1/7/19 with Nicole Garton
I managed to grab lunch with Nicole for Chicago Restaurant Week at Summer House, a gorgeous, space that I've always wanted to try but didn't want to spend the money. Well, thank you Restaurant Week because I learned that Summer House is really reasonable. While my $24 Restaurant Week lunch included an amazing butternut squash soup (I know, so basic, but I'm a sucker for soup), a great turkey burger with shoestring fries, and dessert, I could have gotten the soup and turkey burger for under $24, which means that an actual, one-course lunch only would have been around $15, with tip. Plus, the staff is cheerful, the space is bright and summery, and it just has a nice vibe. Can't wait to go back!
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| Goat dumplings I LOVE DUMPLINGS |
1/9/19 with Elizabeth Pearson and Michael Bigelow
As soon as I realized Restaurant Week was coming up, I found a list of the best places to try, and there I read, Duck Duck Goat was doing a $24 dim sum menu on the weekends. Um... WHAT. I LOVE Stephanie Izard and I LOVE dim sum. I made reservations immediately. I After amazing experiences at Girl and the Goat and Little Goat, plus my love of Asian flavors, I was SO stoked to try Duck Duck Goat. I was getting back from a conference the night before, so I could be sure to get plenty of sleep and then enjoy some dim sum with 3 other lucky people.
And then I checked my schedule. I was getting back from my conference THAT day. I panicked. I went to change my reservation. NO MORE AVAILABLE. Nooooooooooooooo!
Then, something happened. That something was the polar vortex. You didn't know a polar vortex could do good, did you? But it did. Due to the terrible cold in Chicago this year, Restaurant Week extended a week. And my delightful coworker, scratch that, REAL FRIEND, Stephanie Souvenir snapped up a reservation for me... but she made it for 1:30pm. And that day, I had the Whaddayaknow Trivia Tournament of Champions. At 1:00pm. I went to find another reservation. No luck. This was not meant to be.And then, Stephanie said she looked again and there WERE earlier reservations. Once last try, and, SUCCESS! 11:00am! I texted my trivia team, and Elizabeth and Michael, were all like, HELL YES (or something like that).
So we went to brunch fully expecting to study over our delightful meal. But no. We could barely speak to each other the food was so good. And it felt like it wouldn't be enough, but then, somehow, it was. It was the perfect amount of tasty bites. We took our time, enjoyed our meal, and then quizzed each other on musicals on the Lyft ride to the tournament.
Delightful.
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| Possibly the best dessert I've ever had: Seasame doughnuts with a seasame whipped cream |
**3 - Dancen
1/9/19 with Ashley Russell and Chris Zann
So I did the Duck Duck Goat thing and then the Whaddayaknow Trivia of Champs thing and then some post-tourney celebrations and socializing, and then Ashley demanded food, and he wanted Korean food, and specifically Korean food at this spot he'd heard about. It was quite out of the way, but damn, thank you, Ashley!
We entered this weird little spot with a huge bar/grill and a few tables with a few people at them. Ashley and I both had eyes bigger than our stomachs and ordered food enough for five people, some of it too spicy for Zann, so it was like two people trying to eat four meals. It. Was. Good. All of it.
I went home with plenty of leftovers and was curious if it had been the drinks in my system that made the food so good. I warmed them up the next day for lunch, and nope, even leftover, everything was awesome. I will definitely be going back.
*4 - Two Lights Seafood & Oyster
4/11/19 with Laura Masters
It's hard to give this place an honest rating because I had a frustrating day, and all of that was relieved by the company. I was so happy to spend some time with my friend after many months of only seeing each other in groups or not at all.
We had some nice, light cocktails and split a few different dishes: some octopus, a crab dip, and a lobster roll. All were nice.
The rest of my joy of this night was lots of time catching up with my dear friend!
5 - Labriola
7/17/19 with Stephanie Punda, Sarah Hardin, Shaun Cooley, Danielle Arens, Maureen McGonagle, John Washo, Scott Vandermoon, Sabrina Wilson, Leanne Surmin, Stephanie Souvenir, and Gale Stewart
Another lovely staff retreat with DePaul! This time Stephanie Punda made a reservation to have us try the real "best deep dish in Chicago." Turns out, I think I really just don't like deep dish. I like Lou's the best because it's the least deep dishy. Gimme dat Detroit style, New York style, or woodfired any day. But enough with the deep dish. It's heavy. It's bready. It's not that flavorful.
I said what I said.
Other than that, the salads were tasty and the ambiance was much nicer than most of the deep dish chains in the city. It was fine.
*6 - Francois Frankie
8/1/19 with Laura Masters
Laura made us another fun reservation prior to a show (Come From Away--HIGHLY recommend) at a very new restaurant in town, Francois Frankie. It's a playful French restaurant with a carousel bar, which rotates incredibly slowly, making a full revolution every 88 minutes.
I had some great wine and Laura and I both tried the French onion soup and then shared a few smaller plates. The French onion soup was soooo good. The broth was flavorful and soaked into the croutons perfectly. The melted cheese on top was toasted just enough and was the most creamy cheese I've ever had on a soup. Then, we shared the hummus platter, which was presented like a seafood tower and actually had more crisp veggies than we needed. The garlic shrimp was quite a delight, arriving in a hot skillet and brimming with crispy garlic goodness.
Everything was great and just in soup and sharing two other small plates, were were stuffed.
We did, however, come back after the show for more drinks and were lucky enough to meet the owner. It was fun to be able to rave about our whole experience, including the servers by name.
I will totally come back.
*7 - Cochon Volant
8/19/19 with Chris Zann
We'll, I'm free now. I work wherever, whenever, so that also means I can go whenever, wherever, which means I can lunch wherever, whenever, with whomever, so I had my first remote working lunch with my best of buddies, Zann. We classed it up and went to Cochon in the Loop. I had a fantastic BLT and ice tea. Zann had a Cuban. It was the perfect lunch to set the tone for my new, free life. He even pointed me to a cool spot to work for the afternoon: Revival Food Hall. I'm pretty stoked to connect with friends and explore new places in this very delightful city of ours.
*8 - Chicago Q
8/21/19 with Clint Ruch
Yep, two lunch dates with two good buddies in one week! This time I met up with Clint at a nice barbeque spot on the near north side. I had a delightful pulled pork sandwich and coleslaw, snacked on the homemade chips, and pickles, and had yet another delightful iced tea. I certainly shouldn't make it a habit to have my lunches at such nice places, but goodness, was it ever nice to splurge on good food and good company in the middle of a work day twice in one week.
*9 - Cafe Kanela
11/7/19 with Nicole Garton
As Nicole has a new work space in Old Town, we tried out a new lunch spot in Old Town. Cafe Kanela is rumored to be the best breakfast in Chicago. I can't vouch for that (Tweet is pretty spectacular), but I did have a fantastic lox-bagel breakfast, and Nicole loved her food too. Plus, it was pretty laid back for a late lunch on a weekday. Definitely worth going back!
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