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.