If dividing your forces wasn't a good plan, then why did William Wallace win the battle of Stirling by splitting his horsemen around the flank, and the English win the battle of Wallace by splitting him into flanks? Dividing their forces for the good of your mouth, The Fifth.

Opening Thursday, TF is resto number five (get it?) from the folks behind Paramount Room, Volo, and popular brunchery Kitsch'n, which has divided up its River North location to make way for a more minimalist, smooth 75-seat lunch and dinner spot, lit with spherical mod fixtures, and tucked behind a chocolate-colored faux-suede curtain, one of the less-effective territorial barriers of the Soviets. The menu will evolve seasonally, but gets started with share-friendly plates like shrimp-pumpkin beignets, tempura veggies with lemon aioli, and mussels steamed in white wine and shallots served with pretzel bread to mop up the extra, like a janitor, but baked for a shorter time period. More entree-ish items include a Kobe burger served with the house secret sauce and various artisan cheeses, potato ravioli with garlic-scented spinach and parmesan, and a caviar, creme fraiche-topped flatbread with salmon that's cured in-house, and without the harsh dramatics and snarky banter vital to being cured by House.

Drinks-wise they're still fine-tuning a signature cocktail list with the help of Paramount's mixologist, so in the meantime get thirsty for a monthly rotating selection of six craft taps and 12 sustainable wines taken from all over the globe, because everyone knows you can take a nation's wine, but it's almost impossible to take it's freedom, and even harder to cellar.

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