Wildfire is Hot

November 4, 1999
Buffalo Grove Pioneer Press
By Virginia Gerst

From the day it opened in Lincolnshire, people have been wild about Wildfire.

It's easy to drive past the place. The four-month-old Lettuce Entertain You restaurant is hidden behind the much showier Big Bowl, another Lettuce operation. But that hasn't stopped diners from sniffing it out.

On two visits the first for lunch soon after it debuted and a second one for dinner one recent weekend all of the 250 seats were filled, and then some. Wildfire, is so popular, in fact, that on weekends, management reconfirms every one of its reservations a practice generally reserved for smaller, far pricier establishments.

Like the two other area Wildfires that opened before it (one in Chicago, another in Oak Park), the Lincolnshire restaurant is designed to look like a 1940s steakhouse, complete with dark mahogany paneling, deep, comfortable booths, and some terrific 1940s photos on the walls. The spacious main dining room is backed by an open kitchen, where cooks tend three grills carved into the stone wall. One is fueled by wood, another by charcoal and a third is fitted out for rotisserie.

Executive chef Joe Decker got his culinary start when he volunteered to work for free at Ann's bakery in his hometown of Wilmette. He went on to cook French at Café Provencal in Evanston, Cajun at K-Pauls in New Orleans, and, in Chicago, Italian at Scoozi and Chinese at Ben Pao.

At Wildfire, his menu is strictly all-American, with stick-to-the-ribs steak, chops and seafood, all cooked over open fire and generally accompanied by potatoes.

Obviously, this is not a place to go for new taste sensations, but the tried and true dishes we shared were generally well prepared and the young staff was pleasant and efficient despite the crowd.

I would go back to Wildfire just for the wheat and onion bread, delivered in small loaves in a board, and for the pizza which we shared as an appetizer, but which could easily make a meal at lunch. The pizza we ordered boasted chunks of tomato and three cheeses atop a thin, chewy crust.

I would go back to Wildfire just for the wheat and onion bread, delivered in small loaves in a board, and for the pizza which we shared as an appetizer, but which could easily make a meal at lunch.

Chicken on a skewer, slathered with Wildfire's own tangy sauce (it's also sold by the bottle), was a hit, but not so the thin-sliced fried onions served with it. They were both tepid and limp. But no one who likes butter could be tepid about the rich crab-crusted stuffed shrimp, made with plenty of that particular ingredient.

The excellent chopped salad, composed of greens, chicken, blue cheese, bacon and vegetables in a citrus-vinaigrette, comes in two sizes, and anyone who orders the larger, at $11.95, gets enough food to feed four.

Among the main courses, the meaty barbecued baby back ribs were the standout, with the pork clinging only slightly to the bone, and so were the perfectly cooked French fried, served with them.

A fillet of beef, topped with horseradish crust, arrived a few shades more rare than ordered but tasted fine, and the mashed potatoes flavored with horseradish served with it, were at least as good.

A fillet of Pacific salmon with a brown sugar glaze, cooked on a spit, was another fine choice.

The meal's major disappointment was the spit roasted herb chicken. The breast meat was dry and the skin was not crisp.

Desserts are displayed on a tray, and each was sizable. That did not stop us, however, from downing every crumb of the apple/strawberry pie, drizzled with butterscotch sauce and served warm in an iron skillet.

Nothing to pan there.

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