Ina Garten's Lemon and Garlic Roasted Chicken

I invited Susan and Aleen over for dinner one night and made roasted chicken with some sides.  I had been eating out a lot and just wanted a home cooked meal.  It's too bad I didn't anticipate that it would take about 2 hours including prep time to make this so we didn't get to enjoy this till close to 10 pm.  Oops!  I will remember to get an earlier start next time.   Here's a preview of our late night meal.

El Taco Veloz - Chicago, IL

Jung and I tried eating at El Taco Veloz one day as a pre-meal snack, but we were in a rush and we didn't realize it was a sit down restaurant so we didn't get to try it.  He went back a few days later and told me about this soup that he had that had bacon in it.  At this point, he's tried deep dish pizzas, italian sausage and beef sandwiches and pork rinds at the Publican, so he is convinced that restaurants in Chicago, when in doubt, just add meat to everything.     

I got home pretty late from my trip from New York and didn't get to eat dinner, so I figured I'd stop by and check it out for myself.  

It's a few stores down from Alcala's Western Boots on Chicago Avenue.  You also can't miss the bright yellow sign.  

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream - New York, NY

So what does Soomeenshee do after eating a huge meal at Lure Fishbar?  Go eat ice cream of course! Yes, her stomach knows no bounds.  It so happened to be parked in SoHo and we were going to walk around and burn some extra calories, but I got sidetracked by the Van Leeuwen ice cream truck.

Lure Fishbar - New York, NY (Soho)

I went to go visit Pete in New York last month and I always face a conundrum when I am there.  I have limited time and there's too many places to eat.  So when Pete asked what I wanted to eat for lunch on Saturday, I had no clue.  Luckily Pete suggested lobster rolls.  It's hard to say no to lobster rolls, so off we went to Soho to Lure Fishbar.

Ruxbin - Chicago, IL

When I heard about a new restaurant opening near my place, my curiosity was peaked.  When I found out that the chef and owners were Korean-American, I knew I had to get my butt over there.

If you read his bio, you can't help but be immediately impressed.  He's been Le Cordon Bleu trained and has worked in the kitchen of Thomas Keller's Per Se.  His dishes are a blend of French, Asian and American bistro fair.  I was expecting a lot Korean inspired dishes, but the K-town empanadas is the only item on the menu that seems to suggest his Korean background.  

Here's the outside of the Ruxbin kitchen on the corner of Ashland Ave and Pearson Street.

Inside, it's cozy and warm.  We came on a weeknight around 7:30 pm and it was packed.  We waited an hour and a half to get seated.  They don't take any reservations and the hostess told us it's really hard to predict how busy they will be.  She did mention that it's definitely easier to get seated with a smaller party, but there was four of us that night.  

Joe Boston's Italian Beef - Chicago, IL

I was watching an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network and saw an episode called "Meat-Fest."  Ray Lampe, aka Dr. BBQ, featured the Italian Beef and Sausage Sandwich from Joe Boston's. From the show, the place looked like it would be in the middle of nowhere, like a random truck stop in the booneys, middle of nowhere. Turns out, I live less than a mile away from it. lol. Joe Boston's is in the Humboldt Park neighborhood, where Grand Ave and Chicago Ave intersect. Yup, those two streets actually intersect.

Since Jung's arrived, he's been on an Italian Beef kick. He took a quick liking to it and set out to try as many as he could. I've been in Chicago for a few months now and I'll be honest, this was my first time trying an Italian Beef sandwich. I think I had Al's Beef on my list of places to try, but clearly I was in no hurry. Well, it took a little nudge from Jung and we were off on our very own Meat-Fest quest.

Here's what it looks like from across the street.

Cafe Iberico - Chicago, IL

Cafe Iberico holds a special place in my heart ... and stomach, of course.  My law school friends and I used to come here all the time, but I haven't had a chance to come back since I moved back to Chicago.  I was pleading with Jung to eat something besides Italian Beef so when he said he was up for tapas, I knew it was my chance!

Hoagie Hut - Chicago, IL

Hoagie Hut is a little sandwich shop in Lincoln Park. My friends and I were really hungry one night and were looking for a quick place to grab a bite, so we stopped by here.  I've never heard of Hoagie Hut, it just happened to be open and we were hungry, a perfect storm of sorts, I guess.