Hop Along To These Haute Cuisine Spots

Leopold's smoked rabbit entree comes with mustard spaetzle, caramelized fennel, onions and duchesse prune glaze. (Photo: Huge Galdones of galdonesphotography.com)

We've seen more rabbit-focused dishes this season than ever before, but could it be a coincidence?!

Beginning Feb. 3 is The Year of the Rabbit (signifying luck, tactfulness and thoughtfulness)—for the Chinese New Year—and there's a lot of yummy goings-on that may or may not have to do with the special occasion.

Sunda, the celebrity-infested resto in River North, is doing its annual homage to the Chinese New Year, but sadly there will be no rabbit on the menu.

From Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, they're doing a special, family-style menu that's $40 per person. Some of the featured dishes include hot and sour soup; a dim sum duet of shrimp or vegetable spring rolls and sticky rice; ruby prawns in a secret glaze; and beef short ribs in a black pepper sauce and accompanied by broccolini. Dessert is included in the meal.

Guests who make reservations at 7pm Feb. 3 will be entertained by live performances of the "dragon dance." It's to bring good fortune to all.

You can also celebrate The Year of the Rabbit by chowing down on these rabbit dishes elsewhere:

RIA Dinner On Twitter Auction Block . . .

It feels like it just came out of the blue, but RIA chefs Jason McLeod and Danny Grant launched a Twitter auction Tuesday afternoon for dinner at their fabulous restaurant.

This is right on time, seeing how the Elysian hotel's highly regarded resto just reopened after being closed for the holiday season. Check out some of the new menu items here.

Is Your Mouth Watering Yet?!

(Photo: The Doughnut Vault)

I'm still anxiously awaiting the arrival of The Doughnut Vault—set to open in River North in a few weeks—but I just came across these drool-enticing photos the owner (who's also behind Gilt Bar, Maude's Liquor Bar) recently posted on the shop's blog.

Check it out for updates on tasty menu items and cool tidbits on the history of doughnuts. Plus, sooner or later they're going to have to reveal the actual location . . .

Epic's New Chef Unveils Fresh New Menu

Michael Shrader during his N9NE days. (Photo: Myspace)

Now that he's settled into his new digs at Epic, Executive Chef Michael Shrader has had time to work his own signature styles into the lunch and dinner menus.

We just got a copy of it and it's chockful of American-centric dishes certain to keep the River North resto on the hot list.

Love Is In The Air . . . With Cupcakes . . .

(Photo: Sprinkles)

How could you not get excited about Sprinkles' upcoming Valentine's Day-inspired cupcakes?!

They come in tempting flavors of limited-edition chocolate marshmallow and red hot velvet as well as dark chocolate and vanilla. At $39 for a box of 12, they're cheaper—and sweeter—than a dozen roses.

Sprinkles is only accepting pre-orders for the special box set, but you can also swing by the Gold Coast store for the additional limited-edition flavor in raspberry chocolate chip. It's a Belgian dark chocolate cake topped with raspberry frosting and a pink heart.

All the flavors will be available Feb. 4-14.

This Is What We Call Team Spirit!

The Fifty/50's exterior right now. (Photo: The Fifty/50)

We love the guys over at The Fifty/50 namely for stunts like this.

They took the photo above, along with this caption on Twitter:

"A little message to our friends in Green Bay written on cheese heads hanging outside of The Fifty/50 right now."

Go Bears!

Freebies . . . on Friday . . .

The Truffled Grilled Cheese at Bangers & Lace isn't free, but it'll go well with some of the beer samples you can get if you play your cards right. (Photo: Freddy Love)

Low on cash, but got an appetite for the good life?! Every Friday, 312DD features the best bargain bets around town:

Bangers & Lace: Lively music, log cabin-themed washrooms, lace-covered windows and hipsters with grizzly beards! Gotta also love the inventive budget bites (brioche corn-battered dog, truffled grilled cheese, lamb flatbread) you can pair with the daily updated beer menu. That list's so awesome that they'll let you sample whatever you want in a nice sized shot glass.

Best Spots for Biz Dinners Don't Come Cheap

(Photo: Shanghai Terrace)

If you're still lucky enough to have a corporate card and one of your job descriptions is "entertaining clients," then this list is for you.

Esquire just released a list of best business restaurants across the country, and of course Chicago made it.