The Walnut Room, the legendary Chicago restaurant best known for Mrs. Hering’s chicken pot pie , on the seventh floor of the store forever known as Marshall Field’s on State Street , opens holiday reservations this week with a new executive chef.

Reservations, for arguably the season’s toughest tables in town, open on Sept. 25 at 9 a.m. on OpenTable .

The 45-foot Great Tree , however, won’t be lit until Nov. 1, the first Saturday of the month, as is tradition, but will stay on until Jan. 11, a week longer than years past.

The restaurant will offer a full holiday menu, including the chicken pot pie, of course, and the Walnut old fashioned cocktail, a relatively new favorite, plus five historic items.

The Walnut Room serves an estimated 30,000 pot pies and 20,000 old fashioned

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