Spicy Mindy Lives!

My dad started taking my family out for sushi when I was about 12. Who knows why. Maybe he wanted to guarantee I’d be an expensive dinner date for the rest of my life. He’s also the one who introduced me to lobster. Thanks Daddy. Back then sushi restaurants were popping up in every strip mall on Long Island. Right next to the bagel places, Chinese restaurants & pizza places. Sometimes strip malls don’t suck. Anyway, we had certain favorites that we went to for years & we became friends with the sushi chefs, and some others that we went to once or twice & never went back to. One of the places we went to often (for a while anyway) had great sushi & a robata grill. Creatively named Robata of Tokyo, there was a roll on a special menu once that I loved. Every time we went back I’d request the roll—and have to explain it all over again each time. Eventually they just added it to the menu, where it still is today! Scroll to the bottom of the .pdf & look for the Spicy Mindy! Hilarious. I’d forgotten all about having a roll named after me until I started looking for Robata to reference it in this post. My very first menu item named after me. Dig it. Clearly I need to go back there & order it next time I’m home.

Weirdly:
— the menu has remained essentially unchanged for about 15 years.
— they changed their name to Robata of New York, according to their site.
— nowhere on their website is there a reference to a robata.
— their website seems to be stuck in 2002.

Anyway. Moving on. The entire reason I looked that place up was because of that time I took Patterson to Union Sushi & Barbeque for alligator & we wound up staying for an entire meal? Remember that? No? It’s ok. It was only 2 days ago. This is what happened.

The Drink:

SOUTH OF THE BORDER, WEST OF THE SUN : Chinaco Blanco Tequila, Aperol, Grapefruit, Lime, Amber Agave Nectar

The Chef:

Chao hard at work

The Food:

MAGURO: seared with avocado & truffle oil/truffle salt/parmesan/olive oil ESCOLAR: lime

"BUFFALO" DUCK WING: sweet chile and hot sauce butter, napa cabbage slaw + yuzu- blue cheese dressing

ROBATA: ALLIGATOR & KANGAROO & BEEF TONGUE

TAKO : with black rice

SAKE : with black rice, rice puffs, fried soba noodles & edamame

UNAGI & OLD CITY MARKET : Old City Market: spicy tuna, seared salmon, spicy ponzu, cilantro, green onion, fried okra + wrapped in collard green

Chao & Carlos & the rest of the staff were great fun, the drinks were crisp, we enjoyed everything we ate (the alligator was as wonderful as we hoped), & The Ramones were playing when I walked in. Go for the alligator. Stay for everything else. I’ve got a feeling their menu will change quite a few times in the next 15 years.

Also important & obligatory: I miss bagel places & pizza places.

Hello Summer!!

I love you the most.

Found at Green City Market this morning.

Those sun golds will be amazing with my other amazing burrata from Zingerman’s Creamery.

The one in this picture was served with cracked pepper, Old Town Oil 18 year old balsamic (seriously, some of the best stuff ever) & greens & tomato from Green City Market. Then it was promptly devoured.

Happy Memorial Day.

Yesterday.

Today.

Carlin meets a Whoodle.

We’re going to get a puppy & it’s going to happen soon. But since we’ve already got Carlin (our amazingly cute cat), whatever pup we get MUST get along with Carlin. Last night we had someone bring over a whoodle, to see if the 2 of them got along.

First off: let’s ignore the gross kitchen rug. Carlin ruined it a few weeks after purchase & I’m still looking for a replacement.

Sadly, even though I think the 2 could come to terms with each other, the whoodle isn’t going to be ours. He’s a year old & has never been trained. In the hour or so he was with us he nipped my foot, almost got punched by Carlin, headbutted me in the glasses & in the cheek (it’s going to bruise), and kept trying to stretch to the countertops. I’m feeling lucky he didn’t scratch them. He’s VERY possessive of things he takes (Carlin’s toys!) & wants to bite you when you try to take them. I think he could be trained, but it seems like it’d be a full time job. He is SUPER adorable. If life was different he’d totally be ours, but he’s not. Someone adopt him though. He’s so loving & sweet. Feel free to contact me if you want info on him. Seriously. Someone give him a home. He’s too cute not to have one. Oh, and can it be with one of my friends? So I can come play with him?

A Hearty meal

Hey guys, remember that time where I had the fortune to sit in on a staff meal at Hearty & sample all their amazing additions to their Spring menu? No? Silly internet generation. What with your forgetting things before you’re even told about them.

Ok. I’ll refresh your memory.

A few days ago, @heartyboys posted this tweet:

Being a smart girl who loves a good meal, I quickly shot off an email that pretty much consisted of “pick me! pick me!”. For some reason Steve did. I’m unclear as to his logic, but I’m grateful for it.

Yesterday afternoon I was the lucky guest at Hearty staff meal and got to sit & listen to Dan explain each dish off the new menu, and then taste it. I’m going to walk you through my afternoon course by course. You’re going to read and be jealous, because while I was doing this you were in an office. Have I mentioned how much I love working for myself?

First thing to know: staff meals are hilarious. I mean, I suppose that depends on the staff, but the guys I sat near at lunch were adorable & funny & (I’d imagine) really good at their jobs. They certainly made me feel more comfortable. Want to make a great meal more enjoyable? Listen to someone discuss how he’s going to host a drag party called Umami Dearest.

I’ll stop talking now. Just look at all this.

Grilled Caesar Salad — Grilled romaine • parmesan filled French toast crouton • Worcestershire brittle

What a start. The crouton. OMG you guys. The crouton.

Beet Carpaccio — Raw shaved beet (candy stripe, golden, red) trio • baby greens • crispy goat cheese • extra virgin olive oil • red Hawaiian sea salt

Prettier than it appears here. Delicate & tangy.

Crispy Chicken Livers — Roasted garlic • cherry gastrique • grilled sourdough • microgreens

Do you like livers? Do you want to learn? This is a great starting point. Cornmeal coated they were so crispy.

Spinach Salad — Cage free poached egg • fried shallots • house smoked molasses bacon, panko crusted portabella mushroom

You read the description. You see this picture. The taste was better than both of them.

Hey @leahjones! SKA Brewing! ESB Special Ale

Beer break!

Buffalo Shrimp Basket — Celery root/carrot salad • blue cheese dip • chipotle cinnamon house potato chips

That’s right. Blue cheese & not ranch. As Anchor Bar intended. While everything in this dish was good, the potato chips were the star. Eyes bulged around the table as people tasted these.

Ramp Chicken — Seared French chicken breast • ramp butter • creamed corn & ramps • potato sticks

These ramps are as homegrown as homegrown can get folks. Dan said they come from behind his house in MI. A clear favorite for me.

Steak & Fries — Grilled Flat Iron steak (in a lime/cilantro marinade) • pistachio butter • polenta fries • sauteed lima beans

Patterson is going to love this. So will every other steak lover.

Beef a Roni — Braised shortribs • Old Kentucky Tom spaetzle • roasted butternut squash & tomato • fried onion

Meltingly tender. Falling apart soft. And the best spaetzle I’ve ever had.

White Marble Farms Pork Chop — Bacon/shallot spoonbread • whole grain mustard sauce • kale

A gorgeous 10oz. pork chop, sourced locally. Pork chops aren’t my favorite thing, but if I was going to eat one I’d like it to be this good.

IPA Grilled Poussin — Yam & Idaho croquette • bacon wrapped salsify • IPA syrup

IPA marinated. Bacon. Guys — you paying attention? BEER! BACON! #nom

Franks & Beans — Roasted bangers • tomato garlic beans • thick cut house cured molasses bacon • tomato beer biscuit

Everyone has their picky eater friend, yes? Well, if your picky meat eater friend is a meat eater tell them to get this. They’ll be happy they did & it might even get them to branch out a bit in the future.

Stuffed Piquillos — Spinach Port Salut Filling • egg white batter • roasted pumpkin seeds • tomato concasse

For a town that’s so meat-centric, there’s few vegetarian dishes that I’ve seen/eaten that I’ve liked anywhere near this much. After all the amazing food of the that I got to try, this is the dish that I was scouting for so I could have a few more bites.

Rock Shrimp Cake — Rock shrimp • warm tabbouleh salad (made with red quinoa) • grilled sourdough plank • Meyer lemon butter sauce • citrus relish

The one you’ll see on the menu will have 2 smaller cakes instead of one big one. The citrus relish will spotlight a changing variety of citrus. Ours had blood orange, Meyer lemon, ruby red grapefruit, & tangellos.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie — Chocolate • peanut butter • salted caramel • delicious

Just… make sure you order this, ok? If you’re anywhere within a 3 mile radius you should walk there immediately and order this. I’m not a sweets person & I loved it.

Some of the wines we sampled.

I wish I knew more about wine to be more specific. I couldn’t take notes fast enough on these. But you could look them up. Then you’ll know more than me.



So: I’ll be heading back to Hearty sometime very soon & my meal will consist of the Grilled Caesar Salad, the Spinach Salad, (possibly a Buffalo Shrimp Basket, depending on how hungry we are), Ramp Chicken, Stuffed Piquillos, and the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie. Maybe 5 of those. And whatever Patterson wants to order. Thanks a ton guys! Any time you want to have me back I’ll happily come hungry & thirsty!!

Glimpse …a social collective experience

Take Gaztro-Wagon, Fritz Pastry, and Hum Spirits & the evil genius behind them all, and combine them into a week long pop-up restaurant and you know you’re in for a good time. But you don’t realize how good until you sit down in Logan Square Kitchen for your meal.

“A social collective experience” means that your entire table needs to agree on every course of the meal. Hopefully you & your friends like the same types of food. Luckily, our table did pretty well with this.

Our choices. We weren't a dessert kind of table.

My cocktail. Rather, this is one of quite a few of them that I had. My favorite of the night. This was the “tasting” size.

Hum / Homemade Ginger Beer / Basil / Balsamic / Citrus

Lovely start to the night. This dish had mixed reactions at our table. I liked it.

Course 1: Whitefish / Grapefruit / Yucca / Vanilla / Fennel

Love love love love this. My favorite dish & my worst picture. Whoops. I’d like it again please.

Course 2: Trout / Cauliflower / Golden Raisins / Caperberry / Foie 'brown butter'

So many Silence of the Lambs jokes. How did I not order a chianti? Yet, I still was able to pay attention to how enjoyable this was. There wasn’t a speck left on the plate.

Course 3: Fava Beans / Morels / English Peas / Leek Jus

Patterson loved this. Said it was like chicken pot pie.

Course 4: Pheasant / Brioche / Mushroom / Celery Root

I’d been waiting for this all night. Truffle honey. TRUFFLE HONEY! Good on anything you put it on, truffle honey could save the world. At least this one. Glimpse closes tonight. I’m heading over to stand outside the kitchen door & see if there’s any of this left.

Course 5: Sesame Chili Cracker / TRUFFLE HONEY / Candied Pecans / Quince / Humboldt Fog / Drunken Goat / Manchego

Wonderful night, with delicious food & company. Sadly, it’s a one time thing. Wish it was going to be around longer — or that I’d ordered more trout.

They won’t let me move in

Note: I just realized that this was sitting in my drafts folder. Considering how much I love Arami I found this to be a shame & decided now is as good a time as any to share this wonderfulness with you, my 3 readers. Also important: this is from last October. I need to go back to Arami, ASAP.

However Arami did agree to let me come back as often as I’d like. As long as I promise to leave. Patterson & I took them up on this & went back a few nights ago with my Dad. I’ll let the amazing images speak for themselves. Not that these are the greatest pictures I’ve ever taken or anything, but it is some of the most outstanding sushi I’ve ever eaten. So there’s that.

Toro Tartare Bite

Miso Grilled Salmon

Bonito Fig

Maguro Kani

Negi Hamachi & Spicy Maguro

Double Sake

Hamachi Maguro Ebi

Veggie Udon

Maguro Chutoro & Zuke Sake

Unagi Nigiri

Salmon Skin Hand Roll

Hi Dad!

In case you’re wondering about the way to my heart, offering to take me to dinner here is a great start.

FOUND: The mythological “diner”

Patterson loves me dearly & enjoys making me happy. Last week, knowing we were going to our friend Roy’s house, he suggested we go to this diner-type place for breakfast. It was on the way & had intrigued him last time he passed it. It has a cool sign & I’m a sucker for a cool neon sign.

Hello new favorite diner. Not like that’s a stretch in Chicago where there are next to no diners, but still. I LOVE diners. Having grown up with them I am pretty sure that a good 24 hour diner is the key to happiness in this world. There’s really nothing like it. Don’t order the specials. Just stick to what they’re good at. Greasy breakfast foods, fried stuff, and if you’re lucky, a greek salad. Don’t ask them to get fancy, ever.

Seriously, how great is this place? And look at these eggs. The waitress suggested the grilled feta. She’s my new hero.

This picture also contains the best corned beef hash I’ve ever had in my life. Take note rest of the world. You’ve got a lot to live up to.

So diner-y. So glorious. If I could eat here every weekend I would. In fact, it just makes me want to move to the West Loop so I can eat here every weekend. Thanks Patterson. I’m still smiling about this.

And then we found the LOL cheese…

Next week: detox

It’s been a long & hard week. Pity me.

Tuesday

The Southern — Fat Tuesday crawfish boil : Joined by Patterson & Mary

A hurricane for Fat Tuesday

Crawfish boil

My first crawfish boil. I may or may not have been singing The Radiators — Suck the Head the entire time. I enjoyed myself enormously, even if they shouldn’t have mixed Old Bay w/the Zatarain’s. Or so I’m told.

Thursday

Blokes & Birds — dinner & drinks : Joined by Patterson, Mary & Matt

Churchill Downs (l) Breakfast at Tiffany's (r)

Blokes & Birds has amazing craft cocktails. Out of the 13 or so on the list, Mary & I have made it through about 10 of them. Churchill Downs is a far & away favorite. We had burgers, sausage platter (which had a great kishka type thing on it) , mac & cheese, and other assorted things. The apps were good but I didn’t love my burger. It was stacked 4 feet high & fell apart while eating it. I’d much prefer to go to DMK Burger Bar. But I do enjoy the Blokes & Birds cocktails. It’s super-dark in there and none of my pictures of the food came out. Sometimes the iPhone isn’t perfect. Speaking of photos, check out Mary’s.

Unwilling to let the good times stop, the four of us headed to Town Hall Pub. They’re infusing their own liquor now. Apricot tequila & orange juice isn’t the best drink in the world. Especially after the drinks we had at Blokes & Birds. However I bet their jalapeno vodka would make for a great bloody mary.

Friday

The Southern Mac Truck — buffalo chicken mac & cheese : Just me!

Fates collided & I got the  chance to hit up The Southern Mac Truck for lunch on Friday. Even better, my friend Tatiana was working on the truck for the day.

Everybody wave hi to Tati! HI TATI!!

Buffalo chicken mac & cheese. Hell yeah.

Isn’t that just lovely? Massive portion. I ate half of it & brought the other half home to share with Patterson. I actually enjoyed it more during dinner (the flavors got the chance to mesh) than I did during lunch. Also: I got to eat lunch outside! Sure it was only 42º, but it was sunny & warm enough.

I had some time to kill before heading to the White Sox tweetup down at Bull & Bear. So I walked over to Macy’s. Not for any particular reason other than it was nice out & I had time to kill. Later, walking towards Bull & Bear I found this:

Spotted on Randolph near State

Rahm's weiner

Love it.

White Sox Tweetup — Bull & Bear : Joined by Julie

Julie & I went to Bull & Bear to watch White Sox/Cubs & get a baseball fix. I love having female friends who like sports. Love. Since the tweetup was sponsored by the White Sox, I got to meet Southpaw, aka, one of the greatest mascots ever. He gave me a tshirt w/his face on it & we took a picture together. Then I won tickets to Opening Day. It’s hard to say which I’m most excited about. There was some food (the Go Fish) & some beer (Goose Island Green Line), but I’d rather use the picture space for Southpaw & our next mayor. Rockin’.

Saturday

Gaztro-Wagon — dinner & drinks : Joined by Patterson

Plantain chips

Shrimp blt

Have I discussed my love of Gaztro-Wagon? No? Well let’s pretend I have so I can just summarize. Naan-wiches, duck gumbo, plantain chips, byob, and a fun counter to sit at with great company. Patterson & I were heading up to Mayne Stage for the celebration of Mike DeStefano‘s life. Naturally, anytime we’re heading that far north Gaztro-Wagon is en route. Even if it’s not, it is. Funny how that happens. Spent some time sitting at the counter with our dinner & brown liquor. Thanks for the hospitality Matt.

Then things got weird…

After Mayne Stage & some more brown liquor, we wound up in a car with some stand up comedians heading to another bar.  You’d think it was easy to find a bar to go to on a Saturday night in Chicago. Nope. Not on fake St. Pat’s where every place is over-run with barely legal, barely standing, screaming kids wearing green. We wound up at a German bierhouse drinking $2 mystery beers. I got Milwaukee’s Best. Twice. *shudder*

Slut is for liking it, slut is for wanting it

What the hell? And then we lost an hour because of Daylight Savings. And then it was 4am.

Sunday

Big Jones — brunch & coffee : Joined by Patterson, Cheryl & Denise

Once upon a time (20+ years ago. Eep.) I went to sleepaway camp & knew a girl named Cheryl. Finding her on facebook was about the only worthwhile thing ever to happen to me on that site.  After trying to get together in NY or Chicago for the past 2 years we finally made it happen this morning. I’ve had this on my calendar since January. HOORAY! It was wonderful to catch up. Good stuff. And what better place to do it than a Michelin (recommended) brunch place?

Beignets

Complementary beignets.

Shrimp & grits

Shrimp & grits with appetizers of crawfish boudin balls & fried cauliflower in molten pimento cheese & coffee. Almost every word in that last sentence was delicious. We’ve been to Big Jones quite a few times & never had a bad dish.

Takashi — NOODLE DINNER : Joined by Patterson, Pone, Luke, & Chico

This is what we call ending the week with a bang. For our second Michelin restaurant (one star) in one day (!!!) we went for Takashi’s homemade noodle  Sunday Noodle Dinner. Sitting down with good friends to a great meal is one of the best ways you could end your weekend. Parts of this meal were what dreams were made of, and the next time I eat something awful I’m going to close my eyes and pretend I’m eating this beef tartare.

Beef tartare

Duck fat fried chicken

Pork belly buns

Grilled squid

Shoyu ramen

Niku tamago toge udon

In the ever comparing contest of pork belly buns these rank below Momofuku (Noodle or Milk) Bar but way above Saigon Sisters & Sunda. Seriously folks; don’t get the pork belly buns at Sunda. Just… don’t. The duck fat fried chicken was tasty, but my least favorite thing of the night. When duck fat fried chicken is your least favorite thing on the table I’d say you have a pretty great table. The small plates were shared amongst all of us. Patterson got the udon, I got the ramen & we shared, the udon being the clear winner to both of us. I prefer Arami’s ramen over this, but am currently undecided on which udon I prefer. I guess I’ll have to go back to both time & time again until I figure it out. It’s a rough job, but I’ll volunteer.

I can see the future, and the next week will consist of vegetables. Lots & lots of vegetables. Good thing I like vegetables, and the delicious new lemon vinaigrette I made the other day. Yay for salad. Bart was totally wrong.

I’m 94 stories above Chicago… with a group of handpicked diners… and we’re all about to dine.*

Want a way to win my heart? Invite me to a night of food, cocktails, gorgeous views of Chicago & ice skating. Throw in some delightful strangers & the bonus of a friend & the night gets even better. I was invited to be part of a group of Chicago bloggers (that can’t be me) & twitter food types (this fits me much better) that would be doing what is essentially an adorable date night on Michigan Avenue during the Chicago winter. First up: Chalet Nights.

The Peninsula Hotel: Pierrot Gourmet: Chalet Nights

The Peninsula Hotel, home to many restaurants I want to eat at, is running a lovely promotion until the end of March. Called Chalet Nights, go to Pierrot Gourmet & they’ll treat you right. I arrived after part of the group had already gathered. After joining them, we chatted while drinking some lovely wine. Everyone else arrived & we sat down for the first part of the evening. See photographic evidence below.

Going left to right, top row then bottom:

1. Half of our table.
2. A petite salad with Dijon vinaigrette — I adored this. Ate every last leaf like a good girl. Lovely vinaigrette.
3. Juniper berry-smoked speck (an Alpine-smoked and dried prosciutto) — my first interaction w/speck. Not my last, hopefully.
4. Pickled vegetables — again, you’d think vegetables would get ignored when there’s cheese & meat & bread. Nope. We ate it all.
5. Three-cheese fondue made with Gruyère, Appenzeller & Fontina, accompanied by mountain bread (not shown) — 3 types of cheese. Melted. Need i say more?
6. Chef Tony comes out & talks to us about what we’d eaten.
7. Fabulous French macaroons — decadent flavors. I’ve got better pictures, but ooh, an iPhone taking a picture of an iPhone taking a picture of macaroons. Meta.
8. Pear flavored Eau-de-Vie brandy —  quite strong.

John Hancock Observatory: Espression by Lavazza Café: Skating in the Sky

Post-dinner we walked up Michigan Avenue to the John Hancock building & headed to the 94th floor & the John Hancock Observatory. Staring down at Chicago from tall buildings makes me happy. I’ve had the opportunity to see the city from bunches of different floors & views in the Hancock. Stunning all around & never gets old. We walked through an OPEN AIR SKYWALK (94 floors up. Open. Air. Skywalk. !!!) to the Espression by Lavazza Café. Some specially crafted cocktails & more food awaited us there. Then, we headed to the ice rink. Below. Again.

Once more, going left to right, top row then bottom:

1. Chicago is gorgeous.
2. Open Air Skywalk — Crazy windy, insane to think about the fact that you’re basically outside & up that high. Hi Paige!
3. SKYY High: SKYY raspberry vodka, Blue Curacao, & lemonade, served with fresh lime over ice. — A tasty cocktail. If you ignore the not-in-nature blue color of it.
4. Hawks Cup:  Makers Mark whiskey, fresh ginger, muddled blackberries and fresh lemon sour garnished with fresh blackberries. — I could drink these all night.
5. Charcuterie and Cheese Assortment // Baked Goat Cheese with Tomato-Basil Sauce: Grana Padano, Brie & a goat cheese torta with basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Accompanied by prosciutto & soppressata. // Oven baked goat cheese with a tomato-basil sauce, served with tomato-basil crostini. — I’ll take some more Grana Padano & prosciutto to go along with those Hawks Cups please.
6. Stracciatella Gelato — I took a bite. After everything else, I couldn’t muster any more. Delicious though.
7. The Rink — adorable. Skating 94 floors above Chicago is kind of insane. It’s not real ice, I was far from graceful, and  I didn’t fall. I consider this a huge win.
8. Woman down! — that friend I mentioned as the bonus? She’s the one lying on her back on the ice skating rink after she fell. Hi Paige! Good friend that I am, I pulled out my phone to take a picture.
9. The rental skate — wasn’t gross at all. Which was a lovely treat.

Thanks to Zach at the Hancock & Susan at the Peninsula, as well as the stunning PR team working with Susan, and the wonderful chefs working in Pierrot Gourmet. The entire night was divine.

* — Apologies to Cameron Crowe for the title of this article. Kind of. I really love Almost Famous.