posted 03-26-2005 09:22 PM            

Later, when we were downstairs in the 'Captain's Quarters' where the main display case is located, he and Marilyn came down and were seated for dinner at a table adjacent to the display. I could've interrupted with a question or comment, but I didn't.

Later, my 16-year-old daughter asked, "That was the real Marilyn Lovell?" Cracked me up... all she knows about is the movie.

posted 03-02-2006 08:57 PM               

The menu is on-line, so you can be the judge of the prices. While it isn't something I would budget every night, I thought it was quite appropriate for the level of service and the food.

I ate the Trio of Lamb, Veal and Filet Medallions with Flageolet Bean Vegetable Stew. I thought it was pretty good.

For desert I had the Créme Brulee. Now that was world class. It was the best Créme Brulee I have ever had. Period.

Later during the dinner Capt. Lovell walked around the room greeting all of the people having dinner, and asked them how they were enjoying themselves.

My impression was that he looked like a round peg in a round hole in his role at the restaurant.

posted 03-03-2006 05:26 AM               

The food was American neuveau cusine and very good. It was a tenderloin and the presentation was excellent.

The restaurant itself is a marvelous place. You walk in the door and the first thing you see is a mahogany bar with the "Steeds of Apollo" mural over the bar. It is beautiful.

The upstairs is well designed and quite comfortable, but it is the downstairs where the space junkie goes. There is a wood paneled room downstairs filled with leather furniture. When you enter the room you pass between four foot tall models of the Saturn V and the N1. One side of the room is walled with glass cabinets that are filled with artifacts for Lovell's missions.

The room itself is has a bronze statue of Lovell on a table and the fireplace mantle has his Harmon and Collier Trophies mounted on it. I could have stayed there all night.

I met Jim Lovell at Kim Poor's several months later. We talked about the restaurant and I joked with him that I tried to stuff the Collier Trophy down my pants on the way out. He told me that is why they bolted it to the mantle.

posted 03-03-2006 08:18 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Larry McGlynn:
You walk in the door and the first thing you see is a mahogany bar with the "Steeds of Apollo" mural over the bar. It is beautiful.

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posted 03-04-2006 06:20 AM               

I will definitely visit him next time I'm in the area.

posted 02-20-2014 09:23 AM               

The restaurant will continue taking reservations as long as the doors are open. Should the building sell, [Susan] Lovell promises to give customers and the community as much notice as possible, so that long-standing reservations and gift cards can be honored. But, she emphasizes, there is no buyer, and it may a month or a year before the building sells. And even if the building does sell, the hope is that the new buyer will continue to run the restaurant.

...according to Jim Lovell, the decision to sell was made with the family's best interests at heart.

"Because I'm getting older, and they're all spread out, and Jay, who runs the restaurant is getting older, too, they decided to … feel around to see if there is an interest in the property," said Lovell.

Ideally, the family would like to find a local buyer or group of buyers interested in continuing to run the restaurant and maintain it as a local landmark.

posted 03-20-2015 09:56 PM               

I am having an auction here at Lovells. Everything to the bare walls is for sale (except personal space memorabilia). So if there is something you like to have from Lovells, please come on by and bid on it.

...Looks like the auction will be on April 22, 2015 at around 9 a.m. start time and will continue until everything is gone. Ladies and gentlemen, so you all know, all the space memorabilia will be removed and is not part of the auction. All that stays with the Lovell family.

posted 03-20-2015 10:13 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Jay Lovell is in the process of building a new restaurant called Jay Lovell's, which is billed as a smaller, more casual establishment.

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posted 04-07-2015 11:30 AM            

Though Lovell's of Lake Forest will shut its doors for good on Sunday, April 12, the memories — and the memorabilia — will remain.

"Tons of memories. Tons of memories here at Lovell's," said Chef Jay Lovell, who runs the restaurant along with his wife, Darice Lovell.

Jay's father, Captain James Lovell, opened Lovell's on April 23, 1999, and sold the business to his son and daughter-in-law 10 years ago. NorthShore University HealthSystem will close on the property in May at an undisclosed price.

posted 04-10-2015 02:12 PM               

My four kids looked at all the artifacts that I had put into the restaurant, a lot of them are not space-flown artifacts but are pictures of me and the crew and things like that, so they all took turns picking them all out for themselves. So after the restaurant closes, the first thing they are going to do is come over and gather up all the stuff and take it home with them.

posted 04-14-2015 08:31 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by YankeeClipper:
Anyone know the exact fate of Lumen Winter's "Steeds of Apollo"?

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