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.

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?

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.

Not a Goose

For the month of December I’m participating in & blogging the daily prompts from reverb10. Some people are taking this seriously. I am not.

December 14 – Appreciate What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it? (Author: Victoria Klein)

DUCK.

I so badly wanted to entitle this post “Not Ducking Around”. I didn’t. You’re welcome Patterson.

This year brought me to Sun Wah for my first (and second, and third) time. Amazing duck, carved table side & then served to you on a platter, in a soup, and in a heaping plate of fried rice. That’s 3 types of deliciousness, in case you weren’t counting. Peking duck, you’re appreciated.

Lao Sze Chuan

For the month of December I’m participating in & blogging the daily prompts from reverb10. Some people are taking this seriously. I am not.

December 10 – Wisdom — What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? (Author: Susannah Conway)

HOT POT!

I don’t keep a running tally of smart decisions I make. The wisest thing recently decided was to get the full spicy broth in our hot pot at Lao Sze Chuan. Closely following in wise moves was the company (hi Patterson, Felicia, Pone & Luke!) and the decision to stuff ourselves silly.

lava.

food stuffs to be placed in the lava.

meat & unused sauces.

fish, veggies & goodies.

two platters of meat, fish, veggies & noodles and three broth refills later.

Last time we got the half & half.

half and half.

Full spicy is the way to go.

Celebratory Shenanigans

For the month of December I’m participating in & blogging the daily prompts from reverb10. Some people are taking this seriously. I am not.

Prompt: Party. What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? Describe the people, music, food, drink, clothes, shenanigans. (Author: Shauna Reid)

I threw Patterson a beer tasting birthday party.

the birthday boy

Bring a 6 pack of good beer & try some new beer,

the beer

eat some food,

the food

laugh,

(some of) the people

look at Carlin,

the cat

repeat. Good times were had by all.