Not I, said the cat.

Sorry again for being such a bad blogger. I even forgot to bring my camera with for this one! After getting to bed late last night (maybe 2ish?!) The Beanpole and I slept in a little bit this morning. I got up first and wandered into the living room only to find it STILL SNOWING and flipped on the forecast only to learn that it isn't planning on letting up until 2014. What's a girl to do? Grab a blanket and pillow, curl up on the couch, and watch a DVD while she waits for her sleepy husband to wake up. Once he did we talked about breakfast and realized that the only food resembling breakfast were some veggie sausage links in the freezer which was simply not going to work this morning. We bundled back up (again) and headed out into the wintery wonderland to The Red Hen Bakery. This is one of my favorite spots in the city. All the pastries are amazing and they offer five different types of croissants! The staff is always friendly and patient, even with some of the more, um, difficult customers I've seen pass through the doors. The neighborhood is an lovely mix of recent college grads; young families; and older people, many of whom are immigrants and/or suffering from some dementia. I originally had my mind set on a light pastry for breakfast but decided that I needed something a little more substantial and The Beanpole and I both had lunch instead. He had the Knuckle Sandwich (salami, ham, spinach, and an olive tapenade) and I had the New Veggie. The bakery offers two vegetarian sandwiches but I prefer this as it has goat cheese - one of my favorite things in the world! It consists of roasted red peppers, honey walnut goat cheese, green apple, and arugula and is served on an olive-rosemary ciabatta bread with a nice crunch. The Beanpole also impulsively purchased a miniature cherry pie, which of course I tested two bites of to rule out poison and any potential negative effects like that. : )

He's a Real Funghi

Oh, dinner was delicious! The Beanpole and I had plans all week to grab a drink to celebrate the start of the weekend and no amount of snow was going to deter us. After a little debate we decided to go to a wood brick-oven pizza place in our neighborhood called Forno Diablo. We'd been once before in the summer hoping for a nice meal al fresco but alas, all the seating was taken so we camped out at a table in the back. It's designed to feel like an old speak-easy and while I love the dark, intimate atmosphere it's not so fantastic for snagging a quick photo of the food. I started with a glass of wine (Trapiche Malbec) and The Beanpole had a Manhattan. We ordered the Bruschetta Three Ways appetizer to start as we were both pretty hungry after getting a later start than intended. The plate arrived with three crostini with a different topping each, which was perfect for us to split without ruining dinner. One was a chickpea and olive, one a classic tomato and basil, and the last was a granny smith apple with raspberry jam, mint, brie, and red onion. YUM! Shortly after finishing the bruschetta our pizza arrived. We both love mushrooms and selected the Funghi pizza. The thin crust developed just the right amount of charred edging from the brick-oven and the marinated wild mushrooms were accented with herbs and a little truffle oil. It sounds strange for a pizza not to have cheese but the creamy flavor of the mushrooms would likely have been overwhelmed. The pizza was about 10" of thin crust and I dove into half of it. It was the equivalent of about 3 slices of thin crust pizza and given that there was no cheese or grease I figured it couldn't be too too bad. As we dined I noticed that the snow started coming down harder and harder so finally we bundled up and headed to our local pub where I had a couple Miller Lites. I think we came home about 12:30? It was nice to have a little happy buzz knowing that waking up in the morning would not be too too painful, especially after the excesses of yesterday's lunch.

Rock The Casbah

The Beanpole and I ended up going out (again) to dinner last night. This was probably a good idea since neither of us had left the house all day! Walking out the door of our apartment we're faced with about 30 different (and mostly delicious!) restaurants and despite all the options typically end up at one of a couple, but not last night.! We decided to walk a couple extra blocks to The Casbah, a nondescript Middle Eastern joint up the street from us. Our last visit was a year ago and since then the conversation has often gone like this:

SK: What do you want to do for dinner?
TB: I don't know. What do you want to do?
SK: I could go either way.
TB: Me too. Let's just grab something.
SK: Ok. What about Fabulous Restaurant 1?
TB: Nah.
SK: Ok, what about The Casbah? We always say we're going back.
TB: Yeah, we do. But I don't want to tonight.
SK: Yeah, me either.

This has gone on for a year. Really. Since Middle Eastern food offers a plethora of veggie-friendly options as well as carnivorous we finally went back. I don't have any photos of our dinner as the tables are incredibly close together and we were only about 4 inches or so from our neighbors on either side. It's not the best set-up for surreptitiously snapping photos!

The moment we walked in the waiter (manager? owner?) whisked our bottle of wine away and quickly returned with the open bottle and two tiny tumblers. Several minutes passed before he returned with menus, but we were in no hurry and in fact were quite enjoying the leisurely pace! The tiny space was packed so we ordered some hummus to tide us over to the main courses and sat back sipping our wine. The table next to us also ordered hummus (at the same time) but somehow ours arrived about 10 minutes before theirs! We were so close I almost offered to share! Soon The Beanpole's rather plain salad and my carrot-ginger soup were placed in front of us. The soup was so soothing, with just the right amount of creaminess and curry.

The Beanpole ordered the Sea Scallops and I ordered the Moroccan Shrimp Brochette, and naturally we traded tastes of the ocean. As of right now I am still happily able to enjoy seafood and intend to include it here and there amidst a mostly veg-based diet. The shrimp brochette was served over a bed of couscous and vegetables and were quite good. I can be picky about the texture of shrimp but these were cooked exactly to my liking with a bit of a crisp but still chewy. We were both full and skipped dessert this time but a couple next to us enjoyed a little bit of baklava that looked scrumptious.

It's a little pricey, a little cramped, and the service can be a bit laissez-faire but that's perfectly fine with me. Our waiter was amiable and we never felt rushed despite the small crowd gathering by the door. My personal tastes lean towards the smaller, independent establishments that dot the city streets and some of the issues that other diners find are part of the charm for me. Our food on both visits has been wonderful, the service friendly, and hopefully we'll make it back before 2009 is over!

Mussels, but no Brussels

The Beanpole has had several opportunities to travel internationally for business and his most recent trip overseas found him in Brussels, Belgium. He attended several dinners and raved about the cuisine but has always had a special place in his heart for mussels. Finally, Saturday night we hopped on the bus and headed up to Hopleaf, a Belgian bar in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago, for an evening of mussels and frites for two, and of course Belgian beer! (photo courtesy of www.weddingmapper.com)

The kitchen offers two styles of mussels. The first is prepared with a Belgian white ale with shallots, celery, thyme and bay leaf. We opted for the second, more traditional white wine preparation with garlic, fennel, and rapini. Both are served with a paper cone of frites and a bit of garlic aoili. The Beanpole spooned a heaping pile of shells onto each of our plates and we dove in. Each and every bite was delicious. At one point I remember eating as quickly as possible to keep up with The Beanpole and make sure he didn't devour the entire pot and we sat back in our seats with beer in hand and satiated grins on our faces.

The mussels were fantastic, but the real star at Hopleaf is the beer selection. The downstairs bar offers several Belgian and local microbrews on tap along with a sixteen-page menu of bottled beers and the upstairs cash-only bar offers a smaller but still impressive selection. Each brew is carefully poured into the appropriate glass to enhance the experience. The most distinct (and a personal favorite) is Kwak, an amber-colored malty brew with just a hint of fruit, which is served in a round-bottomed glass complete with wooden stand. I suggest ordering this treat early in the evening as returning the glass to the stand after a couple rounds can be a little difficult! (photo courtesy of butchesbrew.wordpress.com)

Hopleaf is almost always on my list of recommendations for visitors to Chicago, so if you're in the area please check it out!