Four stars for L2O, Vittel proclaims, "This is a Master at Work"

Probably the most anticipated restaurant of this year has been Laurent Gras' L2O. As construction began on the restaurant, Gras started a blog, updating it with pictures and processes of how the restaurant was going to run, giving serious gourmands a look inside a budding kitchen. Surprisingly, the blog didn't go radio silent once the kitchen was open for business. Gras and his team have found time to keep a steady stream of posts hitting the site.
From where we're sitting in NYC, you can clearly see that L2O is a labor of love and only this kind of passion and sincerity can garner a perfect glowing review from the paper of record in Chicago. Phil Vittel, the chief restaurant critic for The Chicago Tribune gave L2O 4 of 4 stars. About the service, Vittel says, "Service is everything you want in a restaurant of this kind, with serene and unintimidating guides. That's especially true of sommeliers Chantelle Pabros and Doug Marello, who provide imaginative and spot-on pairings to Gras' dishes."
About the food, "He changes the way you feel about food. Slide a piece of kinmedai (golden eye snapper), unctuously fatty yet so mild you can detect a hint of cherrywood smoke, into your mouth and you'll never feel the same about snapper again."
And while the meal might cost as much as dining at Alinea or Charlie Trotter (Vittel notes that Laurent Gras belongs in this group of uber Chicago chefs), he notes that at the end of your meal, each guest is invited to tour the kitchen which is "too cool to miss."
As Chicago starts to wake up and read its Thursday paper, I'm sure the reservation line will start to heat up at the restaurant. Right before posting this, I checked OpenTable and there was availability a month out for a reservation. I bet that won't last for long.