Blackbird

I had the good fortune of being treated to dinner at Blackbird last week, which I enjoyed with two friends. Blackbird is a pretty remarkable place - it's ultra sleek and modern, and has won countless awards and nominations including several James Beard awards, a number of Wine Spectator awards, Best New Chef in Food and Wine magazine, and the distinction of being on Gourmet magazine's list of one of the top five restaurants in Chicago, and top 50 in America.

Unlike it's other top-Chicago peers, Blackbird delivers a stunning dining experience for about $25 an entree. It's located in the ultra-trendy West Loop, right next to sister restaurant Avec and around the corner from Sepia. The cuisine is "contemporary American", with a heavy emphasis on seasonal and local ingredients.

We started out with some pre-dinner cocktails, which were awfully strong, but delicious. The one in the foreground is the Orange Blackbird - a strong and sweet mix of Tanqueray and Orange liquors. Leanne got a "Rosewater Something", which had cucumbers in it. It was strong but impressively refreshing, and pretty.

For our first course, we all ordered something a little different. I ordered the "crispy veal sweetbreads with green acres farm crispy carrots, preserved lemon-hazelnut yogurt, candied caraway and beets". Its a good thing I didn't ask what "veal sweetbreads" were before I ordered or ate it - they're apparently the thyroid glands of a deer. It tasted like a gourmet chicken nugget to me, though! Notice how they fit all of those ingredients into one tiny package on the plate:
We all love scallops, so we got an order to share of "seared maine diver scallops with local sweet corn, eggplant puree, early tart apples and lovage". Still not quite sure what lovage is, but this dish was SO GOOD!Laurel got the pinenut gazpacho with soppressata, apricot, spring radish and nasturtium -- yes, there were flowers in the soup. As far as soups go -- and my new obsession with them-- this one was GREAT. Lots of interesting sweet and savory flavor dynamics.

After we were brought our wine (an '05 Domaine Barrod Beaujolais Villages Pinot Noir) and a tiny little amuses-bouche (which was a spoonful-sized portion of salmon on a butternut squash puree), our main courses arrived. The pacing of the meal was great - I was worried that they would rush us though, but luckily they allowed us ample time to sit and enjoy our food and drink. The service was also impeccible - our waitress seemed more like a dinner party hostess and was very well informed about everything on the menu. When they brought our appetizers and entrees, they did it with flair and in groups, almost choreographed so that everyone's plate hit the table at the same time. I loved it.

I got the grilled california sturgeon with oyster mushrooms, spring peas, rye gnocci, guanciale (an Italian bacon) and mustard. It was deliciously salty, and came in a tasty broth. I think the "mustard" was the foam on top. Laurel got the seared arctic char and Leanne got the roasted half grimaud farms muscovy duck breast which were both good as well.

Dessert was DELIGHTFUL, and Laurel's and my plate came with little candles on them, as we let it leak that we were both celebrating birthdays. It was nice.

I got the buckwheat crepaze with rhubarb consomme, candied celery and sicilian pistachio ice cream. I love crepes and rhubarb, so it was a hit.

Laurel got the milk chocolate cremeux with coconut-curry ice cream, cashews and lime, which was also REALLY great, especially the coconut curry ice cream - that's one of my favorite flavor combinations of all time.

Leanne got the marcona almond panna cotta with nougatine, blueberries and chamomile, another home run of wonderful flavors and textures.

All in all it was a truly amazing evening of stellar food. I'm so happy I had the opportunity to go, and I look forward to dining there again sometime.

Cheese & Bread

I could survive solely on cheese and bread. Its truly the perfect pairing of two foods. When I lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, it was a staple of my diet - Scottish country cheddar and cream crackers was a frequent snack and even meal, especially while backpacking. And with gourmet groceries and cheese shops throughout the city (and country), it was never hard to find a delicious slice of cheese and a baguette.

Here's a pic of my little sis Susie enjoying a little cheddar and cream crackers at the train stop:

Here's me with some sun-dried tomato & basil gouda and a fresh baguette that we bought at a farmer's market in Cork, Ireland. So good!

And, back to the present. If cheese and bread are the world's perfect food pairing, that makes pizza the world's perfect dish. I got to enjoy pizza two ways recently - dressed up, and dressed down. And BOTH were delicious.

First - FRASCA : pizza dressed up.

Frasca's calling card is pizza and wine - make that gourmet pizza and fine wine. The atmosphere of the place absolutely complements the cuisine as well. Fire light from candles and a wood-burning oven dances across the modern wood and brick decor, bringing a feeling of warm sophistocation to the experience.

I went with my friend Ian, who had enjoyed Frasca before. With his guidance, we ordered a handful of items off of the "small bites" appetizer menu - essentially a list of cheeses, cured meats, and bruchettas that came with freshly baked baguette. And a little bowl of olives. And a little bowl of candied raspberries. Yum.

Then came the main event: the wood-oven baked pizza. We split a "sopressata", which was topped with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, crumbled sopressata sausage, and delicious mozzerella. I enjoyed mine with a light, sweet Riesling, while Ian went for a red. Here's Ian with his pizza and wine.

Second on the recent pizza circuit was Exchequers - a different but no less wholesome dining experience.

Exchequers is a GEM of a pub & eatery on South Wabash in the Loop. I stopped by this fine establishment last week to join a few colleagues for some post-work pizza & beer. The beer was German... the name started with a T... and it was on special. So naturally we got pitchers.

As an appetizer, we got a "tower of onions". Yumm! Here's Brian with the beer
& onion tower.

As for the pizza, we mixed it up with one thin crust (pepperoni & garlic - SO GOOD!)

and one deep dish (sausage, green peppers & onions). While the deep dish was delicious, it didn't live up to my "Giordano's standard" of deep dish. Not enough CHEESE! Although you wouldn't know it from these pictures. Here's an action shot of the CHEESINESS!!

Here's to cheese and bread.

Summer in Chicago

And here, friends, is another long-awaited recap of the first half of my first summer in Chicago proper. Having lived in Evanston last summer, I didn't really get to appreciate the way that Chicago simply explodes with life once the summer months set in. Restaurants and bars jubilantly cast open their windows, women in sundresses and oversized sunglasses take over the streets, and no matter what day or time it is, the interstate is backed up. Not to mention the FAIRS AND FESTIVALS that take place every weekend, all over the city-- wherever you are on a weekend, it seems that if you stop and listen hard enough, you can hear the distant strains of a cover band rocking it out in one of Chicago's neighborhoods. And who can forget the ever-present fireworks- every Wednesday and Saturday at Navy Pier. In fact, I was pleasantly reminded of the fact that I live "downtown" just the other day when I thought I heard gunshots in my back alley, only to remember (with relief) that it was a Wednesday. Yes, I live close enough to the downtown to hear the Navy Pier fireworks. AWESOME!

Anyway, let's get to the HIGHLIGHTS.

1. Lisa, Kate and Laurel go to BOKA

I thought that Boka, a staple of my daily walk to the Red Line, would be a lot like its Halsted sister (and one of my favorite Chicago institutions), Landmark. I was wrong. Boka has all the prices of Landmark, but with a far more chi chi attitude. It was "fine dining", for sure -- the head chef of this place is a former protege of Charlie Trotter himself-- and I can't say I didn't like it... it just was a little fancier than I expected.

Here's our appetizer, which was a play on the classic tomato, basil & mozzerella neopolitan. Can't really see it, but there was pesto gelee in there. Interesting.
Next up were the main courses. I got sesame-wasabi crusted salmon, with green tea soba noodles and soy foam. So gastroscientific. Not pictured: Laurel's soft shell crabs, which we learned were ACTUAL CRABS, battered and fried whole. We helped her out with them.

I should also mention that this dinner was EXTRA special because one of my favorite college friends KATE was in town for her graduation! Kate's a fellow foodie who got to see a lot of the Chicago culinary scene before I did courtesy of one very generous boyfriend. She now lives in San Francisco and works for Google. I took her to get dessert at my favorite local low-cal dessert stand, Treats! Seriously, 90 calories per four ounces of something that looks AND tastes just like real soft serve? Sign me up. Here's Kate, enjoying her treat!!

2. We are more preppy than you, neighbors

Laurel and I popped our collars and rung in our new apartment with a little Lincoln Park Prep Party... because we landed a cheap place on one of the richest streets in the city. We still don't know quite how.

The double-popped collar brigade:

Fancy (and delicious!) Cookes:

And OF COURSE, finger sandwiches!

3. It always tastes better over a campfire

One of my best college friends, Amy, is from Michigan, and she graciously took a bunch of us up to her hometown of Interlochen, Michigan a few weeks ago. We pitched tents at a lovely little campground right on Lake Michigan, and of course made some quality campfire food while we were out there. After years of cooking campfire food with my family and at Girl Scout camp, my favorite is still the tinfoil dinner. Just chop up some meat (chicken), add a bunch of your favorite veggies (carrots, potatoes, green peppers, onions, garlic, etc), a generous amount of butter, Lawry's seasoned salt, and even some shredded cheddar cheese, then wrap it all up in tinfoil and cook it in the coals for about 20 minutes, until everything's cooked through. Open and enjoy!

Here's Jenny making her preparations:

4. Camp House Cooking

I went home to New Hampshire over the 4th of July week, and had some delicious home-cooked food both at my real house and at our new little lake house we call "the camp". Not pictured is my first lobster dinner, unfortunately undocumented. Although I can tell you that while I REALLY wanted to love lobster, I wasn't a huge fan. Did love the tail... didn't like the "claw meat" or the whole dissecting-the-animal part. Guess I'm not quite grown up, yet.

Anyway, here is a typical grill-out dinner, which we ate pretty much every night. This one is tilapia, corn, asparagus, and zucchini. Tip: grill your fish and corn in tinfoil to keep the moisture in as they cook.

After dinner we usually went to Johnson's, an ice cream stand not far from the camp, that has the largest servings you've ever seen. We all got "kiddie" sizes, which were slightly bigger than a 16-inch softball. Yikes.

I made some bacon-wrapped scallops on the grill. They came out ok, but since I like my bacon a little crispier, I think I'll fry it a little longer next time before wrapping the scallops.

5. I think I'll go to BOSTON

I went for a day trip in Boston while I was on the east coast, to visit my friend Meredith. It was a beautiful day in Boston, so we just strolled around and went window shopping on Newbury Street. Here we are enjoying some scones and tea at Tealuxe on Newbury Street - kind of like the Armitage Ave of Boston, but nicer.

I love me some tea with soy milk!

Mmm Meredith and her green tea... so healthy.

6. Summer's not complete without the BEACH!

Over July 13 & 14, I played in an ultimate frisbee tournament on Montrose Beach called Sandblast. Our team was called the American Gladiators, and we showed up with style, finesse, and of course costumes. My shirt may have had an angry eagle on the front, but Richard's took the patriotic cake!!

We may not have won the tournament, but we won the party!

7. Can't go wrong with curry (unless you do).

And finally, last week I made some pretty badass curry-shimp-noodles. Here's a picture of the shrimp frying up in the olive oil and spices. Yummm!!

Well that's all I've got for now. Things not pictured: the Old Town Art Fair, Pitchfork Music Festival (that I didn't make it to this year), Taste of Chicago (also missed), Going Out in Naperville Can Be Fun: The Tale of Jeanette's Birthday, Flat Top Grill (multiple times), and others.

Coming up next: Lisa & Ian do FRASCA, Lollapalooza. Stay tuned.

A Stellar Weekend in the City

There are weekends you rest, there are weekends you have to work. There are weekends you travel. And then there are those weekends you spend with your favorite people, stay up till all hours multiple nights in a row, and have to end up reluctantly, sluggishly dragging yourself to work on Monday, with a smirk on your face you can't wipe off.

This past weekend was one of those weekends.

With georgeously warm, clear weather Friday, Saturday AND Sunday, I made the best of it by taking advantage of some of the best Chicago has to offer.

Friday night, my roommate Laurel and I went to Mix Bar (on Diversey & Halsted) for the Young Professionals of Chicago's annual "Summer Soiree" fundraiser. For a mere $40, we were fed, watered (with a top shelf open bar), and provided great company. It think these guys have a great idea going as far as fundraising goes too: they know their target audience, and they know that they're going to do better charging $40 to get in (with a raffle & silent auction), than they will with a $120 a plate black-tie event. Anyway, it was loads of fun.

Saturday, I slept in then met Amy to throw around a frisbee in Oz Park, which is up the street from my apartment. It has a lovely big field, just perfect for tossing a disc. When we got tired, we headed down to Wells St. to check out the Old Town Art Fair... which we didn't realize was a Dillo Day style drinking-fest until we got there. Yes, there was a lot of lovely art that I only wish I could afford. And there was festival food-- I got a BBQ Chicken Sandwich and then Amy and I split some Chocolate Dipped Strawberries On a Stick... mmm. The only downside to the fair was that it was horriffically crowded and every bar was totally packed to overflowing. Now that we know what the scene is, we'll have to plan ahead to get there earlier next year! Nevertheless, it was fun to check out.

headed out to the Chicago Brauhaus in Lincoln Square with a posse of my college friends for some boot-drinking good times. The Chicago Brauhaus, little did we know, is a kind of family-type restaurant with authentic German roots-- they're apparently known for their brat selection, and for their schnitzel. However, it was the giant glass boots of Spaten that we came for-- and enjoyed. If you've seen the movie Beerfest, you'll know what I'm talking about. The rules of the boot are simple:

1) the toe must always point toward the middle of the table
2) the boot can never touch the ground / table until it's empty
3) after you drink of the boot, you must flick the boot before you pass it to the person next to you.

Kind of like communion at church.... but not.

After the boots had done us in, we happily cabbed down to the Cubby Bear to see Mike & Joe, of course. There was no line at the door which was a welcome surprise, but the place was hopping as usual. It was a great set list that night as well-- I always tell people Mike & Joe are like the best mix tape only live, and I mean it-- they not only play good music, but they know how to line their songs up. Just when you think you've heard the best song of the night, they kick it up a notch. Never fails to impress!

Sunday morning I slept in, then miraculously willed myself to run 6 miles. After nursing my sore-from-singing vocal cords with some tea, it was off to the main event of the weekend: FALL OUT BOY, +44, THE ACADEMY IS..., and COBRA STARSHIP at the Charter One Pavillion on Northerly Island (also called Mag's Field... it's right on the lake by Soldier Field). Sadly Amy and I got there just in time to MISS Cobra Starship... big tears... but TAI, +44, and of course FALL OUT BOY rocked my socks off. Oh yeah, and even LUPE FIASCO made a surprise guest appearance in the middle of Fall Out Boy's set... wicked!! The show was all pyrotechnics, big stage antics, seizure-inducing jumbo-screen visuals, screaming thirteen year olds, and SO much fun. Thanks to our friend Morgan, who INSISTED we must brave the crowds and get close to the front, we had a great view. And the performance itself was spectacular-- Patrick Stump was spot on, even in his killer rendition of Michael Jackson's Beat It. Man that guy can hit the high notes! And I sang along with every one... at the top of my lungs.

Needless to say, on Monday morning I dragged myself and my lost-voice out of bed and to work... but I couldn't wipe the smirk off my face all day.

Thank god for weekends like this. I love Chicago.

Hello, Summertime

Well... it's been a while. In the time beween my last post and now a lot has happened... I've moved apartments, I've lost four (yes four) bosses at work and gained two new ones, I've been to Canada (and back), and summer has bloomed.

I've also had some tasty eats, of course. Here are my highlights from the past month:

1) Summer means grilling, and I've busted out the Barbie (pet name for my little weber) a few times already since the weather turned warm. Here are my favorites so far this summer:

- Grilled balsamic-marinated asparagus

- Grilled corn on the cob (keep the husk on, and soak it in cold water for at least 20-30 min before you grill it. peel the husk off and enjoy!)

- Grilled marinated chicken breasts (simple and delicious)

- Grilled Portabello - tomato - mozzerella napoleons

- Hot dogs. Yum.

Here's a lovely summer salad, that I made to go with...

... This lovely grilled chicken, asparagus, and corn!

2) Mmm... Meat.

I enjoyed probably the fanciest meal of my life several weeks ago when I got to go to David Burke's Primehouse (in the St. James Hotel) on the company dime. We had clients in town and well... I guess we wanted to show them a good time. Yessss. I had the Classic Filet Mignon "Oscar" style (meaning it was topped with crabmeat, asparagus, and garlic hollandaise). AMAAAZING!

I also enjoyed a tasty cut of beef last month at Las Tablas, a charming Colombian restaurant on N. Lincoln in West Lakeview. I think I had the "Bandeja Paisa": a NY strip steak with a lot of sides, including cornbread, a plantain, an egg, and some other weird fruits-or-vegetables. Here's a shot of my plate:

3) New & Old Neighborhood Eats

Tilli's is a lovely little spot just down the street from my new apartment. Amy, Leanne and I went there for a late lunch after moving me into the new place. It's a georgeous restaurant, especially when they have the patio open on a sunny day... but the food was a little overpriced and sub-par. All the flavors of our food were slightly off and a little too intense (we couldn't tell if it was a sour citrus taste or over-salting... probably a combination of both). However, despite that, we managed to thoroughly enjoy our lunch. Here are some pictures:

John's Place is right up the street from my old apartment, and right next door to my fave Chicago cupcake joint, Sweet Mandy B's. Laurel and I stopped in to John's Place on the way to the movies on Webster a few weeks ago.

Laurel had a pesto fish dish:And I had my fave standby: Grilled Chicken Sandwich with SWEET POTATO FRIES!!!

4) Amy and Lisa go to Beerfest on Navy Pier

Mmmmm... beer. So many different kinds of beer. So many different kinds of delicious.

5) Minnie's

And finally... me and the girls grabbed a bite to eat recently at this Armitage & Halsted spot, that serves mini gourmet sandwiches and burgers and is SO CUTE!!

And there's the recap for ya, folks. I promise I'll be more dilligent about updating this summer, cause I'm sure there are many more good eats / cooks / drinks to come!!

Weekend Update

It was a busy weekend, to say the least. Drinks after work on Friday at Catch 35 (a classy joint), turned into a bar hop from Witt’s (on N. Lincoln... not so great if it were not for the free drinks we got), to Y Bar (hilariously pretentious, but hey there was free champagne), the Rock & Roll McDonalds on Dearborn (we got hungry), John Barleycorn (we decided it was time to dance), and finally, Pizza Ria on Clark (we got hungry again).

On Saturday, grabbed a late lunch / early dinner with Leanne and our friend Christine, who was visiting from out of town. Hankering for some lunch / brunch fare, despite the fact that it was almost 3:30pm (we had played our frisbee games that morning), we decided to try to check out Toast on Halsted and Webster. However, when we walked in the door, we were informed that they were closing—we were too late. A tad bit crestfallen, we figured that there must be some other good little spots around, so we wandered down Halsted... and right into the friendly confines of Nookies Too.

We were seated right away, and upon opening our menus, we all quickly realized that Nookies Too was EXACTLY what we were looking for... diner food with a cozy Lincoln Park flair. With a generous breakfast menu including banana toffee pancakes, strawberries & cream waffles, and eggs any way you want them, Nookies Too also offers a full menu of hot & cold sandwiches, burgers, salads and even dinner entrees for later in the evening. And apparently on Friday and Saturday nights, they are open 24 hours, to the delight of late night revelers (like myself). Good to know!

Although I was terribly tempted by the banana toffee pancakes, I instead opted for a Turkey Reuben, which came with a bowl of soup, a pickle spear, and Nookies own thick cut chip-fries... basically thick cut potato chips, but with the soft fried texture of steak fries. I’ve never seen anything like them:

Christine and Leanne were also pleased with Nookies, especially the delish diner coffee:

Saturday night was a little less hectic, but just as fun. Started the night at a concert at the House of Blues with my friends Ian and Justin (Matt Wertz, Stephen Kellogg & Jon McLaughlin playing—REALLY great music!), then afterwards we headed down the street to Rock Bottom Brewery, to grab a craft beer and a bite to eat. Then it was over to that infamous after-hours spot, The Hangge Uppe, to meet Laurel and Jenni and dance the rest of the night away with the 80s music videos and the popped collars.

When I woke up this morning I was STILL tired. But it was worth it.

April Snow Showers Bring... More Snow Showers: A Recap

Yes, I haven't posted for several weeks. And it's been snowing in Chicago... in April. But I've got a reason... for the break, at least: I'm moving! Well yes, moving apartments... but you knew that already. I'm moving blogs! For a while now, I've been checking out the other free blogging engines out there... including Typepad, Wordpress, and Blogger. While I found typepad to have the best blogging platform while also being the most user-friendly, I simply didn't want to pay the $14.95 a month to get all of those benefits. At least not yet. So, I settled on Blogger, which will allow me to blog for free (and ad-free), while still giving me most of the benefits Typepad wanted to make me pay for. Oh, and Blogger also has a deal with Google that will let me elect to host ads on my site if I want to... and get paid for it! How sweet is that?

Anyway, as with any move, there's been a lot of work to do in preparation... which is why I haven't had a new entry in a few weeks. The work has mainly consisted of manually transferring all of my entries thus far to my new site, but I even taught myself a little "CSS" code so I could manually add some special features to my new blog's layout. Pretty cool stuff!

All that explaining aside, here's a recap of what I've been up to the past few weeks:

1. Chicago Bagel Authority

This unassuming GEM of a bagel shop sits right next to the Armitage brown line el station that I walk to and from every day. Finally, last Friday, I ventured in for a snack with my friend Dessa. Lucky I was with Dessa, because she knew the whole history of the place! Apparently the first "Bagel Authority" is on the campus of Miami University of Ohio... and the one that is in my Chicago neighborhood was opened by MU alums. And when you walk in the door, you can tell: home photos and Ohio college memerobilia decorate the walls, and the place has a distinctively casual, down-home feel to it, as if that step in the door really did transport you to a quaint Ohio college town. Although the menu boasts legions of delicious looking sandwiches and toasties, I opted for a simple Bialy Bagel with Hummous... not toasted, but STEAMED! Giving it that warm, chewey, just-pulled-from-the-oven taste. Delicious. (notice the steamers in the foreground of this pic!)



2. First Friday @ The MCA

This was one of my first forays into the Chicago "young professional happy hour" scene, and boy was it a good time. Basically, on the first Friday of every month (hence the name), the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art hosts a glorified happy hour from 6-10pm. $10 entry fee gets you access to cash bars, free hors deouvoers, and of course, to the museum's exhibits... but I have a hunch that most people aren't there for the art. When Dessa and I rolled in to the MCA at around 7:30 last Friday, the place was HOPPING with young twenty and thirty-somethings decked out in their finest trying-really-hard business-formal and club chic. Needless to say, the people watching was phenomenal. Of course there were the hot shot "young professionals" (as was to be expected), but there was a whole crop of much more interesting people too: for instance, the long-haired Italian looking man with big rings on his fingers, the awkward Germans trying to set up tennis dates with us (we politely declined), and the lavishly dressed, considerably older men in general. Endless entertainment.

Drinks were predictably a little on the steep side, but the free munchies were worth the $10 entry: the resident Wolfgang Puck Cafe served up Fried Ravaoli, Homemade Parmesan and Cracked Pepper Potato Chips, and sweet little pistachio and sugar cookes. There was apparently an after-party at the super-pretentious west loop club Reserve, but we didn't make it. Instead, our night took us across Michigan Avenue to the NoMI Lounge at the Park Hyatt, then up to Mad River (lord knows why we made that downgrade), and then to Minibar... where the lack of women only confused us briefly before we realized we were on North Halsted. All in all, a good night.

3. Plush Pup.

I am a big fan of hot dogs... and a bigger fan of the little hot dog shops all over Chicago. I don't know if hot dog shops are a Chicago thing (perhaps because the headquarters of Vienna Beef are here?), or if they have them in other cities. The thing is that all cities have little fry-up burger joints, where you can get a burger, a dog, fries, a gyro, you name it. But the interesting thing about Chicago is that they always seem to have the hot dog champion the name... i.e., The Wiener's Circle, Clark Street Dog, Swank Frank, Underdog, Plush Pup etc... I could go on and on. (Hopefully this summer I will, as I continue my quest to document Chicago's best hot dog shops!)

Anyway, I think all of these places are great, and Plush Pup is no exception. It's actually pretty far out... on Cumberland just off of I90, but it was the perfect place to stop and grab a bite on the way home from two very freezing ultimate frisbee games last Saturday. I had a Chili Dog... which I've never had before. The chili kind of soaked into my bun in a way I didn't like, but it was tasty anyway!

4. Easter Brunch!

Last Sunday was Easter, and Dessa and I, being a few of the only people who DIDN'T go home for Easter, banded together to attend a little church (well a BIG church) at St. James Episcopal Cathedral, and then went to get some Easter Brunch!

Unfortunately, I didn't plan well enough ahead for my Easter Brunch, because come the Friday before Easter, pretty much every reasonably priced restaurant was booked up. We were, however, able to get a table at Heaven on Seven, which is at 600 N. Michigan, in the same building as the movie theaters. Heaven on Seven wasn't as nice as I expected, but we were able to get a decent breakfast for a very decent price, so that was nice! Dessa got an omelet and I got the Bananas Foster French Toast, which was de-lish:
Also delish were the delightfully seasoned home fries-- they were nice and zesty, and perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Overall, a good Easter, and more motivation to check out some more of Chicago's legit bruch places, including Toast, Orange, Feast, and Hot Chocolate. Anyone interested?

And there's the wrapup. Hopefully the new blog will be A GO very soon... keep your eyes on this spot!