Today, May 26, is my twelfth wedding anniversary. My husband and I got married on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend in a beautiful outdoor ceremony. I wrote more about my wedding, and how we served corn pudding at dinner, in this post. For today, I only bring up the fact that it is my anniversary because I am reviewing the restaurant we went to for our anniversary dinner, Sepia.

Sepia is a Michelin-starred restaurant in the West Loop.

Chef Andrew Zimmerman has received local and national acclaim, including a stint on the show “Iron Chef America,” for his contemporary, seasonal American cuisine. Housed in a 1890 print shop, Sepia boasts an attractive dining room with many vintage touches and historic Chicago memorabilia. I picked Sepia for our anniversary dinner because I was intrigued by Chef Zimmerman’s product-driven approach to writing a menu and his insistence on making all the pastas, jams and chutneys in house.

I also picked Sepia for another reason: it does not have a tasting menu. I have said this before, but I will repeat it again here: it is downright difficult to find an elegant, special occasion restaurant where one can order à la carte. I find that the majority of the interesting restaurants in Chicago fall into one of two categories: 1) loud, trendy, small plates restaurants, which are fun for a group but not what I want for a romantic, special occasion; or 2) elegant restaurants with innovative cuisine that only comes as a tasting menu. With my seafood allergy and my husband’s various dietary restrictions, a tasting menu is just not a realistic option for us. I wish that the tasting menu was not quite so dominant in this city, but there it is.

So, that is how we found ourselves at Sepia. As it turned out, it wasn’t quite as romantic an occasion as first envisioned because my mom came for a visit on short notice.  Rather than cancel the babysitter and make my mother babysit, we decided to include her in our dinner. After all, she was at the wedding!

The evening started off very well indeed with a round of delicious cocktails at the bar.  The cocktail menu was full of interesting options and the bartenders were plainly very knowledgable. My mom ordered the Mr. Fantastic, a delicious concoction of tequila, habanero cordial and grapefruit served with a huge sprig of mint. The grapefruit was tart and sweet and there was definitely a kick from the habanero. I opted for the Pisco Sour, because after trying Pisco Sours at two Latin American restaurants recently, Tanta and La Sirena Clandestina, I am trying to do a comprehensive survey. I frankly thought that this version, which featured apricot in addition to citrus juice, was a little sweet. (I thought the one at La Sirena Clandestina the best of the bunch.) But we all enjoyed talking to the bartenders and watching them work.

Once we moved to the dining room, I was charmed by the emphasis on spring vegetables on the menu. Every dish seemed to feature ramps, peas, morels or favas. These are exactly the kind of hard-to-find, seasonal crops that are a breath of fresh air after the long winter. The evening began with an amuse-bouche of almond custard garnished with Marcona almonds, celery and edible flowers. The presentation of this bite was stunning, as you can see above.

For my appetizer, on the advice of our server, I selected the English pea and marscapone tortoloni with pea bouillon and morel oil. This dish was the stuff of my dreams. The pasta was plainly made in-house and had a perfect toothy texture. The marscapone was sweet and creamy and the broth was like pea essence. My husband and mother both ordered a cold soup of potato and watercress and garnished with rhubarb and caviar. They too thought the soup was special.

After too long a wait — the pacing of the evening was never quite right — our entrées arrived. I had ordered skate wing with charred spring onion custard, fava beans and seaweed. I almost always order skate when I see it on a menu because I love its flaky texture and mild flavor. But in this case, the skate was taken off the bone and pressed into croquettes. I almost thought that I had been given the wrong dish. Sadly, I did not find this preparation an improvement over a more traditional filet and the whole dish was a little boring and over-salted.

My mother ordered the tea-smoked duck with black garlic and was also disappointed: her duck had a lot of gristle and she left a far bit of it behind. My husband who ordered the risotto with beets, pistachio and pickled lemon, was happier than we were. We also ordered a side of duck fat potatoes, which was pretty delicious.

For dessert, we split the baked beignets with lemon curd and ligonberry jam. My husband also ordered a duo of peach and apricot sorbets. The sorbets were out-of-this-world. I don’t know how they made sorbet so creamy. The beignets were good too with the tartness of the lemon curd and ligonberries adding interest.

Although I was disappointed in my entrée and the poor pacing of the meal, the truth is, I would go back to Sepia. As I said at the beginning, it is hard to find restaurants doing what Sepia does. Sepia offers an elegant, refined dining experience, an outstanding cocktail program and (mostly) delicious, seasonal cuisine that you can order à la carte. While I was disappointed in my entree, the appetizer was quite special. And I am willing to give a restaurant another try under those circumstances with the hope that I would order better the second time around.