20 hours to lunch

OK so on Friday night we had a superb dinner at goosefoot with my travel bud TB (of DART trips for many years) and then at 8 AM on Saturday I began my journey south- with Lucy and wine LOL- oh and a laptops - but that was pretty much it- 20 hours of driving later (12 and 8 on a day by day basis) I arrived!

why am I telling you this - because I went from eating at Michelin starred restaurant in a city of over 8 million people (SMSA) to a dockside restaurant in a real fishing village of Cortez... less than 5,000 people live in Cortez.  It is home to our favorite fish place- Star Fish Company (market and dockside picnic tables for food in cardboard boxes- fresh fresh fresh seafood)

Cortez, a census-designated place in Manatee County, Florida, United States, is a small Gulf coast commercial fishing village that was founded by settlers from North Carolina in the 1880s. The population was 4,491 at the 2000 census.

so here I was less 72 hours later - enjoying sunshine and 88* under blue skies - with my blackened grouper and some hush puppies...YUM YUM YUM....

#goodfoodatalllevels

crowded as always- even before season officially begins - a wait for made to order food-  but always worth it!

and I have to contrast it with the terrific and amazingly beautiful and artistic meal we had Friday night at goosefoot... courses presented in order!

inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night- the first small bites to begin-

an outstanding soup- surpassed all prior outstanding soups- this one was Thanksgiving in a bowl- squash and cranberries - #Illhaveanotherplease

we had a 2004 St Aubin En Remilly white from Lamy and a 1996 Gevrey Chambertin red from Jadot

salmon prep - new and really good!

pasta course with black truffles-

then a new staging for the later courses- centered around the Central Park visit Chris and Nina had to the Strawberry Fields memorial for John Lennon- accompanied by a full set of Beatles music ---

the "cheese course" with lots of fall fruits including very flavorful conord grapes

palate cleanser of juice in a sculpture of Chris' creation!

the double dessert course of "Central Park in the Fall"

the dessert course had a fully spooky effect with the ghostly fog coming from the centerpiece! It was Halloween weekend after all!

presentation of the take home chocolate lab confection of amazing chocolate bars-

another lovey meal with lots of flavors and inspirations from Chris and Nina Nugent at goosefoot... and even with my early morning wake up to get out of town and on the road- I enjoyed the evening to the last goodbye-

now - lots of things to do here - we start with Symphony  on Friday and then a Saturday wine dinner (Bobby Kacher) and then a concert on Sunday at our favorite little club - so stay tuned - we will be fully in the swing of things before the week ends!

#gonow!!!

still on their game

So we continue our farewell tour of our favorite Chicago restaurants on the day after the Michelin Stars were announced.  Goosefoot retained its star status and we know why....

I might say it is the soup- which is always amazingly good- or any of the other beautifully presented courses... but really it is the warm welcome everyone receives when they dine there- Chris and Nina make everyone feel like a valued customer.  Over the last several years we have watched Nina get to know many first time diners and she truly cares about where they come from and how they heard of the restaurant and if they are celebrating a special occasion.... she is a naturally friendly, big hearted woman and Chris is an artist with food.

so last night's dinner was the latest in a series of terrific meals we have had at goosefoot and we look forward to many more... only four minutes by car from our house - neighborhood dining is fabulous both slightly west with goosefoot and slightly east with 42 grams... we feel lucky to be where we are- in lovely Andersonville....

last night's menu-

and last night's food-

and the wines - the white was over the hill but the red was fabulous!

so two more nights before we "get out of Dodge" and currently we are planning Korean and Mexican- neither of which is an option (or a good one) in our winter hometown.... great seafood, terrific Italian and excellent high end dining- NO ETHNIC (a serious flaw) so in the last week we have had our fabulous Chinese and our Vietnamese bahn-mi and are headed to other "joints" before we leave town.... probably won't see too much posting about these.

Last night we had our final 2015 meal at Restaurant Michael - where we met up with our friend Judy... it was such great dinner conversation I forgot all about taking photos so I only have one- LOL
- of an excellent appetizer of tuna and salmon tartare- the meal was wonderful but I was distracted by the socializing- so sorry...

and... I have actually begun on the Romania photo selection (deleted 160 photos yesterday) but probably won't get to the posting until we are in warmer climes - so stay tuned and don't give up hope...

one terrific, two will be new

So we are on a round of high end dining before we leave for eastern Europe (maybe we will need the fortifications LOL- not sure about Moldovan cuisine - but we do know they have good wines!)

We started with Oceanique on Monday and then last night we dined at one of our favorites - goosefoot.  We love the owners - Chef Chris Nugent and his wife, Nina (who does everything with a flair and a sense of humor.)  We had made these plans a while back and changed them about six weeks ago to include friends Don & Jim.  Don was the founder of Chicago Gourmets now seventeen years ago, and is still a driving force in the organization.  Jim is an education consultant and retired school administrator.  Don is a retired professor of botany (which makes him an invaluable resource about all things green!)

They brought an impeccable bottle of Krug which we had with the first couple of courses - really showing well with the scallop and the egg... but I am getting ahead of myself-

here is the current menu-

Our amuse was a delicious mushroom and truffle soup - yum yum - especially on the rainy night it turned out to be- 

then the real fun began- the scallop course- 

the egg course in a presentation that kind of looks "chicken-like"

the ALWAYS delicious soup- Chris is the MASTER of soup of all kinds- I could have gallons before I said "Oh No that's too much" - LOL

the fish course - big eye tuna - in a soy flavored sauce - reminiscent of Hawaiian Poke-

gnocchi and white truffles - what's not to love here?????

our white selection was show a tiny bit of age but very nice- 2005 Kistler McCrea Ranch

the beef - excellent as always-

the cheese course - a great pairing of Roquefort and fruit flavors-

a guava based juice with lime olive oil as a palate cleanser-

dessert number one the peaches and cream with a nasturtium atop the creamy bowl of sweet fruity flavors-

the second dessert- a luscious treat of hazelnut and chocolate with mango dots for a counterpoint of flavor!

the end- a cape gooseberry dipped in chocolate and nuts- with a spectacular presentation of drift wood...

a terrific evening of good wines - good food - AND good company... what more could a gal ask for? 

so the title of the post is one terrific - and that was our goosefoot dinner... and  two will be new because we are headed tonight the restaurant number two which is NEW to us... Intro.  Intro is located in the former home of Ambria (long time ago best in Chicago restaurant) and then L2O another highly regarded high end dining place.  The owners Lettuce Entertain You group- have taken it into new territory with a revolving door (deliberately) for chefs- so that they can showcase their work with a menu that will be served for three or four months and then they move to a new chef and new menu.... so far the first couple of chefs have gotten rave reviews- and certainly  the concept will keep folks returning frequently without stressing chef to do a new menu three or four times a year... so I will report back on this one in the next post. 

And tomorrow night- theater again - trying to get everything in before leaving town - and the calendar is quite booked for our return - with only two weeks before we head south...so never a dull moment - and as I was saying to one of my doctors this morning - GO NOW - you never know if there will be another day... so off we go- go - go....

new courses at goosefoot!

so on the second night after our return we headed to goosefoot to see Chris & Nina and check out some new courses-

here is the report... my favorite new course is the gnocchi with summer truffles - oh so very yummy!

here is the menu and then the food "in order of appearance" (LOL)

the amuse- a wonderful mushroom soup-

the scallop course-

the white we chose for the beginning wine- we also had a 2005 Louise from DDO which we decanted so I didn't get a pic of that bottle- but the wine was very nice with the later courses-

the custardy eggy preserved garlic and shrimp course-

a new hearty soup - creamy tomato with couscous and other gems hidden in the velvety soup-

the tuna course-

the aforementioned gnocchi-

meat- as good as always!

the Roquefort course with macaron- excellent counterpoint to each other with the sweet contrasting with the pungent and salty blue of the cheese...

a new palate cleanser of watermelon replaces the yuzu and beet juice of past menus-

a new fabulous dessert peaches and cream - this was one of my all time favorite dessert courses at goosefoot-

chocolate and crunch- Phil is a happy guy!

the finale of chocolate dipped gooseberry-

so the changes were good ones and it is nice to get a chance to see Chris express his artistry in new ways... goosefoot is a neighborhood favorite for us- we are lucky to be only 5-7 minutes away!

so next week is a week of catching up with things around the house and preparing for both a trip to Michigan (top of the lower peninsula) to see CBGB and a DART trip with TB to New Hampshire... time flies by - but stay tuned for more....