4 restaurants on our radar for winter

French cuisine feels fresh at this elegant-yet-unstuffy Lincoln Park restaurant. Chef Jason Paskewitz’s menu is packed with traditional dishes like Dover sole, but he makes genius twists, encasing foie gras in a black-truffle crust, for example. Sommelier Anthony Mathieu and bartender Arunas Bruzas pour excellent French wines and classic cocktails, and pastry chef Marjorie Easley ends the meal perfectly with a pistachio bombe. Try: Oeuf outhier, which pairs airy whipped eggs and caviar in a delicate eggshell topped with vodka-scented crème fraîche.

For a space so massive, Cantina 1910 is serving some of the most interesting Mexican food in Chicago. Case in point: the frita de bacalao mingles fried smelts, caramelized Brussels sprouts and huitlacoche mayo. Cocktails from Michael Fawthrop (Aviary), like a flight of Rositas with different agave bases, are terrific. Try: Masa dumplings with spaghetti squash, tiny green tomatoes and edible flowers.

if you can’t manage a winter escape this year, get a taste of bright Peruvian flavors at this lively North Center restaurant. The menu focuses on the country’s classics, like causitas, which are whipped potatoes topped with crabmeat; a variety of piquant ceviches; and several takes on traditional pisco sours, including a habanero-pepper-laced version. Try: The rocoto relleno, which combines sliced potatoes beneath a fiery pepper stuffed with beef, raisins and veggies, and smothered in melted havarti.