Chicago Tribune 2/18/05 - Full Review
Advanced French: Chef Liccioni’s back, and Le Francais is better than ever
"... Le Francais endures, and as Liccioni's cooking ably demonstrates, it's not because of nostalgia."

Daily Herald 3/24/05 - Full Review
"A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the photo couldn't do justice to the richly flavored bowl in front of me."

Chicago Magazine 3/18/05 - Full Review
"...would have made my knees buckle if I hadn't been sitting down."

USA Today 5/19/2005
Here's what restaurant critics are saying about dining in their regions:

Chicago-
Le Francais, 269 S. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, 847-541-7470; French. "The hits just keep coming. A scallop cake with the consistency of soft bread pudding, topped with a lobster medallion and surrounded by a lobster bisque jolted alive with Vietnamese spices. Warm foie gras with quince confit, receiving a hint of sweetness from maple foam. Pure indulgence in the form of ravioli filled with black-truffle mousse with foamed truffle sauce and yet another sliver of foie gras. Little touches raise entrees that one extra notch. A thick slice of Kobe-style beef with roasted squab meat is presented with a miniature cannelloni stuffed with truffled celery mousse. Roasted sea bass, set in a vivid-green watercress sauce with thin twists of homemade spaetzel, is topped with a solitary mini-raviolo filled with liquid truffle. ... And yet the entree that absolutely knocked me out was probably the simplest: incredibly tasty slow-poached veal with slices of dry-aged ribeye steak, with cepes-mushroom sauce. No extra flourishes; just superb-quality ingredients, perfectly prepared." Entrees: $35.

— Phil Vettel, Chicago Tribune

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