Chicago Foodies

Table 52 – Saturday Breakfast To-Go

A cost-effective way for your average foodie to get to try Art Smith's posh Gold Coast restaurant, Table 52 is in the morning. If you want a sampling of the restaurant's creations, pop in early on a Saturday to try out the housemade doughnuts, grab a cup of coffee or the ultimate breakfast - a hummingbird cupcake. These cupcakes are the piece de resistance, based off of Smith's famous hummingbird cake. 

The cake is a banana-pineapple combination with a light and airy cream cheese frosting to top it off. At $4 for a small cupcake, this isn't exactly cheap but it's definitely worth trying. The fruity cake will assure you that it's okay to eat dessert for breakfast... Isn't it always?

The Great Leap Forward: Acre Restaurant's Killer Taps

I've been to Andersonville's Acre Restaurant a handful of times and during each visit it has increasingly grown on me. It's a pleasant space, having taken over the for the former inhabitant, Charlie's Ale House, whose beers were sometimes good but usually lacking.  At Acre, you can stay out on the street until at least 11 on a Friday and still get service there.  (Hello, City of Chicago.)  The food, as I understand it, is sourced from local, sustainable growers.  The pork burger was exceedingly fresh. 

But the heart of the matter here is beer and Acre is nailing it in that department.  The first few times I ventured in there I didn't see a lot of impressive handles.  They featured a lot of the best stuff that you can find at many Lincoln Park sports bars.  Well, that has dramatically changed.  Several weeks ago, Acre held a Stone tap takeover.  While there have been a number of these since Stone's 2010 Chicago arrival, few that I recall have featured such unique beers. 

Blokes & Birds

Is it a club, a speakeasy, or a hat shop? I wasn’t too sure when this restaurant was under construction last year. Looking seemingly out-of-place in the casual block of Clark street, I was intrigued for the opening.

While I was far off from attending opening night, I heard a strong buzz around this new Lakeview restaurant.

Offering their spin on English pub fare, I was thrilled to experience Blokes & Birds for myself.

Cinco de Mayo Specials

Happy Cinco de Mayo. There are plenty of events and restaurants to enjoy on this Mexican Independence Day celebration. Check out these events happening tonight and throughout the weekend.

Cinco de Mayo Festival

The Cinco de Mayo festival is held May 6-8 in Little Village. For three days you can enjoy food, drinks, and live music. There are also many activities for kids and families.

The event is from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Located at 26th Street & Kostner.

Restaurant Specials: May 2 - May 8

Of course, this is a big weekend with Mother's Day specials everywhere you look. Also, don't forget about Cinco de Mayo this Thursday. This is a great week to get out and try a new spot in town.

Orange: Contemporary Brunch, with a Peel

With much anticipation, I finally got over to one of the Orange locations and tried out a bit of their menu. I went to the location in Roscoe Village. Orange is known for putting a modern spin on classic breakfast dishes. 

They have a nice, diverse menu with many healthy options. I opted to go with their special for the week which was a grilled chicken sandwich topped with provolone, avocados, and pesto mayo. Mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette came on the side.

Kanela Breakfast Club

I recently tried the latest breakfast spot in Lakeview, Kanela Breakfast Club. Over the past year, this location has housed multiple breakfast joints. I have a feeling Kanela will stay.

Kanela has an inviting interior with tall-backed booths and an intimate seating arrangement. For those interested in grabbing a quick espresso drink, they also offer bar seating.

Their menu consists of gourmet breakfast and lunch options, as well as fresh squeezed juice and espresso drinks. Everything sounded delicious. I had a hard time narrowing my options down.

Bacardi at the Park

I was very excited to try the new restaurant, Bacardi at the Park, when I went to the Sox game last night. Located right next to Gate 5, this hip-interior sports bar has a fun atmosphere and good beer.

Gibson's Restaurant Group owns Bacardi at the Park. They have a small menu with typical bar food including brisket nachos, a barbecue pulled pork sandwich, and smoked baby-back ribs. The food is priced between $7-10.

I was unfortunately in a hurry and could only try the brisket nachos.

The nachos took less than 10 minutes to arrive to my bar seat.

They do have very good service.

Fish Bar: The Real Deal

Editor's note– Welome to our new writer, Ashley Streichert, a Loyola grad who loves food and the conversations food creates.

If you love seafood, then you must check out Lakeview's new restaurant Fish Bar. The owner's of DMK opened up this restaurant in the beginning of March and they really hit the nail on the head. The concept is simple, the food is fresh, and the prices are right.

I went to Fish Bar on a Thursday evening and waited an hour for a table. The wait was tolerable. You can grab drinks from the bar, hang out and peruse the menu. They have a nice selection of craft beers, including Blanche de Bruxellea Witbier for $5.50 a pint. They also had Bloody Mary oyster shooters for $4, which I couldn't pass up.

Krotovina Cheese and Duck Rillettes mixed with Foie Gras

Every once and a while, I'll stop at Pastoral Artisan Cheese, my favorite cheese shop, and let the staff make any recommendations with regard to unusual cheeses.   This time I tried the Krotovina, a goat milk cheese from Prairie Fruits Farm,which also has delicious goat cheese mixed with herbs and a great   This unusual looking cheese is covered with a bloomy rind, meaning that the outside is covered in Penicillium Cadmium, a mold used to give that waxy outside seen in Brie and Camembert.    

Beautiful Soba at Ginza

Yep. This was my lunch today.

If winning a Bib Gourmond is determined by the personal money spent by Michelin inspectors, then Ginza gets my version.

I spend more money there than any other restaurant, eating lunch at least twice a week. And more often than not it's on soup.

I have at least a dozen pictures of bowls of ramen, udon and soba on my phone. Today's buckwheat soba was especially pretty with the glowing tempura flake.

The iphone takes some snazzy pix. I might be able to leave the fancy camera and Leica lenses at home more often than I already do.

Ginza
19 East Ohio
Chicago, IL
(312) 222-0600

Beer and Barbeque at Sheffield's

As noted in the excellent post written by Foodies contributor Brian Ziegler on September 20, I, too, visited Sheffield's on the same evening.  By the time I got there,  Brian and his friend had already gotten "the tour" of Sheffield's barbecue operations.  I got my turn shortly after my arrival when Brian introduced me to Sheffield's owner, Ric Hess.  I have been a long time Sheffield's patron and an even longer time barbecue lover, so it was a treat to get a chance to explore Sheffield's excellent barbecue offerings in person.

Six Plates in Durham, NC

Serendipitously, right before my most recent trip, the NYT published an article expounding upon the push for local ingredients in Durham. The result is a rising number of low-key restaurants that source hyper-fresh and artisanal ingredients, reinventing Southern classics like biscuits and grits with a sophisticated touch. The movement is further aided by the abundance of farmer's markets and long growing season. Not that I don't love Chicago's farmer's markets, but North Carolina is about 30 degrees and a growing month ahead of us, and the difference in offerings is stark.

One of the restaurants mentioned in the article was Six Plates, a wine bar featuring a varying list of (you guessed it) six small plates each night. Each plate is paired with a carefully chosen glass of wine. There are also 2-3 additional small plate options, which are permanent mainstays on the menu. The plates range between $7-9, and our group split four items and a bottle of wine for only $20 and change.

Signs that you are not in Chicago anymore: nice restaurants are frequently located in strip malls. And, there is no need for a reservation, even for a prime Saturday night. We called Six Plates to find out if we needed a reservation, particularly since the restaurant had been recently written up. The bartender assured us that this was unnecessary, and sure enough, we were able to snag seats without a problem when we arrived.

DragonLady Lounge: Vegan, Korean, All-You-Can Eatin'

Just around the bend from Kuma's Corner and down the street from Urban Belly is a dark, understated storefront that you could easily pass without a backwards glance. Except, the sign features a most arresting juxtaposition: vegan/vegetarian Korean bar food? Perhaps that warrants a closer inspection.

Indeed, many who stumble inside DragonLady Lounge are people looking for a distraction from the lengthy wait at Kuma's. But the buzz has quietly been building about this bar converted to a Korean restaurant, and plenty of people return for its ecofriendly, heavy metal-free charms. In particular, Thursday nights feature an all-you-can-eat buffet of vegan Korean food. This seems to attract an eclectic collection of vegetarian women wearing handknit shawls, plaid-shirted hipsters and nostalgic Asians.

A Revolution is Brewing

I would contend that Chicago has some of the most intelligent, passionate lovers of craft brews around. Lately it seems there has been an influx of headlining brewers making their mark in the windy city – Revolution, Half Acre, Metropolitan, Two Brothers, and most recently and with great fanfare, Stone Brewery. According to Stone’s twitter feed, Chicago became its fifth largest market… after only a week. Bonkers. Yeah. Chicagoans love a good beer.

I’ll be honest, I have not had the opportunity to try out some of the goods from all of the above, but I did make a Sunday mid-afternoon journey to Logan Square to visit Revolution Brewery (2323 North Milwaukee Ave).

The place exudes class, warmth, and passion for both their food and beer. A lot of brew pubs display their tanks right up front – sometimes an indicator of misplaced priorities. If there is serious brewing going on – and I mean, the messy, hot, smelly pour-your-heart-and-soul into it brewing – those suckers are going to be in a place where they’ll actually be used.

Revolution has theirs in the back with windows for curious diners to look through, but where crafting is actually going on by head brewer, Jim Cibak.

Kuma's Corner: A Test of Endurance

Sometimes you have to wonder whether the reason everyone loves Kuma's Corner is because they're so damn hungry by the time they actually get a burger.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset about my two-hour wait at 4 pm on a Sunday. I came fully aware, warned by other diners that lines spilling out the door were the status quo at Kuma's, and that no reservations were taken. Even their website admonishes you with a list of rules: "Our kitchen is only 16x6. Please be patient." Fair enough, they can't help it if they're wildly successful and perennially voted Chicago's top burger, right? I just wish I had eaten more before subjecting myself to hours of gastronomic abuse, hearing the sizzle of the grill and watching formidable plates of burgers waft past me to other lucky guests. Apologies to the guy who was sitting at the counter in front of me. I thought if I stared hard enough, I might be able to move a burger with telekinetic powers.

In the meantime, there is certainly plenty to see inside the dining room. Kuma's Corner is first and foremost a metal bar, with a hold-no-prisoners attitude and loud metal soundtrack to make any black leather-clad, gauntlet-wearing thrasher feel at home. A poster on the back wall declares, "Die emo die." This atmosphere may not be immediately appealing to you, but the burgers served here are so fantastic that lawyers and grandmothers of all stripes brave the scene.

Newcastle Brown Ale DraughtKeg

Here’s a neat bit of trivia for any beer enthusiast to know: the familiar Bass red triangle logo was the first trademark to be registered under the Trade Mark Registration Act of 1875. Priorities. I dig it.

However, this post isn’t about Bass. It’s about a fellow English ale and second cousin once removed to Bass – Newcastle Brown Ale.

 Right. Yes. I know what you’re thinking, “Big deal. What’s so interesting about this beer?” That’s not what I’m trying to get at here, so relax. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel for describing its taste, so I’ll just leave that out. I’m just trying to bring a little knowledge and some humor to the table, because in the end, that’s what beer should be about. Let me back up…

Two Brothers Brewery

Continuing my excursions to noteworthy Chicago-area breweries, I trekked to Two Brothers Brewery to take a peek at the #2 craft brewer in IL (the champion being Goose Island). Though they were founded just 13 years ago, family-run Two Brothers has grown tremendously and now distributes in 8 states, and arguably even has an international presence. (Apparently there's a guy who brings 10 pallets of their beer back to Sweden once a year.)

You can get an up close look at the brewing facilities by taking a tour of the premises. Tour guide Gabe was a fount of knowledge about beer-making, and super witty to boot. Seriously, this was hands-down the funniest brewery tour of all time.

Continue reading "Two Brothers Brewery" »

Crystal Cun on January 23, 2010 in $$, Beer, Pub Food, The Burbs | Permalink | Comments (2)

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I say “Gimme More”, not because I was disappointed, but rather I cannot wait to go back and try the rest of the menu. This past Wednesday, another self ordained Foodie and I ate at HB: Home Bistro on Halsted Street. For $29 per person (3-course menu), we enjoyed one of the best meals in a long time!  HB is also a BYOB, so the bill for the 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts was $64. Value, leftovers, and satisfying/memorable food…very nice!  HB offers a variety of dishes that can be categorized as American cuisine with East Coast and European influences.

Thin crust gourmet pizza does have a place in Chicago. In fact, La Madia knows how to make such a thin creation flavorful, even for the stuffed pizza-lover at heart. Creativity in pizza offerings is to be applauded at La Madia. My favorites include the taleggio and 3-hour roasted grapes, the triple pepperoni with truffle oil, and the buffalo mozzarella with torn basil. The Taleggio and roasted grape pizza sounds like an odd combination, admittedly, but as a foodie sometimes the more unique the concept, the more intriguing.  It’s worth ordering just to fulfill that intrigue. Likely, you will order it again because the soft creamy taleggio cheese mixed with the sweet grapes on a firm crust is unexpected, and quite enjoyable.

HB: Home Bistro... In the words of Britney Spears, "Gimme More"

I say “Gimme More”, not because I was disappointed, but rather I cannot wait to go back and try the rest of the menu. This past Wednesday, another self ordained Foodie and I ate at HB: Home Bistro on Halsted Street. For $29 per person (3-course menu), we enjoyed one of the best meals in a long time!  HB is also a BYOB, so the bill for the 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts was $64. Value, leftovers, and satisfying/memorable food…very nice!  HB offers a variety of dishes that can be categorized as American cuisine with East Coast and European influences.

La Madia – Being Thin... Pizza

Thin crust gourmet pizza does have a place in Chicago. In fact, La Madia knows how to make such a thin creation flavorful, even for the stuffed pizza-lover at heart. Creativity in pizza offerings is to be applauded at La Madia. My favorites include the taleggio and 3-hour roasted grapes, the triple pepperoni with truffle oil, and the buffalo mozzarella with torn basil. The Taleggio and roasted grape pizza sounds like an odd combination, admittedly, but as a foodie sometimes the more unique the concept, the more intriguing.  It’s worth ordering just to fulfill that intrigue. Likely, you will order it again because the soft creamy taleggio cheese mixed with the sweet grapes on a firm crust is unexpected, and quite enjoyable.