators seemed to have gotten the memo but the rest of the staff seemed to have only been informed at the time of their arrival, most wearing simply a paperboy cap or nothing resembling era wear of any kind. Even the doorman, who I had originally thought dressed the part, seemed to be only half aware that there was a theme to the bar (from the waist up he was wearing 1920's garb, waist down jeans and gym shoes). It looks cool but they could do so much more with the place than they do.  Lastly, on our way out there was literally 40-50 people crammed around the top of the stairs waiting for admittance downstairs. From what I could see there didn't seem to be any sort of line and a number of people were advising the doorman that they in fact should be let down first because they knew "insert generic name". It reminded me of waiting in line for bars in Champaign where it wasn't so much your place in line but your social status that determined when you might get in. I'd advise going before 10pm on the weekends or going during the week to avoid the mass of people.

The Awesome: I don't know how many of you have ever been allowed to drink inside of a bank vault before, but this was a first for me. For all its shortcomings and growing pains (remember its only been open for 2 or 3 weeks) the restaurant is gorgeous and definitely somewhere I'd go again. Unfortunately I hadn't planned on writing this blog otherwise I would have found a way to take some pictures but I still think the best way to experience this place is by seeing it yourself.