Luxe Beat Magazine JANUARY 2015 | Page 67

Restaurants El-Tapeo-Restaurant-Entrance W henever I feel in need of an engaging chat with friends, I always think of tapas as a way of promoting the great art of conversation. Maybe it’s because you don’t have to worry about getting messy fingers, smearing sauce on your chin, or gracefully cutting a thick steak and then chewing it relentlessly. Since tapas is the fine art of serving small dishes, both hot and cold, it is easy to munch and dine while engaging in light-hearted or even serious conversation. Best of all, portions are usually bite-size, so all the cutting has been done for you. And it is so much easier to talk. Tapas may be the Spanish word for small dishes, but in many restaurants tapas have evolved into a sophisticated cuisine that uses only the finest ingredients. Some even offer small portion sized entrees. I recently went to two tapas places in the Chicago area that embody this philosophy of tapas both are fine dining with impeccable service, and both use nothing but highest quality ingredients. El Tapeo El Tapeo – a Spanish tapas restaurant - is conveniently located in the Oakbrook Center at Le Meridien. With a $25 million transformation, the hotel recently debuted in late uly , offering El-Tapeorestaurant-area 67