Longman & Eagle - Chicago, IL

One of my favorite favorite restaurants in Chicago is Longman & Eagle in Logan Square.  It's a gastropub and I know what you are thinking Chicago is full of gastropub so what's so special about this one.  The difference is that they actually fulfill on both fronts - great drinks and great food.  Maybe it was also that we came during a warm autumn night and got to sit outside and ate and drank to our heart's content, but I think the company that you're with can definitely make the food association that much greater and of course I was with Susan and Aleen.  

They had a bunch of interesting small plate options so we couldn't narrow it down so we got three to share.  This was the Ricotta Gnuddi with Asian Pear Black Walnut Jam, Butternut Squash Veloute and Brown Butter Sage Emulsion.  Basically imagine a ricotta gnocchi that is fried and you get the picture.  Yum is right.  

Sprout - Chicago, IL

One of the Sundays when Mary and Jeanie were still in town, we went to Sprout for brunch.  If you are top chef fans, the names Dale Levitski and Sarah Nguyen may ring a bell.  They joined forces after the show ended and opened Sprout in the fall of 2009.  Sprout has a three course prix-fixe dinner menu, which looks really interesting, but sad to say, it never made it to the top of my list when picking a place to eat amongst friends since not everyone wants to do a prix-fixe.  But when they started serving brunch on Sundays earlier this year I knew that would be more conducive to me visiting.   

Honky Tonk Barbeque - Chicago, IL

I received a gift certificate to Honky Tonk awhile back so one a cold, snowy night I dragged my friends to Pilsen to check out this place known for their BBQ.  

Here's what it says on their website: 

 

"Honky Tonk Barbeque features championship barbeque pork, beef, chicken and other down-home dishes. We feature slow, wood-roasted beef, pork and chicken. It is cooked over a wood burning fire with no natural gas. This results in pulled pork and smoked brisket that is cleaner tasting and free of the taste of fuel that is noticable in almost all the other barbeque you will find in town. Come and try it for yourself and see what a difference the wood makes!"  They were also featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. 

Arami - Chicago, IL

Arami is a new sushi restaurant that opened in Ukrainian Village in August.  My friends went for dinner one night in September, so this post is clearly overdue.  I can't really remember all the details, but we had a lovely meal and hopefully the pictures will speak for themselves.  

Arami is owned by Troy and Ty Fujimora, who also own Small Bar and the Exchange, and BK Park, former chef of Mirai.  Their menu is composed of hot and cold appetizers, noodles, donburi and sushi.  I had heard great things about Mirai so I knew the sushi would be great but I was so excited that they would be serving ramen.  You all know how I feel about ramen.  It's also BYOB, but they have Noble Grape's menu on hand so you can order and they will deliver bottles for you as you eat.    

We started off with some cold appetizers to share.  Here is the Togarashi Seared Tuna, topped with a creamy meyer lemon dressing.  Underneath it was a seaweed salad and kelp noodle.  I loved the textures and the juxtaposition of flavors, in particular the togarashi spices with the lemon dressing.  Oddly enough, it works!  

iCream - Chicago, IL

After dinner, we had plans to go see Inception.  But before we rushed off to the movie, we stopped by iCream for some dessert.  I first heard about iCream from my friend Will who told me that he saw the show on the Food Network show, Chef vs. City in Chicago.  I looked up the address and realized it was really close by and I have been meaning to try it out, but never got around to it ... until now.  

It's hard to see the storefront because it's sunken in, but be on the look out for this little banner on Milwaukee Avenue.

Margie's Candies - Chicago, IL

Mary and I got to meet up one last time and went to Great Seas again.  She mentioned that she went to a cute little ice cream parlor in Bucktown.  I recently moved closer to Bucktown so I was intrigued to find a neighborhood ice cream place.  We decided to meet up with some of our friends there for dessert.  

Cloud 9 - Chicago, IL

What is Taiwanese Snow Ice doing in Lakeview, you ask?  I have no clue either, but I'm not complaining.  We spoke to the owners and they said it's their first outpost outside of Taiwan and I can totally see this being the next boba, the next tart yogurt trend to hit LA.

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.

XOCO - Chicago, IL (revisited)

Soup Cook and I were looking for a place to grab dinner after work and we literally stumbled upon XOCO while wandering around River North. I always forget that this place is so close. Lucky for us, we were early for dinner so there wasn't the usual line out the door.

I haven't been back since January and I was so excited to try some different things on their menu. To start, I got some of their guacamole & chips. My roommate recently got me guacamole and chips from Big Star and I have to say, Big Star's was slightly better, but no complaints with Rick Bayless's guac.

Do I get a torta or a caldo? Decisions, decisions ... I opted for their Carnitas Caldos, which is a soup with slow-cooked pork carnitas, potato-masa dumplings, chayote, roasted serrano chile, spinach, arugula and avocado. Yum, yum, yum. I always think a soup is not going to be filling enough, but this is like eating a huge bowl of pho minus all the noodles. The chunks of tender pork and veggies make this very filling. The potato-masa dumplings added an element of starchiness to the dish as well.

Now for my favorite part, their desserts. I wanted to order dessert after we were done because I had my heart set on trying their soft serve ice cream, but by the time we were done with dinner, the line was out the door again. So we waited and waited hoping that it would die down and realized, that there was no way around it, we'd have to stand in line again. Thank goodness the hostess recognized me and told me I could just go up to the register because the line is usually due to people waiting for seats to free up. So if you want to order to go or order dessert, you can just go up to the counter. Good to know for next time!

So here's a pic of the homemade Mexican vanilla soft serve with maple-pecan-bacon-streusel & salted caramel sauce. Yes, you read that right, bacon-streusel. I've been seeing a lot of bacon in desserts lately and XOCO was no exception. I liken this to a grown up version of McDonald's caramel sundaes. The soft serve had amazing flavor, the pecans and bacon added great texture and crunch and let's face it, salted caramel can do no wrong.

Soup Cook's never been here so we had to get the churros and hot chocolate. These churros never seem to fail me. I am so regretting not taking the leftover churros to go.

The Publican - Chicago, IL

We finally got to try Publican this weekend. The Publican is a new European-style beer hall/restaurant in the Fulton Market District from the creators of Blackbird and avec restaurants. Executive Chef Paul Kahan and Chef de Cuisine Brian Huston crafted an eclectic menu, which is categorized into three food groups (fish, meats and vegetables). The menu, which is inspired by simple farmhouse fare, is best described by Kahan and Huston as “pristine product, simply prepared.”

They have a communal dining area in the center, shaped like a big U, and more private booths and tables on the side. We came relatively early and so were able to snag a booth. Here's a picture on their wall, very indicative of what was to come.

Here's a picture of their adorable table setting, which was put to quick use when the bread arrived.

There's nothing like a crusty loaf of bread with some butter to wet the appetite.

My favorite dish of the night was the first dish that arrived. The burrata was unbelievably creamy and the beets were so sweet. Is it crazy that I secretly want to have a beet farm like Dwight Schrute? Aleen asked what the beets tasted like and Susan said, "these taste like pomegranate." Pomegranate? Really? The red fruit with the tiny seeds? I was trying to figure out how on earth beets taste like pomegranates and wondered if we indeed were eating the same thing ... until I prodded her more and figured out that she was referring to persimmons. haha. We got a good laugh out of that one. That definitely makes more sense. They had the same golden yellow color and tasted just as sweet.

Spicy pork rinds with the pork from Slagel Family Farm, Fairbury, Illinois were next. These come piping hot in a paper cone. These were so hot from the fryer that you could hear the fat crackling. I leaned in to hear the sound but jumped back a bit fearing the hot pork oil would go into my eye.

I've never had pork rinds before. I wasn't sure I would like them to begin with, but everyone raves about them, so I thought I'd naturally like them as well. It was like biting into a crunchy chip that sent fireworks exploding in your mouth. The downside however is that then you have the embers from the fireworks slowly collect in your mouth. It had the perfect amount of heat and spice, but it left an oily film in my mouth, which I didn't enjoy so much. I think one or two was all that I could really eat.

Jung - I thought of you when I ate this. I wished I could teleport this to you so you could taste it. I think you would have loved this. Here's an up close and personal shot. Can you believe this is from pork skin? How can you fry skin like this, I will never know.

The waiter told us that they were known for their seafood and pork dishes, but to balance it out, we decided on a chicken entree as well. We got the half order of the chicken from the Slagel family farm in Fairbury, Illinois, with summer sausage and frites. The chicken was moist and perfectly cooked, but I have to admit my favorite part was eating the fries soaked in the juices from the roasted chicken. The fries didn't look all that different from any fast food joint's, but man ... with the juices from the chicken, they were pretty darn amazing. I felt like I was eating food at a country fair, it was so simple, but so good.

Here was the golden trout line caught from Clear Springs, Idaho with trumpet mushrooms & fresh green chickpeas. The golden trout was pan fried golden yellow, but inside had the loveliest pink color. Clearly I need to eat more trout because this was delicious. I've never seen chickpeas this big, have you? I don't know what was in this sauce, but the trumpet mushrooms was the perfect accoutrement to soak up all the yummy juices.

When we asked the waiter which pork dish was the best, between the pork belly, country ribs and ham chop, he said the ham chop "in hay" was really good. We asked what the "in the hay" meant and he said that they put the ham covered in hay in a round bowl in an oven. The hay burns as the ham cooks and locks in the moisture of the ham. I was hoping for the pork to come with the residual hay, but no such luck. The Berkshire ham chop "in hay" from Heritage farm, Iowa, with ramps & grits was enormous. The waiter did mention the largest entrees were listed at the bottom. We somehow ended up ordering the biggest seafood and meat dishes. I was there was more grits in this dish, because what I did taste of it was fantabulous. They were so creamy and buttery. The ramps were pretty fantastic too. I can't wait to see them at the farmer's markets when summer approaches. I felt like I was eating an Easter dinner. To tell you the trust, I could have done with less ham and more ramps and grits. Grits and ramps were pretty outstanding in this dish.

We were so full, but desperately needed to get the pork taste from the pork rinds out of our mouths so we opted for a dessert of Seedling farm blueberry pie with pistachios & honey-black pepper ice cream. I was fully expecting a slice of blueberry pie, but it was two little empanada looking pies cut in half sitting on top of a layer of roasted pistachios. The blueberry pie was alright, but I was hoping for some chunks of blueberries in this. It almost tasted like they just use blueberry jam for the filling, which was kind of disappointing. The combination of the honey-black pepper ice cream with the salty roasted nuts below, however, was perfection.

Overall I wasn't as big of a fan of the pork dishes namely because it left such a porky aftertaste in my mouth, but I loved the beets and burrata dish and the fish and chicken dishes were pretty spot on too. I hear their brunch items are pretty fantastic too. I think it definitely warrants a revisit in the future.

I also saw the Charcuterie Chef Erling Wu-Bower walk in and out of the kitchen a few times. Is it possible to be a chef groupie? If so, sign me up. I think he's a hottie ... speaking of hotties, we need to make a trip here soon.