One of Chicago's most visually stunning restaurants is borrowing a page or two from Wes Anderson's most famous scripts. Come March and April, chef Iliana Regan will host a dinner series inspired by the quirky director at her Lincoln Square restaurant Elizabeth. The menu, priced at $100 per person, will be based on the “aesthetic, themes and voyages” of Anderson's movies. Though much of the experience is still being developed, diners can expect goose-stuffed breads (Fantastic Mr. Fox), seafood-heavy dishes (The Life Aquatic), Indian cuisine (The Darjeeling Limited), a camp-themed fish dish (Moonrise Kingdom) and a very pink dessert (The Grand Budapest Hotel). “You could do an entire menu from each one of his films, so narrowing it down is the hard part,” Regan says.
The limited-edition meal debuts at Elizabeth on March 6 and will run through April 21, overlapping with the release of Anderson's latest blockbuster, Isle of Dogs, which hits theaters on March 23. Regan explains that her wife, Anna, was the mastermind behind the theme: “I actually had no idea who Wes Anderson was and was originally not very gung-ho about this idea,” she says. “Once we started watching the movies, I started to change my mind.” For Regan, The Life Aquatic provided the most inspiration, but her wife's fondness for The Royal Tenenbaums will weigh heavily on the dinner's overall aesthetic.
Tickets for Elizabeth's themed dinner are on sale now via Tock, and judging by the fanfare behind the director, you'll want to nab your seats soon. “We are a bunch of kooks and oddballs, which is what a lot of his movies are based around,” Regan says. “I want the dinners to really focus on our already existing quirkiness.”