Puerta de la Panza: Down & Dirty in Chicago

The assignment I gave myself was to try all new restaurants during this particular excursion in Chicago because it is so easy to return to the beloved ones.

THURSDAY NIGHT:
Nacional 27. We started with the Grilled Shrimp Adobado with pineapple-vanilla salsa. Tasty. Next came the Slow-Roasted Gunthorp Farms Pork Cubano, served with a combination of coconut rice, sweet plantains and black beans in an orange mojo. It sounded great on the menu but tasted dry. We split the Cuatro Chocolates- a combination of chocolate cake, sorbet, pudding and shake among the four of us and found them all to be delightfully rich with the right level of sweetness. The restaurant has a deejay and drummer on-site with tables that easily stack away for a dancefloor to dance all the salsa beats you can handle late into the night. The bar is pretty spectacular. It feels as though you are in a bar in old Havana, complete with ceiling fans whirring. Seger outfits his bar with an herb garden and mixed drinks in a velvet jacket… Adam Seger concocts a mean drink menu. The hibiscus margarita I ordered was equal parts tart and sweet with a saltiness.

FRIDAY NIGHT:
David Burke’s Primehouse at the James Hotel.. Friends pointed out that my vegetarianism had long passed once they saw my 7 oz. 28 day aged Delmonico steak. Rob and I split the creamed spinach (major yum) and the chorizo whipped potato. As expected everything tasted great. I have been reading far and wide about the state of beef in this country and as a good Texan, prone to a beef craving from time to time knew I could trust David Burke’s select cuts. So in cow-town I got my steak craving satisfied. We saved a spot for one of his trademark cheesecake lollipops but the doughnuts… these were really spot on. I think part of it is probably the presentation of small squeeze bottles, allowing us to create customized jelly doughnuts. Imagine a mini plastic bottle of vanilla, one of caramel and another of a blackberryesque bottle. It felt like being a kid again except so much better as I could feel the granules of sugar roll over my tongue with the crisp outside of the doughnuts oozing with jelly.

SATURDAY NIGHT:
Santorini.. This has become a tradition with us. Every year we sidle over to Santorini in Greek Town for good Greek food and a chance to let our hair down. Most enjoy the whole fish that they grill and debone tableside. I am a particular fan of their village salad- the cheese falls apart in your mouth with the snap of cucumber, juicy tomato and tang of kalamata olives. This year, I tried the shrimp santorini- a bit rich for my blood. As much as I like rice, I think the item I am most enamored of here is their potatoes, which I find kind of goofy. But I think it must be the seasonings with the glossy onions blanketing them. They usually bring too much food and we leave with big smiles on our faces like Cheshire cats.

SUNDAY NIGHT:
Vermilion. I love the idea of this restaurant: fusion of Latin American and Indian flavors. We started with the Chipotle Corn Vadas featuring a crisp corn-lentil pop, served with a smear of smoky chipotle mayo. This was followed by the Lamb Shank Gassi, a Mangalorean braised domestic lamb shank. Dessert consisted of a cumin ice cream, mora berry gelee and spicy nut brittle. While the food was good, it tasted rather one dimensional.

The Violethour. We took a taxi to this speakeasy over in Wicker Park and waited inside the hallway past their non-descript door. Inside thick periwinkle velvet curtains shaded the seated patrons from the outer elements. This bar is dimly lit with candles everywhere and almost Stanley Kubrick-like high backed chairs. Their bar is dotted with house-infused essences and rare bottles of liquor. I ordered the Hush + Wonder with matusalem rum, creme de violette, lime, and grapefruit bitters, which was sweet with a creamy amber color and grapefruit overtones. Nicole selected the best drink available, the Pimm’s Cup with pimms, orange, cucumber, strawberry and mint, which tasted refreshingly fruity with cucumber, and mint top notes. Daniel ordered the Julius Treacle Amour- Matusalem rum, parfait d’amour and licor 43 with a smoky sweetness with citrus undertones. Rob chose the Spring Sazerac, featuring old overholt rye, herbsainte, rothman, winter apricot liqueur, and peychauds bitters. The viscosity of old butterscotch disk, akin to a sweet Halls lozenge. The Violethour was worth the wait and a memorable experience.

MONDAY NIGHT:
Mercat a la Planxa. This was a gem of a restaurant find. I went with my foodie friend who always suggests the best new restaurants. One thing I love about eating out with her is that she is keen on trying interesting items and splitting everything. So we started with the fried peppers, salbitxada and sea salt. The peppers were perfectly fried, not greasy at all and possessed a depth of flavor rather than a spicy one. Next came the flatbread with a garbanzo bean puree with shrimp and chorizo. The creaminess of the beans combined with the sweetness of the chorizo. Delish. We had to try the braised rabbit agnolotti, rosemary, truffle-chestnut puree and brandied cherries. Of all the items we tried that night, this one definitely was our favorite. The variation of savory and sweet sent us over the top. The plate that came next consisted of slow-cooked pork belly with a sherry glaze and a green apple slaw with truffle. We ordered a side of the Catalan spinach, raisins, pine nuts and apples for some greenery. Dessert consisted of a ravishing upside-down pineapple cake with a saffron layer and dusted with pop rocks for that extra crackle. An amazing dinner.

So in summary, I continue wondering and believing Chicago’s restaurant scene really rivals and takes on that of SF.

puerta de la panza: minneapolis edition

Before heading out to Minneapolis, I lamented to my foodie-loving friend Gin that I was unfamiliar with it and had ill-conceived thoughts of its culinary offerings. A few days later she sent along a few rec’s and I also hit the show, talking to neighboring vendors about where to find the yum in town. This is a quick down and dirty:

SPOON RIVER
Sidled up along the Mississippi River, adjacent to the Guthrie is a phenom of a place called Spoon River. Started by Brenda Langton of Cafe Brenda renown (to be visited next time), the restaurant features a small, savvy menu specializing in local, organic cuisine and infectiously innovative cocktails. L and I decided to meander down to SR our first night and were not disappointed.

I began the evening with their “Tequila Mockingbird” partly because of its great name and partly because it blended house-infused pineapple tequila with passion fruit and housemade grenadine with a garnish of drunken cranberries. Yum. We shared the savory wild mushroom, pistachio terrine served with fruit chutney, mustard sauce, croutons and cornichons. This tasted like that perfectly built bite of cranberry and stuffing of Thanksgiving fame. I followed this up with the Minnesota Lamb and Vegetable Stew with Moroccan flavors. When they say “Moroccan” read translucent slivers of preserved lemon resting gingerly on this amazingly tender shank of lamb that fell apart in my mouth. The stew came studded with currants, giving a mildly sweet bite of texture against the divinely whipped mashed potatoes. Less stew, more lovable lamb and sauce. Great taste and textures all around.

I had to try a whisper of a bite of dessert and so ended up selecting the mint chocolate chip gelato served atop a warm chocolate coconut brownie with bon bons. The bon bons intrigued me because when I think or hear bon bons, it calls to mind large chocolate covered confections filled with ice cream or cream. But no. These bon bons had the pleasant crunch of tiny peppermint disks. When paired with the smoothness of the gelato and the chewiness of the brownie, my mouth was at full attention with all of the fabulous texture enticing the tastebuds. All in all, a good meal.

And one I hoped to continue a few nights later when plans fell through. This time, I barely squeezed in past closing. Grateful, I nibbled on the local free range smoked chicken quesadilla with Greek kaseri cheese, mango and cranberry coulis. I washed down dinner with a signature summer cocktail of lemonade, ginger-infused vodka and garnish of basil. Dessert came in the form of their Frangelico chocolate mousse with chocolate cigars and strawberries.

While eating at the bar, the mixologist, a former employee and I chatted about interesting flavors emerging in SF. While the second evening did not outshine the first flavor-wise, I enjoyed the company and culinary connection with my new acquaintances. I would gladly go back again, hopefully in the fall so I could try their “Fall Monk” cocktail (butternut squash martini, benedictine, frangelico, maple syrup and toasted walnut rim). Their drinks dazzle!

HELL’S KITCHEN
Lest you think I visited Gordon Ramsay, when you walk into this dive the morning smells of breakfast fill your nostrils. The setting is outfitted with a ghoulish logo of screaming raven and equally screaming font, the tables are decked in what could be leftover witches skirts from halloween. Quirky, yes. Delicious, absolutely. I met up with J over brunch and we decided to try several items of curiosity on the menu.

Let’s start with sausage bread. You can actually purchase a loaf of this specialty or even the baking mix to take home (as you can with several of the accoutrements made on-site). While sausage bread may sound disgusting, the bison sausage hidden in the bread gave it only a slight gaminess to the mapled, moist texture. We had a ball dipping into their housemade peanut butter (hand roasted in small batches on-site), slathering that on our bread. The Mahnomin porridge sounded too good to pass up with its native-harvested wild rice, roasted hazelnuts, dried blueberries, sweetened cranberries, cream and maple syrup. This tasted like an amazing variation on rice pudding- hardly breakfast material- but so delicious I need to perfect this one in a lo-cal version at home! So these two items were our favorites.

Additionally, we had to try the Lemon Ricotta Hotcakes, which were light and fluffy, but did not capture our attention or forks quite in the same way as the porridge, sausage bread and peanut butter (did I mention I bought some PB to bring home…) Lastly, we tried the Huevos Rancheros and found them to be overly complicated from the simple fare my Mom would prepare as a child. The brunch was worth all of the calories and definitely would require a repeat visit.

CHINO LATINO
We had heard that the party starts and ends at Chino Latino. Apparently even when Lindsay Lohan was in town, this was her place du vacance. The concept is so wonderfully simple and so provocatively over the top. The menu consists of street food from equator countries in Latin America bound with Asian cuisine on a multi-ethnic menu. For Cinco de Mayo, L wanted a margarita and guacamole. She got that and wow, how we tucked in that night as if we had not eaten the entire time we were in Minneapolis.

C, L and I selected several items to share, so I will mention the notables here. First, I ordered the “Crack Ho Mojito” (read vials of passion fruit, blackberry and raspberry puree over rock salt, accompanying the drink for me to mix together). I laughed and laughed at my drink and its simple but funny presentation. The Baja Beach Shack Fish Taco Platter featured flash-fried herb-dusted cod fillets with crunchy jicama slaw, guacamole, queso fresco, screamin Gringo hot sauce and fresh corn tortillas. This was hands down one of our favorites. The fish was crisp without being greasy and the crunch from the slaw paired well with the warm silkiness of the tortilla. Kids, there is nothing better than a fresh, warm corn tortilla. I could write an ode to them, but that’s beside the point right now.

Our other contender for best entree was the Banana Boat Chicken. The flavors of this dish reminded me of an East African dish I’ve had at Baobab in the Mission. They coated the chicken in plantain crumbs and serve it with a lemony coconut sauce over onions, capsicum and jasmine rice. The chicken was incredible. The crust never became soggy and the banana paired so well with the sauce. You know that even a family sized portion of this by the end of the meal had been well consumed. For dessert, we were drawn into the idea of the Chocolate Flandango (think dulce de leche drizzled over flan on chocolate cake. This dessert is a great idea albeit my version will be smaller and not as dense.

NYE’S BAR
After dinner one evening, I was convinced to go out and see “the best bar in America”. The thing to pique my curiosity- karaoke. When we walked in, I felt like I might have stepped back into the 70′s. A woman in her 70′s sat behind a ledge, playing piano tracks accompanying singers of all ages. She smiled this wide cheerful grin as her hands flew over the keys to John Denver, Neil Diamond and Ella Fitzgerald torch songs. I steadied myself along the bar and sang “Moon River” along with the rest of the karaoke singers ambling up to the ledge. Later I sang “My Funny Valentine” and dedicated to the couple next to us celebrating their 23rd wedding anniversary. This is the place to be for bachelorette parties, a good night out, anniversary celebrations, sweet 21′s, clearly any excuse to come to Nye’s is a good one.

So Minneapolis, where were we? And when do I get to go back?