Mystery Diner: Silver Fox aces fine dining promise

In our story about the Silver Fox’s opening this past January, the owner vowed to bring the “upscale restaurants” of Chicago to Yorkville.

A few months down the road, we’ve now put that promise to the test. And, wow, it can’t be said enough how good this restaurant is.

Let’s talk first of the unassuming ambiance. Situated at 600 E. Veterans Parkway in the former Blackstone Bar & Grille, the Silver Fox has few of the eccentricities of a white tablecloth restaurant. High ceilings, old industrial lights, leathered high-top booths: The interior is very casual with a concise color palate.

But when you walk in, the smell of hickory-seasoned steaks in a display case hits you like a left-behind cloud of perfume. An elegant wine cellar is front and center beside the hostess stand, and reruns of “Baywatch” on the TV made David Hasselhoff as omnipresent as the waiters and waitresses.

On first inspection, the menu can be a tad overwhelming. But honestly, the variety at the Silver Fox should be considered a strength. Half the cocktail menu is different breeds of martinis, dessert and regular, while the signature drinks certainly are on the fruity side but strikingly unique. One drink that caught my eye, for example, is the “Lose Yourself,” a blend of absinthe, pineapple and ginger liqueur.

For my beverage, I went with the Ginstagram, a mixture of gin, pinot noir, lemon juice and egg white, garnished with edible flowers and served in a cocktail glass. This drink was fantastic. Mixing the wine and gin bordered on the edge of sweet and went down smoothly. Plus, the perfect amount of foam and colors made the drink feel almost futuristic.

Every table also receives a plank of bread with lemon butter, pesto and capers. Trust me, the lemon butter alone is worth the trip to the Silver Fox. Sprinkle some of the melt-ready capers on that bread and you’ve got a serious pre-meal snack.

For an appetizer, I ordered the spinach fritters. I expected something breaded, but what arrived on the plate were four, tightly-packed spinach patties lined with thousand island sauce. Now I typically don’t like cooked spinach, but this dish avoided that wet spinach taste and had just the right bit of crunch. Ten out of ten.

For main plates, there is no shortage of options. Menu items range from burgers to veal shank, giambotta steaks and rotolo rossini.

I opted for the parma pork chop, complemented by dried cherries and demi-glace with crisp potato cuts on the side. The meat on the pork chop couldn’t have been cooked better, but the sauce truly made the dish. The cherries almost made it taste like candy, and even after eating the entire thing I could have had more without my body feeling heavy. The waitress called this her favorite dish, and it isn’t hard to understand why.

After all this food, I unfortunately had to turn down a dish, although it was very tempting. It will be hard to not make a trip back to the Silver Fox after a day at the newsroom just to try the pistachio cheesecake or the limoncello flute.

When the executive chef came to the tables to ask about the food, I told him that it was some of the best food I’d had in the area. I meant it, too.

I have to note that the prices are high at this restaurant. So unless you’re good for it, save the visit for a special occasion. But with such high-caliber dishes, the flavor is worth every cent.

Thanks to the Silver Fox, the Yorkville restaurant scene has taken an enormous step forward. And with COVID-19 pandemic restrictions becoming a thing of the past, expect this spot’s reputation to spread across the Chicago suburbs.

If You Go:

Address: 600 East Veterans Parkway, Yorkville

Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday

Phone: 630-385-2372

Website: https://silverfoxyorkville.com

• The Mystery Diner is an employee at Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to the restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.