Dinner Wednesday night was a make-up for Phil who missed the June meal there with family and friends due to a conflict. He loves French food and this neighborhood-ish place is a great choice. I had salad and skatewing and Phil had the shrimp cocktail and steak frites. Desserts were Phil's favorite salted caramel chocolate tart (not as good as Nick's recreation of this for Phil's last birthday dinner) but he managed to take it down. And I indulged in the very tasty chocolate mousse. We had a great red burg to go with the meal. Just reaching early maturity at age 20.
Then on Thursday we had dinner with Mike & Leslie. Thanks to Chef Mark's generosity we got to try everything from the dessert platter! Photos labeled. We had a variety of starters and mains (marked on the menus). It's been a busy summer for all, so this is it until we meet again in early September. Oceanique is always a winner.
a few days of eating at home and then - Time travel! Back when we were much, much, much younger, there were three restaurants in a row on Lincoln Park West that defined the era. From north to south - the very fancy Ambria in the Belden-Stratford hotel; then, moving south, the very approachable deli/diner Mel Markon's (a regular Sunday brunch haunt); and on the southern part of those three blocks RJ Grunt's, a good burger place with a solid bar food menu.
So this night we went back in time to revisit our younger years. There were bottles of ketchup and mustard on the table as well as salt & pepper. A carafe of ice water was also placed on the table - without asking! And a menu that could have been illustrated by R Crumb (a figure well known in the days of our youth.)
Back in the day, Grunt's was renowned for their salad bar. (Early adopter) So it makes sense they had a desire to continue with their signature feature but with a post COVID update. Enter the digital salad bar. Now even better than ever. You get exactly what you want and they chop it and dress it in the kitchen (and even split it on request). What's not to like? The burgers come with toppings of your choice - cooked to the temperature of your choice - and are served with tasty cottage fries. An all around winner in time travel.
Brought back many memories of long long ago and far far away. When the server asked if we'd ever been there before, we just looked at her and laughed. Yes - before she was born. Maybe before her mother was too. Same great location for 54 years. Thanks for the memories. I'd like to say next up is Twin Anchors but it might be a case of "you can't go home again".....although I was recently perusing the menu from the Fireplace Inn on Wells which was my favorite rib place from an era so long ago I had a different husband.
My 96 year old mother in law Sue is still a fashion plate with matching headband and manicure nail polish color. I'm sure she'd like to give me lessons on being more stylish but alas WYSIWYG. Phil is visiting the family this weekend in St Louis (shown our niece Lauren and Phil's mom Sue.)
"New to me" place. A favorite neighborhood Mexican place of Frank's. Of the things we had - although all excellent- I liked the shrimp enchiladas best. We had a white from Etna in Sicily, very minerally (not surprising) it paired best with the jicama salad in my opinion. Frank's Washington State Syrah from the Rocks AVA was fabulous and the Shea from St Innocent was very good. We sat outside - because it wasn't 100*, nor was it rainy and 60*, (which is the kind of summer we have been having) so it was lovely to enjoy the good weather. The only downside to the evening was upon arriving home, I found a software update to my photo editing app that has created an issue with menu marking. So until I can figure out how to go back to big red dots you'll suffer through freehand circling. I clearly need to practice, as my technique is abysmal. UPDATE - No big dots but did figure a star system which will work for this purpose
so that rounded out our July... August is already quite full. the night after Phil returns form St Louis we are headed to Le Bouchon. Also on the calendar are: another visit to Sochi Saigonese Kitchen, a dinner at our house with Lee & Nick, S.K.Y. with Todd & Evie, Picolo Sogno with Georgia who is in for a weekend before she leaves for Sevilla and her own six week of Spanish immersion . then an Edzo's pop up with Ron & Mary, North Center Prime with Frank, Pizza A'mici with Todd & Evie, Burt's Pizza with John & Stephanie, Loyalist with T&E, and possibly a meet up with our Italian friends Ross & Dario when they are in town at the end of the month. So more to follow!
