Schwa is an upscale restaurant run by chef-owner Michael Carlson and chef de cuisine Papi Chulo.

Chefs interact directly with customers and are encouraged to act as silly as they wish, as long as they produce top quality food.

The evening was considered a success, but placed a great deal of stress on Carlson, causing him to close Schwa the following day for a four-month hiatus.

Schwa's menu is known for unusual ingredients and innovative food combinations, such as Carlson's version of pad Thai made with jellyfish tentacles instead of noodles.

BlackBook Magazine says Schwa features "some of the best food you will ever consume", while famed chef Grant Achatz lists it among his personal favorite places to eat.

Schwa made Citysearch's Top 10 New Restaurants of 2006 and New York magazine's Grub Street blog ranked it among the five hardest reservations to score in the country.

One observer described it as "so understated that [it] is easy to miss even when one is looking for it",[6] while another said "pass by and you might think it's the home of a batty husband and wife who rarely go outside".

[2][8] In line with its minimalistic tendencies, Schwa serves a maximum of 32 customers a night (often leaving the dining room half empty), with staggered seating so that only one table is ordering at any time.

GQ magazine describes a typical customer as having spent weeks trying to get past the always full answering machine that serves as Schwa's primary reservation system.

[13] With financial support from his father, Carlson took over Lovitt and renamed the restaurant after the neutral, unstressed vowel schwa (ə), a name he says reflects his "pared-down" approach to food.

[4] The Chicago Tribune noted Schwa's initial menu did just that, featuring "a soft-boiled organic egg coated in brioche, served with potato puree and Illinois sturgeon caviar".

[5][11] One food critic attributed Schwa's early attention to its unusual combination of "culinary alchemy" and "straightforward Italian cuisine".

"[17] On October 5, 2007, Carlson hosted a gathering of world-famous chefs at Schwa as part of Charlie Trotter's 20th anniversary celebration.

[5][18] He later said that he had burned out from working too hard – 18-hour days were not uncommon – and needed a break[8][15] and explained that he and his crew had been "talking about closing for weeks, but [knew they] just had to do [the Trotter] dinner" first.

[19] The menu was redone, with only the three most popular dishes – the quail egg ravioli, the jellyfish pad Thai, and the "pine cone" dessert – returning.

Carlson joked that it was good thing that Barack did not join her: "I don't think the twenty extra Secret Service agents needed would have fit".

[2] The latter option could be described as "chef's choice" – on any given night, Carlson prepares courses of his choosing which make up the degustation menu for that evening.

[5] Surprising ingredients such as jellyfish, roe, tongue, and offal are found in a large number of dishes, as are unusual combinations such as oysters and oatmeal.

[2] No portion of the meal is spared from experimentation; tomato sorbet finds its way into the salad, while the consommé soup features melon pieces.

[5][11] Considered the restaurant's signature dish, it consists of a single ravioli stuffed with quail egg yolk and laced with truffle butter.

[2] Other notable dishes include pad Thai made with jellyfish instead of noodles, antelope meat dusted with curry powder and coated with white chocolate pudding, "pine cones" (sea urchin ice cream served in pine-flavored cones), and something Carlson calls "onion glue".

[2][3][5][6] In 2006, Phil Vettel of the Chicago Tribune described the food as four-star quality, while giving the restaurant an overall rating of three stars (out of four) because of below-average service.

[4] A Chicago magazine reviewer remarked that the cooking was "superbly inventive" and that Carlson wowed him with "tasty stunts ... [that] knock your socks off".

Her favorite dish of the night was the sweetbreads dessert, which she described as "salty, savory, sweet, and deliriously complex, it shoots for the moon and succeeds by confounding every expectation.

"[25] Chicago magazine gives Schwa three-and-a-half stars (out of four), saying "count on OK service but brilliant food" and an experience that "defies the norm.

Paul Kahan remarks, "I think it's so cool that the chefs serve the food", while Carrie Nahabedian emphatically declares "Everyone loves Schwa.

[28] Locally grown product enthusiast Rob Gardner described Schwa as "a fun restaurant" and a "tremendous value" despite the price.

[3] Frommer's author Holly Hughes described Schwa's dishes as "miniature works of art" and Carlson's cooking as "innovative".

"[3] That same year, Mobil Travel Guide awarded Schwa three stars (out of five) calling the menu "remarkably innovative" and "knockout" good.