Alston Harvest Dinner is The Alston’s prepaid seasonal night for Friday, September 18, 2026 at 6:00 PM: a French-influenced Chicago steakhouse evening on the third floor of One Chicago at 750 N. State Street. The prepaid OpenTable ticket runs about $250 for two before fee and tax. Chef Jenner Tomaska runs wood fire and French technique in a room that already collected a Jean Banchet Best Design nod; operators Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner (Fifty/50) hold the house. If you want that Sep 18 harvest seat, this is the night: one evening, one seating, paid up front and locked in.
Why Alston Harvest Dinner feels like a night worth locking
Harvest Dinner is a one-night seasonal event: one Friday, one 6:00 PM CT start, money down up front, and the feeling of buying into a harvest celebration. The Alston sits across from Holy Name Cathedral with an expansive dining room, Champagne bar, year-round terrace, and a wine cellar that rewards lingering. Harvest Dinner takes place in that public dining room and books on the same OpenTable page as regular dinners.
Think wood fire, French technique, and the kind of tableside ambition the house already markets (Duck à la Presse is part of the Alston vocabulary). The OpenTable listing spells out the courses. The excitement is the room on a harvest Friday: State Street light on the terrace glass and a Champagne pour before the fire work starts.
People chase dated experiences because they feel like a real plan. A regular Friday reservation can move. A prepaid Sep 18 harvest seat is the night you put on the calendar and stop negotiating. That is the emotional pitch. The practical pitch is simply: same restaurant, different product, pay for the experience, show up at 6:00 PM CT, and treat the confirmation like a ticket.
The food: seasonal steakhouse night, prepaid
Harvest Dinner is a ticketed dinner in The Alston’s dining room, about $250 for two before OpenTable fee and tax. The kitchen is Tomaska’s, Michelin-starred elsewhere (Esmé, Petite Edith), bringing wood fire and French technique to The Alston. The full Sep 18 menu is posted on OpenTable.
If you want a normal steakhouse evening another night (Happy Hour Mon–Fri 4:30–5:30, dining room Sun–Thu 4:30–10 or Fri–Sat 4:30–11) book regular OpenTable inventory. Harvest Dinner is for people who specifically want Sep 18 at 6:00 PM CT as a prepaid experience. Want the terrace versus the main room versus a private space? Call 312-548-2556 or email reservations@thealston.com before you assume a Harvest Dinner seat type: the experience listing and the house can clarify what the prepaid product actually includes.
The room: One Chicago, third floor, public dining
Address: 750 N. State Street, 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60654 (One Chicago), where River North meets the Gold Coast. Phone: 312-548-2556. Site: thealston.com. Instagram: @thealston_chicago. The house frames itself as a French-influenced Chicago steakhouse with terrace energy and private dining spaces. OpenTable and house pages note expansive dining, Champagne bar, terrace, and the Jean Banchet Awards 2026 Best Design recognition. Harvest Dinner sits in public dining-room / experience inventory: the room you can feel excited about without an invite card.
Harvest Dinner is open to the public; the Members’ Club behind the dining room is invitation-only and separate. Private events on the parties page (dinner packages from roughly $115 per guest, The Cave, Gilded Room, Members Lounge, Rose Window Terrace, Celestial Terrace, Main Dining Room buyout) are a different product and price. A regular OpenTable dinner on the same page is a standard reservation; the Harvest Dinner is the prepaid Sep 18 experience.
Jenner Tomaska and the Alston point of view
Jenner Tomaska leads the kitchen. Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner of Fifty/50 operate the house. For hours, experience inventory, or private-events quotes: 312-548-2556 or reservations@thealston.com. Harvest Dinner is a seasonal night in a beautifully designed steakhouse room. Tomaska’s fire is the reason the room matters, and the prepaid Sep 18 seat locks in your night.
How to book
Book on OpenTable: The Alston: open Experiences / prepaid seasonal products, select Friday September 18, 2026, party size matching the experience (typical pattern: two-guest prepaid), and the 6:00 PM CT Harvest Dinner slot if still posted. Prepaid OpenTable experiences are usually non-refundable, so check the cancellation terms at checkout and save your confirmation email. If Sep 18 is sold out, call or email the house. Then come for Tomaska’s fire and a harvest Friday that feels locked in.
Who Alston Harvest Dinner is for
This is for two people who want a prepaid seasonal steakhouse night on Sep 18: dates, celebrations, anyone happy to pay up front for a fixed 6:00 PM CT seat. Harvest Dinner is the one-night ticket that makes a Friday in September feel like an event.
A few practical notes
- What: Alston Harvest Dinner, prepaid OpenTable seasonal experience
- When: Fri Sep 18, 2026 · 6:00 PM CT
- Where: 750 N. State St., 3rd Fl., Chicago IL 60654 (One Chicago)
- Price: about $250/2 before OT fee/tax. Confirm live checkout
- Book: OpenTable Experiences · 312-548-2556 · reservations@thealston.com
- Not: Members’ Club · private-events packages (~$115/guest floor)
- House: chef Jenner Tomaska · Fifty/50 (Mohr & Weiner)
- Hours (regular dining): Sun–Thu 4:30–10 · Fri–Sat 4:30–11 · HH Mon–Fri 4:30–5:30
Alston Harvest Dinner FAQ
What is Alston Harvest Dinner?
A prepaid OpenTable seasonal experience at The Alston for Fri Sep 18, 2026 at 6:00 PM CT: about $250 for two before OpenTable fee and tax, open to the public.
How do I book Alston Harvest Dinner?
On OpenTable: The Alston, open the Experiences / prepaid product for Sep 18 6:00 PM CT, confirm cancel/change language, and pay. Call 312-548-2556 if the listing is gone.
How is Harvest Dinner different from regular dinner?
Harvest Dinner is a dated prepaid experience SKU. Regular OT dinner is a soft reservation on rolling inventory under the venue’s usual OT rules.
Is Harvest Dinner the same as the Members’ Club?
No. The Members’ Club is invite-only and separate from the public dining room. Harvest Dinner is a public prepaid OpenTable experience.
What do private events cost?
House parties page: dinner packages start around $115 per guest, a separate product from Harvest Dinner.
Where is The Alston?
750 N. State Street, 3rd Floor, Chicago IL 60654 (One Chicago). Phone 312-548-2556. Site thealston.com.
Who is the chef?
Jenner Tomaska (also Esmé / Petite Edith). Operators: Greg Mohr and Scott Weiner (Fifty/50 Group).
Alston Harvest Dinner is the Sep 18 prepaid night that turns The Alston’s third-floor steakhouse into a locked-in harvest Friday: Tomaska’s fire, State Street light through the terrace glass, and a confirmation that actually means you paid for the seat. If that is the evening you want, take the experience listing while it is still up.
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