I'm dining with my wife at Bill and Rebecca Courtright's eponymous south suburban restaurant, there's plenty of light in the 8 o'clock sky and, just beyond the restaurant's sloping, meticulously tended garden, a young deer approaches the line separating the property from the adjacent forest preserve. I stop eating and stare at this snapshot of nature.
Chef Jerome Bacle, who took the kitchen reins almost two years ago, came to the area by way of Le Bec Fin, Georges Perrier's legendary Philadelphia restaurant, and indeed his menu looks very much like the Le Bec Fin menu with the French accent removed, or at least muted. Le Bec Fin is a very classic restaurant _— traditional would be too strong a word f— and that's a good fit at Courtright's, where science-lab innovation and optical-illusion presentations are unlikely to find a following.
Open since 1995, Courtright's is known as an impeccable dinner destination with hard-to-resist desserts, well-schooled service and a stellar wine list. The elegant, warm dining room has picture windows overlooking a forest preserve, as well as a fireplace, murals and carvings. French chef Jerome Bacle joined Courtright's in October 2008, bringing with him a new fall menu featuring tuna tartare with pickled cranberries, sauteed mahi mahi with orzo and roasted rack of lamb with gingerbread puree. The spot has a huge wine cellar, stocked with 17,000 bottles collected over the last 30 years from all over the world. Often host to celebratory dinners and weddings, the garden gazebo provides a picture-perfect backdrop.
He was born in Sangamon County, Illinois in the spring of 1848, the son of Daniel Courtright. Not much is known about his early life except that he had 4 older sisters and one younger brother. He was also said to have practiced shooting frequently. He enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War, but he had to lie about his age in order to join. He served under General Black-Jack Logan, and took a bullet trying to save his life, earning the General's admiration. He was rootless, and traveled around often until he finally settled in Fort Worth, Texas. During his short time there, he was at various times a jailer, city marshal, deputy sheriff, deputy U.S. Marshal, hired killer, private detective and racketeer. During his travels, Courtright had developed a reputation as being fast with a gun.
