SUMMER ZOOMS!

The summer continues ot race to the end...

 Excellent wines with great food in a neighborhood BYO makes for a perfect evening... Met up with Frank for Guatemalan at Tikal Sabor. My favorites were the garnachas and the picadita. But the churrasca was also a winner as was the ceviche.... All good choices. Menu items marked. Worthy choice on so many levels. 

Then a few more nights with places in the hood- first up- The Bagel

Since 1950 and, I fear, about to pass into history. Sure miss seeing Danny who ran this place for decades until his death.

Danny Wolf (Dan "Danny" Wolf) was the longtime owner and familiar face of The Bagel Restaurant and Deli at 3107 N. Broadway in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. He ran the beloved Jewish institution for decades before passing away on 2022.  He was born in a concentration camp and a child survivor of the Theresienstadt ghetto. Danny helped out at the original family deli (opened in 1950 by his grandparents Chaim and Elsa Golenzer in Albany Park) from the age of seven.  He managed and ultimately owned the family business, guiding its moves—including the 1992 relocation to Broadway. 

I think I can say this in all honesty. It's not what it was, no deli is these days. It's a bygone era and a culinary tradition that time has passed by. 

Phil had a chicken soup with a kreple and a pastrami sandwich. I ate a half a plate of the pickles (half sour) and a half of a Devon Avenue sandwich which is pastrami and corned beef with Swiss. It was on my summer tour list because I am not sure it will still be there the next time I'm in Chicago for my summer restaurant rotation.  

Time passes.... things change. 

Then- Butcher and Burger- our trainer,Leslie, is on vacation this weekend so we had an afternoon "off" and went to lunch. We have always loved Butcher & Burger (even had dinner there on one of our anniversaries; it's BYO.) We had followed Allen Sternweiler from Zinfandel to Chef Allen's to B&B. He's about to move into new digs and a more upscale iteration of B&B, near Lincoln and Irving Park. Great news for us! 

I had blue cheese, onions, and pickles. P had something with cheddar. 😅 Outdoor seating was open, but the day was a tad too humid to sit outside. A great playlist of strong Motown made a good background for our "holiday" lunch.

After a big lunch we were looking for a quick and easy dinner. So we went to Orange Garden around the corner. We showed up about 40 minutes before closing time. This is another old favorite that I always worry won't be around for the rotation next summer. This one was founded in 1932 (per the menu.)

Google tells me it is  "Chicago's oldest continuously operating Chinese restaurant. The restaurant serves classic Cantonese and American-Chinese comfort food like chop suey, orange chicken, and Chicago-style egg rolls featuring peanut butter." 

I know WE have been coming here for as long as we have known each other (30 years) because it was a good place for Orange Beef (my personal favorite.) And, we always loved their egg rolls and soups. That's what I wanted tonight; an egg roll and a "small" hot and sour soup. Phil decided on an egg roll and wonton soup and Happy Family (with chili sauce on the side to liven up the heavily garlic dish.) Everything seemed extra tasty because it had been a really long time since we had the "traditional" Chicago style egg roll. 

This place has rarely had a packed dining room in all the years we have been eating here. What they do have, is a very brisk carry out business and tonight was no exception. The doorbell chime was going off regularly in the last half hour before closing.  In the last 15 minutes there was a steady stream of people picking up. Long live OG. 

Side story - for years they had this fabulous neon sign out front until the owners sold it to some rock star neon collector guy. (Actually the story is his wife bought it for him but I wonder if she cracked open her piggy bank to fund the gift or it was more like "look what I bought you honey" and he funded it?)

Per Google, "The iconic Orange Garden neon sign, widely recognized as Chicago's oldest working neon sign, was sold at auction for $17,000 to Billy Corgan and Chloé Mendel. The Art Deco masterpiece hung outside the legendary Orange Garden Restaurant in Chicago's North Center neighborhood for 90 years. It featured vibrant orange illumination with the phrases "Chop Suey" and "Chow Mein".

If this was a farewell - we ended on a high note.

the sign is gone but while I couldn't find myown photo of it I did find one on FLICKR by someone else - credit to them - but it looks pretty much like myh photo - which I will post if I figure out where I filed it LOL

Friday night - dinner at home - making short ribs (new attempt in the absence of the Costco shortribs which they have discontinued) these look promising but the "proof is in the pudding" as they say- VERDICT: MEH!

Fall classes are here and I picked the one I wanted to "attend" - which also happened to be one P was interested in as well... back to school at the end of September!

Class blurb:

"How can science reveal invisible worlds beyond direct human perception? This lecture series brings together professors who are leaders in their fields of astronomy, chemistry, robotics, nanotechnology, physics, and biological engineering to unveil previously invisible new phenomena. What do these discoveries mean for humanity?"

Saturday night - I cooked, Nick & Lee brought the flowers and John and Stephanie brought fresh skewers with tomatoes and basil from their garden.  A watermelon firecracker 🧨 was the cocktail of the evening (from our very favorite mixologist, Nick!) And, of course Phil was responsible for wine selections and somm duties.

So that was our first week in August. But we are in the press to hit all the faovrites and the listed places for dining before I leave in less than six weeks so stay tuned.

Into August

 As we round out July and head into August - summers go even faster than when we were in grade school! 

A quick dinner out at nearby Cafe Beograd. I had been craving chevapchici and Phil wanted pljeskavica. Good fries and an excellent summer salad rounded out our dinner ordering. We had a summer cake and a Nutella crepe for the desserts. An older (2002) St Innocent (Shea Vineyard) Pinot went over the hill during dinner but was a good match for the meat courses. We brought home enough for lunch and a sweet treat as the portion sizes were generous! 

I have been having a course of chemotherapy cream for some skin cancer follow up care- so I have dragged out some hats to wear while on the deck for trainer sessions - etc.  a FB post showing mid treatment- 

You should see my nemesis. I taught them a lesson about messing with old grey haired ladies 🤣🤣🤣

 

Met up with Mike & Leslie and their friends Joel & Neli from St Louis, who are visiting Chicago. Had dinner at Le Sud where we had spectacular service from Mark (who we have known for nearly 20 years, having met at Socca years ago!) who we have followed from restaurant to restaurant to restaurant for years. He is the consummate professional. The food was good the company and service were even better. All menu items are marked for a key to the photos. IMO the WoE was the single vineyard chard from Josh Bergstrom's able hand. Truly special. This was the La Spirale vineyard. The champagne also showed really well and was perfect for our warm evening of dining al fresco!

Some days it rains so much you just can't even think about dinner. That's when you fall back on your favorite greasy cheeseburger joint. Been coming here since at least 1982. While still a "go-to" - like much of Chicago, its late night days are gone. Now closing at 8pm rather than 2am 😢. I think only those of us who came of age in the 24 hour era of diners and late night joints mourn the passing of that era. Young people seem to think it's fine to dine early. 🤣 More reasons to love Spain ❣️

here is a mid afternonn photo out the living room doors to the deck- and it actually got even darker at one point!

Absolutely the biggest surprise of my summer- so far - reinforced by my return visit to Zarella with Phil on Tuesday night. Almost eight weeks ago I came with Todd & Evie with low expectations for pizza at this "corporate" entity pizza and tavern in River North. I was blown away then by how awesome the tavern style pizza was here at Zarella. And I remain blown away tonight. We had two more fabulous pizzas this evening, plus Phil loved his meatball starter. There are still a number of excellent pizzas around Chicago, but right now I put this one in my number one slot. Especially the one I reordered - a margherita pizza base with sausage, pepperoni and pancetta. (It was a special that week earlier in the summer because a football guy had mentioned it as his favorite to Travis on a New Heights podcast or some such.) All I know is that I was smart enough to take a photo of the specials card that night so I could recreate "the iceman". Truly worthy. 

Then we were home for a few nights - having left overs and also cooking a bit- I have beena huge salad eater this summer (it is horribly missing from most Sevilla restaurant menus - so I had four salads over the week - and am waiting on a grocery delivery with a couple more items to have a few more- 

 and I did a crostada this week as well so I could clear some left over items in the pantry and frig- 

For Friday night we met up with Todd & Evie for an evening at The Loyalist. We had a wonderful evening Dinner tonight. As usual - a fabulous meal with Todd & Evie. We had great wine and a fabulous selection of items from the menu. All shared. The house also gifted us "to-go" chocolate chip cookies when we were too full to have dessert.  Menu items marked. Fabulous service from Erick C. ensured the evening was perfect. My personal favorite courses were the tomato salad and the OG burger. But the anchovy toast made me think of home in Sevilla so it got extra points for the emotional score. Photo missing of the classic burger (no longer on the menu but available "if you know someone." 

Then a quiet weekend - I made ribs one night and we had leftover chicken another - Phil had two evenings of concerts and I started catching up on paperwork and chores around the house. Time is flying and I am now less than seven weeks from returning home to Sevilla. This week is the "calm" before the fury of last minute dining and friends etc. I am having a dinner party on Satuday for Lee, Nick, John & Stephanie. We have plans with Frank but mostly it will be rounding out the list of places we wanted to hit for dinners before my return to Sevilla.