BLU 47 Restaurant  & Lounge
4655 South King Drive - Second Floor
Chicago, IL  60653
773.536.6000
www.BLU47restaurant.com

The south side of Chicago is the latest destination for Cuisine Noir's next culinary experience.  Located in the historical Bronzeville neighborhood, BLU 47 Restaurant & Lounge offers great food, atmosphere and entertainment to a local crowd of food enthusiasts.

Just 3 years old, BLU 47 is an upscale yet casual eatery serving American cuisine with Cajun and Creole influences.  Unmarked and not the easiest place to find if you don't know the area, the restaurant sits on the second floor of a building shared with the Jamaican Consulate, The Spoken Word Café and the Afrocentric Bookstore.

It is the business venture of owner Darryl Petty who is no stranger to Chicago's nightlife.  Petty's other endeavors include the Crocodile Lounge, Mercury and the Soul Café. 

The restaurant pulls professionals looking for that perfect spot after business hours and has selected to only serve dinner Tuesday - Sunday from 5 to 10:30 p.m. with late night appetizers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Sunday Brunch is also a part of the restaurant's repertoire and takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

To make sure I was getting the best culinary experience, I selected Thursday night to visit the restaurant.  Live music is the main attraction on this night and always goes well with good food.  My party and I arrived shortly after they had opened for the evening.  We were not the first to arrive and by the less than enthusiatic greeting from a manager and employee at the bar, it seemed that their focus was preparing for a busy evening.  Gospel music was playing through the system and although it is always nice to hear, I found it a bit off from what I had envisioned.

The décor was very contemporary with a blue and chocolate color scheme in the dining room and rich gold and burgundy in the back lounge.  By looking around, one would wonder what was in the place prior to the restaurant but apparently there was nothing and BLU 47 is the first to inhabit the space. 

Once seated, the first thing on the agenda was to glaze over the menu for appetizers.  The menu, created by Chef David Blackmon who is no longer there, seemed to have some original classics.  Their Chicken "Lollipops" served with a pesto aioli sauce immediately caught my attention.  This uniquely shaped and grilled starter was featured on TV One's Turn up the Heat with G. Garvin last summer and was also a favorite during Ebony magazine's "Taste of Ebony" event that has taken place for the past two years.

Breaded Calamari and Crabs Cakes, both served with a BLU 47 homemade cocktail sauce, also rated high on our list and on the list of others as orders came from the kitchen to tables all night long.

With an order of Chicken Lollipops on the way, we moved on to what would be the evening's main attraction.  The decision would tough as more than one entrée looked simply too delicious to pass by.

Freshly baked bread is always, in my opinion, a great way to get the taste buds ready for an evening of diligence.  Expecting the usual sour dough, corn muffin, dark wheat or white, we were pleasantly surprised with the pretzel bread that instead was our pre-appetizer pleaser.  Light and sweet, I think I could have overdosed but quickly decided against that as I finished reviewing the menu. 

Menu selections that caught my attention include: the Jerk Chicken Cobb Salad, Stuffed Chicken Gorgonzola, Grilled Chicken & Italian Sausage Pasta, Chipotle Barbeque Braised Short Rib of Beef and the Prime Rib Steak Frites. 

I settled on the Grilled Pork Chops with Coconut Rum and Carmelized Pineapple Sauce over a bed of New Red Smashed Potatoes with BLU Water Cole Slaw. The Bayou Catfish with Creole Beurre Blanc which was a fillet stuffed with crab meat, spinach, Creole spices and topped with a Butter Wine Sauce also made the cut for the evening. And the last entrée selected included the Wasabi Glazed Salmon that was served with Napa Cabbage, carrots, red peppers and a Ginger Cream.

The pork chops were a little bland perhaps partly due to the thickness and the true flavor came from the caramelized pineapples.  However, my side of BLU 47 Water Cole Slaw had a spicy kick to it but I thought overall was good. 

The Bayou Catfish proved to be one of the biggest hits of the evening.  It had the right amount of spices to capture that Creole seafood taste.  And the Wasabi Salmon was nicely seasoned to bring out just the right amount and balance of flavors.

The General Manager noted that the Blackmon's menu will be changing in the upcoming year but there will be a few entrees that will remain in his honor.  With that said, I'll have to make sure to stop by next time I am in the area to take a peak at the new culinary creations.

As we wrapped up our entrees, the band for the evening started to make their way to take the stage at 8 p.m. The cover band, Ultimate Concept, was a frequent player at BLU 47 and soon started to rock the house with classics from Rick James, The O'Jays and The Temptations.  At this point conversation was out of the picture and the only way to be heard was to try to yell above the music which was not worth it. 

Also at this time, it was a full house and almost every seat from the dining room to the lounge was taken and it was standing room only around the bar.

We stayed and enjoyed the evening's performance and could see why BLU 47 was the place to be on Thursday nights. With our take home boxes in hand, we began to exit what was earlier a restaurant with a little background noise.  The only blue we felt was going back into Chicago's grizzly cold winter weather.  Our culinary experience for the evening was complete and for the most part was a satisfying one.

BLU 47 is a restaurant to check out if you are in the area looking for a cool spot to have a drink or dinner with friends.  Despite my initial thoughts, it's laid back atmosphere and unintentional hidden location puts BLU 47 on the list of "places to visit" in the Windy City.

V. Sheree is a contributor editor for Cuisine Noir Magazine and publicist.  She lives in California. Read more about V. Sheree.