We were lucky enough to squeeze in another visit this summer to Oceanique. As usual, Chef Mark Grosz' menu is a terrific selection of fish and seafood with a smattering of other dishes. The dessert tray offers plenty of great choices but the night and day cake is our "go-to." We met up with friends Richard and Irene, who we hadn't seen this summer (busy schedules all around!) The first photo is a collage of all the amuse bouche bites that Chef sent out. Then the desserts and the tray of choices. Followed by our entrees and starters and the wine we brought to share over dinner. Phil had his usual bouillabaise, Irene and I had the skate wing special and Richard had scallops. A variety of starters began the lovely meal. We got a few minutes to chat with Mark after the meal and say our goodbyes for the season. Nice evening.
Dinner with Lee & Nick, who are off on a three city trip to Europe soon. We have a get together planned in Spain for the holidays, but I won't see them for almost three months. We had a very flavor filled meal at SKY 2.0. Menu items marked. My favorites were the sizzling sisig, warm mushroom salad, the Brussels sprouts, and the Hamachi crudo. Others had differing opinions. All the wines showed fabulously. While we had several meals together in twos and threes over the past few months, it's been a busy summer for all four of us. It was wonderful to get time together. The new S.K.Y. 2.0 is located in the Belden Stratford building on Lincoln Park West. No longer on 18th Street.
Meanwhile, Every year I try a new plant and new placement on the deck. I am working towards all perennials and easy care with little to no maintenance from year to year. This year I changed a pot of annual impatiens to a variety of perennial heuchera (also known as coral bells) they do well in shade and I'm hoping the winter will not freeze them out in the semi protected spot. We'll see next May, what I end up "growing" in this pot. If they come back they have a permanent home there.
We had plans with Todd & Evie for our last week but, sadly our plans for that night were canceled due to our friends falling ill. So we went to Pat's down the street for pizza - on the early side - and then we got a chance to see Spinal Tap 2 before we left the country.
At the theater the following night. We saw a timely play about the era of blacklisting and McCarthyism during the HUAC investigations. It was extremely on point, as Jimmy Kimmel was terminated for exercising his first amendment right to free speech. The play was good but probably packed a bigger punch based on current events. Worth the time to see it. 75 minutes no intermission, making it a nice short entertainment for the evening.
Then rounding out our week we had dinner with Ron & Mary on our last night of socializing.
Another year of celebrating TEITUR together with Mary and Ron Lewis. A new (old 1971) venue tonight. Burger photos are historic, because I missed those in the flurry of "large plates and small table top" action. We had salads from the digital salad bar and shared onion rings and then three Grunt's burgers and one cheeseburger "his way" for Phil. So not every photo idea made it to fruition, but we did get a group shot which makes the post worth checking out. #NationalCheeseburgerDay
Now we are finishing our packing, taking a breath, having sushi, and then cleaning out the frig etc. before we head out. See you on the flip side, at home in Sevilla, Spain.
