Wish Granter by day, Foodie by night!

For those of you who do not know, aside from my passion for food, my other passion is to grant wishes to children with life threatening illnesses. I work for the Make A Wish Foundation of Illinois, where I am a Wish Manager. I manage a team of Wish Coordinators who plan wishes throughout the state! It's a challenging, yet extremely rewarding job! Each year, our office assembles for the "Wishy" awards. A time where we honor our co-worker's strengths and contributions to the Foundation. This year, my fellow food loving co-worker Debbie made this adorable plate for me!

Thanks Debbie! I love it and have it displayed in my office!

Goat: Who knew it could be so good!?

Slagel Family Farm goat pappardelle Bolognese, onions, garlic, tomato, pecorino, swiss chard, Kilgus cream.

Such a delicious and hearty Fall meal. I want to eat at Perennial Virant every week!

http://perennialchicago.com/

Quickfire Challenge!

Last night I was so very lucky to be able to participate as a judge in the BOKA Quickfire Challenge held on the patio at Perennial Virant. About 100 people gathered to watch the battle between Top Chef Alum and local fave, Stephanie Izard vs. Chef Giuseppe Tentori of GT Fish & Oyster!

Each chef was given a main protein to work with - Dietzler Farms Beef Tenderloin, and a number of random ingredients at their disposal. Giuseppe was first to choose his ingredients, which most of us agreed, were probably on the safe side: Honey crisp apples, dried shrimp, corn, and polenta.
Stephanie went with more risky items such as chicken hearts, eggs, collard greens, habanero peppers, fortune cookies and Swedish Fish (yes, I’m serious!) 45 minutes was allotted to come up with the best dish possible!


Team Tentori's message to Team Izard

Izard hard at work 

The Results: 
Tentori plated a semolina corn cake, shrimp tomato sauce, sweet and sour apple salad with triple seared beef. 

Izard ended up with a creative dish of ground beef tenderloin, braised collard greens, chicken liver and Swedish fish gastrique with fortune cookie crumble.

Both were superb, but my vote went to Tentori. It was a tough call, but for me, it came down to the fact that Tentori's dish was more visually appealing. 

The Verdict:  It was a very close battle, but Izard took the win by a mere two points with a final score of 52-50. Congrats Stephanie! It was such a fun night. The BOKA folks will be back at it next Spring, where Stephanie will defend her title! Can’t wait!

Girls night out!

My friend Amanda and I recently grabbed drinks & apps at Sunda. This is definitely a sceney place that some people may love to hate, but personally, I love it. I've never had a bad meal here. I think it's virtually impossible! The "New" Asian menu provides lots to choose from. We kept it simple with a few apps and cocktails this time around...

Spicy "Tail of Two Tunas" - Yellowfin Tuna, pickled jalepeno, spicy mayo, Super White Tuna & fried shallots. Amanda wasn't a fan of the kind of "mushed" up tuna inside but the fish was fresh and the crunchy shallots added a nice touch.

Baked Snowcrab handroll - Alaskan Snowcrab, dynamite sauce, tempura crispies. Melt in your mouth goodness.

Oxtail Potstickers - Braised oxtail, carmelized onion jus, "white" wasabi cream. These were so very tasty. We scarfed them down quickly. Yummmmy.

Rock Shrimp Tempura - With glazed walnuts and creamy honey aoli. This is probably my favorite thing on the menu. These little fried suckers drenched in sweetness are to die for.

If your looking for a lively and trendy place to eat tasty Asian inspired cuisine, this is the place to go! Just writing this post makes me want to go back for more. NOW!

110 W. Illinois
(312) 644-0500
http://www.sundachicago.com/

Deeeelish!

Seared scallops, smoked goat, spiced melon and a coconut cucumber salad.


Another great meal at Girl & the Goat. Thanks for joining us Katie & Chris! 

Fall Preview!

Summer is drawing to a close. Sad times! But fret not my friends! The good news is that the emergence of Fall brings with it a season football, changing leaves, and of a ton of new restaurants and bars! Here are a few spots that I am looking forward to visiting come September and October. 

Bar Toma- Top Chef Master / Italian chef powerhouse Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia, will dish out lots of pizza and even have a mozzarella bar. I’m sold!

Estimated opening: Late October

The Pump Room- Legendary hotel developer, Ian Schrager, brilliant NYC chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Chicago entrepreneur extraordinaire Billy Dec, are teaming up to reboot the legendary Pump Room into a restaurant/bar that is destined to be a place to see and be seen.

Estimated opening: Sept. 12 preview; Oct. 11 grand opening

Tavernita- Former Perennial chef Ryan Poli is teaming with the owner’s of Mercadito to create a Spanish inspired menu based on Poli’s culinary experiences in Spain and his love for Latin flavors. This is being opened in the old Martini Park space which is directly below my office. Can’t wait!

Estimated opening: Mid October

Vapiano - A chain of "fresh casual" Italian-inspired restaurants based in Europe, the concept allows diners to have a somewhat upscale cafeteria-like dining experience, where everything is under $12! This is in my neighborhood, so I will definitely be checking it out.

Estimated opening: September 22

Slurping Turtle – This new Japanese spot in River North will be serving up sashimi, noodle dishes, dumplings and small plates.

Estimated opening: Early to mid-October

The Barrelhouse Flat- Former Violet Hour bartender Stephen Cole will be bringing classic cocktails and punches to Lincoln Park. The cocktails, which will focus on house made bitters and juices from local ingredients, will fall in the $8-$12 range. Food will include a selection of appetizers and small plates.

Estimated opening: October

2 Sparrows- Two friends and Charlie Trotter’s alums will dish out seasonally driven breakfast, brunch and lunch. Their goal is to “create a more elevated approach to the most important meals of the day in terms of quality, seasonality, service and price point.” The new space will be located in Lincoln Park.

Estimated opening: Monday September 26th

Let me know if any of you plan on checking these places out! Enjoy!

It's a Pequod's kind of night...

Deep dish pizza. Football. Lounging on the couch. Nice little Sunday!


2207 N. Clybourne Ave.
(773) 273-1512
http://www.pequodspizza.com

Where is your favorite place in the city to eat pizza?

Restaurant Spotlight: Perennial Virant

The folks from the Boka restaurant group nabbed Michelin-starred chef Paul Virant, gutted the previous restaurant and reopened with some of the best farm-to-table meals in Chicago. Not having visited this restaurant prior to Mr. Virant's takeover, I have no comparison to the former Perennial. But I was certainly impressed with the food presented to us this past weekend! Chef Virant’s always changing menu is guided by what’s local and in season. The seasonal American food is offered as shared small, medium and large plates. Of course we had to test out pretty much everything on the menu. After all, you never know if you are going to be able to have it again!

Small plates:

Crispy Carnaroli Rice - Brunkow cheese curds, sweet onion vinaigrette, pickled snow peas, pea shoots. Rice wrapped in cheese and pan seared to perfection? Umm yes! It tasted like grilled cheese style risotto!

Medium plates:

Yukon Gold Potato Gnocchi - Nichol's broccoli, Nordic creamery smoked cheddar, house made bacon & crème fraiche. Sooo cheesy, soooo goooood.

·    Gunthorp Farm Duck Breast - Klug farm grapes, Nasturtium leaves (a kind of water cress – yeah I had to look that up!) & almonds. Andy never learned to share as a kid, so I didn’t get to taste this. But he certainly seemed to enjoy it!

Seared Diver Scallops - Bourbon pressed & grilled watermelon, & cherry bomb vinaigrette. I have been on a serious scallop kick lately and these did not disappoint. On my scallop-o-meter, I give them a 9. The grilled watermelon was a refreshing addition!

Large plates:

Crispy Great Lakes Walleye Pike - Hush puppies, smoked tomato vinaigrette, arugula & buttermilk mayonnaise. Very well cooked and very lightly seasoned. A perfect summer dish.

Prairie Fruits Farm Ricotta Ravioli - Sweet pepper Agrodolce & Green Acres gypsy pepper sauce. Well cooked pasta, clean and simple flavors.

Howling Hounds Farm Fried Young Chicken - Creamy grits & tomato provencale. And yet again, I win with the best dish of the night. Unfortunately, I did not get to savor this dish on my own. Terence, Nicole and Andy pretty much devoured my entrée. Luckily I did manage to get in on the action, and it was pretty much the best fried chicken EVER! After gushing about the dish to our server, chef Virant paid us a visit so we could praise him in person. Such a nice guy!

To end the night, we had 4 desserts! Yes one for each of us. In all fairness, we actually ordered two, but chef surprised us with two additional desserts!

-          Creme Fraiche Panna Cotta: Michigan blueberries, Three Sisters Oats, fennel
-          Chocolate Brownie: Caramelized white chocolate ice cream, brandied cherries
-          Fried peach pie: Vanilla ice cream, bourbon caramel sauce, milk jam
-          Chef Virant’s pound cake creation with raspberries, blueberries and fresh whipped cream

Dessert overload? Nah! We devoured every morsel! Thanks chef!

PV is also open for brunch and has an awesome patio (which is offered on a first come, first serve basis.) Get your butts to Perennial Virant if you are in the mood for some local, fresh and very tasty fare!

1800 N. Lincoln Ave.

(312) 981-7070

http://www.perennialchicago.com/index.php

Happy Labor Day!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend full of food, fun and relaxation!

Goodbye summer. You will be missed.