History, Newly Redone

by Chris Becicka

When it was built, it was on the suburban edge. That’s changed. And, from the outside, its not the kind of building in which you’d expect to encounter an elegant fine dining establishment.

But stepping inside the newly refurbished EBT Restaurant at I-435 and State Line, you forget the outside world. Two men play piano and sax, orchids tastefully line the entrance, and the lighting gives a soft ambiance that’s as inviting as the greeters. 

As you step in, you’re also stepping back. But to appreciate it you have to know about the old Emery Bird Thayer department store, built in the late 1890s, an icon by the 30s, gone by the 70s. As a little girl, I remember my mom and grandma taking me there for lunch—and once, for tea, which I didn’t understand at all (Mom drank coffee). We dressed up. Imagine. As a teenager, one Christmas in high school, I worked in the toy department in what I was sure was the worst possible job in the world: wrapping toys. On Saturdays, I’d see the old ladies sitting on the balcony waiting for something to happen. (Or maybe just watching the pneumatic tubes taking the cash up to accounting and whooshing down the change. Eventually.)

When the store was torn down soon there-after, some of its architectural elements were saved, stored, and moved to its namesake restaurant 26 years ago. Some fine touches remain: the elevator grill work which now creates private dining spaces; some advertising signs, complete with errors; some column decorations, leaded glass and more. But even if you don’t remember Birds (as we called), or have much interest in history, these touches make the restaurant distinctive in this day of look-alike boxes and reproduced kitsch.

More than the history, however, a fine dining establishment, with snowy linens and elevated prices, has to deliver fine service, fine wines, fine dining and all must be done just exactly right in a gracious environment. EBT pretty much does all that. The service was lovely all around. When I expressed interest in the historical artifacts, the person filling the water glasses brought me some additional information. The wine list has been selected for the Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence, a tribute to breadth rather than length. The room is spacious and not overly elegant, the lighting and fixtures are very interesting and it’s a place for enjoying, for relaxing, for chatting in normal voices, not drowned out by the din or the musical duo in the bar.

We weren’t feeling particularly adventure-some that night, for some reason—had we traveled back in time taste, also? Fortunately, the restaurant caters to all tastes. In fact, we didn’t even choose from the good-sounding appetizers (they have a great bar small plates selection, too) but for a very guilty reason. We were brought a basket of very thin triangles of what looked like half slices of golden toast. We ate nearly the entire basket of these simple, buttery, sautéed, delights, with a first glass of wine. Deliciously evil and tasty. We ordered a tableside prepared Caesar, and I won $20 from my portly companion betting this restaurant would use a real egg. The salad was excellent. The entrées were pretty traditional sounding and ran the gauntlet from breast of chicken to strip steak, duck breast, Chilean sea bass with prices ranging from $26 for the chick-en to $42 for the special that night of lobster tail with three scallops. My herby grilled lamb chops rested on a small mountain of sweet potato puree which was a great combo and my friend pronounced his filet excellently prepared. I concurred. We finalized our light dinner with an ultra chocolaty torte, a sweet ending to our fine dining.

EBT also makes an excellent choice for fine lunching. Either time, both the history and the food should bring you back.