A Modern Makeover
By Naperville Magazine
December 2024 View more Table for Two
By Phil Vettel
Adelle’s gets a new name and an updated interior
There’s a whole new look for Adelle’s, the American restaurant (535 W. Liberty Dr.) that has been delighting Wheaton-area diners for more than two decades.
Debbie Williams, who owns and operates the restaurant with her husband, Todd, decided that the restaurant, in its current location since 2011, was due for a face-lift. “Face-lift” being a bit of an understatement. “We redid pretty much everything, east to west, top to bottom,” Debbie says. “The physical layout was unchanged—no new walls—but the whole place was painted, given new light fixtures, wall coverings, and drapes. All new furniture, except for the west dining room [a small room generally used for small private parties].”
Adelle’s even got a new name—now it’s Adelle’s Modern Kitchen + Bar—and new exterior signage to let the world know.
If the refreshed design style is enough to entice people inside, chef John Saccomando Jr.’s cooking will persuade them to stay. The chef, who’s been on board for four and a half years, oversees a menu that plucks influences from around the globe.
Hungry for French food? Start with silky-smooth foie gras pâté, served with housemade brioche toast; mussels with charred baguette smeared with garlic-confit aïoli; salade niçoise with tuna crudo; or bavette steak frites.
Italian? Any of Saccomando Jr.’s flatbreads will fit the bill (I recommend the fig and prosciutto version), as will the five pastas on the menu (pay particular attention to the lamb Bolognese with gemelli pasta and a hint of mint, and the carbonara-inspired bucatini noodles with bacon, Parmesan, egg yolk, and black pepper). Appetizers such as crispy arancini and arugula-fig salad with ricotta salata are good choices.
What the menu simply terms “fried chicken thighs” is actually a first-rate chicken tikka masala, a mildly spicy Indian curry dish. Vegetable sides range from grilled broccolini with Chinese XO sauce to tater tots with bloody-mary spiced ketchup to Middle-Eastern style roasted carrots with za’atar spices and pepitas-topped yogurt sauce (my quibble with that last dish is that the carrots were undercooked).
Also worth your attention are the housemade bread, a rustic loaf with three butters (orange-honey, lemon-herb, and truffle) and deviled eggs (whose toppings change from time to time).
Dessert options include a very good Key lime pie, but don’t miss the warm, cooked-to-order chocolate-chip cookies (by the dozen or half-dozen). My advice: Have one fresh from the oven, and take the rest home.
The strong beverage program includes a dozen or so craft cocktails, craft draft beers (all but four from local brewers), 18 wines by the glass, and a good-size bottle list, including “reserve” selections for those for whom the lottery balls were kind.
Williams says her goal was to give each room a distinct personality. The main dining room contrasts midcentury modern furniture with ornate chandeliers; the west room offers neutral wall coverings accented by a mustard-yellow tiled wall with a glassed-in gas fireplace.
My favorite spot is the cocktail lounge, a sultry space with green sofas along with dining tables, and which plays host to WDCB Jazz Thursdays (and occasional weekend bookings) all live and without cover charges.
The area that has changed the least is the pergola-covered outdoor patio, a space that’s sufficiently heated and weather-proofed to be usable during all but the nastiest weather.
Anchoring the patio is a tall glass sculpture, a fusion of dishes and flowers—made individually by Williams—glued together and dramatically uplit. Customers have compared the piece to a Dale Chihuly work, which makes Williams laugh. She thinks Chihuly would be “horrified” at the comparison, she says. “But it’s nice to hear.”
Photos: @kylepetitmedia
