Although Las Vegas restaurateur Steve Gogolab first visited Chicago last August, he’s quickly establishing himself as a local hospitality industry force to be reckoned with. Last December, he opened Bucktown’s Dēliz, a splashy two-level Italian steakhouse
more akin to those you’d find in the West Loop. On Thursday, October 1, Gogolab takes an even bigger swing with the opening of River North’s Carlyle Club in the historic Reid Murdock Building, steps from the Chicago River. Two more Chicago projects are in the works for next year.
Like its older sibling, there’s nothing subdued about Carlyle Club or “CC” as it’s already been nicknamed, including on the servers’ aprons and the awning at the Clark Street entrance. Massive crystal chandeliers hang from the high ceiling. Deeply veined Italian calacatta viola marble tops the 28-seat bar and backsplash, while the neighboring sushi bar features quartzite from Brazil. A smattering of freestanding oversized booths upholstered in a rich shade of burgundy dot the 100-seat open dining room along with midcentury modern-style tables and chairs. By the entrance, a glass-enclosed wine room provides lockers for wine club members to store their bottles. The women’s restroom has lighting and a design primed for selfies. There’s a DJ booth, too, although Gogolab is confident Carlyle Club’s extensive soundproofing and state-of-the-art sound system will ensure you can still hear the person sitting across from you at the table.
But perhaps the most dramatic feature of Carlyle Club is the unobstructed up-close views of the river and downtown’s skyscrapers just beyond its towering windows. “When I came to Chicago the first time, I walked down Clark Street and I saw the architectural styles of all these amazing buildings,” says Gogolab, who now calls Chicago home. “I fell in love with the city.”
He was particularly enamored with the soon-to-be-vacant space at 316 N Clark Street, formerly the Kitchen American Bistro. As it turns out, so were 40 other potential tenants, says Gogolab. A face-to-face meet-up with Albert Friedman of Friedman Properties, the real estate company that leases to many a River North restaurant, including Frontera Grill, Sunda, and Crying Tiger, along with close to 50 other spots, helped narrow the field. “I told him I knew when I walked into the space that it was meant for me and that I saw the vision from the beginning,” says Gogolab. Negotiations started in April and in June Gogolab and his team started building Carlyle Club.
Chef and partner Jakob Peterson, who also heads up the kitchen at Dēliz, describes Carlye Club as a classic American steakhouse with global influences. The restaurant’s location at the crossroads of tourist attractions, Loop office buildings, and River North condos necessitated creating lunch and dinner menus that could satisfy a variety of tastes. “We want to give people the opportunity to try a little bit of everything,” says Peterson.
The starters include options such as a bread basket with made-in-house pretzel epi, brioche roll, and a spiced biscuit paired with giardiniera cream cheese and roasted garlic butter. From the raw bar, there’s chilled oysters, yellowtail crudo, and caviar bites with crispy potato rösti serving as the base. A trio of handmade pastas includes lobster tagliatelle with a lobster bisque-like sauce flavored with Pernod and plenty of butter. The crustacean also appears in the lobster pie with bone marrow-infused potato puree, roasted maitakes, and a whole lobster. A coconut milk broth poured tableside adds a bit of sweetness to the dish.
Carlyle Club’s steaks come from a variety of purveyors around the world. There’s Japanese A5 wagyu, along with prime bone-in rib-eye from Washington state, flat iron from Kansas, and a 42-ounce tomahawk by way of Australia. Galician turbot is paired with confit potatoes, Manila clams, and smoked bacon.
There’s some crossover on the lunch menu as well as some exclusives that also appear on the bar food menu. Thinly shaved rib-eye gets piled into a brioche hoagie along with horseradish cream for a fancy French dip. A classic fried chicken sandwich is topped with garlic aioli and homemade pickles. There’s steak frites and a burger, which includes two wagyu patties, smoked beef tallow aioli, and cheese.
Carlyle Club also serves sushi by chef Chris In because, as Gogolab says, “Why not?” The menu spans nigiri, sashimi, and rolls. Expect options like a snow crab roll with a brown butter ponzu dipping sauce. “It adds a little nuttiness and fattiness almost like a crab boil,” says In. The tuna roll with its inclusion of gochujang in the spicy mayo sauce is In’s personal touch. “I’m Korean, so I wanted to sneak in some Korean influence,” he says.
Omar Douglas heads up Carlyle Club’s cocktail program. A former philosophy professor, Douglas found inspiration in a quote from Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “You can never step in the same river twice.” The phrase speaks to a cocktail program that will change and evolve. Drinks reminiscent of the ’20s and ’30s are up first, followed by subsequent decades a few months later. The Light Torrent nods to a Hemingway daiquiri with toasted rice-infused rum, koji rice syrup, and cherry liqueur. Yuzu pearls in a small mother-of-pearl spoon balanced on the rim of the glass add a little pop. “I try to infuse aspects of savory into the cocktail program, and conversely they use things from us, so there’s a flow,” says Douglas. The cocktails also include standbys — four martinis and a version of an Old Fashioned.
Master sommeliers Ken Fredrickson and Fernando Beteta developed the global wine list along with Amy Lutchen, who’s Carlyle Club’s wine director.
“We’re new here, but we’d love to be a part of the fabric that makes up the Chicago dining scene,” says Gogolab. “Carlyle Club is my love letter to the city.”
Carlyle Club is located at 316 N. Clark Street; 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; reservations on SevenRooms.
