Back to Bonsoiree

SPOILER ALERT: This meal was seven courses. This post is going to be long.

I visited Bonsoiree for the first time for a Valentine’s Day dinner two years ago. It was an eight-course meal – and it was truly amazing. And the restaurant was BYO, which made it even more amazing because that makes enjoying fine dining so much more affordable. I’d never experienced a fine dining restaurant that was BYO before boinsoree. At the time, the unassuming little restaurant was brand new – but Jeff and I knew we had stumbled upon something great.
Since then, Bonsoiree has been awarded a Michelin star and has received hordes of accolades from local press, as well as reviewers on Yelp (4.5 stars) and Open Table. Consequently, you now have to make reservations months in advance if you want to dine there on a Friday or Saturday. The tiny but elegant spot has a max of 17 tables, which also contributes to the difficulty in securing a reservation. But once you’re in, you’ll know it was worth it. The space is beautiful. The lines are simple and clean, the décor is minimalist without being stark. Creativity, an eye for the aesthetic and attention to detail is reflected in all aspects of the experience: from the space itself to different kinds of dinnerware on which the various courses are served.

On Sundays, you commit to four or seven courses and the menu is fixed. Always. However, the host calls a couple of days prior to your reservation to see if you have any dietary restrictions or allergies – and if you do, they are happy to make accommodations and tailor your menu accordingly. Jeff and I kept it real and committed to the seven-course menu. (We didn’t realize that the courses for these two meals are not necessarily the same, but you should be aware that they may be. We thought that the seven-course menu just featured three additional courses. That’s not necessarily the case.)

Our first course was an unbelievable lobster bisque. But this was no ordinary lobster bisque. It came complete with crab, escargot (never had that in a soup before!), pumpkin caramel, a few pieces of caramel corn and some ground sumac. Somehow all of those crazy elements worked together and it was truly fabulous.

Our second course was a salad comprised of winter greens, golden and red beets, house-cured salmon, candied lemons, walnuts, ground pistachios, daikon (a type of Japanese radish) and lemon vinaigrette -- topped with half a white anchovy. The sald was an interesting blend of flavors and textures. I enjoyed it, but left half my anchovy. I mean, generally, I’ll eat them, sometimes those suckers are just too salty for me.
Our third course was seared pork belly with grilled Wagyu beef. It was served on a wooden board, with smears of a white chocolate barbecue sauce, drops of a wasabi mustard and a half gooseberry. Combined, all of the flavors were incredible. The gooseberry was an interesting foil to the rest of the flavors and provided a nice burst of cool in case you underestimated how much wasabi was loaded into that mustard. All in all, I loved this dish. (Sorry the photo for this was simply too dark to bother including.)

Our fourth course was both Jeff’s and my favorite: grilled Barramundi served atop melted leeks, with hanzu butter, tomato salt and edamame. (Barramundi is a mild white fish that’s making its way onto more and more menus. It’s a sustainable choice that I highly recommend. If you like halibut or mahi mahi, you’ll like Barramundi.) The fish and its accompaniments were served in a dish that looked like a hollowed out half log. Naturally, the engineer in Jeff was fascinated by what it was made of. Naturally, I have no idea, but it was a very cool-looking presentation. The dish was absolutely outstanding.
Our fifth course featured lamb loin and lamb sausage in a spicy ginger sauce, served atop a melange of mushrooms and with a potato concoction that had multple creamy layers. It kind of reminded me of a really neat au gratin, housed in something that reminded me of the exterior of an omelette. Very interesting course. Tasty, but not my favorite.Our sixth course was a palate-cleansing umami mushroom ice cream with a hint of thyme. It was an interesting twist on all of these ingredients, as I’d certainly never had them combined before. Though it seems kind of strange to have the savory flavor of mushrooms (tasted almost like truffle) combined with the cold, creamy texture of ice cream and the lemony pop of thyme, it wasn’t bad. I wouldn’t choose it at an ice cream parlor, but that’s not the point. It did its job and cleansed my palate.
Our seventh course was dessert. We’d noticed the couple next to us feasting on an amazing dessert earlier, so we were pretty excited about the prospect of something involving beignets and chocolate sauces. Suffice to say that when ours arrived, we were a little surprised: it was cheesecake made with exploratory cheese, topped with panna cotta and fresh strawberries, served aside a salted strawberry coulis, some crystalized honey – aaaaand a candied brussels sprout. What?!
There are a few things that come into play here. Jeff hates cheesecake. Period. I am also not a huge cheesecake fan. But on top of all of this, they also incorporated the one (literally the only one) vegetable I cannot force myself to like, no matter what is done to it. I’ve heard it all and tried it all. I don’t care how you’ve roasted it; it doesn’t matter that it’s been slathered in butter and cooked with bacon. Each time I try one, I still hate the bitterness that invariably comes along with any and all brussels sprouts. Despite this, I tried the candied brussels sprout. And I was not shocked to discover it tasted exactly like a dried out, semi-sweetened brussels sprout. Boooo.

However, I do find myself hating cheesecake less and less each time I try it, and will certainly say that as cheesecake goes, this stuff was excellent. The ingredients were clearly high quality and the flavors worked well together. If I was a true cheesecake fan, I’m sure I’d have been in heaven. But I couldn’t stop wondering…

Where was the chocolate? What happened to our beignets? And then we heard the server tell the people who’d since sat down at the table beside us the difference between the four- and seven-course menus: the seven-course menu featured three more courses, but the portions were smaller and it included a different dessert. FAIL. Epic fail. Why hadn’t we asked? Why hadn’t we thought to mention an aversion to cream cheese? We could have had beignets and chocolate!

Oh well. Over all, the meal was stupendous and even my least favorite course was pretty darn good. I mean, I ate all of my cheesecake. And Jeff forced himself to eat most of his, too, because he knows from experience that if you don’t eat the vast majority of any of the courses, the server will ask you if you didn’t like the dish and offer to bring you something different. (Last time we went, we couldn’t finish all of the Kobe beef carpaccio in one of the courses and our server was very concerned that we’d been unhappy with it.) And the only thing Jeff hates more than cheesecake is the thought of offending a chef.

All of that said, Bonsoiree, we'll be back! Hopefully next time we'll find beignets and chocolate!

Bonsoiree is located at 2728 W. Armitage Avenue, between Washtenaw and Fairfield. 7-course "no menu" tasting is $75; 4-course "no menu" tasting is $45. Sundays only.

Grahamwich is OPEN!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, thank God. After two long years of limbo, Grahamwich finally opened its doors on Wednesday! Sadly, I was frantically preparing for a business trip, so I couldn't get there on opening day.

However, I do plan to visit next week and promise a full report. And lucky for me (less lucky for my wallet), Grahamwich is located just one short block from where I work! At 615 N. State, between Ohio and Ontario, I can confidently say that it will become a lunchtime favorite of mine.

Sandwiches by Graham, truffled popcorn and flavored sodas, you will be mine. (Don't worry, I promise to actually take some pictures here...)

Has anyone been yet? If you've already made it over, let me know how it is!

Cafe Bernard

An old client of mine used to speak very highly of Cafe Bernard, so I'd been meaning to give it a whirl. I finally decided to pull the trigger on Friday, when Jeff and I were looking for a place to have dinner in Lincoln Park.

All in all, it was a very solid dinner experience. The ambiance is interesting. The interior reminded me of an old French farmhouse. It's dark and open and the tables and chairs have a rustic quality that I actually enjoyed. The restaurant, though it's French cuisine, doesn't feel overly chic or stuffy. The experience reminds me more of dining in the South of France, rather than Paris. I couldn't help but think of the experiences Peter Mayle describes in his books, which I absolutely love. (Check out A Year In Provence, Encore Provence and Toujours Provence if you love hilarious memoirs from a British ad man who up and moved from London to Southern France to fully realize and embrace his love of food and a slower way of life.)

Our waiter was wonderful and helped us pick out a nice French wine. It was a Rhone that worked well with both of our entrees, robust enough to stand up to Jeff's entree, but not so full-bodied that it overwhelmed mine. The bottle was a Chateauneuf-du-Pape Domaine Jerome Gradassi, but I'm afraid I can't remember the year. Sorry, winos!

For my entree, I decided to try their signature dish, the grilled North Atlantic salmon in a Cabernet Sauvignon sauce. It was quite tasty. I've never had fish in a red wine sauce before and I actually really liked it. The sauce had just a hint of sweetness that played well off of the richness of the salmon, which was impeccably cooked. The fish was served with some grilled baby Yukon Gold potatoes and a mixture of veggies (carrots, green beans, zucchini) that had most definitely been cooked in butter. All of the elements worked very well together to create a hearty meal perfect in the rustic setting. All in all, I was very happy with my meal.

Jeff tried the roasted rack of lamb in a rosemary au jus. Rosemary au jus is brilliant; it works so well with lamb. The combination was absolutely perfect and served with some whipped potatoes and a buttery mix of vegetables similar to mine.

For dessert, we stepped a little out of our comfort zone by ordering the white chocolate mousse with berries. While we're very familiar with chocolate mousse, neither of us had ever had a white chocolate one. It was delicious. Definitely sweeter than a conventional chocolate mousse, but perfectly paired with the tart blueberries, blackberries and strawberries all layered into a parfait glass. Like the donkey in Shrek, I love me some parfait.

Cafe Bernard is most definitely worth a stop for a good rustic* French meal that's not at all pretensious. I'm very glad I finally went!

*Alas, Cafe Bernard is so dark and rustic that none of my pictures came out. Sorry, peeps. Better luck next time!

More Restaurant Reviews Coming Soon

Hi, Mega Biters:

Sorry for the hiatus. The new job and a bout with the flu have taken a toll on my restaurant-touring abilities of late. But I'll be back in action this coming weekend!

Super excited for my return to one of my very favorite restaurants in the city, bonsoiree, which I'll be reviewing for the very first time. (And I'll actually take some pictures... much to Jeff's inevitable dismay! He loves it when I draw attention to the table.)

Tomorrow night's still up in the air: I'll either be trying Cafe Bernard or Vintage 338.

Promise to keep you in the loop with new posts next week!

Have a great weekend -- hope you're enjoying all the holiday parties!

Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair and Asparagus

I dine out so often that I sometimes forget I'm actually not a bad cook. However, a new work schedule that involves a lot more hours, but with a more flexible schedule means that I find myself working from home more than I'm used to. As a result, I'm home for lunch -- with no time to run out for anything. This means that I need to be able to whip something up from what I already have at home fast, like "in between conference calls" fast.

Fortunately, I'm a big fan of improvisation in the kitchen. Today, I found myself thinking about a nice batch of fresh asparagus that I bought on Monday night and hadn't used yet. What would I do with asparagus at lunch -- without running out to buy a nice piece of fish or chicken to serve as a main to my traditional side veggie?

My mind wandered to the bag of frozen pre-cooked shrimp I'd purchased at Trader Joe's a couple of trips ago. Need to use that, too. Bingo. Shrimp scampi with asparagus! I absolutely love Barilla Plus pasta, which is a multigrain pasta that has more protein and fiber than regular pasta. I much prefer the taste and texture of this pasta to 100% whole wheat pasta -- and since it's made from a blend of grain and legume flours, I find it to be more filling as well. For this reason, I always have at least a box or two on hand in our little pantry. (Ask Jenny. She loves how I dominate our Lazy Susan.)

So here's how I made a healthier version of a restaurant quality meal in under 15 minutes. (Caveat: this doesn't include the time it takes for water to boil.) I started boiling some water for pasta. I planned to use 1/4 of the box, so I just boiled enough to fill about 3/4 of a medium sauce pan. (Cooking's an art, not a science... which is probably why I'm not horrible at it.) I put the pasta into the pan and followed the directions (cook for 6 minutes) on the back of the box.

In the meantime, I busted the frozen shrimp out of my freezer, learned that a serving is about seven shrimp, put eight in a strainer and ran cold water over them for about 5 minutes.

While my shrimp were "quick defrosting," I put a saute pan on the stove and threw about a tablespoon of olive oil in it. I crushed a clove of garlic and then minced it finely before tossing it into the pan with the heating olive oil.

I moved my shrimp out of the way and set to work with a handful of my asparagus bunch. I broke the ends of the stalks of my asparagus off (just take the bottom of the stalk and see where it breaks -- you don't want to eat the very bottoms) and gave them a good rinse. After patting them dry, I threw them into the pan with the olive oil and garlic for a quick saute.

By now, my pasta was done, so I went ahead and drained it. I dumped most of the water out, but saved some in the pan with my pasta, which I just poured right into the colander housing my (still not 100% thawed frozen) shrimp. Once I drained any excess water, I put the pasta and the shrimp into the sautee pan. (I put a tiny bit extra olive oil in the pan with the asparagus first, right before adding the pasta. Literally, less than a teaspoon.) Then I mixed everything together, making sure that the pasta got some of the olive oil. I grabbed a fresh lemon, cut it in half and squeezed the juice from both halves over the pasta. After adding a few turns of fresh ground cracked pepper and some fresh lemon zest, my meal was ready to eat.

Now, in the future, I'd probably swap about half the lemon juice for some dry white wine on hand. (I'd definitely recommend this if you don't love the tart flavor of lemon as much as I do.) But since I'm mostly a red wine drinker, I didn't have any white wine on hand and I was doing this off the cuff. Adding a tablespoon or so of butter to the sauce would also make it richer and cut the acidity, but since I do eat in restaurants so often, I try to keep my cooking at home on the healthier side. However, the butter would be a good way to plus the sauce up a little.

Definitely no need to follow this recipe exactly -- just thought I'd pass it along as fodder for inspiration the next time you find yourself wondering "what exactly am I going to eat?" Shrimp scampi. Delicious, fast -- and totally doable.

*Caveat: I am not a professional chef. The extent of my "formal training" is a few classes at The Chopping Block. I continue to learn to cook mostly by cooking with good cooks whenever I can, trying tons of new dishes in restaurants, figuring out what flavors work together and understanding what I like.

The Most Wonderful... Cocktails... Of The Year

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone, but alas it has. Just under 365 days to wait until that feast-filled holiday comes around again. Sigh.

However, the upside of Thanksgiving's passing is that the holiday season is now upon us! This means that it is once again socially acceptable to drink Baileys on the rocks. (The Queens girls and I eagerly anticipate this time of year... drinking Baileys on the rocks when we're all home for the holidays is a longstanding tradition that makes bartenders look at us quizzically since we're not actually old ladies, but it's one that we continue to honor anyway.)

Fortunately, Baileys doesn't insist on bombarding us with commercials teaching us how to craft this simple concoction -- Disaronno, I'm looking at you. If I see one more "Disaronno on the rocks" cocktail-crafting commercial, I'm going to poke someone's eye out. Take a glass. Add some ice. Pour in a shot (or two or three) of Baileys. There you have it. A Queen of All Saints cocktail favorite. No mixology commercial necessary.

Ahh, but I digress. While I can't deny that simple Baileys on ice is one of my favorite cocktails, it's just one of many fun and festive seasonal libations available this time of year. My dear friends at Food Babies have put together a list of some of their favorite holiday cocktail recipes here. I highly recommend checking them out and trying at least a few. Tis the season!

Best. Holiday. Ever.

Thanksgiving is dedicated to all that I love most: food, family and friends. Naturally, it's my favorite holiday. Since my mom's family is all here in Chicago and there's a large contingent of my dad's family out on the west coast, I alternate spending Thanksgiving here at home with the Clarks and feasting with the foodies out in Palm Springs. Either way, it's always an amazing day.

This year, I spent the holiday in Chicago. Peggy and Bill, my fave Chicago foodies, graciously hosted and everything was fantastic. However, I'd like to highlight my personal favorite Thanksgiving tradition: the cooking of the second turkey.

Ask anyone who's borne the burden of dating any member of the Clark clan and they'll vouch for what an "experience" the Thanksgiving experience is. There are approximately 700 of us (only a slight exaggeration) and it gets really, incredibly loud. But in the midst of all of the insanity, the traditional games of dice, the toasts (you may or may not be welcomed to the family on your very first Thanksgiving appearance, which may or may not creep you out, but if you belong you'll be able to laugh it off), the raucous laughter, the chorus of voices -- each one louder than the next and the gaggle of little kids running around... there is a sit-down meal of epic proportions.

There is dinner: turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin muffins, stuffing, gravy, beef tenderloin, a big green salad. And then there are second helpings. Then there's dessert. Pies of all kinds: pumpkin, cherry, lemon meringue, French silk. An amazing array of cookies. It's all very normal.

But then things get real. All the while we've been feasting on rounds 1 and 2, lounging around watching football, drinking cocktails, eating dessert and goofing around with one another, something great has been in the works.

That something is turkey number two. And it's done just as people are feeling ready for some turkey sandwiches. Holidays in the Clark family aren't a sprint; they're a marathon. Knowing that, Peggy and Bill roast a second turkey and prepare a full sandwich bar, complete with a variety of breads, rolls and croissants, an assortment of condiments and most importantly, a giant platter of fresh-from-the-oven white and dark meat.

It is, without a doubt, the best part of the day. I highly recommend this tradition to anyone who loves a good meal. Or three. Or four. But on Thanksgiving, who's counting?

Chez Joel: Je T'aime

After attending an alumni event in the old Ignatius hood a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned I'd been meaning to go to nearby tiny French bistro Chez Joel since it opened over a decade ago. At that time, I was attending high school at St. Ignatius and Chez Joel was really the first nice restaurant to take hold on Taylor Street in the changing neighborhood. Back then, Ignatius was still surrounded by housing projects on two of four sides and Taylor Street was still the heart and soul of Chicago's close-knit Italian community, Little Italy.

As such, Chez Joel was an anomaly on a street defined by numerous Italian hallmarks (Al's Italian Beef, Ro Sal's, Mario's Italian Ice, Serafina's, Tuscany, Pompeii, Rosebud) and randomly, a restaurant called The Thai Bowl... along with the abomination that was Nea Agora, with raw racks of lamb being carted in and out at an alarming frequency by blood-spattered workers who grinned greefully at the horror on the baby faces of tiny freshmen students being crushed by backpacks twice their height and weight. A French Bistro? All right. Everyone said the neighborhood was transitioning; we supposed this was proof.

And it was. Ten years later, Chez Joel doesn't look the least bit out of place on this stretch of Taylor Street. In fact, it fits right in on what is an absolutely cosmopolitan and downright adorable spanse of restaurants, bars, cafes and shops. The neighborhood has, in fact, changed and is now known more as University Village than anything else. The last of the housing projects were razed shortly after my senior year. Little Italy is still alive and well, but the residents and families who've been there for generations find themselves fighting for space with students and yuppies -- and combating the rising property taxes and rents that have accompanied the change in their neighborhood.

Being the thoughtful guy -- and fan of good food -- that he is, Jeff surprised me with a reservation last Friday night. History and ties to the past aside, I was delighted to discover my new favorite French restaurant in Chicago. I am not one myself, but the place is a Francophile's dream. As we entered, we were greeted with airy "bon soir" after "bon soir" from a staff that seemed absolutely capable of continuing an entire conversation in French if visitors were willing/able. We were then presented with a wine list largely dominated by French gems. Being rather unfamiliar with French wine, we asked our friendly and knowledgable server to assist us in picking a bottle. She did an excellent job; we were very pleased with her selection -- a 2007 Chateau Mangot St. Emilion Grand Cru.

As we sipped our wine, we sampled some of the bread, which was excellent -- always a good sign -- and an unusual, but delicious olive oil/olive tapenade mixture. Of course, being a little French bistro, butter was served as well.

To start, we ordered the mussels in a white wine and herb sauce. The mussels were extremely large and tasted exceptionally fresh. But what really made this dish was the sauce, which was nothing short of phenomenal. At one point, Jeff literally had to remove the bread basket from my side of the table with a reminder that if I continued on at my current pace, I wasn't going to have room for dinner OR dessert. It's a good thing I came with someone to save me from myself, because I wouldn't have wanted to miss a bite of my entree or the dessert that night. But seriously, get the mussels. Even if it's just for the sauce. It is so worth it.

For my entree, I selected the filet mignon with a Bordeaux red wine and thyme sauce. It was honestly a better steak than the one I had at Gibsons the week prior. Same cut, but perfectly seasoned and cooked exactly as I'd asked: medium. The sauce was phenomenal and the filet was served atop an colorful melange of hericots verts and slender carrots, along with a mushroom fricasee. The presentation was artful, but the execution of the flavors was the true star of the show. This entree was brilliant. Every element worked on its own, but together they made the meal outstanding.

Jeff ordered the duck, which was comprised of a duck leg and breast, which were accompanied by a delicious Bourdelaise sauce and some cranberries, whose tartness was a perfect complement to the richness of the duck, served atop a mushroom fricasee. Each of the elements in this dish worked as hard as those in mine and the payoff was the same: the entree was amazing.

We really struggled to decide which dessert to order. So many sounded appealing that there wasn't one I didn't want to try. After a lot of deliberation, we narrowed it down to the nightly special, an apple tart tatin, a dense chocolate cake served warm and with vanilla ice cream atop it and an almond cake, also served warm and with an accompanying scoop of vanilla ice cream. Ultimately, we decided to go for the special apple tart tatin and it could not have been better. (Or more beautiful. Sorry for the lack of photo. I forgot to take one in my excitement to dig in.) The apples were hot, fresh and sweet, the pastry was perfect, the ice cream was cool and creamy -- and the caramel artfully swept across the plate was unbelievable. This dessert was spectacular. In the same fashion as our appetizer and entrees, each element stood out on its own, but when combined they worked together in perfect harmony to create something truly unbelievable.

All in all, the service was wonderful, the food is phenomenal and the atmosphere is cozy. (However, I'll definitely be sure to come back in the summer as they have a much-acclaimed outdoor patio for al fresco dining. Like a creep, I took a peek during our visit and I can imagine it's just perfect for a summer meal.) I was crushed when they closed Old Town Brasserie, but I definitely have a new favorite French place in town. Chez Joel, after ten years, I'm so glad I finally got to know you. I'll be back, sooner rather than later.

Dear Michelin: Finally. Love, Chicago

Today may as well have been Christmas Day for Chicago food enthusiasts. The global foodie powers that be (a.k.a. super stealthy Michelin Guide inspectors) have released their 2011 Guides... and they reviewed Chicago restaurants for the very first time in history! As everyone here knows, Chicago restaurants have been very, very good this year. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Chicago restaurants also received a veritable boatload of Michelin stars in their first showing!

The list of Chicago area restaurants awarded one to three Michelin stars contains a lot of the usual suspects from the Chicago fine dining scene, but there were a few notable newcomers as well. Some of the selections may surprise you, but my attitude is "the more the merrier!" The more Michelin-starred restaurants that we have, the the more foodie cred we gain and the more cosmopolitan our amazing city seems. Chicago is a great city -- and its restaurant scene just keeps getting better and better. Let the throngs of tourists flock! (But please don't impair my ability to get reservations at these places...)

You can view the complete list from Michelin below (with my comments at the end, naturally):

"Three Michelin stars mean exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey. One always eats here extremely well, sometimes superbly. Distinctive dishes are precisely executed, using superlative ingredients."

Alinea
L2O

"Two Michelin stars mean excellent cuisine, worth a detour. Skillfully and carefully crafted dishes of outstanding quality. "

Avenues
Charlie Trotter's
Ria

"One Michelin star means a very good restaurant in its category. A place offering cuisine prepared to a consistently high standard."

Blackbird
Boka
bonsoiree
Crofton on Wells
Everest
graham elliot
Longman & Eagle
NAHA
NoMI
Schwa
Seasons
Sepia
Sixteen
Spiaggia
Takashi
Topolobampo
Tru
Vie

To provide some context, only The French Laundry (an EPIC fine dining institution in Napa Valley) received a three star rating in the 2010 San Francisco Michelin Guide. Other legendary fine dining spots such as Gary Danko, Chez Panisse and Masa's received one star. Therefore, Chicago says "What's UP, SF!!!" and "What's up, Michelin -- it's about damn time you made it out here! Come on now, we're a sensible stop right on the way from NYC to SF!"

That said, it is extremely exciting that Michelin recognizes that there are so many amazing restaurants in the Chicagoland area. (Yup, thanks to Vie in Western Springs, I have to say "Chicagoland" instead of just Chicago. Way to represent fine dining in the 'burbs, Vie!)

While I have yet to make it to any of the two- and three-star winners, I have been to many of the one-starred restaurants above and they're outstanding. But of course, I was most excited to see that some of my all-time favorite restaurants received stars: bonsoiree and graham elliot! (Glad I just visited graham and have another reservation for bonsoiree on the books already... These places are going to be jammed! Also, I have to give mad props to Jeff here for discovering bonsoiree wayyy before Michelin -- and anyone else I know, for that matter -- and introducing me to it.)

However, Longman & Eagle gets a special shout-out as well. The Logan Square bar and restaurant features a small, but extremely innovative menu and executes it very well. I saw a hilarious tweet today that said, "Longman & Eagle's star proves that at least one Michelin inspector is a hipster." (Sarah Brick.) All kidding aside, Longman & Eagle is a big hipster hang-out, but it clearly has mainsteam appeal as well. Either way, looks like this neighborhood fave is going to be around for awhile!

The amazing two- and three-star ratings for Alinea, L20, Ria, Charlie Trotter's and Avenues only make me more determined to get reservations on the books. Due to the prices one must pay for some of the most outrageous dining experiences on the planet (literally now), I may have to do just one a year... but I will get to all of these establishments eventually! After a conversation with Keith from Food Babies today, I'm thinking you might be seeing a joint dinner at Alinea at some point in the (relatively) near future...

But in the meantime, who's been to the two- and three-star venues? Any thoughts? Raves? Reviews? Fill us in!

And if you'd like to know more of Michelin's thoughts on Chicago restaurants, you can purchase the official guide here.

Ladies. Love. STEAK.

Per my earlier post, I rounded up ten ladies who love steak for dinner at the acclaimed Chicago institution, Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse on Rush Street. After a couple of cocktails at Lux Bar, we settled into our table in the dining room. Our very animated server welcomed us and aided us in picking out a suitable Cabernet Sauvignon to accompany our steak selections. The ladies who love steak happily toasted our love of steak and set to work on the menu.

We started off with some crab cakes, which I loved. The beauty of the crab cakes at Gibsons is that they're made with high quality jumbo lump meat crab and aren't overwhelmed by mayonnaise or any other sort of creamy grossness. Instead, they taste like crab, which to me indicates that they're perfectly done. However, the cakes are served with a side of something creamy and lemon wedges, should you feel the need to jazz them up in any way.


And then it was time for the steaks. All Gibsons steaks receive a "prime" grade from the USDA, which is pretty impressive considering that currently less than 2% of all beef produced in the U.S. is graded "prime." It's also worth noting that Gibsons beef comes from cattle proven to be of at least 90% Black Angus heritage -- and that all steaks are aged for 35 days before being cooked in 1800-degree infrared broilers to preserve the delicious beefy juices that make steaks great.

Steaks come with a choice of soup or house salad at Gibsons. Everyone at the table opted for the salad, which we discovered is a pretty hefty portion in and of itself, and which was quite tasty. However, I was almost full by the time my steak arrived. Gibsons definitely abides by the Chicago tradition of going big or going home. (A rule by which I tend to live my life... for better or worse.)

The ladies ordered a variety of cuts of steak (all of which appeared raw tableside during the waiter's spirited menu spiel), but the majority of us stuck to a classic -- and my own personal favorite: filet mignon served with Bernaise sauce on the side. The quality of the filet was impeccable and it was cooked to a perfect medium as well. If there's one negative to note, my filet was a tad over-salted for my taste. It was nothing unbearable and I certainly enjoyed my steak; I just could have done with a little less salt. (I also have to say that the picture below doesn't really do the steaks justice, but it's really hard to photograph food well on a phone!)


The sides we ordered were also very tasty. Spinach sauteed with garlic and olive oil, creamed spinach (my personal favorite accompaniment to a steak dinner), sauteed baby button mushrooms, mashed potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, a loaded baked potato with bacon and lots of melted cheese (a former menu favorite requested by Gibsons regular Ms. Katie O'Keefe)... All of them were delicious. My personal favorites were the sauteed mushrooms and the creamed spinach.


Much to our waiter's glee as he was clearly a major fan, former Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias sat down to dine with some of his buddies just a few tables away from us. Alexi was kind enough to stop by our table to say hello and buy dessert for the table. He enjoyed that we were just ten ladies who happen to love steak and we enjoyed the fact that he was buying us dessert. All in all, he couldn't have been nicer. However, his presence is notable in that it's a reminder that Gibsons is still very much a place for Chicagoans to see and be seen while doing what we're known to do best: eating beef in large quantities. (We did not feel the need to invite Alexi to post-dinner cocktails at Lux Bar or to the planned dance party at the Hange Uppe. Just didn't seem right. But Katie did snap this shot of him and our adoring waiter.)

Dessert was a gigantic slice of rich chocolately mousse cake. You can't really see the completely enormous and over-the-top decadence that is dessert at Gibsons in the picture below, but you can see that it's large (and sturdy enough) for a large steak knife to be sticking out of it. Mostly, I included the photo below because it's a cute picture of Brenna. But trust me, the cake was delicious. Unfortunately, at that point, we were all so full that we could barely enjoy it.


All in all, Gibsons is a lot of food. A lot of good food. Come hungry and expect something of a spectacle. I recommend that everyone visit Gibsons at least once in his or her life for a great steak, a lively meal and a true (and truly stereotypical) Chicago experience.

Ladies Who Love Steak

Recently, I found myself really wanting a great steak. The more I thought about it, the more I also wanted some red wine. And also, a dirty martini. At that point, I realized that what I really wanted was a Mad Men style boys club dinner... with some of my favorite girls.

So I emailed some ladies that I know love steak as much as I do to organize our first Ladies Who Love Steak dinner. The only rules were that everyone order steak and that we drink copious amounts of red wine. At Gibson's. (The iconic Chicago-style steak house seemed the perfect venue for our first outing.) And as my roommate Joyce sat at the table grinning from ear to ear while the extremely zealous waiter pounded a very thick cut of beef against a plate literally inches from her face for dramatic effect during his little spiel about our dining options, I knew two things: Gibson's was the perfect setting for this boys night and I had definitely found the right group of girls.

To prevent the post about Ladies Who Love Steak from becoming ridiculously long, I'm breaking it into two parts: cocktails at Lux Bar and the main event. This portion will focus on the cocktails.


We decided to have pre- and post-dinner cocktails at Lux Bar, my favorite Viagra Triangle watering hole (if you're not counting Butch McGuire's, of course). But yes, when it comes to a place to enjoy cocktails earlier than 2 a.m., Lux Bar is where it's at. Their cocktail list is fantastic and every drink I've tried has been delicious.

My favorite seems to be the St. Germain, which is comprised of St. Germain (an elderflower liqueur), Chopin vodka, Sauvignon Blanc and a splash of soda, served over ice with a lemon twist. It isn't something I'd normally order, but it's extremely interesting and quite tasty. I recommend the St. Germain, but I strongly advise against ordering more than two. They are sneakily potent. (Ok, it's not that sneaky if you look at the ingredients, but they don't taste like liquid fire so it's easier than it should be to overindulge. And two is all it takes for that to happen. Laura and I have been kind enough to take care of the the trial and error part for you. Trust us.)

I will also tell you that they make a mean dirty martini. I believe that they should be done with Ketel One and served extra dirty, although I always hate ordering them that way because I sound like an idiot. Oh well. The mission was accomplished. I was very happy with the product.

Stay tuned for the next part of the meal: devoted to all things steak and red wine-related.

Pequod's Pizza

I have been hearing rave reviews of Pequod's Pizza for years, but for whatever reason, I'd never had it. Jenny and I decided to change that the other night and headed out for some deep dish deliciousness.

It feels like a true Chicago pizza place: dimly lit with booths, a big bar, plenty of neon signs and Blackhawks decor... and last but not least, giant plastic cups filled with amazing fountain soda. (You know, the kind with just the right amount of syrup and carbonation? It's all too rare, but when you find it, it's like liquid gold.) The place is very casual. We didn't feel the slightest bit out of place clad in hooded sweatshirts and yoga pants.

Jenny and I both love vegetables on our pizza, but it always takes us forever to decide on a combo. For example, she doesn't like mushrooms and I have this weird thing about how I don't think that spinach should be combined with green peppers if you're doing only two ingredients. Something about the flavor combination just rubs me the wrong way and if there's nothing else in the mix to break it up, I just can't do it. Spinach and red peppers though? I love that, but some pizza places just don't bring the red peppers. I know, it's odd. Finally, after some waffling, we settled on a deep dish pizza with spinach and garlic.

All in all, Pequod's is very tasty. The crust on the bottom of the pizza was the just the right thickness and perfectly crisp -- never soggy. (An unfortunate, but rather common flaw with delivery pizzas ordered from one of my favorites, Lou Malnati's.) The ingredient to cheese ratio was good and the pizza was served piping hot.

However, I have to say that I wasn't a huge fan of Pequod's signature "caramelized crust." When the pizza arrived, Jenny said "Well, it's kind of well done... I think they burnt it." And when it comes down to it, "caramelization" aside, that's how the top half of the crust looked and tasted to me. Burnt. I mean, it's still good pizza. I'd eat here again. But I couldn't help thinking that the pizza would be so much better if they hadn't charred the crust. (You should also know that I am a firm believer that "roasting" marshmallows doesn't mean setting them on fire and blowing them out. By and large, I do not believe "burnt" is ever a desirable flavor.)

So... sorry, Pequod's fans, my pan favorites are still Lou Malnati's, Art of Pizza and Gino's East. (And in case you're curious, my favorite stuffed pizza places are Art of Pizza, Fornello's and Giordano's. Piece takes New Haven-style hands down. And I love Pat's Pizza and D'Agostino's for thin. And of course, Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder wins out for pizza pot pies.)

Mmmm, pizza. I really do love it all.

XOCO

Yesterday, Laura and I decided to return to XOCO, Rick Bayless' popular take on Mexican street food, for lunch. Appropriately enough, XOCO (pronounced "shoh-coh") is Mexican slang for "little sister," which is how the cafe is viewed within the Bayless empire. And although XOCO is Bayless' foray into quick-service dining, the tenets of sustainability and local sourcing that govern both Frontera and Topolobompo apply here as well.

Laura and I have been to XOCO for lunch before, right when it opened and the lines were spanning entire city blocks. So it was nice that there was only a reasonable line inside the actual cafe when we arrived. However, even though the lines seem to be a bit more manageable these days, it should be noted that XOCO's system of ordering food and being seated is a little... different. You walk in, get in line, place an order at the counter. Standard fare, except for one twist. While you're in line, a hostess approaches to ask about your seating preferences (aka tell you what's available -- "Counter service okay?"). After you've placed your food order, you reconnect with said hostess so that she can lead you to your seats.

The XOCO menu is divided into parts: tortas from the wood-burning oven, tortas from the griddle, caldos, salads and sides, pastries and bean-to-cup chocolate. (FYI, tortas are sandwiches -- or paninis in the case of those from the griddle -- which are served anytime after 11:00 a.m. and caldos are hearty soups that are served only after 3:00 p.m.)

The tortas from the wood-burning oven are served on big, hearty rolls that are a little too robust for my liking. The bread is fresh and tasty, but the rolls are so big that they get in the way of managing to incorporate every delicious element of the sandwich in each bite. Also, when you bite into the torta, it's easy to lose a lot of the filling, which tends to spill out over the sides. (This is especially true for tortas like the Gunthorp Chicken Breast torta since the pieces of chicken aren't uniformly shaped and don't really lie flat.)

The tortas from the griddle are like delicious paninis with what is, in my opinion, a much better bread-to-other-ingredients ratio since they're made with thinner bread.

All right, that's enough of the overview. Time to get down to business. Between the two of us, Laura and I ordered the chips and guacamole, the Choriqueso torta, the Milanesa torta, the Mexican chocolate hazelnut cookie and the Polvoron.

The guacamole is solid at XOCO. Nothing crazy or crazy creative, just good solid guacamole. They do stick a couple of radishes in it though, so that's a little something different. But other than that, it's pretty straight forward guacamole served with chips that are perfectly crispy without being overly greasy.


The Choriqueso torta is one that's prepared in the wood-burning oven on the hearty rolls. I know I just talked about how the bread on these tortas is too much, but the choriqueso works much better with this bread than the Gunthorp chicken breast did. Here's why: the ingredients themselves don't add as much volume in addition to the bread. You've got Rick Bayless' delicious homemade chorizo, roasted poblano peppers, artisan Jack cheese and a delicious tomatillo salsa. All of these ingredients lie flat -- and therefore, manage to stay in the sandwich when you take a bite. It's a fabulous blend of spicy, smokey and savory. Great sandwich.


However, I have to say that the Milanesa is my favorite sandwich I've had at XOCO thus far. This little panini-like sandwich is one of those "from the griddle" tortas, composed of crispy Gunthorp chicken breast (nothing but the best for Rick) that's been pounded out so it's thin and manageable in panini form, coated in breading and all kinds of amazing spices then fried, black beans that have been coarsely combined so that they're really more of a spread than actual beans, artisan Jack cheese, pickled jalapenos and the amazing XOCO tomatillo salsa. The sandwich is also supposed to come with cilantro crema, but due to my hatred of creamy condiments that interfere with my heat, I took a pass on that. This sandwich is phenomenal. When I first saw it, I thought "wow, this looks like something a little too fried for my liking" -- as somehow I'd missed the "crispy" description of the chicken in the menu. But it was love at first bite. Every element was in perfect balance and all of the ingredients played off of one another in perfect harmony. I could eat this sandwich every day of my life. For real.


Laura and I closed the meal down with two perfect, albeit very unnecessary, cookies. We had the Mexican chocolate hazelnut cookie and the Polvoron, a Mexican shortbread creation that reminded me of a big Mexican wedding cookie. (People with nut allergies beware -- they're ground up and sneakily incorporated into this cookie.) Both were extremely tasty. I'm glad that Laura suggested making a diversion from our usual chocolate and churros selection. I thought I'd regret it, but I have to say that the pastries do represent at XOCO as well.


Speaking of chocolate and churros, definitely try them. The churros are a level above anything I've had anywhere else in the U.S. They're served warm, crisp on the outside, soft on the inside... and the flavor is perfect. To supplement the churros, Rick also turns out traditional thick, high quality chocolate served hot and in a cup (like hot chocolate, but thicker, richer and infinitely better). There are four options: authentic (freshly ground chocolate and water), Aztec (freshly ground chocolate, chilis, allspice and water), chocolate (a chocolate shot and 2% milk) and Barcelona, which I've never had and which is described only as "thick and rich." My favorite of the options is the Aztec, as I love spiced Mexican chocolate. (Well, really, I love anything spicy.) But I have yet to meet a chocolate at XOCO that I don't like.

Next on my list of things to try there: the seafood caldo, which was recently written up in Chicago Magazine's list of the 30 Best Mexican Dishes in the city. Have you had the seafood caldo? Is there something I haven't mentioned that you think is an absolute must-try? Let me know.

XOCO is located at 449 N. Clark Street (right next to Topolobampo and Frontera Grill), on the corner of Clark and Illinois. (The entrance is on Illinois.)

Bin Wine Cafe

Bin Wine Cafe in Wicker Park is one of my favorite go-to dinner places for the simple fact that it works as well for a dinner out with friends as it does for a date. The space is cool, hip and casual enough that it never seems like it's trying too hard. Exposed brick, warm woods and modern touches (like the tiny vases with minimalist flowers on each table) work together to create an inviting space in the open layout.

The people behind this successful Bucktown eatery are no strangers to the restaurant business. Bin Wine Cafe is the younger sibling of Bin 36 in River North and I have to say this is definitely one of those cases where the younger sib has upstaged the older. I very much prefer Bin Wine Cafe to Bin 36, which I frequented after work at my last agency due to the office's close proximity.

But I am willing to travel for Bin Wine Cafe. Now that Jeff has abandoned his Bucktown roots and therefore eliminated my own Bucktown outpost, a dinner at Bin Wine Cafe requires a little more effort than a casual stroll through the hood. But the drive or cab ride is worth it for some quality wine flights and tasty bistro-inspired fare.

The menu changes seasonally and I've never been displeased with anything I've ordered. Some things have been better than others (a beef stew and the hanger steak frites from last winter's menu, this fall's Gunthorp Chicken breast, the olive selection, various cheese plates, the white pizza, the Top 10 Burger -- yes, Bin Wine Cafe is home to what was named one of the Top Ten burgers in Chicago -- which is only $5 on Tuesdays), but I never leave dissatisfied with the food, the wine or the service at Bin.

Last Friday night, a group of ten of us headed to Bin Wine Cafe to celebrate my friend Steph's birthday. We tried various wine flights, which are also updated frequently -- and everyone seemed to be pleased with the flight they ordered. Some favorites were the Reigning Spanish Reds, The Sexy Reds and The Bin 36 Flight. I'd recommend any of them.

The vast majority of people at the table ordered the Seared Flat Iron Steak and it was pretty tasty, served in a pink peppercorn sauce with Bin's latest take on frites and some little clouds of spinach and cheese that they dubbed gnocchi. The pink peppercorn sauce was a bit more like a straight-up gravy than I'd have liked. It lacked the complexity of a really great sauce, but it was still an interesting complement to the meat. I liked the frites just fine, but don't be fooled into thinking that what you're ordering is anything like the steak frites you'd get at a traditional French bistro. These "frites" are like fancy steak fries -- and if you like steak fries, as I do, you'll be happy. If you had something else in mind, you may be disappointed. The gnocchi were decent, but nothing to write home about. I have to say that this isn't my favorite dish I've ordered at Bin Wine Cafe, which is unfortunate since literally 80% of us ordered it. It was good, but I know Bin's capable of more.

However, my dear friend Brenna branched out and ordered herself the Gunthorp Chicken Breast, which Jeff had the last time we visited, and which is quite delicious. The chicken breast is cooked to perfection and left on the bone so that's tender and juicy when you slice into it. The bird is well-seasoned and the sauce is a worthy accompaniment. All of this is complemented by some slices of chicken rillete served atop a mushroom risotto cake. Very tasty.

For dessert, we enjoyed a trio of gelato (pumpkin, chocolate and apple) and some apple crisps. The gelato was delicious. The fall flavors worked well together and the chocolate gelato was a nice dark chocolate. I could have eaten the entire trio myself. Unfortunately, the apple crisp didn't have enough apple or enough vanilla cream to save it from becoming dry and relatively uninteresting -- which is sad, because it seemed like it could be quite tasty if the proportions were altered.

The service was friendly and attentive, as it always is here. I recommend Bin Wine Cafe, even though my last entree wasn't my favorite dish to date. They do what they do so well so consistently that each meal is enjoyable, even on the nights when I don't order something I feel is the best thing I've ever eaten there.

On The Docket

I am extremely excited about some upcoming foodie adventures in the very near future.

Tonight, some of my favorite people and I are headed to Bin Wine Cafe in Bucktown to celebrate my friend Steph's birthday. I have been meaning to write about Bin Wine Cafe forever, as it's one of my all-time favorite places in Chicago. Bin Wine Cafe is Bin 36's slightly more casual, hipper younger sibling. The space is phenomenal -- especially on a nice night when they open up the garage door in the front of the restaurant and allow diners to fill the tables lining Milwaukee Avenue. I promise that this time I will remember to take photographs and document all elements of the meal. A post on Bin Wine Cafe is coming soon.

Tomorrow night, I'm going to a restaurant I've been dying to try for some time now: NoMI at the Park Hyatt Chicago. I'm feeling a little intimidated about taking pictures inside NoMI, but I'll do my best not to wimp out.

On Sunday, I'll be hanging with the Food Babies crew to watch the Bears game and eat some delicious food at a true foodie tailgate.

Additionally, the graham elliot post is still to come... I'll be knocking these out early next week!

Have a great weekend!

Seasonal Updates for Big Star

As you may recall, Big Star was home to one of the hottest patios in Chicago this summer -- and that's big news in a city that really, really loves any opportunity to enjoy good weather when we've got it. The good news for Big Star continues, however, with the announcement that they'll be adding an awning and enclosing the acclaimed patio in glass so that the space can be utilized throughout the cold weather months as well.

No worries -- the patio will be heated during the winter. Come summer, the glass enclosure will come down but the awning will stay to provide more shade on the sun-soaked patio. This is excellent news for all of the fair-skinned Big Star lovers; you could get quite the sunburn out there on a sunny afternoon.

In addition to these spacial improvements, Big Star announced that the menu is getting some updates as well. They're adding more tacos and will be doing more beer dinners in the future. Big Star is so beer-crazy that they've teamed up with Goose Island to create their own brew, Deguello, which they describe as "super food friendly." Rumor has it that the beer will be available as soon as early November. Hooray!

Note: graham elliot post coming soon -- it's a doozy!

graham elliot

Oh my gosh. graham elliot is amazing. Seriously the best experience I've had in a long time. More to come when I retrieve additional photos from my go-to co-photog Sarah Brick!

Coming soon...

Hi, Mega Biters:

I leave tomorrow for one of my very best friend's weddings in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, this means you won't be seeing much blogging action from me in the coming days.

However, once I return, there will be lots to write about. Look for upcoming entries from Sable, Lillie's Q, Bin Wine Cafe, graham elliot and NoMi. In the meantime, happy eating!

And also, congratulations to Mary Lenahan and Eamon Monahan!

Chicago Pizza And Oven Grinder

If I had to pick just one food to eat for the rest of my life, it'd be pizza. Mostly because it's so versatile. Lucky for me, Chicago has amazing pizza in many forms. Stuffed. Pan. Thin. New Haven-style. Neopolitan. Even pizza pot pie.

That's right. Pizza in pot pie form: it does exist! So it's about time that I write about one of my favorite places for less than traditional -- but still delicious -- pizza. That place is Chicago Pizza And Oven Grinder, located in Lincoln Park at 2121 N. Clark Street.

Laura Cavoto originally introduced me (and a host of our former teammates) to this glorious place a few years back and I can't thank her enough for doing that. So naturally, when we strolled past on our way home from work today, we decided to stop in for some dinner. Every time we go, we get an order of the Mediterranean bread, a chef's salad and some half-pounders. (A half-pounder refers to the smaller half-pound version of Chicago Pizza And Oven Grinder's pizza pot pie. You can also opt for the one-pounder, but good luck with that if you're planning on eating anything else that day.)

When you order the Mediterranean bread, you get to choose between regular and wheat. Once you've made this selection, the Mediterranean bread arrives, piping hot, brushed lightly with olive oil and topped with a mixture of herbs, spices and cheeses. It's amazing. (So amazing that we couldn't wait to dig in before Laura remembered I needed to take a picture.)


The Chef's salad is comprised of cold, crisp iceberg lettuce, roasted red pepper, green pepper, cucumber, pepperoncini, red onion, black olives, green olives, and an artichoke heart. (I know, I know, the picture doesn't do it justice. That's because we served it before I remembered about the photos... I am not a food stylist. I just love food. Give me a break.)


It's a great salad. I don't make my salads at home with iceberg lettuce, due to the fact that there are certainly more nutrient-packed options, but iceberg's got a great crunch that I really appreciate every once in a while. The salad is served on chilled plates, along with a pepper grinder, a jar filled with the same spice mixture that tops the Mediterranean bread and multiple delicious salad dressing options.


One is their classic Italian, made from olive oil, presumably red wine vinegar and a blend of spices. Then there's also the dynamic duo that is their sweet and sour poppyseed dressing and their sour cream garlic dressing. Now, given my aversion to all condiments that are white and creamy, I have never had the sour cream garlic dressing. However, Laura swears that it's fabulous -- especially if mixed with the poppyseed. I personally like a mixture of the Italian and the poppyseed -- no creaminess required. Just a more extreme and delicious combination of sweet and tart.

And then there are the decisions associated with the pizza pot pie. You can choose between original and whole wheat crust, sausage or vegetarian, and mushrooms or no mushrooms. I like the whole wheat crust and I generally opt for the vegetarian with mushrooms, which are whole Creminis, and which I think add something a little heartier to the vegetarian option.

The creation comes to your table straight from the oven, in a bowl with the round golden top adored by pot pie lovers everywhere. Your server takes a spoon and magically inverts the pot pie to reveal a little pizza! The top of the pot pie becomes the crust and reveals a whole lot of delicious cheese atop a pretty tasty tomato sauce. There are all sorts of veggies in this sauce, which make it flavorful without being overly chunky. (Unless you get the mushrooms, which do add some bulk to the interior. Those are the lumps in the photo below.)


Put simply, Chicago Pizza And Oven Grinder makes me happy. I love to go there with good friends and eat until I can barely move. Whether we're drinking wine or Diet Coke with our little (ok, big) pot pie meals, I always have an amazing time.

Two caveats:
1) CPOG (as we've affectionately deemed it) does not take reservations. It does, however, serve amazing food. This means that there's generally a long wait to be seated on weekends. Just warning you. Come hungry, but not too hungry. Or you'll get crabby. (Ok, maybe that last part only applies to me.)

2) CPOG is cash only. Come prepared. There is, of course, an ATM conveniently located nearby. But for those of us who get extremely irritated by paying up to $6 in ATM fees for not using a Chase ATM, you may want to BYOC. (Bring Your Own Cash)

All in all, though, CPOG is worth it. I love these pizza pot pies, their simple salad and delicious Mediterranean bread to come back again and again. You should, too.

Sweet Mandy B's Fall Cupcakes

The best bakery in the city is Sweet Mandy B's in Lincoln Park. It's true. There are a lot of great bakeries in this city; I don't deny that. But the very best for cupcakes, cakes... and most other things is Sweet Mandy B's.

The storefront is adorable. They've expanded the space within the past year so that there's a cute little cafe attached to the original store. Everything about this place makes me happy -- except how crowded it gets sometimes. (Don't worry -- it's not a constant. By and large my experiences at Sweet Mandy B's have been good -- the service is efficient and the lines move quickly.)

If I'm not baking something for a friend's birthday myself, I head to Sweet Mandy B's and pick up some of their signature cupcakes, featured on the left. Their frosting is delicious, but what makes Sweet Mandy B's so amazing is their cake. It is awesome. I know a lot of people hate the word moist, but it's the only way to describe the cake at Sweet Mandy B's. It's pretty unbelievable. On top of the taste, the cupcakes themselves are (undeniably) cute as a button.

While I do love their signature cupcakes for any occasion, I get REALLY excited when they come out with their fall flavors. One of my favorite things about living in Chicago is the ability to experience all four seasons (however fleeting my two favorite seasons -- fall and spring -- may be) and I seize every opportunity to celebrate each one by changing up everything from my clothes and perfume to the food I cook and consume. So when Sweet Mandy B's comes out with their fall cupcakes, I get pretty ecstatic since flavors like pumpkin and apple tend to be some of my all-time favorites. And of course, Sweet Mandy doesn't disappoint. Featured at left are their pumpkin cupcakes, caramel apple cupcakes and carrot cake cupcakes. (The carrot cake cupcakes are available year-round, but I feel that they're also pretty fall-appropriate.)

My favorites are the pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. They have just the right amount of pumpkin and don't have so much "spice" going on that it overpowers everything else. They are perfect. And they're topped with super-cute special fall-shaped sprinkles. The caramel apple cupcakes are pretty tasty, too, and they feature a layer of something similar to an apple compote between the apple spice cake and the sweet caramel-topped buttercream frosting. These cupcakes definitely taste like fall. Lastly, the classic carrot cake is just that: a moist carrot cake cupcake topped with an unparalleled cream cheese frosting. Stop by Sweet Mandy B's at 1208 W. Webster today and get yours.

Happy fall!

Gilt Bar

The time has come for me to pay homage to one of my favorite bars in River North: Gilt Bar. As it's conveniently located across the street from my place of employment (and visible from many of the windows in our office if you happen to gaze downward), I've been there a few times since its opening this spring. (I have not, however, been to the downstairs cash-only bar Curio yet. No worries -- it's on my list.)

But every time I go to Gilt, I get caught up in the upstairs and find myself sitting in a banquette, ordering three things off of the menu there: the pork meatballs, the burata on toast and an order of the frites. I'm not saying I've never strayed and that there aren't 100 other items I mean to try, but those three things are staples for me, regardless of the seasonal accompaniments happen to be adorning these dishes at the time. (This varies. Currently, it's an heirloom tomato salad with the burata and a fig glaze and some wilted escarole for the pork meatballs.)

The interior of Gilt is stylish and more than a little swanky. Best of all, it hearkens back to the days speakeasies and the roaring 20s, which gives the bar a solid dose of actual personality instead of being just another run-of-the-mill, relatively upscale scene in River North. (However, this also means the place is a little on the dark side and can get pretty loud. Embrace it. Or consider yourself warned in advance.) And given the fact that the chef cut his chops everywhere from the French Laundry to the Ritz Paris, the owner is a vet of Chicago's own beloved Lettuce Entertain You and the space previously housed the amazing Aigre Doux, this place has some serious cred behind it.

All that glitters isn't gold, but sometimes -- if you're lucky -- you stumble across the real deal. Visit Gilt Bar and judge for yourself at 230 W. Kinzie, across from the Merchandise Mart. Then give me a call and the odds are good that I'll mosey across the street to meet you. And also force you to order (and love) the pork meatballs, even if you claim you don't like pork.

RIP: Joey's Brickhouse

I felt the need to share my recent discovery that Joey's Brickhouse has closed. There's some signage out in front -- including a heartfelt note from Joey himself -- confirming the restaurant's closing.

I am really sad to see this place go. Although it had been hit or miss in the past, I felt like it was on the up-and-up in recent months. Their all-you-can-eat salad, pizza and Rice Krispie treats deal on Tuesday nights was one of my favorites, as I mentioned in this previous post.

On top of the fact that this was an amazing deal, we had great service at Joey's Brickhouse every Tuesday night I visited. (And for a while, this was every Tuesday.) Joey himself was often in the house and he was always very welcoming and accommodating. His servers were friendly and competent -- and on more than one occasion, insisted that we join them in taking multiple rounds of shots on the house.

Sadly, Mega Biters, from now on, you'll have to look elsewhere if you're seeking a great all-you-can-eat option -- or just a tasty dinner in the Lakeview area.

RIP, Joey's Brickhouse. You will be missed.

Best Dishes: Stuffed Turkey Sandwich at Silver Cloud

In case you hadn't noticed, Fall has arrived. Since today was cool and cloudy, Jeff and I decided it'd be a great day to head to Silver Cloud for one of our favorite cool-weather meals. Silver Cloud is a bar/restaurant in Bucktown that specializes in comfort food. The atmosphere is nice and cozy, the service is friendly and competent, the bar stocks great seasonal beers (most of them craft) and features an out of this world seasonal cocktail list. (Their winter drinks are my absolute favorite.) To top it all off, they do comfort food really, REALLY well. We have two favorite items on the menu: 1) the chicken pot pie (perfect for a winter dinner) and 2) the stuffed turkey sandwich, which is what we ordered and what we'll be chatting about today.

The stuffed turkey sandwich is comprised of white meat roasted turkey (for real roasted; I believe they cook a turkey daily at Silver Cloud), cranberry sauce and stuffing in between two pieces of toasted white bread. Normally, the sandwich comes with mayo. Naturally, I ask for it without any. Fortunately, I feel that the stuffing and the cranberry sauce do enough on their own to prevent the sandwich from being too dry. This thing is like Thanksgiving in a sandwich, but better -- because you can get it any day of the year! Given that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, it's not surprising that I like to experience the glory that is that meal multiple times a year (or month if I'm really feeling extreme).

The toasted white bread isn't something I'd normally choose for a sandwich, but it really works here. The toastiness adds to the flavor and provides an important crisp textural component. The turkey is cooked perfectly and layered in thick slices just like real Thanksgiving leftovers. The stuffing is savory, served warm and never too dry. It's the perfect complement to the natural sweetness that is the cranberry sauce, which is an ideal final touch to a great sandwich.

I also like to start my meal with a Bloody Mary, which they do very well at Silver Cloud. Every Saturday and Sunday, they have $4 Bloody Marys -- and for an additional $0.75, you can get one of their "Snazzy Skewers," which consist of a blue cheese-stuffed olive, a shrimp, an artichoke heart, green pepper, red pepper, celery and a pepperoncini pepper. I highly recommend splurging and spending that extra 75 cents -- it's a delicious addition to an already well-made drink.

I can't wait to go back for my first chicken pot pie of Fall 2010. It is the best chicken pot pie in the city. Yes, I have tried quite a few chicken pot pies around town and yes, that does officially make me Cartman. I'm okay with that. Trust me when I say that this thing is the real deal. More about the chicken pot pie and the winter cocktails to come... In the meantime, spend a blustery day nice and warm inside a booth at Silver Cloud -- enjoying an early Thanksgiving.

Stumbling Upon Greatness: Fiddlehead Cafe

The other night, I joined my friends Jeff and Mike for dinner at one of my favorite BYOBs, Mediterranean Grill, in Lincoln Square. After dinner, Mike's wife Kristen decided she wanted to join us for a drink. As Mike, Jeff and I had already gone through both of the bottles of wine we'd purchased to accompany our meal, we decided to head to Fiddlehead Cafe across the street.

I was pleasantly surprised when we walked in. The place has a cute atmosphere that's more stylish than I'd expected. However, I was even more pleasantly surprised by their drinks list, their butternut squash soup and their service. Our server was fantastic. She was attentive without being overbearing, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. Best of all, she went above and beyond to ensure that we were having a great experience.

She brought us menus promptly after we sat down and to my delight, they have wine flights! And not "wine flights" poured from dusty bottles no one ever actually drinks, but real, interesting wine flights. One had a Chilean Cabernet and I remarked I'd never seen that before. The waitress volunteered to bring me a taste so that I could try it -- even after I decided to order another flight. I went with the "Jammy Reds," which I enjoyed very much and would highly recommend. I liked all three wines in the flight, which were true to their name and all big, jammy reds.

My favorite of the three happened to be the wine our server had cited as hers: the NV 2 Cocky Sisters Red Wine from Paso Robles, CA. That's right it's a blend -- a big honking blend of six (6!) different wines. (The breakdown is apparently 46% Counoise, 22% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 4% Viognier, 4% Cab Franc and 4% Petite Verdot.) What really matters though is that it's reminiscent of juicy black cherries, which are almost always my favorite base for a nice weeknight glass of wine. So much so that I decided to have a glass after I finished my flight. Highly recommend.

Sidenote: The Chilean Cabernet I sampled (thanks to our fab server) was also good. It's the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, Agustinos Reserva, from Aconcagua, Chile and it's featured in the "South Americans" flight. I plan to try that flight the next time I'm there.

Jeff did the Unibroue Beer Flight... Mostly because they actually HAVE an Unibroue beer flight! Unibroue is one of my all-time favorite breweries and not something you see on just any beer list. I was extremely impressed by the presence of such greatness -- 3 different Unibroue beers at one time! -- and was not disappointed. (I mean, clearly Jeff knew I'd be sampling his order.)

Unibroue Ephemere is one of my favorite beers and it happened to be the first in the flight. Ephemere is a white ale that's brewed with apples, which makes it a great Fall beer, but it's not sweet like a cider, which makes it really interesting. The next beer is their Maudite, which is a red amber. Also delicious and well-balanced -- definitely a step up in hoppiness from the Ephemere. It makes for a great transition between the relatively mild-mannered Ephemere and the dark and stormy Chambly Noir, the third beer featured in the flight. The Chambly Noir is a rich black ale that has some coffee notes (though they're not overwhelming) and is deepened by rich toffee flavors. For the life of me, I can't remember what the carbonation factor was like on this beer, but I did really enjoy it.

It should be noted here, however, that Jeff also liked the 2 Cocky Sisters red from my wine flight so much that he ordered a glass of that following the Unibroue trio -- even though he liked all of the beers and in general is a beer freak.

Mike and Kristen both stuck to Daisy Cutter, which they love, and which as of circa a week ago, Fiddlehead still had. As we were discussing Kristen's hilarious pairing of Daisy Cutter and butternut squash soup, a true blend of the seasons so indicative of the in-between time of year that is early September, the waitress mentioned that they'd just gotten all of their pumpkin beer samples in that day and were trying to decide which to feature on their Fall beer list. Since they had some extra, we got to taste a couple of those, too. Just loved her. And their Fall beer list is going to be a-mazing.

Now I must make further mention of this butternut squash soup. It was deeeelicious. If I hadn't just eaten an entire BBQ chicken schwarma sandwich, I'd have ordered a big bowl after trying Kristen's. It was rich (just buttery enough) and filled with the flavors of Fall. Then it was topped off with a hint of Sriracha crema, which is like pairing fire and ice -- a complete contradiction in and of itself that works beautifully with the soup. Brilliant.

This place made me so happy. Fiddlehead Cafe appeals to beer geeks as much as it does wine geeks -- and especially to those of us who happen to love both equally! Plus, I absolutely cannot wait to try more of the food.

DEAL ALERT: All wine flights are $8 on Tuesdays. This is definitely a great value... I guess I'll be visiting on a Tuesday in the very near future!

Cumin

I was really excited to try Cumin, Bucktown's newest (and only) Nepalese/Indian restaurant. I've spent a lot of time in Bucktown and often thought that the only cuisine the neighborhood lacked was a good Indian option, so the stars seemed to be aligning perfectly. I also love what I've had of Nepalese food, which was admittedly limited to a meal at Chautara, a delicious little Nepalese restaurant up in Madison, WI. (If you are ever in Madison, pay this place a visit. Look, Yelp agrees it's worth it.)

I will start out by saying that the food at Cumin is pretty great. Everything we had (which actually ended up being more than we ordered) was good. But the service is very rough around the edges. Our server came to our table and greeted us with "Do you know what you'd like?" I mean, given that the restaurant is new to the 'hood and it specializes in Indian/Nepalese cuisine, which is a little more exotic than say, your average New American restaurant menu, it might have been helpful to have some sort of intro to what is a particularly robust menu. No such luck. And then she kept coming back and asking the same question as we worked to navigate the extensive menu. It was unprecedented hovering combined with very little actual assistance. We definitely felt rushed to order -- and it's not like the restaurant was crazy busy that night. There were no hordes of people (or any people, in fact) waiting for us to give up our table.

As we were deciding, we chomped on something sort of similar to Indian chips and salsa. Only the chips are a different, more delicate texture and they have some sort of seed/herb in them. And they're served with three different sauces. The green one on the left is savory and a little spicy; the dark purple/brown sauce was sweet but complex; and the marmalade-like sauce on the right that was pretty much straight up sweet.


We ordered a bottle of wine to start, as well as some of the Lamb Keema Samosas and the Paneerka Naram Garam Pakora. Samosas are traditional Indian appetizers that are deep-fried pastries filled with a meat and/or veggie filling. In this case, the filling was supposed to be "minced lamb in a flavorful spice blend." Paneer is an Indian cheese that is somewhat similar to cottage cheese. In the Paneerka Naram Garam Pakora, paneer is mixed with chopped onion, bell peppers, cilantro and seasoned mashed potatoes, rolled in chickpea flower and deep fried.

Our server stumbled a bit through the wine service, which is totally fine since really, there doesn't need to be a ton of (read:any) pomp and circumstance around a $20-something bottle of Pinot Grigio. But then our appetizers came out and the one that they placed in front of Jenny and Elizabeth was unidentifiable, and it didn't look like we thought it would. (Fried balls of Indian cheese.) There were some fried lumps we thought might be vegetables, but since both Elizabeth and Jenny are vegetarians, we wanted to be sure.


At this point, our previously ever-present server was nowhere to be found. The other server who dropped the appetizers off was unable to tell us if they were what we ordered. Language was a bit of a barrier here. That's good because the place seems authentic, but bad because we couldn't confirm what was on the table. Though he couldn't tell us if the appetizer contained paneer, he could tell us that it was vegetarian. We decided to try to find our server before taking the plunge. When she did make it back to our table, we learned that this appetizer (while the lumps were in fact meat-free) was not actually the one we ordered. The waitress was nice and said that we wouldn't be charged for it. And in the end, our veggie friends liked the fried vegetable app just fine.

The samosas looked tasty, but when we broke into them, we discovered that they were the vegetarian version instead of the lamb. We were a little disappointed because we'd thought that the lamb samosas sounded interesting and we'd never had them before, but no big deal. We like veggie samosas. And they were tasty. The filling was soft and flavorful and the exterior was crisp without a ton of residual grease from their bath in the deep fryer. Delicious.

After perusing the menu, we were thrilled to discover they have sesame naan, which none of us had ever tried before. We got an order of the sesame naan and the garlic naan, which is pretty much a staple when this group hits up an Indian place. Both types made it to our table, which was great, and they were tasty. But I have to say that I think Veerasway's naan is better.


Jenny decided to try a Nepalese dish and ordered the Parvate Aaalu Tama Ra Bodi, which is potatoes, bamboo shoots and black eyed peas in "delectable Nepalese spices." According to the menu, this is a delicacy from the mountainous region of Nepal -- and Jenny really liked it. I'm not a huge fan of black eyed peas, so it was a little harder sell for me personally -- but I do feel that the dish was well-balanced and well-executed over all.


I ordered the Chicken Sahi Korma, which is chicken cooked in an almond-cashew curry sauce. It was pretty damn awesome. The sauce was rich and savory. The chicken itself was decent, but the sauce is definitely what makes this dish.


Elizabeth ordered the Navaratan Korma, which is is nine (!) assorted vegetables in the same amazing almond-cashew curry sauce. I actually preferred her dish to mine because I thought that the flavors of the vegetables added greater complexity to the dish than the chicken did. This would be the dish I'd recommend ordering -- if you're not intimidated by the thought of nine different veggies in one dish. Personally, I thought it worked beautifully.


Annie got the Fish Tikka Masala, aka Mahi Mahi in a mildly spicy creamy tomato sauce. Allegedly the fish was sauteed with some diced bell peppers and onions, but they were pretty undectectable. (Except for that one sticking out in the picture below. I think that might have been the only bell pepper in the dish.) The Mahi Mahi is an interesting take on the ever popular Indian gateway dish, Chicken Tikka Masala. I personally didn't love the combo of fish with Tikka Masala, but it was decent. And the fish was cooked very well. Again, a well-executed dish, but I'd go for the Chicken Tikka -- especially if you haven't eaten a lot of Indian in the past.


Overall, Cumin has some solid Indian and Nepalese cuisine. I don't think I'd make a point to eat in again, but this place would be great for take-out. And it's new, so the service may improve. They weren't rude -- they just seemed confused and perhaps inexperienced, which means that things could change for the better with time.

It's not my favorite restaurant in a neighborhood that has a lot of great ones, but it's a good Indian option in a hood that didn't have any Indian at all before. Give Cumin a whirl and let me know what you think.