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Enjoy elegance at Jakes

By Traci Wangen, LCJ correspondent

Jake's elegant dining room is polished and sparkling this Christmas season. A ride up in the glass elevator delivers guests to the top floor of The Midnight Star, where they are greeted by an 8-foot Christmas tree and a beautiful grand piano. The heavily-polished wood floor and wood accents reflect the firelight, and the piano fills the dining room with music.

Giant evergreen wreaths adorn the windows decorated in silver and gold, and fresh poinsettias add touches of color to the dining room. The atmosphere is at once warm and inviting and also formal and elegant. Looking up, through the skylight, the stars sparkle like candles flickering in the window.

Executive Chef Al Hammerquist suggests the bacon-wrapped shrimp from the appetizer menu, as it is a local favorite. Jakes also features Carpaccio. Al has turned this Venetian delicacy into a Midwest treat by using buffalo. It is thinly-sliced raw meat dressed simply with extra virgin olive oil and parmesan cheese.

Jake's cocktail menu is impressive and features the largest wine list in the area, organized by country and state. The list includes a large selection of cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay wines, but also a selection of more sophisticated shiraz from Australia. The menu even includes the 2005 California Earthquake Petit Syrah.  

Jakes uses only the freshest vegetables for its specialty salads. A classic romaine is topped with apples, onion and pecans, and dressed with cider vinaigrette. The pancetta salad is tossed with goat cheese, cherries and cherry port dressing, and Jakes also features a traditional Greek salad with feta cheese and kalamata olives.

The recently updated menu features the Alaskan sockeye salmon and pan-seared duck for which Jakes is famous, but now also includes braised lamb shank and roasted spring chicken served atop couscous, and a new entrée, buffalo wellington topped with Al's own pate de foie gras. Also new is the mahi mahi stuffed with cream cheese and three onion relish.

For New Years Eve, Chef Al will prepare a butcher-and-catch special featuring Kobe beef and lobster. For diners wanting both, a surf and turf plate will be available.

Jakes opens at noon on Christmas, but is closed Christmas Eve.  Reservations are strongly advised, especially during the holiday season and New Year's Eve promises a full house. Call The Midnight Star at 578-1555.