greetings from goosefoot

So last night we had our final "farewell 2014 Chicago" dinner at goosefoot- if you follow this blog you know it is one of our favorite places to eat in our neighborhood.  The Michelin star doesn't do it any harm and actually makes us happy that it will attract diners from the loop and out of town - that will keep a neighborhood restaurant alive and well for quite some time....

the menu has a few changes from our most recent prior visit in mid September... since the goosefoot store has opened next door, they have more cheese choices so this will change more frequently (per Molly - our co-favorite server - along with Isabel!) And we had a new prep on the amuse (it comes in a new ceramic piece that is taller and more dramatic than the prior presentation.)

the white we chose showed fabulously! really perfect- drink it now if you have it...

a new soup which paired the ever present fall squash soup with tart cranberries to cut the cloying squash - really excellent with just a touch of curry...

then we moved on the red which opened up nicely with a bit of breathing room-

we love the updated salmon dish with the ginger infused soy -

the duck course above and beef course below-

a new cheese- we liked it immensely -

the traditional palate cleanser of yuzu and beet-

then the desserts - with a new presentation on the final (pineapple) dessert-

to finish it all off - hot chocolate with cardamom

really first rate meal as we knew it would be--- another tried and true place we can highly recommend!!!

tonight we are off to the Chicago Humanities Festival for a lecture/concert by Darlene Love-

And this rounds out the season for Chicago 2014... fun times - we made new friends (Mark & Mirella who are also part time - dashing off in September to Honolulu for their time in better climes) and got to spend a lot more time with Mon & Beth (yea!) had a lot of amazing meals and some great theater and a fabulous road trip - remember Buddy's Pizza in Detroit? went to France, went to Maritime Canada, saw/heard some excellent concerts and got to see a bit more of old friends Dick, Ali, Mark, Laura, Liv, Mick and Neil.... we even had time for a few Chicago Gourmets meals... other friends are as over scheduled as we are so it was tough catching up with Sheila, Mary, Brian & Tina - but there's always next year!

See you next week in Sea Sand and Sun! when we arrive to spend time in Lucy & Penny's playhouse in Florida... stay tuned - stone crabs, grouper, great theater... excellent festivals - food and music - all coming up!

being social

so we went off to goosefoot for our anniversary and found flowers on the table for us from the owners and staff of the restaurant (really sweet and the flowers were fabulously lovely!)

we celebrated with our last bottle of really high end champagne- a vintage grand dame-

the burgundy was closed but opened up nicely when decanted and aerated -

the scallop course-

the custardy egg course-

Chris's always amazing soup!!!!

the salmon with the espelette-

the "wascally wabbit" - LOL (unbelievably tender chunks of rabbit in a creamy polenta)

the beef-

the cheese and fruit course- blue cheese beignets and cherry soda-

palate cleanser of yuzu and beet juice - so good even Phil likes it! LOL

the fruity dessert followed by the chocolaty dessert-

and a final touch- a passion fruit filled chocolate made by Chef Chris!

a lovely evening - fun to see everyone! - and next up was seeing Kathy & John at Himmel.  The food was only OK there but it was great to catch up with the two of them, since I hadn't seen them since last fall- schedules being what they are... Kathy had some surgery in the spring which had her off the calendar for a bit but she looked good last night (as a matter of fact she looked marvelous!- which is good news)

tonight we explore Korean BBQ with Steph & Emma... then we head into July-

July promises to be quite a bit busier than June - two trips planned (Michigan and Oregon) and two special dinners (42 grams and EL ideas) three different concerts (Mark Cohn, Jackson Browne, and Christine Lavin) a wino party here and two parties "there" (Irene & Richard's and Mon & Beth's) and a visit from our Israeli cousin Iddo!

August brings two more trips (my DART trip with TB and our Canadian Maritime Provinces trip) then we get home - already well into September and have our friend Mac visiting, in the middle of the month, from India (yeah!!!)  and likely other house guests near the end of the month- and Phil has concerts and ball games---

October we have a trip to Italy with Trieste, Venice and Bologna as our destinations, and we hope to see our friends Claus & Evi in Frankfurt on our way back home (we have one night layover there)--- pretty soon it is time to return to the seaside (while I don't want to be in the 90*heat and high humidity weather that they are having now, I do miss being so near the beach and water, outdoor dining without the fumes of Chicago traffic and grouper sandwiches! LOL)

so stay tuned for more fun and games along the way- I promise photos- and will give you the complete run down of the Korean BBQ experience after we have been to Gogi... it sounds wonderful, hope it turns out that way-

oh and I did promise the awning saga but since that is still in process I think I will let it play out before airing my grievances (however I do hope to have that post ready well before Festivus where the ritual airing of grievances is a part of the holiday tradition)

onward and upward....