2900 W Belmont Ave

Kuma's is an enigma!

Do they make the best burgers ever?  Probably, yeah!  Are the Burgers so good and Kuma's so popular that a short wait is only 90 minutes?  Definitely!  Is it really hard to stand around (probably outside for a good portion) for 90+ minutes for anything?  Yep!  Did we just do this?  Yes, yes we did!

Kuma's is an enigma!

Again, it took a conspiracy A Previous Article of sorts to get us to a place we do know, we do enjoy, but really struggle with the wait times.  This was actually the third A Previous Article of our collection of gift cards from Dear Friends who are very thoughtful.  Some might call them evil geniuses as they quietly snicker to themselves over our tribulations of using these gift cards, but they are thoughtful.  We had planned to use this card in the Summer but when the line was out the door and down the street (on a potentially stormy afternoon) we barely made the effort to get out and find out how long the wait was.  This time, it took us all day to get our wonderful burgers.  We thought a midweek lunch would give us a good chance at a sub one hour wait.  Not even close.  The line was probably longer than the one we saw during the Summer so we didn't even get out of the car.  We negotiated amongst ourselves and decided we'd try come back again at a non-meal time (4:30ish). 

Almost no-one out side!  Perhaps the stars had aligned?  Name goes on the list, 1 hour 25 minutes is the wait.  Drat!  One of us (ok, me) really really really struggled hearing that, but the options ultimately were stand it out or give the Gift Card back as clearly it would take a lot of luck and a lot of failed attempts to get the sub 60 minute wait we thought would be acceptable (30 minutes is really our limit, but for Kuma's...).  On the plus side, it was only medium cold outside which we dealt with for about half an hour that kind of went pretty quick.  We then squeezed inside, almost fell into a bar seat (first bum in the seat wins it...) but managed to get some room to get our coats off and a beer to get things started. 

It was probably more than the advertised wait time in the end, but it did go quite quickly with people watching (I think we were pretty calm throughout our wait, but some people were clearly wound up worrying that the host would forget them or seat someone else out of order) and by rule they never put 'the game' on so we got to watch subtitled 30 Days of Night.  We may have lucked into a slight bumping up the list by asking the host how long she thought we had to go at about the same time she was having trouble finding some of the people ahead of us (I suspect that every day people get a bar seat while waiting and just eat there meaning the host gets to move people up her list).

So, now that we're in...

The music is loud, but not obnoxiously loud - actually it's the 15,000 people jammed in the place that makes the place border line obnoxiously loud and probably the same 15,000 people that keep the place heated to the nice toasty level we found it.  The music is also metal!  All metal, all the time.  I have no idea how to classify what kind but for someone who has never felt the urge to go to a 'metal' concert or pick up a 'metal' CD it's actually not unpleasant to be around for a couple of hours.  There's a small collection of art work, probably all by one artist, that I would classify as being at the erotic bondage end of the scale - not something I'd hang at home, but nothing to be upset about by any stretch of the imagination.  Outside there's no flashing lights, just a simple sign on a simple old(ish) brick building with a bunch of people waiting patiently for their turn.

The Beer List proudly supports local and small producers and has a few fun imports too.  The menu has a couple of appetizers, mac & cheese of your own design and perhaps 30 burgers to choose from.  A burger and fries (waffle cut fries!) really is enough food, but the mac & cheese is also awesome so we extend ourselves knowing that there's a 100% chance something is coming home with us.  The burgers really are well thought out so you should never have to substitute or eliminate anything (they have a hassle charge if you do).  All come on pretzel bread which probably contributes significantly for the need to take something home with you.

If you judge books by their cover, you're probably not going to like the staff.  But if you judge your books by how they treat you, keep an eye on you, get your order right, answer your questions, know the Menu, know the Special, know the Beers, are polite and considerate then you're probably going to love the staff.  It's loud and busy, so it's extremely unlikely they'll stop and just chat but if you need something or have a question they're available and useful.  Thanks Kuma's staff!

Double thanks to the Kuma's staff (and probably ultimately the bosses) for not rushing us out.  For all the people waiting to get a Burger after us, we had finished eating and almost finished our beers when we were asked if we'd like another beer.  We declined, but although this philosophy probably increased our wait somewhat, it shows that they are not a 'turn & burn' type place.  I think it shows that they care about our dining experience.  Thanks again!

Our meal went a little something like this:

• Three Floyds Gumballhead - a wheat beer, perhaps citrusy?
• Brown Shugga - definitely brown sugar going on here, sweet but not crazy sweet.
• Three Floyds Alpha Dog - at the hoppy end of the scale, perhaps?
• Make Your own Mac & Cheese (Prosciutto, Corn, Sundried Tomato) - it's hard to actually stop from finishing the whole thing.  We did and now we have a yummy lunch for today.
• Kilt Lifter - not actually from Scotland.  The label suggested letting it warm up (actually didn't have a choice in our Toasty Bar) and it did open up kind of like a wine.
• Bellhaven - from Scotland.  In a can with one of those little bubble widget thingys.  Smooth and almost creamy.
• Led Zepplin Burger (pulled pork, bacon, cheddar, pickles) - Not a pulled pork sandwich!  The pork is one of the condiments!  Yummy and relatively not messy!
• Black Oak Arkansas Burger (red wine BBQ sauce, bacon, aged white cheddar, Alpha King battered fried shallot) - great BBQ sauce, great shallots.  Yummy and a little more messy...

Would we do it again?  It's an enigma!  When you pull up and see the line it's a definite bummer.  When you put your name down and they say 90 minutes, that's a double bummer (although while we were waiting by the bar not long before our number was called we heard the host saying three and a half hours - and people said ok.  Really, they said ok.  But how big a bummer would that be?), but when you get your frosty non-Supermarket-Case beer in your hand and have decided on your Burger all is pretty good with the world, and when the Burger arrives nothing much else matters.  It's an enigma!  So, the answer is yeah, we'll almost certainly be back one day and go through it all again.

Stay JOLLY!
D

1475 W Balmoral Ave

A Holiday get together that rounded up a smaller but familiar crowd A Previous Article.  It's not quite a tradition (arguably well on the way), but we really do enjoy spending an evening over dinner and wine with these friends - apparently we'll be dining in Iowa next time...

Just off Clark Street I think it might be a hard place to find by accident.  One of our group again showed how good she is at finding hidden gems - and one we almost never would have found on our own.  Thanks!  It's technically not hidden, but it is just a simple double-store front size with no flashing lights, just a simple sign over the windows.  Looking at their website there is evidence of an outside area, but on this wintry evening none at all, which would do a good job of attracting some attention.

Inside it's not brightly lit, but more than enough to read the menu and check out what's on your plates.  It kind of looked like more of a bar type arrangement in the half with the front door but more restauranty in the other half where we sat.  If it had music playing it must have been quite low because I have no recollection of it at all - I don't think that matters at all as we had more than enough of great friends a useful Server to keep our attention focused.  Actually, I'm not really sure what the decor was either.  Oh well...  I'm going to go with ok based on the logic that if something was really odd or really bad it would have grabbed my attention.

Our Server did a great job!  He knew the menu, he offered suggestions, he was happy to 'chat' with the chef to answer our questions, he was available, he gave us flutes for our bubbly wine, he was a nice guy who came across as enjoying doing his job.  Thanks Nice Guy Server!  He also had no problems with us ording a Main Course as a group starter, contemplating life for a bit, ordering a couple of appetizers to share again, and then a Main Course each. 

The menu is easy enough to navigate with dishes we can only assume to be Dutch in nature and is kind of fun.  And, if you like mussels you just can't go wrong.  There are dishes where the name meant nothing to any of us, but the descriptions get you pointed in the right direction and our Server filled in any other gaps.  I don't recall if we were given any Specials.  If they did, sorry.  If they didn't, we didn't need any.  They advertise as BYO friendly with only a small corkage charge and we made use of this. 

Our meal went a little like this:

• Chandon California Brut - it's Chandon.  A good honest sparkling, dry without being too dry.  Even though the mussels were in beer, it worked out fine.
• Mussels Amsterdam, Beer, Anise, Fennel, Garlic - definitely get the Anise coming through.  The beer makes a nice change to the broth.
• Something Red - technically we'd started with this one before getting to the restaurant.  Played really well with the the Headcheese.
• Bogle Red - richer than the first, but not big in wine terms.  A definite nice food wine, almost certainly no matter what you chose.
• Housemade Pate & Headcheese - if you don't already know what headcheese is, you probably don't want to ask.  I was a little surprised we got group consensus on this dish, but we all gave it a try and at least 2 of us were pleasantly surprised how tasty the headcheese actually is and won't just skim over it next time it appears on a menu.  The pate was creamy and not as rich as we have come to expect, but tasty indeed.
• Endive and Mixed Greens, Walnut, Apple, Gouda, Mustard Seed Vinaigrette - an eclectic mix of goodies that actually worked well together.
• Something Else Red - we just needed a couple of glasses more than we brought.  We may have chosen a Merlot, or big Pinot Noir?  Nothing to complain about.
• Grilled Lamb Burger - definitely not your Burger Joint Burger!  Lots going on in and around the burger.  Perhaps sounds a lighter dish than it really is.
• Mussels Normande, Cider, Apple, Garlic - again, fun to have a non-white wine sauce.  A little tart, but not unpleasantly
• Duck & Roast Pork Cassoulet - very tasty, very hearty, a definite dessert buster.  And, funny in a good way, our next Daring Kitchen challenge A Daring Kitchen Article (available Jan 14).

We had fun with great friends and were taken great care of.  We'll go back on a date probably sooner rather than later and line up all the mussels (there were 3 other varieties we didn't get to) and hopefully have room to try a Dutch dessert (they have them, right?).  We then might go back again so that we can try out some of the dishes with names we probably would have to order by pointing at rather than saying which look like they could be fun too.

Stay JOLLY!
DKate, Pete & Kris

2100 N. Halsted

I got into a little bit of trouble a few months back because I couldn't remember going to Red Rooster on one of our first dates with my wife.  Based on this embarrassing lapse I added it to our to-do list and was able to sneak it in for a pre-pre Christmas Dinner.

Turns out, nothing to be embarrassed about.  The outside didn't ring any bells for either of us, neither did the few steps up from the street to the dark and unmarked door and only one of us felt like they had some recollection of the inside (probably from a Check Please episode).  It took a little while to get consensus, but we all agree that we had not been there before.

So...  Part of Cafe Bernard it really is unassuming and mostly hidden.  Yes, the Cafe Bernard part is painted up with a fun mural, but the Red Rooster part, not so much.  I can only guess that they don't have much of a walk up crowd? 

Inside it's different.  You could probably go with ramshackle as a first impression, but it's not really.  A small room, perhaps enough room for 30, with a bar that takes up one wall.  Fairly low lighting with candles on each table, but you can see the murals easily enough.  They're painted on all the walls which are made of boards like I kind of think a barn would be made of years and years and years ago.  The murals show a small old village and kitchen that we have to assume are French in design.  And, then there are a number of 'roosters' around the place - both painted and sculpted.  But, not a French tune to be heard anywhere.  I think it was all late 80s, early 90s like you'd find on your tv's music channel.

It seems like there's a Boss and one Server to take care of us and on a night when the place was barely half full that worked out wonderfully.  Our Server was nice enough, offering useful help with the wine because we asked but only recited a little too quickly the quite long list of specials - fortunately they're duplicated on a blackboard which is updated as things are no longer 'special'.  He didn't understand our ordering preferences at first (perhaps at all?), but went with the flow and we ultimately were taken care of.

A nice menu with lots of what you'd expect to see from a French Menu.  As we ended up with only one Main Course dish we could politely argue that our decision making process was made too hard.  Really, not a bad problem to have, right?  It seems they like their wine list and are proud of what they have.  Without any prompting, begging or cajoling required we were given wonderful drinking glasses - had some weight to them, great for swirling, great for getting your nose into, great for wine!  Thanks for that Red Rooster!

Our meal went a little something like this:

• A Graves (sorry, not very good at having the French names stick) - yummy!  I asked our Server for an opinion between a couple of bottles and he unhesitatingly said the Graves.  Closer to big than gentle, but not overpowering.  Definitely better with food.
• Steamed Mussels, Provençal - we do eat a lot of Mussels, but these were perhaps the best we've had.  We could easily have eaten two or more of the overflowing breadbaskets to get all the sauce.
• Snails, in Garlic Butter - kind of funny they weren't called escargot?  Definitely garlicy, and not gardeny at all!
• A Côtes du Rhône (same French problem...) - we definitely preferred the Graves, with this one not having such a smooth finish.  Not bad, just not as good.
• Duck Liver Pâté - Really rich and smooth.
• Rack of Lamb - Cooked just right.  There's no way you could not pick up the bones and gnaw on them!
• Chocolate Bread Pudding - Chocolaty and bready!  For what we had, the perfect finish and the last of the Côtes kind of worked out ok with it.

Even though the reason for choosing Red Rooster was technically invalid everything turned out just fine.  I'm glad we had a communication 'error', because without it we probably wouldn't have had Red Rooster on our radar.

Stay JOLLY!
D

1412 W Morse

It's a bar! 

We drove by not too long ago with a friend who said we should try it out.  She mentioned that the menu was small, but ok.  Based on that, I wrongly assumed it to be a restaurant.  Oh well...  We could have done worse.

It is just on the edge of our walking to eat / drink range, but if it was raining it wouldn't be and snowing might or might not push it out of range.  But it's in perfect get off the train on the way home range...  We don't mind travelling, but driving is only ever a very last resort (we've been known to drink more than we eat...) and sadly Chuckies (and most of Rogers Park) is in that no-mans land of us getting there and back safely distance.

New to the neighborhood, I guess it's trying to not be of the dive-bar variety that Rogers Park tends to lean towards - there are of course exceptions, but I'm not aware of anything like Chuckies.  But, it also sems to have not quite sorted what it wants to be.  Lots of shiny stuff outside, a big long bar with a couple of TVs (too high, perhaps?) on the wall behind it, chandeliers (yes!) over the tables in the window, a mural I can only describe as odd (but others may 'understand' it better?), pleasant enough music (I think 80s & 90s mostly?) but perhaps too loud and the 'kitchen' in a corner. 

The two Servers / Bar Tenders / Chefs were nice enough and said hello when we came in but it was very quite when we arrived and you'd be really quite upset if they didn't acknowledge you.  It got a little busier as we were finishing up and I think they were still saying hello to everyone.  When they came to visit for the first time they made sure we knew the specials.  They came by just often enough to make sure we had a drink and something to eat.

The menu is made up of half a dozen pizzas, a couple of salads, 10 or 15 martinis, 10 or 15 draught beers, 10 or 15 bottled beers and 4 or 5 frozen drinks.  This would be the final part of the puzzle confirming you're in a bar... and I wonder if they're trying to be a Martini Bar?  You're not getting your pizza from a pizza oven and there's no chef to be seen anywhere.  They may be pre-prepared, but the proscuitto was definitely added after the cooking part.  We would argue we make better pizzas at home (actually better than most places offering up pizza if I may brag), but when you want someone else to be building it for you you could sure do a whole lot worse than Chuckies' offerings.

Our meal went a little something like this:

• 312 (bottles)
• Orange Martini - Orangy
• Mushroom & Proscuitto Pizza - Flavorwise nothing to complain about. Perhaps a little too much cheese?  Definitely not enough crunch in the crust.
• Lemon Drop Martini - Lemony
• Vegetable Pizza - Ditto.  Although, perhaps a little less crunch than the other one...
• Chocolate Martini - Chocolately and always gets extra points for squirting chocolate sauce around the glass.

The staff were nice enough to us, the drinks were fine and the pizza was no where near the worst we've ever had.  We won't go rushing back, but I'm sure we'll stop in after work one night for a cocktail and a snack (not dinner...).  I kind of think it's a love or hate place and there won't be many people like us somewhere in the middle.  It doesn't hurt the neighborhood, so hopefully more of the former than later!

Stay JOLLY!
D

2060 N. Cleveland Ave.

We've dined in the Restaurant at Four Farthings before.  We've had more than a few cocktails at the bar at Four Farthings.  This time was a bit of both.  A friend has organized a Christmas Party here for as long as I can remember and due to timing of travel it suits us to arrive early and have some Dinner first.

It's definitely a neighborhood place with lots of very loyal locals and that's never a bad thing.  At first it seems like you are supposed to enter the Restaurant through the Bar but the locals know (and now we do too) that the Restaurant has it's own door and you can avoid the crush and noise (more so as the evening progresses) of the Bar.  Due a lot to our friend's party and some live music in the corner the Bar really was jamm'n this evening.

The decor is pretty much the same on both sides with lots of dark wood and the Christmas decorations are up in a sensible and fun way - not too many lights, not too much wreath for sensible; all the pictures (which I think are old neighborhood pics?) are wrapped up as Christmas presents as the fun.

Our Server took care of us, and was happy to let us figure out what we wanted as we went along.  She did check in a lot along the way, perhaps a little too much, but she did come across as actually caring, and not just asking because her boss said she had to.  She did agree with us that extra bread was needed for the Mussels Sauce.  Not being anything to ever stop us returning, but she (and the other Server we could see) need some Wine Pouring lessons - they get the cork out ok, but then generic wine etiquette is nowhere to be seen.  Again, no big deal, really, just something we noticed.

A quite extensive menu made up of a standard list and a well stocked menu of the day.  We stayed at the appetizer end of the scale and had no problem at all finding things to amuse us.

Our Meal went a little something like this:

• Louis Lutor Pinot Noir - at the softer end of the Pinots we've had lately.  But good enough to consider grabbing up another bottle after moving to the Party.
• Chicken Potstickers - tasty, but are they still potstickers if they're deep fried?  The might not have been, to be fair, but we had the same impression at about the same time that they were.
• Mussels - as is often the case, the Sauce really made the dish.
• Combination Platter
  • Crab Cake - sort of out of place on this plate, but tasty and just the right amount of crunch on the outside, squishyness on the inside.
  • Popcorn Shrimp - not quite what I expected, but tasty in either of the sauces provided.
  • Calamari - closer to soft than crispy but the batter was light and pleasant all the same.
• Cinnamon Ice Cream - definitely cinnamony and worked out quite well with the last of our wine.

On this night we enjoyed the Restaurant way more than the Bar and that can be attributed almost solely to us being of age and mood where we just don't enjoy being jammed in a bar fighting to get a drink the way we used to.  If we lived in the neighborhood, there's no doubt we'd be here far more often than we currently are.

Stay JOLLY!
D

2556 W. Fullerton Ave

Not sure what the ()'s are in the name for.  No harm done not (k)nowing...  But there has to be a story, right?  We should have asked!

From the outside very unassuming.  I don't think you would just bump into (k)new if you weren't heading that way.  That's probably not really a bad thing if the kitchen and staff work better when they know what to expect but I don't know if it was planned or just worked out that way.  And considering our normal every day dining habits are mostly spontaneous just enough to let us make a reservation we wouldn't be out just hoping to bump into something like (k)new regardless of how un-unassuming the outside is. 

Inside, unassuming probably isn't the right word but it's at the simple and nice & tidy end of the scale.  Not a lot of artwork, kind of in the fashion most of us have at home - not a lot of space to put up our favorite (or treasured) pieces so they get hung as best we can come up with but not quite giving each piece it's best.  I'm not trying to suggest it's jumbled and crowded, but more an eclectic collection which is probably meaningful to the chef. Perhaps a little bit darker than romantic really needs with a constant supply of the jazz you might find on the mostly generic jazz channel of your cable - apologies if I've classified this incorrectly.

There is an odd (not in a bad way odd, just different) walkway by the kitchen that doesn't go anywhere - not even a back door.  It does have windows into the kitchen if you like to take a peek at the chef (and the 'real' chef was there when I peeked) while he's doing his thing and on the opposite wall lots of pictures of the chef with 'important' people and a few autographed 'important' people pictures.  It probably is the best place for the pictures, but it is still an odd little walkway.

A BYO restaurant - I don't care how many times I see it, hear it or am corrected, I will NEVER EVER call it BYOB because there's absolutely no reason to emphasize what you are allowed to bring and it even rolls off the tongue awkwardly.  Anyhoo...  A BYO Restaurant with a bar?  As you enter, if you ignored the host stand you would walk straight into a 'bar'.  No bar activities at all, just a coffee machine and space that I would think could be used a little bit better.  Perhaps it was there when they arrived and they're saving it 'just-in-case'?  They do charge a very reasonable corkage charge, but call it a recycle fee.  I can't think why anyone would ever complain at a $5 corkage charge for 2 bottles, but the 'recycle fee' caused us to question it.

We accused our Server of being a bit snooty after our first chat (not directly to her, that would be rude!) but withdrew that thought quite quickly.  Sorry, we judged a bit quickly again!  Perhaps she thought the same of us when we didn't want her offered wine-cooler (I think too many people drink their whites too cold and I quite enjoy 'watching' the changes in the wine as it warms up a little) and we rejected her time saving ordering system.  She did take great care of us, offered suggestions, (k)new the specials well, was available, joked a little, took a joke back well (she pretty much fell for her own joke 22 seconds after she hit us with it), let us order and eat in our own way and found us a Cab in record time.  She won't be joining us at the family Christmas Dinner, but I think we're all friends now. 

The menu is fun and easily enough to navigate.  We'd prefer more in the appetizer section, but we found plenty to choose from, actually grabbing up both appetizer specials.  The menu is perhaps the heaviest in red meat we've seen for quite a while which certainly isn't a problem, but we really had to negotiate amongst ourselves over lamb, venison, buffalo, duck, pork (ok pork isn't technically red meat, but it was in the red meat discussion) and the other goodies - the other goodies really didn't stand much of a chance this night.  They slipped us (well, everybody as a far as we can tell) an unannounced amuse bouche which probably should not be the feature of your dinner, but it should be fun, or new, or daring or all 3 - definitely 3 out of 4. 

Something we've not seen before (and never considered - almost shame on us) was that our Server made sure we knew of the Cheese Platter right from the start suggesting we might like to start with that.  We almost did!  Now that we have this in our heads I suspect we may even ask for it some time soon.  I think it's a great idea and we're not sure if it's our clever Server's idea, or the Restaurant's but it's definitely a clever idea.

Our meal went a little something like this:

• 2009 Planeta "La Segreta" Blanco A Wine Club Selection - at the acidic end of the scale, but also quite fruity.  May have worked best with the rabbit.
• Amuse Bouche, Escargot - no shells to deal with, so just a fun start giving us something to talk about.
• Rabbit Bisque - perhaps my favorite of the night.  Advertised as rich and hearty it certainly was, but also very very tasty.  Watch out for bones, though.  We suggest that it be moved to the menu full time rather than just appearing as the Soup Special of the evening from time to time.
• Scallops, grilled Pineapple- topped with bacon and undered with a sauce that needed more bread.
• Potato Nest, with Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Crème Fraîche - simple dish, great mix of textures.
• 2008 Mud House Pinot Noir A Wine Club Selection - smoky / toasty, we can't concur on which.  We did agree on the dark berry type flavors we found.  Great with our red meat choices but probably just as great with just about anything.
• Duck Breast, Mushroom Risotto - the Risotto may have been the best part, but perfectly cooked Duck is hard to go past.
• Rack of Venison - presented more like chops, but cooked just right with a wonderful fig jus and mashed sweet potato
• Gelato Flight, Balsamic, Pomegranate, Goat Cheese - yep, us too!  First thought was that it didn't sound right, but we're very glad we gave it a whirl.  The Cheese one was an interesting texture, but the other two just tasted great and sweet (yes the Balsamic one was sweet) and we could easily have eaten more.

We liked the place.  Our dinner was served the way we like and we enjoyed all the dishes we chose.  It's not the most convenient location for us to get to - especially since we only drive to dinner as a very very very last resort, preferring the CTA and perhaps a cab home - but there's no reason we wouldn't make the effort to get back one day.

Stay JOLLY!
D

5101 North Clark

They've started putting up their Christmas Decorations.  The question is, have they finished?  Apart from over the bar where there is a wreath the restaurant is decorated with brightly colored lights that in most cases could be mistaken for nothing but Christmas Decorations.  Here, it's not so cut and dry.  The mural covering all walls is bright and abstract and bright and colorful and bright and not unpleasant to be around.  The possible Christmas lights suit this style just fine and therefore, it's highly probably that the Christmas Decorations haven't made it passed the bar yet (but I would argue that still too much the week before Thanksgiving...) and it's the same lights no matter what your Decorations 'should' be.

We had been here once before and this night was a spur of the moment decision after driving past earlier in the day.  We almost didn't get to go due the the CTA forgetting how to provide a bus on time (or more than once an hour).  We did make it, found parking easily and close enough and had a pleasant low key dinner so we're glad we didn't let the CTA change our plans.

We were sitting within sight (and sound) of the host stand and he seemed a little frantic at times (perhaps giving us a booth that a reservation who came in just after us should have gotten?) on a night where we didn't have to wait for a table, but others did.  I don't think he shirked his hosting duties, but there was one, perhaps two tables he spent a lot of time 'loitering' around -  friends is my best guess.

We didn't really have much to do with our Server.  She was polite and friendly and never too far away, but the menu is so very self explanatory and the specials are typed up (equally easy to figure out), so no real need to chat with her. 

It's kinda funny how Tapas is our perfect meal type - lots of small things you can order as many or as few as you like at a time - but this night we weren't in a sit for an extended time type of mood.  We weren't in a rush either.  It's just the way it worked out considering the other things on our mind, I guess.  And the nature of Tapas is that even if you order things together the dishes come out as they are ready.  Having actually picked four items to start, it was mildly amusing that they came one at a time, but mere seconds apart from each other by 3 different runners - no drama, just mildly amusing.

Our meal went a little something like this:

• Cucumber / Ginger Mojito - Actually no evidence of cucumber and just a little ginger
• Pomegranate Mojito - Almost tart, but refreshing.
• Tuna Cannelloni - Our only cold dish.  Squishy in a good way
• Pumkin Raviolli - On the specials of the day and we'd vote for moving it to the 'real' menu if asked.
• Calamari - Advertised to be coated in Panco, and although tasty and moorish, not in the least bit crunch.
• Mussels - An excellent broth, perhaps one of the best ever?
• Raspberry Mojito - Lots of raspberries in evidence
• Pork Tenerloin - Really tender and juicy!
• Salmon, mango basil sauce - probably didn't need the sauce, perhaps cooked a little more than we'd prefer, but nothing to cry about.

There was definitely more we'd like to try.  Perhaps the perfect place to return with a table of 6 or 8 so that you can get more 'tastes' to come your way?

Stay JOLLY!
D!

I didn't really have much else to do so I arrived early, very early.  I was seated in the Lounge area (the Bar was closed this evening) where I chose to enjoy a pre-dinner soda and watch the fights that were on the TV in the corner.

The chef was busy cheffing away in the Kitchen, but could frequently be seen working away in the Dining Room making sure everything was just so and even visited the Lounge a couple of times - I guess to see who was beating on whom - but also said hi to me and any of the other 3 guests who came and went.  The open kitchen meant that I got to enjoy the pre-dinner sounds & smells (I probably could have looked in too, but I chose not to so that my meal was still mostly a surprise) of my soon to be dinner - a nice bonus.

The Lounge has a beautiful window, although the view is only of the back alley.  There's no real delineation between the Lounge and Dining Room other than the change in furniture.  The decor is simple yet effective and the chef has chosen to have a number of her personal pictures and trinkets set up throughout the Lounge and Dining Room with the highlight taking up a good part of the window.

When given the choice, I'll take a window seat every time, but the Dining Room doesn't really have a window (if you don't count looking through the lounge & past the TV).  As it turned out, being sat right by the Kitchen was a wonderful experience!

You occasionally will see the Chef come out and talk to the guests.  Even less often do you see them bringing out the food.  But tonight, the only Server who took care of me was also the Chef.  A very enjoyable experience, especially since I had decided to go with the Chef's choices for my complete meal (and wines) and I was now able to get first hand details on what was placed in front of me - although I was given a Menu in the form of a word jumble of which I only half succeeded in solving.

The meal went a little something like this:

• 2008 Tangent Sauvignon Blanc A Wine Club Selection - a little bit of acid on the palette that softened into a fairly crisp and dry wine.
• Shrimp, Asparagus & Lemon - a wonderfully elegant start, just the right amount of everything.
• Tilapia Tacos, with Arugula - not Taco looking, but certainly gourmet Taco tasting!
• Steamed Mussels - just enough crispy bread to enjoy with the yummy White Wine and Thyme Broth
• Brussels Sprouts & Smokey Onions on Cheddar Toast - who would have thought Brussels Sprouts could be part of such a wonderful bruschetta type experience?
• BLT & P Soup (Bacon, Leek, Tomato & Potato) - deceptively complex for such simple ingredients.  Could easily be a meal in itself.
• 2007 Dexter Lake A Wine Club Selection - took a bit to open up, but once there a rich balance of fruit and tannins.
• Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Maple Cinnamon Sage Brown Butter - perhaps the ugliest Gnocchi I've ever seen but absolutely no where near the worst I've ever tasted, perhaps in the top 3 all time best.  Don't judge a book... 
• Orange Glazed Duck - cooked just perfectly, a tender cut with just enough richness added from the sauce.
• Java Steak, Stout Glaze - if I was able to have this again, I'd request a little lighter on the Java, just a little.  Cooked as I like with just enough glaze to not be distracting.
• Chocolate SouffléA Daring Kitchen Experience - A treat in that after retiring to the Lounge for Dessert the Chef invited me into her Kitchen to help make the Soufflé.  A challenge to all but the finest, but a result to be proud of.

As I've found previously, it's hard to rank the dishes in order of preference, but it's also hard not to.  I'm going to go with the Gnocchi at #1, the Soup at #2, barely ahead of that Taco and Duck tied at #3.  Then we pretty much have a 5 way tie for 5th.

What really makes this the best dinner ever?  Easy!  And we all know the answer, we just probably don't get to experience it all that often, if ever.  The answer is, Love.  This whole meal was prepared, presented and enjoyed with an extra special double quadruple helping of love.  Without the Love this would have been a pretty good meal, but with it, the best dinner ever.

Oh, did I mention that the chef is my very triple extra clever wife!  And that the Lounge is the same one in which I watch Mike & Mike over breakfast every morning.  And that the Kitchen is where my lunch I 'drag' to work each day begins it's life.  And the Dining Room doubles as our mail sorting and laundry storage area.

Thanks Sweetie for an AWESOME Birthday Dinner! - aka THE BEST DINNER EVER!

Love, me

339 N Dearborn

It wasn't all that long agoA Previous Article that we were here and seeing that our friend who joined us last time was joining us again and she liked it so much combined with how easy it was to just hang out and chat it seemed like a no-brainer to return.

The Space hasn't changed, and it was perhaps a little busier than last time.  Both in the Restaurant Section and at the Bar, and the (what we assume to be) Private Party area upstairs was also occupied. They've added a Cheese Bar just inside the door which I didn't see anyone at, but it's something I think I could give a try one night after work - perhaps sooner rather than later?  We had asked for a window seat, but arriving at 8pm there was not one available - initially we were a bit down on this as we'd half thought it would be fun to check out the costumes passing by, but I don't think we would have had time for this side activity due to how engrossing and fun our little group turned out to be.

We were told the Menu changed in just the last couple of weeks but I have no idea how much of it actually changed and it definitely has the same design / concept that we saw last time we visited.  I again enjoyed looking through the Wine List which was deferred to me unnecessarily as the first pick made by our friend was anything but bad or inappropriate for what we ended up selecting.  The List is big, and could easily be seen to be scary (especially on this Halloween Eve) but it's not - it's separated out into sensible sections and each wine has a description to help get you in the ballpark of what you're after.

Our Server was of the perky, but not annoyingly so type.  She seemed really happy to be there and helping us out.  She was full of energy, but perhaps stretched a bit on the floor because we 'lost' her for a bit a couple of times.  She recognized this herself, because she managed to send someone over to get an order from us.  Not the end of the world on an evening that was more chatty than eatty.  We managed to navigate (and satisfy) ourselves through the menu and wine-list but I'm quite certain she could have helped out had we needed it.

Our meal went something along the lines of:

• Eola Pinot Noir, Orgegon- smooth and almost elegant.  Worked well with the richer cheeses.
• We ♥ Italy - I forget which is which, but there was a Sheep, Buffalo, Goat and a mixture.  A great variety from soft to hard, and acidic to amost meaty.  Some fun sides.
  
  • Caprino Naturale
  • Robiola Tre Latti
  • Quadrella di Bufalo
  • Pecorino Sardo
• Mudhouse Pinot Noir - Much richer than our first, more of the toastyness you often see in a Pinot.
• Cheese Board 1 - We picked our own flight.  We picked 1 cheese each and without consultation came up with a good mix of hard v soft, 'plain' v something added, strong v mild (admittedly, we all stayed away from the blues).
• Cheese Board 2 - And again...  A different cheese each again, and again we managed to mix them up nicely.  I think it would be hard to go wrong given the 50 or 60 you have to choose from, and if it's too over-whelming, just stick with the flights.
• Cripsy Fries, (Tabasco Aioli, Horseradish Mayonnaise, Romesco Sauce) - a nice variety of dipping sauces, 1 with a kick and 1 with a smaller kick.  And yes, the fries were crispy.

Bin 36 is definitely designed, and run, to allow you to nibble and drink and chat.  We chatted a lot, we only nibbled and we drank just fine.

Stay JOLLY!
DHeather & Sherri

601 N State Street

Yep, we popped back!

Our most recent visit A Previous Article was for pretty much the same reason as this one. A place to start before heading off on the rest of our adventure.  As an important side note, the rest of our adventure was to support our dear friend Abby of Felines Inc. A Friend's Home - the wonderful shelter that all 3 of our guys came from - at the Shelter's annual fund raiser.  If you're thinking about adopting start with Abby and you almost certainly won't need to go anywhere else - she knows 'everyone' in the shelter and is a double excellent 'match maker'.

Perhaps the busiest we've ever seen the place with more groups of 5, 6 or more people than the 2s and 4s we've mostly seen in the past.  It did thin out a fair bit over the hour or so we were there.  I don't think we've been in on a Thursday before so it just may be their normal Thursday, but they were just on Check Please which has me leaning towards thinking that to be the reason.  We were still able to head straight to a table and it was one that allowed us to watch the 'go-home' crowd heading towards the el.

Service was initially a bit off, which is what makes us think it was a rush they weren't expecting.  The Server we've had a couple of times (keeping in mind they do work mostly by committee) who took our order (in 2 parts with a delay in the middle, for some reason) was not the whimisical playful knowledgable old guy (and I say old in the nicest possible way only because well, he is) who's come by in the past.  We weren't treated badly by any stretch of the imagination, just differently to get things going.

Our 'meal' went a little something like this:

• A Rose Cava - describe as Brut it was clearly at the drier end of the scale.  Quite spritzy, and really quite gentle on the palette with a medium(ish) finish to the back of the mouth.
• Cheese Board - for the first time at Pops, we had just the right amount of Crackers (to be fair, they've never complained when we've asked for more!)
  • Carr Valley Snowhite Cheddar - really good with both the rasperry and (what we think to be) fig jams.  You could easily skip the crackers.
  • Lazy Lady la Petite Tomme - a little bit of sharpness that went well with our choice of bubbles.
  • Crave Brothers la Petite Frère, It's 3 layers, 2 of them blue - not what we expected, but worked out ok as the blue was definitely at the gentler end of the scale.

Another successful pre-adventure evening!  There will be many more, with the only reason to cross them off our go-back list would be if they shut down, or we left town.

Stay JOLLY!
D

50 East Grand Avenue

We had tickets to the Hawks game (not a particularly pleasant game to watch, but a great finish with the result we wanted and if we ducked just right could see the newly raised Stanley Cup banners from our seats) and decided we'd prefer 'real' food over the Stadium treats and didn't want to put our timing trust in a bar.  OysyA Previous Article has always been as zippy as we let them be so off we went.

The first time we've sort of rushed through a Sushi dinner and although we have indicated we kind of want to try the order everything at once approach we often see others do and even with the time restraints we put ourselves under we still split up our ordering (only 3 times though).  Even with a 'bunch' of stuff in front of us, I still felt inclined to work on one item at a time.  I guess that's just me?  I still kind of want to get a big ol' table full some day though.

The decor hasn't changed, the staff haven't changed (and they still don't care how you go about your ordering), the TV playing (what we assume to be real) Japanese programming (this night it looked a version of No Reservations in that the host was visiting out of the way places and being treated extra specially - not being able to read Japanese subtitles I can't confirm or deny if she was as snarky as Tony Bourdain can be) was still doing it's thing. 

To get to the game and not miss the puck drop, we were eating much earlier than we normally do as evidenced by the restaurant that contained more staff than diners for the whole time we were there.  We did sit in the window so got to watch people passing going home, and I think I can safely assume that as they looked back at us they were boggling as to why we were actually eating at 'go-home' time.  That's fine, we had a plan.

Our Meal went a little something like this:

• Chardonnay
• Vegetable Tempura - consistently the best Tempura we see.
• Saba Nigiri (mackerel) - still our favorite no matter which 'store' we're in.
• Tai Nigiri (red snapper) - similar texture to the Saba, but a little richer perhaps?
• Grilled Tuna, with avocado and teriyaki sauce - cooked just right, the avocado just the right amount of mushy and firm.
• Saba-Gari Maki (mackerel) - different to the Nigiri, but the same too.
• Sake Maki (salmon) -
• Sake Kawa Maki (crispy salmon skin) - a really enjoyable crunch.
• Caterpillar Maki (eel, tobiko, tempura crunch, cucumber, avocado outside) - we like the fun ones they offer and this one is pretty with just the right amount of funness on the inside and outside.

We now know that Oysy can take care of us just as well when we're in a hurry or not.  We will be back again!

Stay JOLLY!
D

1134 W 18th Street

This evening was more about spending time with friends we don't see often enough than having a bunch of wonderful plates of food placed in front of us.  Turns out you can have both, although I admit this was a second choice after we learned our first choice doesn't take reservations, even for 7s, and may get a bit loud with the live music.

It's an almost unassuming place from outside being basically a store front place that stretches back into a second area.  It's quite bright with interesting art work of a style I don't pretend to understand.  The way the paintings were arranged it gave the impression that the restaurant was letting someone sell their work, but I couldn't see anything suggesting a price or confirming they were for sale.  Regardless, they broke up the long straight and simply painted walls nicely.

Our table was constructed by pushing together two 4-tops. Totally fine as not many places have a table for 7 just hanging around. However, there was a very noticeable difference in heights of the two tables.  We mostly shrugged and sat down, but after a short negotiation amongst ourselves we asked to have it rectified.  They did it happily and quickly (not sure why they wouldn't do it right the first time?) and the slight difference was now no more than you'd expect to see elsewhere (although yes, we'd prefer no difference).  The catch now was that the small difference was easily forgotten about (a mostly good thing) which caused us to lose 2 partially consumed glasses of wine that were placed just perfectly enough over the join in the tables to cause a topple when bumped ever so slightly.  Oh well, it happens and it barely caused a gap in our discussion.  As penalty, we went through a whole bunch of their napkins from other tables to clean up.

Our server was very patient with us as it took us a relatively long time to get an eating plan together, and then a bit longer to actually make the choices.  I would argue that we took about the right amount of time, but I accept it was more than what restaurants would normally expect to be faced with.  She did blast through the Specials, but between the 7 of us we caught everything mentioned (I think!).   Once the order was in the food was perhaps a little bit slower coming (and it didn't quite all come out at once) than we might normally expect, but on this night it just didn't matter.

It is a BYO restaurant and now that I think about it, I don't think they charged a corkage.  Thanks!  But if they did, big deal - we had a fun collection to enjoy.  I suspect our Server had something to say to her Boss and other Servers to which they may or may not have rolled their eyes and then shrugged but our table did something I've never been privy to before.  At a BYO place, one of our group had come pre-armed with a bottle opener and we proceeded to open our own wines.  I'm not really sure why, but if I had have been the Server I think I would have been quite annoyed - if ours was she didn't show it and I'm sorry.

Everything was tasty and the quite generous portions only generated a couple of to-go boxes.  The menu was easy enough to navigate (although a little unwieldy in physical size when 7 of them are present together), but with perhaps too many Specials.  If it had have just been the two of us I'm pretty sure we would have pretty much ignored the Specials due to not being able to take them all in.

Our meal went a little something like this:

• White Wine 1, a Chardonnay perhaps? - dryish and not much of a nose
• White Wine 2, a blend -
• Sangiovise - the 'softest' of our reds, but fruity.  May have worked just as well with our richer main dishes?
• 2003 Vergelegen Merlot A Wine Club Selection - smokey to the nose and palette, perhaps the biggest Merlot I've ever had
• Merlot -  this was the last wine opened, but hindsight suggests to me it may have been a better match with our first course.
• Calamari Fritti - not the best I've ever had, certainly not the worst, but just right for passing around to get us started with the eating part of the evening
• Formaggie Di Capra - surprisingly light on your palette when compared to how thick and gooey and luscious it is in the bowl.
• Green Bean Salad - the description piqued our attention but I think it tasted better than we expected.
• Lobster Ravioli - pretty tasty, generous sized raviolis and a not overly rich cream sauce with peas
• Gnocchi Special - the same sauce as the Ravioli, but it was fine with the soft and fluffy gnocchis.
• Brascole - perhaps the ratio of brascole to cavatelli is a bit out of whack but none of it made it to a to-go box.
• Osso Buco Authentico - the bone marrow was first to go and clearly the favorite part of the dish
• Manacotti - lots and lots of sauce.  It took a bit to cool down enough to eat comfortably, but that fit in with our laid back approach to dining this evening
• Cioppino - the sauce had a bit of zing (according to my wimpy palette) to it, but a generous selection of seafood with perhaps a touch too much spaghetti.
• Meatball Special - a lot going on in a sauce that had just about the right amount of richness.  Potatoes and pasta included probably not needed together.

We had a great time!  We got to chat, we got to laugh, we took our time to order, we got to chat too loudly (I don't think we upset any other diners, but sorry if we did!), we spilled a couple of drinks, we had plenty to eat, we had plenty (with out being too much) wine, we shared our food, we struggled to figure out the math of splitting the check.  We had a great time with our friends!

Stay JOLLY!
DJanet & Dave, Kate, Pete & Kris

The Pier

We arrived in Tobermory for our relaxation weekend.  After we finally found a B&B (a 5 minute drive away from the town center) we drove back down to find a place to eat.  We originally were going to go with a sandwich until we saw the Fish Stand with a nice little line of people waiting to get their fish and chips.  The Fish Stand is right on the pier so the fisherman don't have far to go to deliver the days catch.  It appears that two ladies own? and work the counter.  Since it was around 2:30pm, we opted for the small fish and chips which was still a nice piece of fish with enough chips to keep us going until dinner. 

Castle Wynd

Portcullis was really the hotel we stayed in - in the shadow of Stirling Castle it had enough Castle-like characteristics for us to claim it as a stay in a castle.  If you're brave enough (and a good enough with a map and a compass) you can find your way from your room (which has a pretty good view of the surrounding places an army may have attacked from) to the Restaurant which is probably technically a Pub.

I think inside it certainly looked more like a Pub than a Restaurant but it felt like some sort of club that you need to know the password to get in to.  It was very neat and tidy and arranged just right.  The people already there were quiet with a couple of gentlemen sitting by themselves reading the paper with a beer close at hand.  We didn't have a paper, but we did take (and play) our Scrabble board.

There is a courtyard which I suspect is jamming all summer as the tourists can't do anything but pass by on their way to the real Castle.  Not an option this evening but the courtyard has a feel we probably could have enjoyed, especially with the really thick walls keeping the street noises well out.

Two Bartenders / Servers took care of us.  They answered our few questions well, and were chatty enough when we wanted to chat.  One of them also is good at making panicked expressions due to us trying to delay ordering at the same time the kitchen was trying to close.  No drama if that's the rule, but we were forced to eat a bit quicker than we really wanted to on this, our last night in Scotland.

Our Meal went a little something like this:

• Tennents Best
• Bruschetta, with smoked salmon - probable the best bruschetta I've ever had.  Far from traditional, but oh so good.  Bread toasted just right, generous but not greedy amounts of salmon, yummy sauce to keep everyone together.
• Smoked Salmon, with whiskey dill dressing - this would have been great had we not just finished the bruschetta.  The bruschetta was so good this gets bumped down to better than ok.
• Hurricane Jack Ale
• Maverick Ale
• Gammon, with pineapple - the gammon and pineapple (and chips) were more than adequate but we really had to laugh (politely) at the 'salad bar' that was also crammed on the plate - it included, but was not limited to peas, corn, cheese, lettuce, onion coleslaw
• Garlic Chicken, with sweet chili sauce - more sweet than spicy and it came with the same 'salad bar'
• Glenmorangie

A convenient place that was more than adequate for our needs which for all intents and purposes we can claim we ate (and slept) in a castle.

Stay JOLLY!
D

Main Street

The Restaurant is part of a Hotel / Pub building and although it is obviously friends with the Pub people (we watched the Bar Tender dude send a Server into the Pub to get one of our beers) it seem its goal is to be a step or 3 above what you'd expect from a Pub. Our guess is that it opened sometime during or just before the Summer Season, because not only does it say 'established 2010' but you can see the shadow outline of the name of the previous occupier of the space still on the front windows.

From the outside it's kind of beat up, but in the nice way a place with years of history develops character, but inside it's a modern looking and feeling space split up into two areas.  There is an open fire that we sat next to which fortunately we didn't get much of the direct affect of because it really wasn't all that cool outside.  There is a bar, but I doubt anyone comes in just for a drink when the Pub is just across the hall.  We arrived early (well early for Scottish diners) without a Reservation and was given the option of a tall table - that's it, one option - while the place was still deserted.  It did just about fill up, but every time someone came it was a puzzle for them to figure out which table to offer.  Seemed harder than it needed to be to me?

The menu appeared fine, but in reality was a bit lacking.  When given our menu we were told of a few items that were not available this evening because "Lunch had been busier than expected" and we're pretty certain this list grew as the night progressed.  We still found plenty to choose from, but it's a little disappointing (and a lot odd) that their signature side dish of mishmash was not available.  It's good they're busy, of course but not so good they can't plan the weekend out a bit better.

I think the kitchen was upstairs, but it may have been down.  Often you'll here a little bell ring when an order is ready of off goes a Server.  Not here.  Telephone rings, Bar Tender answers, Bar Tender summons Server, Server takes off out of the Restaurant, Food arrives soon after.  It works, but it's odd.  What if the Bar Tender can't get to the phone?  Oh, and the phone also rang when the fire alarm went off.  Turns out it happens often during a cooking of a Steak, so the first thing the Kitchen will confirm is that's the case, then they go about turning the alarm off.  If we didn't overhear the conversation we wouldn't have known what the deal was, but seeing the staff weren't charging out the door I don't think we would have.

Speaking of the Bar Tender, he was more likely the Manager who happened to be doing the drinks (maybe he always does?).  And he really ran the show in a micro-managed sort of way.  There were 3 Servers but they did almost nothing without his say so.  We didn't suffer because of it, but I can't easily recall a restaurant where it seemed like the boss didn't trust his staff to do their jobs.  I may be seeing this differently to what really is the deal, but I doubt it.  The Servers were friendly enough and available enough.  They weren't really chatty (other than to tell us what we couldn't have) and the one we saw the most was clearly on some sort of working vacation and hadn't quite got the hang of the menu - but not in a deal breaking way.

Our meal went a little something like this:

• Tennents Lager
• Belhaven Best
• Mussels, classic - a definite extra bread worthy sauce.
• Grilled Langoustines - tasty at the sweet end of the scale.  A little fiddly to eat but worth the effort.
• Scallops, with basil and bacon - presented in a slightly odd way in their shells, but tasty and not too bacony.  The basil seamed to be an inspired touch?
• Venison Burger - the oddest burger I've ever had.  The burger itself was tasty and cooked as requested but all you got was the burger on the bread (pretty good bread too).

We got to eat in our own way and were mildly entertained by the way they did things.  Had we arrived later and had to go through the 'negotiations' of getting a table we probably would have rolled our eyes, but we didn't and we left with satisfied tummies.

Stay JOLLY!
D