With sultry, modern decor and a Mediterranean menu to match, this is one of Chicago's most exotic

Middle Eastern meets modern in this stylish River North space, where copper-plated tables, hypnotic sitar music and a decor rich with red, blue and gold set an exotic mood. Tizi Melloul's Mediterranean menu starts with tempting appetizers like fire-roasted mussels with warm harissa butter. Entrees range from grilled lamb loin with artichokes and fava beans to marinated duck breast with lentils and applewood bacon. Black-clad beauties linger in the cool white bar and lounge area; diners sit at tables in the dark, blood-red dining room or on pillows in the funky Crescent Room, a festive communal dining area where you bathe your hands in rose water before eating a traditional five-course Mediterranean feast.