September 26, 2007
· Filed under chicago, food
Birthday dinners are great. Food, wine and atmosphere become magical during birthday dinners.
We went to Tagine on a quiet Tuesday evening. J and I were the only two people there. In addition to table seating, in the corner of the restaurant were pillows on the floor circling a low dark wood table. “Sit anywhere” the woman said. Of course, the decorated pillows were our choice.
The menu offers a lot more than tagine dishes, but we couldn’t resist trying their namesake. They were served in the traditional tagine dishes.
J ordered the Oasis Tagine, “half chicken roasted and cooked in ginger saffron sauce, garnished with lemon confit & olives and served with French fries. ” The fries reminded me of Spain, where every dish, even at the fancy restaurants, are served with salty delicious fries (they are useful to soak up the juices). My tagine was called Sultan’s. It comprised of a huge lamb bone, with the lamb meat just barely hanging on. It was served with onions & Moroccan spices, fresh green peas & artichokes. Everything was amazing.
It was all topped off with a bottle of Rioja Reserva 2002 Marques de Riscal. Thanks for a lovely birthday.
…C
August 8, 2007
· Filed under chicago, restaurant
I took a vacation day. Needless to say, I worred about how things were going at the office. But I did manage to have a lovely lunch at a restaurant in the Andersonville neighborhood. It’s historically a Swedish neighborhood, and it still contains Swedish bakeries, delis and restaurants. But J. and I went for the odd-ball of that ‘hood, and chose an Algerian crepe restaurant called Icosium Kafe. We started with coffee. Turkish style, but with spices that I’ve never had in coffee before. You could taste the cardamom.
I had the sweet Crepe Bunea. Mango & ginger chutney, sunflower seeds and raisins. A side of ice cream. Just what you need on a vacation day.
….C
July 18, 2007
· Filed under chicago, food
I have no photographic evidence to prove it this time, but chicago summer nights are the best. they are the reason one lives here the rest of the year. last night J. and I met up with some old friends of his who were in town. We walked to a little taquería in our neighborhood. The front is unassuming, but they have a lovely little patio out back. Colored lights are strung low above white plastic tables. The tacos here are some of the best: el pastor, chicken, carne asada, carnitas or fish… served on little corn tortillas with onions and cliantro.
“very chicago”
….C
April 30, 2007
· Filed under chicago, restaurant
The family all came together last night in the city for dinner. We went to a family-run Bosnian restaurant: Kiko’s Market. The evening felt very old-world. We had great-grandparents, grandparents, and babies all around 1 big table. There was some catchy eastern European music playing in the background, and a small deli/market attached that sold dried meats, sausages, boxed spices, chocolates, etc. I think some of the best dishes were the Goulash, ‘Meat and Vegtables’ and the ‘Mixed Meats Plate’….
