Shop 6 Cass Street

A small place we probably wouldn't have ventured into if not for our 'guide'.  It suggested you'd get a great pizza and if you could handle a few seagulls would benefit from enjoying it on the beach just a few paces away.  We agree it's a great pizza, but we didn't want to handle the birds choosing to sit inside (although had the outside table been available we would have made use of it) and we're not sure we would have been allowed to take a beer with us - admittedly, we didn't ask. 

It's just a counter, a couple of tables, a big logo on one wall, menu on another and a TV doing the music video thing on the last wall.  It's a big picture window out on to what is probably known as the main street with the door wide open, but there wasn't much to see going by this day.  Our 'guide' said wood-fired, but I didn't see a wood fire - fortunately no harm done on that front.

On the Tuesday after a holiday weekend I guess they weren't expecting much of a crowd as it was a one man show - he was bussing when we entered, came over to take our order, then disappeared out back to do the pizza construction, and finally delivered it to us.  We saw this repeat a couple of times as we ate.

It's a blackboard menu which is easy enough to follow along with the pizzas sort of sectioned up into different price points and they do offer thin or deep pan crusts, but don't be thinking Chicago Deep Dish - they have a much more pleasant interpretation.  They also offer a couple of specials at various times during the day and / or week, but they're sort of secret so we didn't know about them until we were way into our beers.  Oh well.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Macs Hop Rock Pilsner - quite gentle
• Macs Sassy Red - a little less gentle.
• Smoked Chicken and Cranberry Pizza with Onion and Avocado - great crust, great toppings, just the right amount of cheese.  Just the right amount of food, and we 'only' got the small one.

If not for our morning activity allowing us a stopover in Russell we probably would have missed out on not just the yummy pizza but a fun and rewarding walk just outside of town (and down into the water - we took a low tide short cut when the tide was only part way out...).  I love it when a plan comes together!  Thanks nice tour boat company!

Stay JOLLY!
D

1171 Coatesville-Riverhead Highway

We were bummed a little that there was a big Holiday Surcharge sign taped to the Host Stand but as we were now seeing a pattern, less so than when we first encountered it the evening before A Previous Article.  We chose Hallertau because our 'Guide' had it listed as 1 of the Top 10 Micro Breweries in the country and we were more or less scheduled to be passing it at lunch time.

The place was jamm'n (including the car park where I had to mostly invent a spot to park) but it would have to be jamm'n a whole lot more for us to have not gotten in.  It has a whole range of spaces, from a sort of bistro type feel place we were in just inside the door that had booths and tables, a lounge with a fireplace (probably won't be on for a few more months...), a tasting area, a kids playroom (we probably would have left had that been the only option left...), a bar, the patio, the other patio and some other patio that's way out the back.

I'm assuming mostly local, relatively recently released music which was at the boppy end of the scale, but totally foreign to us both. Bright and airy with the front door wide open it was not entirely what we expected but it was what we were looking for.  Each space had it's own 'theme' and the nature of the crowd sort of changed to match.

The host (probably manager) seemed a little tighly wound up (probably from having to constantly defend the surcharge?) but after he got us sat didn't have anything directly to do with us.  Our Server was nice enough, and appologetic re the missing menu items and was able to answer our questions.  I don't think we asked him for a recomendation, so we didn't really have to chat much with him.  It took a while for our first beers to arrive (probably not directly his fault?) but even longer for him to come by when we were ready to order another.  We weren't really in a hurry, but...

A pretty focused menu with a couple of gaps due to what they told us was a busier than expected weekend.  We were never going to have trouble finding a backup to enjoy from what was offered.  They also have a Grazing menu which I imagine would come in handy if you were planning on sitting on the deck for a good part of the afternoon, knowing someone else was driving you home.

Our meal went a little like this after we learned that the Mussels were no more:

• Hallertau Luxe "1" (Kolsh) - advertised as refined, I'd just go with refreshing.
• Hallertau Statesman "2" (Pale Ale) - quite hoppy.
• Chicken Snitzel, creamy mashed potato, peanut coleslaw - declared the best ever. A not too big juicy snitzel with really yummy potatos.  Served on board, kind of like a cheese board.
• Venison Burger, red cabbage slaw, onion jam, fries - a pretty good burger on a really really good bun. Slaw for the side, but get jam on the burger, definitely.
• Hallertau Deception "4" (Schwarzbier ) - a dark beer, almost chocolately.

We're glad our 'Guide' pointed this out for us as it's unlikely we would have found it on our own - after getting a little lost leaving our morning activity who knows what shiny sign would have grabbed our attention had we not had a destination in mind...

Stay JOLLY!
D

315 West North Avenue

Recently, when we've eaten this early a Collections of Articles... it's been because that has been the only sensible way to get in the door.  This time, it was so we could get a good seat at a show after dinner...  Not so frustrating, but a little more stressful as we had to continually balance the time until the show started with what we thought we still wanted to consume.  Had to be done, the show their site... was awesome, and we would have then had to eat bar food at the show!

Quite simple from the outside, it may be that two stores were combined to make one restaurant because there's a clear delineation (a big hold up the ceiling type wall) separating the side we entered where there's the sushi bar, the yakitori bar(?), the host and a few tables from the side we ate in where it's just a dining room type arrangement.

It's quite brightly lit, it's very neat and tidy and quite generous in spacing out the tables.  There's perhaps 12 or 14 seats at the sushi counter and at least that many in the same area with perhaps 30 or 40 more on 'our' side.  There's also a private room with the sunken (I'm sure there's a better description, sorry) table arrangement, perhaps for 10 - from our vantage point it looked very soothing.  Some interesting wall pieces that comfortably fit in with what it seems they're trying to do.

A pretty quiet evening, although it picked up a little as we left (but they also lost a couple of other diners to the same show as us...), it worked out with how we wanted to order and how much of our Server we got to see.  He was very attentive, knew the dishes and therefore answered our questions quite handily and let us order in our own way, but I suspect we'd have seen less of him the busier the place got - but I don't know that for sure.

Although only one half of us knew in advance we were coming here we were always going to go the yakitori way so didn't spend a lot of time on the rest of the menu, but there's a lot there to choose from and we have no doubt we would have been just fine had we not being aiming so specifically in what we wanted to try.  We ordered in little batches, but probably could have ordered bigger batches and not had the table too overcrowded as dishes came out when they were ready, not as a batch, which suits us just fine.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Blackberry Shochu - it's Japanese Vodka, therefore it's a Japanese Martini, right?
• Plum Shochu - as above but a little less sweet
• Saba Nigiri - we technically weren't doing Sushi this night, but we do like our Mackerel.  Presented just a tiny bit differently to how we've come to expect.
• Sapporo Reserve - it's a lager
• Asahi - it's a slightly different lager.
• Yakitori - mostly served on skewers cooked over a small open BBQ type arrangement just around the corner from us.  You are given a couple of dipping sauces and dry rub type things to apply - some hot, some not.  By and large, we ignored them because some dishes were pre-sauced by the chef and clearly he's smarter than us at this.
  
  • Dark Meat Chicken 
  • Chicken Skin - not quite as crispy as we hoped, but tasty.
  • Chicken Meatball - awesome meatballs!
  • Shiitake Mushroom 
  • Eringi Mushroom - the least 'mushroomy' of the 3 we had.
  • Portabello Mushroom 
  • Bacon wrapped Tomato - watch out, the tomato juices are hot...  A fun, almost palette cleansing bite.
  • Beef Tongue - we weren't quite sure what to expect, but this was really good.
  • Duck Breast 
  • Shrimp 
  • Scallop - sliced thin, they've barely touched the grille.
  • Grilled Garlic - even if it's date night, you've got to try this.
  • Short Ribs - their special of the evening was a great finish and way too big for skewers.
• Tempura Smelt - perhaps shouldn't have waited until the end, but we almost didn't get it and then we would have missed out on the tasty, pleasantly oily (fish, not frying oil!) crunchy dish.

We'll be back, and probably before we feel the urge to get to another show in the neighborhood as we're kind of curious as to how they do all their Nigiri / Maki things after getting a new 'version' of Saba.

Stay JOLLY!
D

114 Ponsonby Road

Turns out, we went to a chain place.  Not on purpose, for the record, and unknowingly at the time.  We were looking for a specific burger place, that just happened to be closed for the day (something about they like to party and hangovers) and this was just a few doors down.  Oh well...

So, it's a burger joint.  A burger joint for the hip young kids.  A burger joint with loudish music I don't understand.  A burger joint with a looping video of people doing crazy things (as is the want when you travel in NZ I now have had confirmed).  A burger joint with a pretty steady line at the counter all the time we were there.  A burger joint that does a pretty good burger!

It's shiny and metallic and bright and loud and busy and has poster / magazines / postcards for assorted bands / skating / skiing / thrill seeking all over the place you can peruse or take.  It's not what I'd call my scene, but we weren't made to feel unwelcome (actually it probably never crossed anyone's mind that we were anything other than a paying customer and that we should be treated nicely) and there were certainly many people of our ilk coming and going.  There were non-ilk too...

Walk in, get in line, read menu on wall, get out of line when you realize you're holding up the regulars, read some more, get back in line, read a little more, change mind a couple of times before getting to front of line, order, go find a counter / booth / table (or as most people were doing, stand aside and wait for your to-go order) and wait a few minutes for a happy and loud cook looking dude to deliver your goodies.  It's a burger joint!

Our meal went a little like this:

• Soda 
• Big Fuel Burger (egg, beetroot, relish, aioli) - I prefer a little more run in my egg, but there was enough other runny / juicy things to make sure my hands (and shirt) were sticky.  Tasty.  Note:  What we didn't know until we'd finished trashing ourselves (and watched a pro next to us) was that they actually provide a burger holder.  Yep, a carboard device that when folded per directions appeared to do a very good job of containment - we thought it was a lid for the chips and didn't understand why we'd need one since we were eating in - oops.
• Ford Freakout Burger - (bacon, avocado, relish, aioli) - only marginally less messy.  Equally tasty in it's own way.  Note:  See above...
• Fries - (of the hand cut potato variety) - crispy and pretty good
• Fries - (of the hand cut kumara variety - I guess their nature is they don't go as crispy, but they're tastier, no doubt.  At the time we hadn't learned that kumera more or less equals sweet potato, in case you care...

We wanted a burger, we got a burger so all is well.  We are a little peeved, even a month later as I type, that we were charged a 'holiday surcharge', which is logically, but illogical at the same time, to us.  We won't go back, mostly because it's a chain and we aim to avoid chains when we travel (actually, it's pretty close to having become a firm rule of dining out...) and to be fair, a trip back to Auckland is not likely to happen anytime soon anyway.

Stay JOLLY!
D

Viaduct Harbour

This was our only other pre-booked a Previous Article dinner event of our Vacation Trip, although this time it was less about it being on the get-there-before-you-die list than it was about not wanting to be left with our hotel's bar (actually, not even sure it had a bar...) as our only NYE dining option.  It caught our attention because of the harbor views and the strongly seafooded menu.  I'm pretty much an anti-NYE celebrator, choosing to stay in and avoid the obnoxious revelers that are many in number, but when you're on the other side of the world and lined up to be one of the first to see 2012 there's the spectre of the wifedoom hanging around if you try stay in...

It's a big place, there's at least the restaurant we were in with probably well over 100 seats, a bistro next door (although they may call it something else), a bar that looked and sounded like a night club and some sort of private rooms according to the website that seat 50 or so that could conceivably be attached to any part.  Also, as we walked around the harbor earlier in the day we noticed another building with their logo proudly displayed on the side so there could be even more.

Once up the stairs from the street, and standing at the correct host stand, it's just a few paces past the kitchen (there were a lot of chefs and although I'm sure the chef was there, we've no idea if we got a glimpse of him (or her, of course!)) and into the restaurant.  There's no sit at and wait bar, but there are a couple of comfy chairs I suspect they would bring a drink to if there were people waiting.  There's two walls of mostly glass overlooking the harbor - we put in a request for a window, and got a small one on the street side of the place which we initially thought of as a bummer but once we figured out we wouldn't have seen the fireworks anyway turned out to give us some fun people watching we otherwise would have missed out on - there's only so much interest a harbor has to offer, right?  The room really is one big space (apart from two private themed rooms that we got a quick peek in as we left thanks to our sneaky Server - the one we saw into was pretty sweet, but you're probably paying a few extra bucks for the privilege of sitting amongst a fish pond and would need 8 or 10 people to use up the whole table) which is broken up mostly by the way the tables are arrange and some free standing lights (they're odd, reminding me a bit of tiki-torches, but effective, I guess). 

It's white tablecloths and chair covers with soft gentle music but as we got closer to midnight it perhaps got a bit more 'dancy' but thankfully, not a live playing anything to be found.  Not overly brightly lit, with ambient light doing most of the work.  It would be interesting to see the place on a non-NYE night to compare and contrast as it sort of had a more lively crowd (just talkative and happy / enthusiastic sounding, rather than get up and dance lively) than the atmosphere sort of presented as being what they were after as a crowd.  If bathrooms are your thing, your visit will take you to a very nicely presented room with real hand-towels for everyone.

Your Server does everything, mostly, with just a stray visit from one of the other Servers when she's tied up somewhere else.  We liked her, and we think she liked us - she was cleverly sneaky as we left which we really appreciate.  She was chatty, quite chatty if we allowed - which we did more of as the night wore on and any of our normal shyness was drank away...  From what we noticed, she didn't spend any time chatting to any of her other tables looking much more formal from our vantage point (over by the side window...).  We did need some help with the menu, not only in understanding what it was actually telling us, but also to match up some of the items on the plate with the menu description.  She helped us through this admirably indeed.

They only offered the set menu this night, which we knew going in and were completely ok with, but we panicked a little unnecessarily when our first course was on the table before we'd finished deciding on where the safest place for the camera was.  We deliberately booked as late as we were allowed (although at least one table sat about half an hour after us...) to make sure we'd be able to toast in the New Year here, rather than on the street and halfway home.  Ultimately this wasn't a problem as everything settled down into a flow just perfect enough to allow us our dessert before rushing outside to the prime firework viewing area suggested by our Server before returning to our table for a cocktail before heading off home at a 'sensible' hour and therefore missing the 12:05 rush.

Our meal went a little like this:

• 2011 Peacock Sky Rosé A Century Club Contribution - towards the drier end, and mostly refreshing.  A sort of sticky finish that was by no means a bad thing.  We got really nice wine glasses.  I'm sure we had a reason for selecting a Rosé but no matter what it was, we made a good choice.
• Awatea Cab / Merlot (and some other stuff) - sort of smokey to taste, quite sharp on the palette, all the way from sip to finish due mostly to the tannins that strongly suggest this wine would be happy tucked away for a while.  A new set of the nice wine glasses magically appeared...
• New Years Eve Menu -
  • Bubbles - a very spritzy Moet to get things started.
    • Cucumber Sorbet - may have struggled to get the Cucumber taste, but did enjoy the texture a lot with the bubbles.
  • Chamomile Infused Marlborough Salmon, young vegetables ala-grecque, salsa verde - wonderfully cooked piece, definitely got the tea flavors coming through and without masking the fish flavors.  If it was the only thing on the plate there'd be no complaints.
  • Seared Scallops, black pudding, crumbed duck yolk, mustard soubise, asparagus, tendril vinaigrette - did not (and still doesn't) sound like a collection of things that should be on a plate together.  Turns out, doesn't matter what it sounds like.  This was really yummy, and I think you got the best when you got a bit of everything on your fork.
  • Crispy Skinned Hauraki Gulf Snapper, courgette & crab beignet, court bouillon in its entirety - yes, crispy skin, but it was more about the fish.  Juicy and melt in your mouth and with the sweet sauce nothing but yummy.  The 'sides' were fun too, especially with the same sauce.
  • Iberico Bellota Jamón, grilled watermelon panzanella, walnut, crisp capers, crackling, almond - a great piece of meat, crispy where it should be, not where it shouldn't.  It just seemed right to leave the crackling until the end.  And, who knew you could crisp a caper?
  • Slow Cooked Leelnad Farm Lamb Rack, pea, fennel, Fiddlers Hill goats cheese, pearl drops, potato cream - the most spectacular looking dish and there should be no hesitation grabbing the bones and gnawing every last morsel.  The 'sides' probably best enjoyed on their own.
  • Chocolate Macaroon, vanilla ice cream, milk chocolate cream, caramelised yogurt sauce, frozen coconut caviar - it's desert.  We enjoyed it and would have eaten another had it been presented...
• Kahlua 
• Chocolate Martini - light on the chocolate, heavy on everything else.  Problem?  Nah...

It's not really a ranking of favorites type menu but we are unanimous in that the Snapper was our favorite of the evening.  Seeing we were such good friends with our Server we tried to coax a re-run of any left over Moet to finish up, but she happily reported that it was being saved for the staff to toast in the New Year.  We would have voted that it come to our table, but we're fine with her (and the others) getting a quick break after taking such great care of us.

A great night, if you discount the low clouds that masked some of the affect of the fireworks.  We were taken care of, we were relaxed, we ate well, we drank well, we made a friend (who we know we'll never see again...) of sorts, we got home safely (remember, we drank well...).  We're glad we found Kermadec, but we have to admit it's only marginally better than impossible that we'll get back - due to opportunity and certainly not due to experience.

Stay JOLLY!
D 

1333 Mornington Flinders Road

We were just looking for a lazy(ish) lunch where we could get a glass of a wine with a view of the vineyards the wine came from.  We're ultimately ok that our first choice was obnoxiously* full and we were forced back into the car for the what turned out to be a 2½ minute search to find this place. 

We almost didn't stop because the Restaurant part of the sign was down the bottom and it took us a bit to take it all in and decide it was worth a look - we had to turn around and go back...  A small awkward parking lot, an obvious front door and an old and well used (we assume) tractor make up the street view.  Can I guess that this is the tractor it took 10 minutes to get somewhere?

Inside there's a small tasting area and cash register.  Keep going past this and you get to the Restaurant part which overlooks the vineyards on the slightly sloping hill - an area they're happy for you to wonder around in [our case] after your meal and we even found their herb garden with some artichokes in full bloom.  Out the other door is the Patio area where there's not much of a view, but you do get the fresh air.  We opted for outside, but I suspect that was really our only option as we were dressed for touristing, not fancyish dining.  Also, it looked pretty full so maybe dress mattered less than having a reservation?  If you include bathroom amenities in your Restaurant Selection process, these are pretty nice, even before you realized you get real towels for hand drying.

Typical outside, mostly, with lots of green things, some offering shade some not, but all doing a pretty good job of keeping the highway out.  Rustic looking tables of varying sizes (I wouldn't be surprised to learn that some of the bigger ones help strangers become friends subject to the demands of the day) and a few umbrellas whose usefulness clearly varies as the day progresses.  The not so typical thing was the chef station where one chef was kept pretty busy the whole time we were there - he has a much more consistent umbrella arrangement...

One Server to keep an eye on all 20 or so of us.  She was busy, but not crazy and although it took a little bit to see her the first time there was nothing to bother us for the rest of our time here.  She chatted a little when we asked questions, but she's not an expert on the menu.  She's good enough to offer opinions of what you might like, but not good enough to clarify what all (most, just not all) the different components of our dish are - good thing the chef was working just behind us.

A nice outdoors type menu of salads and platters, and all pretty good for sharing.  I guess I could have asked, but I suspect the inside diners get a different menu to what we got.  The wine list has their own wines front and center and on a day where a glass each with lunch was all we sensibly should have we were always going to select one of their own by the glass.  But, the full list has a really good range of local and not so local things to choose from - if you really want to, you could drop a car payment on a good selection of bottles.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Ten Minutes by Tractor Sauvignon Blanc - a little bit of sweetness, a little bit of acid, ultimately nicely balanced.
• Ten Minutes by Tractor Rosé - light and fruity like you'd expect from most Rosés but also at the drier end of the scale.
• Smoked Chicken Salad, bacon, potato, green beans - a gentle dressing brought it all together nicely.
• Charcuterie Platter - if you're just after a light lunch this could easily work out for 2 people.  It's not really about the condiments, obviously, but they were there to help out when the urge was felt.  Not even a crumb was left behind...
  
  • Rabbit & Pistachio Terrine - to be fair, if you didn't tell me it was rabbit I probably wouldn't have known, but it was yummy with just the right amount of nutty crunch.
  • Rare Roasted Sirloin - didn't expect to see this on our platter, but pretty happy that we did.  A beautiful piece of meat that did not need anything to keep it company - just cut off a bite and enjoy
  • Smoked Ham - off the bone we're assuming based on appearance.  The lightest of all the meats provided.
  • Salami - a few peppercorns along for the ride.
  • Wagyu Braciola - quite strong flavors from a relatively delicate piece of meat.
  • Pancetta - a little bit of salt going on, as you'd expect.

Not our plan when we departed on our travels a couple of hours earlier, but we really enjoyed our sit in the sun, our meal and our wine!  A very pleasant surprise find, and absolutely totally un-obnoxious at all levels.

Stay JOLLY!
D 

* - just to be clear, our failed place was not obnoxious, on the contrary we really do want to go back and give them a try (although, we're not holding our breathe because of the whole Antipodean thing we have going on) not just because of the recomendation that sent us towards it, but also what we saw go whizzing by with the Servers looked and smelled great.  It was the crowd this day that was quite obnoxious.

98 Parker Street

The Royal Mail was on our radar after seeing it on our favorite food show with Anthony Bourdain going nuts over it.  It's not in a super convenient location when compared to the other places we would want to get to when we make the trip back home so we added it to the To-Do List the List... not expecting the opportunity to arise for awhile, if ever.  We modified our level of wanting to get here much higher after hearing about it somewhere else, reading about it in a random article and then doing some more research.  Bottom line, when this recent trip was in its infancy in terms of negotiating time with family and friends the Royal Mail was always in consideration for best way to make it all work.  We made it work!*  It was also the first of only two meals we had 100% planned and signed up for before getting on the plane.

I suspect most people would say that the Royal Mail is in the middle of nowhere, but that's not really fair, not at all.  It is a tiny town, that's for sure, and you do need to spend some time in the car to get here (I guess there could be a bus?) but it's right on the edge of the Grampians where even casual walkers can have a great time.  It's barely an hour and a half from Ballarat and the Coast and lots of other fun things in between and not far away.  It's definitely a destination event if you're planning on dining and although I suspect they would take a walk-in, that's not really the way they do it.  But middle of nowhere?  Not really.

The building (which includes a good number of hotel rooms in close proximity) is modern looking so I'm pretty sure when they decided to set up shop they started from the beginning.  Inside, there's big open windows giving a view of sorts of the Grampians and on the other side big thick windows give you a nice view of the highway (not much activity once the sun goes down...) through the town without the noise.  There's not really any hard delineations, but there's clearly 3 sections - the fancy (set, 10 course menu or nothing) section for couples (10 tables, perhaps?), the fancy section for groups (probably room for 25 or 30 depending on table sizes?) and the not so fancy section (but still pretty swish) where there's a more bistro type menu available.  Not a lot of artwork on the walls, but interesting things on tables and counters and they use the wine glasses (more about them later) as a fun sort of display.  There is an open pass area into the kitchen you're able to take a peek in at, but we were not sat in a place where we could get a constant look at - no noise at all coming out of it that we noticed.

Everything is very prim and proper, tables all lined up just right, chairs the same and I think the tablecloths were ironed on the tables.  Service areas with everything in it's place, and mostly hidden until needed.  There's no host stand as such, but the boss is upon you pretty quickly when you enter.  He sat us, made some pretty standard small talk about our suntansburns and took off to grab us some menus.  Not a lot to consider because we were reserved for the 10 course deal, but you do get the choice of 'all things considered' v 'vegetarian'.  We briefly considered getting 1 of each so as to get a few extra dishes on the table, but ultimately didn't for fear of getting a small awesome taste of something we couldn't (or wouldn't want to) share - don't worry, we had more than enough as it was.  There's also a pretty big and pretty fancy wine list.  We just gave it a cursory look because we knew we wanted to put our trust in the wine pairings.

You don't get a Server.  It's quite formal, and I'd tend to lean towards too formal but that's just me.  On the floor we had the F&B Manager, the Sommelier and 3 Servers.  From what we could tell, the Servers have almost no autonomy, with almost all their 'chores' being directed from the Manager and occasionally the Sommelier.  There was no chatting going on unless you instigated it and clearly the 'bosses' preferred to be the chatty ones. 

When reading the menu you're always going to get what it says, but rarely how you expect it.  They take the menu away from you and give you a to-go copy as you leave so when each course comes (and you get one Server each and the rule, it seems, is that both plates must be placed at exactly the same time) one of your Servers stays and fills you in on what you got. In most cases when it was a Server you got not much more than a repeat of what was written down, but if you got the boss you'd get some useful pointing of what was what (we really needed this for the eel dish!) and more about how the dish was made.  Fortunately we figured this out after a couple of courses (which were mostly self explanatory) so we nearly always (politely) called the boss over for some further explanation.

We understand they have their own vegetable garden and orchard (not obviously in sight of the place from what we could tell from a brief walk around the property after breakfast the next morning) and work with mostly local providers.  Assuming that's true, the gardener(s) need a hardy 'thank you' because all the non-meat stuff looked and tasted amazing and the other providers should get one too.

The wine guy knows his wine.  He did seem to change his spiel a bit from table to table and I'm going to guess that's based on the early feedback / questions he gets from the table.  We asked questions and he answered them in a way that we could follow along with, which we appreciate.  We didn't have any problems with the pairings and we liked that they kept it local when not selecting out of Europe.  But having said that, I think all the pairings were at the safe end of the scale all within the range of things I could probably come up with given their cellar and google to play with.  All technically good wines, absolutely, but we've enjoyed a couple of other meals like this where the pairings were more towards the other end of the scale.  I'm not complaining!  Just observing and postulating!  We super duper appreciate the range of glassware used - if nothing else, it's fun.  It's clear that they subscribe to the theory that different wines shine in different shaped glasses because I think we only had one repeat.  As an aside, he must be kept pretty fit because the cellar required him to head outside and down the street, perhaps even across the road...

Our meal went exactly like this:

• house-made sourdough wheat or rye - we tried both and as good as they were they had nothing on the house-made smoked butter which came with some salt flakes
• chicken crisps; pork sandwich; globe artichoke & mayonnaise - the chicken crisp was our first (non-bread) bite of the evening and was almost certainly the best single component of any dish to follow.  I don't know how they do it, but it's an awesome piece of skin.  Fun sandwich, and pleasant artichoke to also get us started.
  • nv demarne-frison 'goustan' (Champagne) - very bubbly, quite dry and a bit yeasty.
• heirloom carrots, garlic, soy cream, sorrel seeds - amazing selection of carrots (inlcuding a couple of tiny, almost needle like, ones), all pleasantly sweet, all a little bit different.  Fine on their own, but adding a bit of everything else is the way to go.
  
  • 2009 domaine de bellivière Teffraie' (Coteaux du Loir) - kind of sweet, ok with the carrots, a sort of oily mouth feel
• egg yolk, rye, legumes, yeast - if you don't like your poached egg runny, you may struggle to get the full yummy-ness of this dish.  Again, all fine bites, but get a bit of everything together, including the yeast. 
  • 2007 bannockburn 'srh' chardonnay (Geelong) - quite a bit of wood, but very balanced; smooth even.
• prawn and asparagus, quinoa, kohlrabi and chive - not the way I cook my quinoa - it was crunchy and I was sad there's wasn't more of this pleasant surprise...  Wasn't expecting prawn sashimi (if that's a fair comparison), but that's ok because I also wasn't expecting a crispy prawn head.  I think I preferred this dish more eating everything separately, even the vegetable I've never heard of before and the white with green striped asparagus.
  
  • 2009 gerard boulay 'chavignol' (Sancerre) - nothing much to the nose, a bit of acid and fruity.
• sand flathead, mustard, nori, sugar snap peas - a great piece of fish, very snappy peas, not your standard nori, best altogether.
  
  • 2009 crawford river riesling (Henty) - quite a simple wine, but worked well with the dish. A little drier than not, a little fruit and no overt nose.
• eel and bone marrow, eggplant, pickled vegetables - they do something to the eel that stops it looking like an eel, but it sure tastes like one.  Marrow just right and especially moorish, fun selection of vegetables just lightly pickled.
  • 2010 best's 'old clone' pinot noir (Grampians) - rich, but not overpowering; kind of spicy and earthy. I kind of would have liked to try it with the flathead course, but no complaints having it with this one.
• duck and cucumber, coastal plants, calamari cream - the plants were the most interesting component (is it fair to describe them as cactus like, but without the prickles?), but the duck was done just right and was so so juicy.  Plants on their own and enjoy the popping and juice squirting (in your mouth, please), but get some calamari cream with the duck.
  
  • 1993 château pontet canet (Pauillac Bordeaux) - a great wine, nice long finish, still some tannins (but probably not for much longer), earthy to the nose and fruity but not overpowering in any way.  Good luck getting a hold of some, but if you do you'll be very very very happy.  Decanted a good hour before poured for us, my joke about it being the only decanted bottle because someone broke a cork didn't go down so well...  I'm quite sure it would not have been the same wine had it been opened and poured immediately..
• fallen fruit; apple, almond, caramel - a great dessert, a whole (and I mean whole as in stem, seeds, core, skin) apple sort of dried and baked.  Think of the best apple pie you've ever had and multiply by about 50.
  
  • chamomile iced tea - served as a palette cleanser it did it's job, but my least favorite beverage of the evening.  But, I appreciate the thought and reasoning behind it.
• berries and fig leaf, white chocolate and rose - a fun dessert, gone a little too quickly...
  • 2008 marenco 'pineto' brachetto d'aqui (Piedmont) - spritzy, sweet, big fruity nose, almost porty in richness.  A perfect match with the dish.
• pistachio, hazlenut, honeycomb, chocolate - just eat it!  But make sure you mix it up and get a bit of everything together.
  • sanchez romate cream sherry (Jerez) - something new to us, sort of figgy in taste, very rich.  I prefered it solo after the dish was done.
• plums - a (late?) addition to the menu, we're told they were picked that day from their own Orchard and never refrigerated.  Now that's how a plum should taste!  If they told us the variety, I forgot, sorry.

We've done it, and we're extremely happy for having been able to do so.  We thank Mr Bourdain because without his interest we may have missed the other things that really solidified our interest in the place.  We got to try some fun dishes, some amazing wines, and enjoy an awesome environment in and around the place, but it's a treat, and a very very special treat for us, that we're only realistically able to do once - and not just because it's the antipodes (more or less) of where we live.  Of course, if some nice benefactor wants to shout us...

Stay JOLLY!
D 

* - no family or friends' feelings were hurt, nor was anyone inconvenienced by us partaking in this dinner!

1475 W Balmoral Ave

Party of the First Part: "Hey, what do you feel like for dinner?"

Party of the Second Part: "I dunno...  What do you feel like?"

PFP: "Ummm... Ahhh... Ummmm.  How about mussels?"

PSP: "Oh great idea, but where?"

PFP: "How about Vincent?  Maybe we can eat all 5 styles?"

PSP: "OK!"

So, off we went to see if we could eat all 5 styles of Mussels - and lets get it out of the way right now, can't be done. Nope, can't be done by an average everyday couple. 

The reason we know there are 5 styles is because we were there about this time last year A Previous Article.  We were rounded up by a good group of friends, had a lot of fun, a great meal, and were taken great care of and therefore had no reason to expect anything different being just the two of us - apart from the part about us not needing a menu.

We arrived without a reservation and were told we could 'squeeze' in if we promised to be done by a certain time which we agreed to seeing they were up front about it and we figured the hardest part of our evening would be figuring out which mussels to start with.  The time turned out to be fluid in that we were able to stay a bit longer without any nagging or harassment (and we couldn't see any obvious group of people loitering with a scowl on their face) which took us to about the length of stay we normally would have expected to be there.  Win win!

Our Server was a bit busy to start but once the rest of his team arrived he settled down into a good flow for us.  He could be very chatty if you allowed him when he wasn't running from table to table he did a good job of describing the specials - which we listened to just in case but really were committed to a bunch of mussels -  and from what we could politely(!) overhear he was good at questions too

It's BYO and they do open your bottle(s) up and provide ice buckets if you want - I rarely do as I don't expect the wine to be around long enough to get too warm (and often you get a pleasant surprise from it as it changes temperature)...  I was prepared to open our bottle and when the Owner (I'm pretty certain the Host is the Owner) or Host or whoever he is offered we told him that we arrived by bus and it would not be unreasonable for it to have been a bit agitated by the experience.  Before we had finished joking about the reparations required if there was some significant spillage the cork was launched quite rapidly into the ceiling getting the attention of just about everyone in the place.  It came down equally as quick and if you discount the votive candle that is no more, no harm was done in that somehow not a drop left the bottle before the pouring stage.  Worth the laugh...

The menu is easy enough to navigate with lots of things with a strong Dutch influence - some are almost certainly Dutch and nothing else.  We're not exactly sure, but the menu seemed a bit shorter this time around?  But it didn't matter, we had mussels on the brain.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Kentucky Bourbon Special Cocktail (it had more in it) - it all worked nicely together, I'd have it again.  The cinnamon swizzle stick was a nice touch - I actually kept the glass to enjoy the now cinnamon ice as it melted
• Gin & Rosemary Cocktail (it had a clever name, garnished with a rose petal) - enjoyed and consumed quite quickly.  Big sprig of Rosemary as a swizzle stick.
• Chandon California Brut - it's Chandon, dry but not too much; fruity but not too much.  And as it turns out, the same bottle we enjoyed last time we were here.
• Tarragon Mussels - we like our mussels, but we really get a kick out of the broth and dipping something into it once the mussels have gone away.  This was probably our favorite of the 3 varieties we got through (but not by much) and you definitely know the tarragon is there.
  
  • Frites - great!  Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.  They come with a dipping mayonnaise of some sort which in most cases would be wonderful, but you're far better off for dipping (or drowning) them in the Mussel Sauce.
• Mushroom Mussels - not sure which brand of mushroom, but it's a pleasant change to get a whole something in the broth, but we still did some serious dipping.
  
  • Frites - same as above, and if you're thinking I'll just have a couple this time you'll be thinking wrongly...
• Amsterdam Mussels (cooked in beer) - a favorite from last time and works out really really well with the Frites.
  
  • Frites - still can't resist...

Dinner was great.  Exactly what we felt the urge for, taken care of as expected and the wax that was spilled didn't spill on us.  We'll be back!

Stay JOLLY!
D

2045 N. Damen Ave

We did it again.  We went to a show that was in an itty bitty venue, was a lot of fun, great value and we leave still not understanding why we don't do it more often.  We'll keep trying, perhaps it will become a habit one day...  And, just like last time A Previous Article, we really needed to eat something before the show.  So looking for something close to the Temple of Boobs - yes you read that right - took us through our To-Do List the List... and a pretty easy choice of Coast.

We parked by the Show so had a couple of blocks to walk to the restaurant, which was totally fine on a cool, but not cold evening.  When we got to Coast we were [pleasantly] surprised how busy it was due to the half dozen or so places we had walked by that were actually empty or very close to empty - hopefully they pick up as the night wears on!  Although not brightly lit, the place was easy enough to find with the big elegant sign over the place.

Once in the door there's a quite large waiting area with the host stand just a little further on.  They must be busy more often than not because this is the biggest waiting area we've seen in a long long time, one that was well used this night and we assume each night.  They were taking walk-ins who were being told a 30 minute wait, but we had a reservation.  It didn't get us right to the front of the line, but we were a little early and did sit pretty much at the time we had reserved so the reservation system seems to work.  Once out of the waiting area there's two restaurant areas of perhaps 60 seats each, the first has the sushi bar with 6 sushi chefs keeping very busy every time we looked over, and the second lit a little less brightly and set up with a banquette on each long wall probably allowing easier dealing with big groups, as compared to the 'normal' 2s and 4s in the first.

Once seated (we were in the 2nd section), we straight away noticed how loud it was.  Just people talking to their friends noise, not kitchen, busser or music noises.  I don't think it bothered us other than to recognize that it was there, as we still were able to chat amongst ourselves and with our Server without any troubles.  We're kind of curious as to what caused this and if it's the norm here because it sure didn't look like a loud place from outside and we didn't notice it while waiting.  Oh well...

It's BYO (Remember? A Previous Article  I don't subscribe to BYOB as the description.) so with our bottle on the table the first thing our Server did was to provide some glasses and get it open.  She went pretty quickly through the couple of Specials and one did catch our attention but at ordering time we had to get her to repeat so we could confirm what we heard the first time.  She was around when we wanted, certainly not nagging us to order out next treats, and answered our couple of simple questions, but didn't offer anything else up.

I don't think we're embarrassed to admit that we started eating at Sushi places due to a TV Review A Previous Article.  What caught our attention was the Dragon and Caterpillar Maki and the like, that, well, look like Dragons and Caterpillars.  We've since learned that there are lots of less dramatic looking but equally tasty delights to be had.  However, we do take a good look at the 'Special' Maki section and more often than not select a couple because they look fun and more often than not mix non-traditional maki things together.  For all the yummy stuff we ate this evening, the Special Maki didn't really grab us - not a deal breaker, because we still enjoyed everything that came our way this evening.

Our meal went a little like this:

• 2010 ranga ranga Sauvignon Blanc A Century Project Participant - crisp, a little bit of acidity.  We were confident in bringing this with us in that it would work out with Sushi.  We were right.
• Hamachi Crudo with Jalapeno - I personally could skip the jalapeno part, but once pushed to the side I found the Hamachi a nice gently refreshing way to get started
• Sesame Crusted Scallop with Balsamic Vinaigrette - cooked just right with a crust of Sesame that made a fun crunch.  An interesting match of the rich Balsamic and delicate Scallops.
• Exotic Tempura (taro, lotus root, shiso leaf, squash, asparagus, shitake) - it's probable we've had all this fun stuff as tempura before and not known what was inside.  The leaf is fun, the lotus root oddly pretty to look at, everything in a nicely browned light and almost fluffy tempura.
• Nigiri
  • Hirame (flounder) - we now know it's an option...
  • Saba (mackerel) 
  • Suzuki (sea bass) 
• Maki
  • Salmon Skin - a kind of maki we'll one day have a go at making ourselves, but tonight we enjoyed Coast's
  • Spider (soft shell crab, avocado, cucumber, black tobiko) - a little awkward to eat, but tasty to the last bite
  • Sunrise (ginger seared tuna, mint, mango) - looks pretty, the mint really stands out, not a bad way to finish up.

We enjoyed our meal and it fit in perfectly with our dining needs and wants for an evening with a Show.  We have no reason not to go back, but due to location we'd probably need a friend to invite us to get us to make the trek.

Stay JOLLY!
D

1952 N. Damen

Our To-Do List the List... includes a number of places we classify as 'save for a special occasion' and since we had an occasion that was special we had a readily accessible (and slightly longer than short) list to work with.  Although, we got to reduce the list pretty quick because we left too short a lead time for booking and therefore excluded ourselves from a couple - oh well...  We then decided we were in the mood for a Tasting Menu of some type, and had heard good things about Takashi's.  Off we went...

Not much from the outside, we almost walked right by it - but we didn't.  As I think is common for the neighborhood, it used to be a house and now it's not, but the building interior is the same because they still need walls to hold the roof up.  Therefore, inside you don't get one big space, but rather a number of fun shaped spaces.  It's not really that big with the host stand right in the door, the stairs up (to where we dined) right there too.  There's a small bar under the stairs and the kitchen is a little bit open in the back.  Upstairs there's a part where you're in the roof, so if you get the banquette side, watch your head if you jump up.  Decor throughout is simple, neat and tidy with low lighting and the music is there, but very understated, but also sort of soothing if you listened hard for it.

As part of our deciding where to go process we had peeked at the Tasting Menu on-line and the same one was offered this night so we didn't give the menu much more than a summarily once over.  It would not be hard to find a number of dishes to create a satisfying meal, and probably enough for multiple visits with no duplicates.  Seafood is clearly the focus, but there's lots of other fun things to amuse you with including (but not limited to) rabbit, pork belly and duck.

Our Server wasn't all that talkative and was perhaps a bit distracted / busy when we first sat down but he took care of us and he clearly knows the menu.  Also, he's either smart enough or well trained enough to understand the flow of the menu.  I note this because our cocktails arrived at about the same time we were telling him that the tasting with wine pairings was our choice.  Without hesitation he let us know that he wouldn't start the tasting until we had finished our cocktails so as not to get everything mixed up with the pairings.  We appreciate that he knew to do this!  We didn't have questions, but he was clear and sensible in his description of each dish as it arrived and he made sure our wines arrived at the same time, to which he also gave a quick description.

We did wine pairings with the tasting menu, so didn't spend much time with the Wine List either, but I did note, and enjoy the change, that the wines are classified by their oomph - Big Boys, Bubbles, Exotic & Aromatic...  It's a short compact list, and with the fun classifications it shouldn't be hard to get yourself pointed in the right direction.  I'm pretty certain your Server can get you to the 'right' bottle from within each grouping, as ours showed understanding of the wines we were being treated to as he delivered them which we would have to assume carries across the whole list.

Our meal went exactly like this:

• Honey Lavender Martini - tasty, not too strong, a change to have a gin martini.
• Whiskey Martini - it was yummy, and had more than Whiskey in there, but alas don't recall what. Sort of refreshing, certainly easy to enjoy.
• OMAKASE - the chef's tasting menu... Although we're not sure 'the' chef was out back... but we're hoping he was.
  
  • amuse bouche - tofu, of the soft squishy kind.  In general, not our favorite thing to see on a plate, but this was ok, especially with the rich sauce that came with it.
    • Avinyo Cava Brut NV - And, it's a full pour intended for the first course too, so don't get carried away...  A crisp, sort of appley thing going on.  Not to dry, worked well with both this and the crudo, but actually didn't need the food to be a comforting drink.
  • crudo of hamachi-yellowtail (Green Grapes, Fennel, Endive, Malden Sea Salt, Verjus) - eat the fish and nothing else and you'll be happy.  Get a little bit of everything on one bite and you'll be extra happy and a little bit excited about what is still to come.
    
    • Avinyo Cava Brut NV - did you get carried away and have nothing left for your crudo?
  • spicy octopus salad (Enoki Mushrooms, Garlic Chives, Frisee and Endive, Chili-Shansho Pepper Vinaigrette) - cooked just right, not too spicy.  Octopus clearly the star, but the Enoki are not far behind.  
    • Dopff Riesling 2007 - a great match, out of Alsace it's at the drier end of the Riesling scale.
  • sautéed maine scallops and soba gnocchi (Trumpet Royale, Celery Root-Parmesan Foam) - great scallops, but perhaps better gnocchi, certainly an awesome pair.  It ended too soon...
    
    • Champalou Vouvray 2009 - a nice and gentle acidity that worked really well with the dish.
  • soy-ginger caramel pork belly (Pickled Daikon Salad, Steamed Buns) - bring your fingers as you're encouraged to make an open sandwich...  Simple looking on the plate, but a lot going on in your mouth.  The best bite was the one with a little bit of everything, but if you gave me the pork belly or the salad all on their own I'd be happy.
    
    • Domaine Jean Parent Bourgogne 2008 - a Pinot Noir that I would have been equally happy sharing the scallops with, worked well at cutting through the caramel sweetness of the pork with a sort of earthiness you might expect in 'bigger' wines..
  • roasted indiana duck breast (Duck Rillette Roll, Baby Turnips, Green Bean Salad) - the roll may have been the best part, but not by much.  A nicely balanced dish overall, the Salad probably could have gone equally well with the pork (if it wasn't a sandwich...).
    • Vina Magana Dignus 2005 - a Tempranillo that played nicely with the duck.  A pleasant drinking wine, let the food still be the star of what was going on.
  • the egg (Milk Chocolate Crème Brulee, Caramel Custard Foam, Strawberry Macaroon) - a fun dish, both in presentation and in just general yummy-ness.  Sweet for dessert, but not overly so and wonderfully smooth in the mouth.
    
    • Vigneau-Chevreau, Vouvray Petillant Demi-Sec NV - if nothing else fun to get to try two different Vouvray styles as part of the same meal.  But, there was something else; sweet, but not too much, bubbly, but not too much and almost creamy in the mouth,

Success!  We had a wonderful dinner that suited our mood and our wants.  Nothing was complicated, everything was enjoyable, we left happy, relaxed and satiated.  We probably should get back and try order a couple of the non-Tasting dishes...

Stay JOLLY!
D

1578 N Clybourn

As part of our celebratory afternoon we actually did dessert first A Related Article and that was a good thing, because we easily could have found more to eat here and had absolutely no room left for dessert (assuming shakes don't count as dessert) - which would have been sad on a couple of levels.

It's a pretty large space sort of broken into two areas but I don't think there's any difference other than one side having the bar and the other side having the photo booth - apparently there's some way to get your mug up on the wall over the kitchen.  A mixture of booths and tables and it's all quite brightly lit due to the very large glass windows facing out on to Clybourn.  There's some art work going on made out of what I guess are old signs, but I don't really get it, but it also causes no harm.

We did turn up at a non-traditional meal time due to the pre-lunch dessert we had just had so got in right away, but it was still pretty busy and therefore we're asuming at the 'correct' meal times it's probably really really hopping.

Our Server may have been a bit frazzled when we first sat so we had a bit of a delay getting our beer orders in, but he calmed down and when we were chatting he certainly new both the menu and the beer menu and was able to offer sensible recomendations - apart from trying to talk us into a shake for dessert (but to be fair, he didn't know we'd already eaten a good amount of Frozen Custard Pie).  He certainly didn't rush us, which we always appreciate, he didn't mind putting in the Mac order ahead of the Burgers and he wasn't too far away when we felt the urge for an extra beer.

The menu is easy enough to navigate, with a good range of Burgers and non-Burger type arrangements.  Some thought has been put into the burgers so don't go looking for your basic everyday cheeseburger like ma used to make - you might not be all that happy.  A big beer list, mostly in bottles but enough on draft, that seems like it changes a lot - no bud or miller as far as I can tell, just fun crafty type things which there's a good chance you've never heard of.  They do give descriptions of what you might expect of each beer so you're not going in totally blind.  There's also a shake menu, and they did look pretty good from a far, but we just couldn't do one this day.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Domain DuPage 
• Robert the Bruce - worst case it's just fun to say, but it's actually fun to drink too!  Malty, but not to malty.
• Pulled Pork Mac - definitely mac-y, definitely pork-y.  A tasty start.
• Tur-Duck-En Stacker, turducken patty, arugula, turducken sausage, brie, cranberry / cherry chutney - a lot going on, but not too much.  Take your time eating it and enjoy it all!  And if you don't know what turducken is, well, ask someone...
  
  • Truffle Fries - for a buck extra how could you ever not upgrade?  Not the best truffle fries ever, but better than any other 'ordinary' fry you will ever see.
• Elk Burger, andouille sausage, pepper-onion relish, smoked gouda, chili aioli - a little bit of heat, a little bit of gamey, a little bit of sweet.  A great combination.
  • Sweet Potato Tots - for a couple of bucks extra how could you not upgrade?  A fun version of the classic you know you love.

It's another place that's not overly convenient for us to get too, but we'd be back often if we were clsoe by.  If we're in the neighborhood and in need of a relatively quick and easy meal we've now got a burger place to add to our dog A Previous Article place.

Stay JOLLY!
D 

6545 N Clark

We found this place awhile ago thanks to the wonders of modern cable television, but it took us a little too long to actually get up and head over.  We're now glad that we finally did, but sad that we took so long - oops. 

It's another of our pesky neighborhood places that we're never going to get into the car to go to and falls perfectly in that walk over (and back) on a nice evening distance, but throw in the possibility of too hot, too cold, too wet, too white or too something else and we're not going to go for that walk.  What Taste of Peru has in it's favor, is that there's a bus we can hop pretty much door to door and it would have to be shut-down-Lake-Shore-Drive bad out there to be a fair reason not to go - that's some excellent pre-planning from when Cesar (yes, everyone gets to know him!) opened up shop about 10 years ago.

It's not a big place, just a storefront in an itty bitty strip mall type arrangement.  We had certainly seen it and discounted it as a potential dining venue (barely giving it any thought) many times prior to cable television stepping in because it doesn't look like much at all.  Oops!  Sorry!  Seriously, don't judge this book by it's cover!  Inside i'ts maybe 50 seats, but less people because almost all the tables are setup for 4 and end up with 2.  It's full, but we didn't feel cramped.  Simple tables, simple chairs, simple decor.  Lots of pictures / posters of Peru and Lima, and a few art type pieces that may or may not have been born of Peru but certainly help you get into the Taste of Peru.  There's also a wall of achievements / awards / exciting things that happened which was interesting to have a quick look at.

We certainly felt welcomed.  We turned up without a reservation and Cesar seemed almost embarassed to tell us the wait would be about 15 minutes.  We're not big waiters but 15-20 is ok.  Most of the waiting is done outside due to the overall smallness of the place, so we'll be making a reservation for when we go back in the height of winter.  The Servers aren't particualrly socialable, but answered all our questions and weren't far away when we needed them.  They work by committee and at least one is a daughter of Cesar.  If you like your Server to be socialble, you won't miss out though as Cesar visits everyone and doesn't mind being the center of attention as he puts on a little display or talks about some Peruivian history.  He's fun, but probably intrusive if you were looking for a 'true' date.

The menu is not hard to navigate, but even with the English descriptions you may need a little extra explanation from your Server to make sure you understand what you're really going to get.  You also get Cesar's story if you've got some time for some light reading.  No wine list as it's 100% BYO and there's no charge for doing so.  But, if you bring a bottle of wine, make sure you know how to open it because they provide the glasses and opener, not the opening.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Argentinian Malbec - didn't really know what to turn up with, saw the Malbec section in the store and was able to hunt down a South American from the small sampling provided.  Not a lot to it, pleasant enough and no reason not to get it again for this sort of meal.
• Ceviche de Corvina - a nice tang to the dressing, the fish is a great texture.  A great way to start!
• Papa Rellena - earlier this year we had a go at making these ourselves A Daring Kitchen Episode.  It's not hard to admit that ours weren't as good as these ones.  Soft and creamy mashed potato holds it altogether, lots of fun things on the inside including beef, olives, egg and more.  We'll have this again.
• Lomo Saltado - under the 'Traditional Peruvian' section of the menu, it's a combination (and I mean combination) of beef, fries, onion and tomato.
• Arroz con Mariscos (Seafood Paella) - a great mix of seafood, a great almost creamy rice, an interesting tang to it all.

That was a lot of food in just four dishes!  That was a lot of really good food!

Another place we're better off for having visited.  We're a little embarassed that it took a national TV show to find something so good in our neighborhood, but we'll get over it by going back and hanging with a guy (and his family) who absolutely positively loves what he does and is proud of it, but loves sharing it more with people like us.

Do yourself a favor and hop the #22!

Stay JOLLY!
D

1863 N Clybourn

Nothing has changed since we were last here A Previous Article not all that long ago, well outwardly, that's for sure.  The menu board probably has, but we don't know it well enough to be sure.  But, having said that, it seems that there's some sort of monthly contest between two 'guest providers' which has to have changed because we came back in a different month...

As promised, we'd try a little bit harder to get back here and seeing we were in pretty much the same situation (activity wise we'd just been doing some competitive running - well ok, not that competitive, but someone was keeping time...) as last time and as it wouldn't take much of a detour off we headed.  Catch is, we got there 15 minutes before they opened.  No drama there, as it's certainly worth a 15 minute wait in the comfort of your car even while wearing your post run outfit.

We thought the ordering part might go much quicker the 2nd time there, but we were wrong - there's a lot to take in and it all sounds so good.  Perhaps the 3rd time will go quicker...  This time we went with mostly new stuff.  We chose Sammy Sosa (great pic taken about the same day he quit on the Cubs...) to keep us company from their table 'number' board.

Our meal went a pretty much like this:

• Soda
• Truffle Mac 'n' Cheese (parmesan béchamel sauce, white truffle oil, brioche bread crumbs & thyme) - Yummy!
• Triple Truffle Fries (yukon gold waffle cut fries, truffle oil, truffle butter, truffle salt) - still the same great fries that may be the best I've ever had.
• Tur-Doggin (turkey & date sausage, crispy duck confit, herb garlic aioli, pickled onion relish & pickled carrots) - if you just got the dog on a bun with nothing else you'd be very pleased. Jam all the rest in there and you're double triple pleased.
• The Southerner (pork loin & caramelized onions sausage, corn bread, cherry bourbon BBQ sauce & scallions) - great sausage, fun with the corn bread, rich but not too rich sauce. Combined an awesome dog.
• Truffle Mac 'n' Cheese (parmesan béchamel sauce, white truffle oil, brioche bread crumbs & thyme) - So good, we had some more for dessert!

A great lunch!  We'll be back!  There's still more to try, including a flight of dogs and platter of corn dawgs.

Stay JOLLY!
D

500 North Michigan

So, we ate really early again A Bunch of Articles.  Only, this time it wasn't just to get in the door (although the place was hopping and they don't take reservations so 'normal' dinner time on a Friday or Saturday may be a challenge) but rather because we just headed on over after work which was just down the block for one of us and a comfotable & pleasant walk past Millenium Park this evening for the other.

It's not hard to find, but it's a little hard to get to the host - you have to squeeze down a walkway past some overflow cocktail enjoyers and / or people waiting for a table, through the outdoor patio (which is very cramped) and through the door that's hard to open if anyone else is waiting at the host stand.  Once we made it, no further obstacles.  We were initially offered immediate outside seating, but we declined due to the almost gale force winds and high probability we'd need a coat not long after the sun went down (turns out it didn't cool off too much, though).  It seemed like we were in for a wait to stay in side, but the other host appeared and said "no problem right this way".  There were actually quite a few inside seats at this time...

Decor is pretty simple, tables set up to maximize the number of diners at anyone time, medium lighting, music I mostly couldn't hear (but what I could fit into my comfort zone), they've had some fun using the ends of barrels as a menu board of sorts and a few stray busts of pigs in various goofy states.  There's a part of the kitchen front and center (at the back) but I don't think they're trying to keep any secret that a lot of the stuff appears on the pass from somewhere else.

We weren't given an option where to sit, so ended up at one of the 'team' tables.  As they don't take reservations, I guess it's just luck (or a large tip, perhaps?) that get's you one of the two tops, but that didn't bother us at all.  If you turned up with the intention of a nice cozy date (and didn't bring a big tip for the host), you'd be disappointed, but if you're up for some fun and adventure this is a fine way to dine.  There wasn't a lot of chatting amongst new friends, but lots of looking at what everyone else has and a couple of quick oohs and ahs as part of a recommendation request / confirmation, perhaps some changed menu selections and we actually enjoyed watching the couple next to us who had just finished desert to retreat and grab up one of the Smears they had just seen across the table - good for them, indeed.

There's also seating at the bar, and a couple of seats at the kitchen's pass area - but don't try sitting there without being shown the seat by the hosts.  If it was your only option, it would be a shame to decline the seat and not dine but it's a tight fit on both sides (your dining space and the aisle behind you) and if you're there for anything more than one dish and one drink you might get annoyed with the bumping and activity that seemed to be pretty much non-stop.

Our Server was chatty, friendly, running more than walking later in our meal, but really really clued in on the menu.  We asked him to describe the Cured Meats and he went through the list unhesitatingly - as he did with any of the other questions we asked. 

The menu isn't hard to understand the basics of just about every dish, but there's a decent amount (well... for us) that just needs a further bit of clarification or 'translation' but that was easily solved by our Server, as noted above.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Mionetto "Prosecco" - they thoughtfully allow a whole bunch of their wines to come by the glass, third bottle or half bottle. We thought a half was a good way to start, and it was - a nice refreshing, crisp wine, not too spritzy, not to acidic - but to get a half bottle they fill a carafe and I'm not sure double pouring anything in the champagne type family is a great idea.
• Don Sancho Londono "Cotijo 111" - out of Rijoa it's mostly Tempranillo but with some Garnacha in there too. It really needed some time to waken up once the cork was pulled. Nothing special with the first couple of sips, but a nice rich, full and balanced wine appeared a little later.
• Pig Platter - not sure why you would never get the whole shebang, but if you prefer, all of it comes a la carte too. I could easily go back and grab up this again, perhaps a beer too, and then be on my way. Mostly, make use of your fingers for best results...  Apologies to our Server and the Runner who both did a good job of explaing what was placed in front of - catch is we mostly can no longer match up what we had with their descriptions.  All good, and we pretty much had to arm wrestle to agree on our two most favorites - it was a draw, so no favorite declarations today...
  
  • Catalonian Fuet 
  • Tartufo 
  • Lingua Agrodolce (house made) 
  • Jamon Serrano 
  • Finochionna 
  • Testa (house made) - this one is the head cheese which is a struggle for a lot of people when they understand what it is.  Just enjoy it, I know you will.  It's also the only one you need some help from your knife and fork.
  • Coppa (house made) 
  • Sopressata 
  • Prosciutto Di Parma 
• Cheese Selection - as we ordered it at the same time as the Platter it came on the same board which is a fine way to do it. We're very happy they came out that way.
  • Manchego 
  • Camembert Fermier - tasty, but perhaps could have benefited from some time on the counter before making it to us.
  • Cabot Cheddar 
• Mussels, Pancetta, Creme Fraiche & Marjoram - not the best dipping sauce we've ever had (although we did order more bread for dipping so I'm not saying it was bad!) but the best scooping sauce with a generous helping of the Pancetta being more than enough to combine with every single mussel.
• Pork Neck Bone Rillette & Mostarda - from the Smear section you get to spread it on crusty bread.  Apparently there's an art to making this stuff, and they have this art here.  Looks richer than it really is, really tasty alone, but combine the Rillette (soft pâté like, perhaps is a good description) & Mosarda (a jam, but far better than any jam you've ever had at breakfast, ever) together and you'll be very happy.
• Nutella Panini - if there's just the two of you, don't even think of getting two desserts if this is one of the two.  It's rich, and rich, and rich, and yummy and almost impossible to leave any behind.
• Chocolate Martini 

We would like to go back as we're big fans of the whole sharing a bunch of stuff and taking your time, which they do really well.  But we're not so into the whole no reservation thing that more and more Chicago Restaurants seem to be signing up for.  Not letting me reserve a table takes the place off our destination list and moves it over to the whim list - our destination list gets a whole lot more activity...

Oh, and no matter what, get one of the Smears somewhere into your selections!

Stay JOLLY!
D

4091 N Broadway

I've told you about Michael's a few times now and how it used to be our local and we're sad it can't be anymore.  Now, it serves us well when we want to go see a Hawks game after work as arriving there straight from the train gets us in early enough to get a table by the big screen and first pick at the board games if we're planning on playing.

We thought seeing the Season Opener was a good thing, so off we headed.  Catch is, the Baseball Playoffs got the big screen.  We still got to see the game on a bunch of TVs but it's not quite the same and kinda sad when they lose.  Oh well...

It was only medium busy inside, with just about all the tables occupied once the Cardinals game started.  But with a moderately surprisingly warm Friday evening, their outside sections were jamming from the time we arrived until (we're sure) long after we left.  Good for them, of course!

There's a couple of new faces behind the bar and on the floor, but they took equally good care of us as did the couple of familiar faces that came by to say hello.

Our meal went a little like this:

• Great Lakes Elliot Ness - a bit of bitterness to it, that's certainly not bad, just not my preference.
• 312 
• Cheese Fries 
• Onion Rings 
• Build Our Own Thin Crust Pizza - it's a bar pizza, so heavy on the cheese, but it's a pretty good cheese.  A lot easier to eat as it cools down.  We chose artichike, onion, sausage and garlic to put on top.  There was none left...

We're bummed we didn't get the best view of the game (and double bummed they lost), but we're extra happy there's still a couple of staff that remember us and treat us just like we pop in every week and that the food and drink is better than average Sports Bar fare.  We'll be back during the Hawks season at least a couple more times - and a few more after that when they make the Playoffs.

Stay JOLLY!
D