Chef/owner Paul Kahan will tell you that his new-ish place Avec, one of the hottest new restaurants in town, is actually not a restaurant.

It’s a wine bar that serves food, he’ll say. Call it what you like, but we’ve had some great dinners there. It’s one of the best places in Chicago for trying interesting, inexpensive wines by the glass, and interesting, inexpensive small and large plates of food inspired by the Mediterranean regions of Italy, France, Spain and Portugal.

Avec resembles a cedar sauna, and is always filled with ridiculously good-looking people. Those who are squeamish about sitting very close to strangers should think twice about Avec. Perhaps a better choice would be Blackbird, Kahan’s place right next door, which he unabashedly refers to as a restaurant.