"old friends"

Just like friends you haven't seen in a while and get a chance to catch up with are favorite places to eat.  When we found an unexpected night for dining out due to a change in plans we headed north to the next city and had dinner at Oceanique in Evanston.  This place has been a winner and a go to for fine seafood dining for us for the better part of a decade.... Chef Mark Grosz has a delicate hand with fish and the seafood always shines here....

from their website -

Chef de cuisine and owner Mark Grosz worked under the tutelage of renowned chef Jean Banchet of the world famous Le Francais in Wheeling, Illinois. He further refined his skills in France and Hong Kong, and has served as head chef and culinary impresario at a variety of restaurants and private clubs in Illinois and Michigan until 1989 when he opened the doors at Oceanique. Mark continues to offer discriminating diners some of the most creative and exquisite dishes prepared in the French tradition, with an American twist.

we started with oysters and foie and then went to salads of shrimp & calamari (my choice) and Lobster (Phil's)

at different points in the meal we had gifts from the chef- two fish bites and one sorbet as a palate cleanser-

then for mains I had the halibut and Phil had the bouillabaisse -

and for dessert our all time favorite night and day cake-

this Chablis showed extremely well and was full of round flavors (most unusual for a Chablis)

earlier in the week we had dropped into The Bristol after a stop at a wedding celebration at a nearby bar for a friend's son (I've known him for more than 25 years!) We had a very good meal there with the outstanding cacio e pepe pasta as a winning dish and some excellent steak tartare to start (served with chicharrones with cheddar powder!)

and we actually had a couple of meals at home this week - WOW!!! coming up - wedding week!