Blackbird's Kalamata Olive Cake

I had one of the most unique desserts at Blackbird. Even though it has been around for a while, Blackbird is still a really well known restaurant in Chicago and it is even listed on Food & Wine Magazine's 2008 Go List. With unique food such as the Kalmata Olive Cake I had for dessert, you can see why!

The full name of the dessert is "kalamata olive cake with rhubarb, toffee and buttermilk ice cream". I don't know what was more unique, making cake with kalmata olives or making little balls out of the cake!

Sushi Wabi

I have a simple theory when it comes to sushi: if the spicy tuna roll is good, then you can pretty much order anything off the menu and it will be good too. I have tried sushi all over and this rule works very well for me. If the sushi roll is boring and the rice is kind of icky, I order very conservatively because i do not trust the place. If the spicy tuna roll is fresh, unique and well seasoned, then I feel free to order anything the server recommends.

My favorite sushi restaurant in Chicago is Sushi Wabi. In fact, I have probably been to Sushi Wabi more than any other restaurant in the city. This means I go about four times a year since I don't do repeats very often - but for me this is a big thing.

Most recently my friend and I came here after an I/T seminar and since we didn't have reservations (and we didn't want to be rushed) we sat at the sushi bar. Tables at Sushi Wabi are well desired! We had a great time sitting at the sushi bar because lots of singles were coming in for a quick bite and we end up making conversation with them. Of course we were right next to the sushi chefs and they were all very friendly. After we picked a few things off the menu we asked them for some suggestions. I ended up eating sea urchin with a raw quail egg!

Dinner at Sixteen

Sixteen has one of the best view's in the City of Chicago. While you are in the dining room you are right next to the top of the Wrigley Building and all it's fabulous architecture. The restaurant recently opened and is on the 16th floor of the new Trump Tower which is still under construction in Chicago.

We did the 10-course blind tasting (with drinks) and it was $180! But we decided to do the major-splurge and taste everything the chef had to provide. A few of the courses we the same that were listed on the 6-course tasting so we were a bit disappointed that the blind tasting wasn't complete unique. One of the wines we LOVED on its own but felt that it really did not go with the food at all. In general the food was good but we were only blown away by about three of the ten courses. That being said - it was still good and everything served to the tables around us off of the regular menu looked good as well.

The wait staff is excellent and made sure we were well attended to. They said they were going to email us a list of the food and wines we had with the dinner (since they were not listed at they are with the 6-course menu) but I have not received it yet.

I would definitely consider this for a romantic or special date and even when taking people to dinner when coming from out of town. The hostess told me that in 2009 they are planning on opening the outside patio as a bar and serving tapas. I'll definitely go back to check that out.

Dinner at Table Fifty-Two

Last night I went to dinner with my friend at Table Fifty-Two. I first heard about the restaurant while reading an article in Food & Wine Magazine and then noticed that recommendations for this restaurant kept popping up in other magazines and websites as well. I had been trying to go there since last fall - but every time I called they were booked. So in January I finally called and got the next available reservation - March 26th. I took it and added it to my calendar. Two days ago they called me to confirm the reservation and told me if I did not call back to confirm then they would assume I was not coming and I would loose the reservation. I was so glad I checked my voice mail!

So after all this I was really wondering what all the hype was about. This restaurant is owned by Chef Art Smith who is best know for being Oprah's chef. The restaurant is small and probably only has about thirty tables. But we had a great experience here. The restaurant is in what used to be a coach house - behind the old Chez Paul. It is very cutely decorated - homey and intimate. There are candles all over the place, flowers on each table, and you can see the wood-burning oven behind the bar.

At the beginning of our meal we received a deviled egg topped with pickled okra and some cheesy biscuits. For starters we ordered a salad and flat bread. The duck flat bread was SO GOOD and it was a perfect combo of salty, sweet, greasy and crunchy. For dinner my friend ordered the sea bass special of the day and I ordered the chicken which the waiter informed me was their most popular dish. We were happy with it all.

Chef Art Smith popped out of the kitchen a few times during the evening to greet guests. He checked on us only one time but I saw him giving copies of his cookbooks to a few special visitors.

After dinner we each had tea and the teapot and matching cups was the perfect touch to the homey atmosphere.

It was pretty pricey for good old southern food. But this type of food is unique to a city like Chicago. I not sure if I would bring my friends from out of town here - especially if they live in the South. But if they are from another country, I would definitely bring them here to give them a taste of good (and healthy) American food!

#29: A Chicago Power Meal at Aigre Doux

Yes, this photo is from my cell phone. My new cellphone which I forgot to take the little plastic thing of the lens! Oh well, you get the idea.

I tried to go to Aigre Doux back in July and had a hard time. I was on a mission to go for lunch at this particular restaurant because it is listed as #29 A Chicago Power Meal on Food & Wine's 100 Tastes to Try in 2007. I was on the North-side so I called and found out they were open for lunch until 2pm. They told me that as long as I got there by 1:45pm they would be able to seat me. We got there at 1:20 and I was informed that the kitchen had just closed! I was REALLY pissed.

Luckily, I was in Chicago this past weekend for Lollapalooza and Tiffany and I decided to try Aigre Doux for lunch again before she dropped me off at the airport. Aside from our frustrating experience trying to get a meal here, the food is great! For an appetizer we had Ahi Tuna which was a bit different because they served it with Jicama - yum! For lunch I had the Roasted Lobster Bucatini ($18) which was SUPER good but was heavy enough to eat for dinner. Of course we had to try the Sticky Toffee Pudding for dessert and that is one thing I want to learn to make. It was SO GOOD! Thank God I was getting on a plane so I could take a nap after that filling meal! I will definitely go to this restaurant again, however I think most of my friends will think I is way to expensive for lunch.

#32: The Whole Tree

Okay, attempting to "taste" #32 The Whole Tree on Food and Wine's 100 Tastes to Try in 2007 was impossible for me. AND it cost me a fortune.

32 The Whole Tree

It’s the herbivore’s version of head-to-tail eating. Consider how three Chicago restaurants are using various parts of the peach tree:

Peach Leaves MK the Restaurant infuses ice cream with peach leaves.

Unripe Fruit It flavors a salsa for smoked trout and a vinaigrette at HotChocolate.

Wood Osteria di Tramonto smokes pork shanks over peach wood.

When I went to HotChocolate the restaurantaurs had no idea what I was talking about. I went for brunch on a weekend and we still had an amazing brunch, but I didn't get to taste any part of a peach tree. I will say that their tea was amazing even though that they must be know for their Hot Chocolate, based on the name. We were asking so many questions I think they knew we were going to write something about them because they offered my friend and I each complimentary hot chocolates. They were the BEST we ever had. Homemade marshmallows! I had the mexican version and she had the traditional version. We will definitely be headed back there when it turns cold.


We later went to MK which is a very expensive restaurant. Unfortunately, the menu changes seasonally and there was no peach ice cream anywhere on the menu. So I did attempt it, and we did end up with an AMAZING dinner, but didn't accomplish my goal.

Over all, I spent over $200 and never got to taste any part of a peach tree :(

Favorites from the Pacific Northwest

The month of May has come and gone in a quick blur. I injured my back and was out of commission for the first half of the month. I had to get better so that I could go on vacation for the second half. I just got back from an Alaskan cruise with additional days in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. It was a really great time.

I was really excited to each Alaskan King Crab Legs right there in Alaska. Our breakfast waiter recommended Twisted Fish Company in Juneau. We went there after our tour and had to wait over an hour. By the time they got seated they told us they were out of crab legs! The only ones they had left were the legs with the claws. We said that was fine with us! They were good but nothing special. In fact, we later found out that all crab legs get frozen immediately so the we ate the same freshness of crab there in Alaska that I do in Chicago or Tampa. But at least we got to say we at crab in Alaska.

Some of my top foodie highlights from my trip:

The June tasting menu at Raincity Grill in Vancouver, which is known for their seasonal local food.

Poached Pot for breakfast to Mosaic Bar & Grille in the Vancouver Hyatt. This consisted of ham, asparagus, spinach, stewed tomatoes and poached eggs.

Noshing at the Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver. My mom got the freshest cherries we had even eaten! I got an amazing beer shrimp salad and a few other things. I really wished I lived there so I could shop and use all the fresh food in my own kitchen.

Fresh oyster's at Twisted Fish in Juneau. They were from local waters and the best I have ever eaten.

Tea time on the cruise ship. I'm very easy to please when you give me cucumber sandwiches and scones.

Fish and chips made with fresh cod at Steamer's in Ketchikan.

Eating spicy Indian food on the balcony at Moxie's in Vancouver.

Ice cream in Butchart Gardens in Victoria. Not that the ice cream was anything special, but it was a beautiful place and pretty hot, so an ice cream cone was perfect.

Wine and Thai peanut legs at Milestone's in Victoria overlooking the harbor.

Buying tea and wandering through the market in Vancouver's Chinatown.

Indulging in the Tasting Menu at CinCin in Vancouver where we spent as much per person and we should have for the entire meal.

I also can back with a The New Alaska Cookbook: Recipes from the Last Frontier's Best Chefs. I can't wait to get back in the kitchen and get cooking!

Gordon Ramsay Makes Dog Food

Gordon Ramsay's 'F' Word was hysterical tonight. First, he decided to enter a dog food contest. So to determine which recipe to submit, he took one dish from each of his four chefs down to the dog pound. He then picked out a dog that looked like each chef and let the dogs pick the winner. One dog ate the fastest and cleaned his plate while one didn't even touch the food at all. That determined the winner and loser. So off went his submission to the contest.

Later he has some sir guy do a blind taste test with wine. There were three rounds and he had to pick which was the expensive wine and which was the "celebrity" wine. Bob Dylan, Olivia Newton-John and someone else were the celebrity wines. The sir guy got the first one correct but picked Olivia Newton-John's wine and Bob Dylan's over the expensive one. The Bob Dylan wine went up against his own which which he makes and sells so he even failed against that. I didn't even know Bob Dylan and Olivia Newton-John had their own wines.

When he ventures out to a single father's house to teach him how to cook for his two children he can't get a cab. Not because there are none available, but because he said something nasty about London's cab driver a few years ago and now no cab driver will pick him up!

In his restaurant he has three stock brokers as the amateur chefs this week. At the restaurant they served Sautéed potatoes with red mullet and anchovy (all 50 customers paid), Saddle of lamb with apricot and cumin stuffing (21 customers refused to pay), Summer pudding with lime crème fraiche (12 customers refused to pay). All goes pretty well, but Gordon doesn't trust them to make the dessert which is donuts. Below is a clip of him getting all frustrated with the amateurs (there is ALOT OF SWEARING) and it is the maddest he gets all episode, but it's classic Gordon.

Dining in Darkness

Now this is an interesting concept . . . pay to eat in the dark. Dark Restaurant opened in Beijing, China last month. The only ones who can see are the waiters because they are wearing night vision goggles. The dining room is pitch dark with walls painted black. To keep it dark, no mobile phones, luminous watches or flashlights are allowed to be used by the customers.

The meal will be taken in this environment with the complete loss of vision. By starving one’s sense, your other senses are stimulated to full alert – all so the theory goes – and your food will taste like it’s never tasted before.

After doing a quick search online, I found that this is apparently becoming a trend. There are similar restaurants Zurich, Paris, Berlin, L.A. and other cities. I don't know, it seems kind of strange to me. Maybe it's romantic or something, but it seems like it would be an isolating experience and not good to go with friends because the talking would just get wierd.