A night out at Sixteen is an expensive one. But compare the prices to that of Chicago’s best restaurants, and Sixteen’s are only slightly higher. So if the appetizers at Vie, Blackbird and Naha also hover around $15 and entrees are in a similar mid-$30s range, what are you paying for at these places if you’re not getting Five Diamond–style lavishes? Unforgettable food.

Sixteen’s chef, Frank Brunacci, has pedigree galore; his experience includes heading up the kitchen at two AAA Five Diamond Ritz-Carlton restaurants, so he knows how to win the jewels. And there’s no debating that he can cook; a recent visit included well-seasoned quail leg meat that was fork-tender, fresh pasta sheets that fell like ribbons into a light cream sauce scattered with black truffle shavings and escargot, juicy duck breast served properly pink, and crispy-skinned trout that flaked apart with ease. But across the board, everything rang in at “good,” with maybe even a “very good” or two. Nothing we ate was stunning enough to compete with the room, the view and the rest of the Trumped-up experience. And there was something off about some of the ingredients: corn, asparagus, spring peas, strawberries…not exactly items you’d equate with winter. This time of year, the menus of the aforementioned five-star restaurants sport blood oranges, fennel, winter radishes, cauliflower, fingerlings, braising greens, quick pickles, preserves. They may not have a suited busser on-hand with a hankie should you sneeze, but you don’t have to look out the window (30-feet-high or not) to see what season it is.

Ultimately, Sixteen’s place in Chicago’s dining scene largely depends on what’s important to you. For those who put seasonal, delicious-at-every-bite food at the top of their priorities, your money could be better spent elsewhere. For those looking to impress a client or a date with the general public’s notion of what constitutes a fine-dining experience, Sixteen has a table waiting just for you.