It’s St. Lucia day, the kickoff to the holiday season in Sweden, If you’re feeling festive in Chicago, you can get some fresh-baked Pepparkakor at one of the best Swedish bakeries in Chicago, the aptly-named Swedish Bakery (5348 N Clark St # 1, Chicago, IL 60640).
Pepparkakor by ProBonoBaker
Mia Francesca
3311 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL
We are pretty picky about Italian food. Finally, the hipsters get some good Italian food! For now, we’re believing the hype, Mia Francesca is a good enough restaurant to merit all the crowding and ink it gets. The menu changes every six days, so return customers (us, soon?) will be pleased. The place itself is crowded and noisy, and big groups fill the upstairs dining room. However, the atmosphere is convivial rather than chaotic. Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to hear your dining partner talk. When the sun shines, terrace dining is available, too. The service at MF is friendly and efficient, providing a bottomless supply of water and bread.
Natural and fresh, the food is worth more than a passing nod. With a wide range of rustic and satisfying central-Italian pizza, pasta and meat dishes, there is something for everyone. For starters, the rarely seen appetizer of Carpaccio (raw, thinly-sliced sirloin steak) makes a flavorful appearance. Pasta dishes are big enough for two, and if you say you’re splitting, they’ll divide up the meal for you in advance (with no splitting fee). The cheese ravioli with garlic-alfredo sauce was a cheese-lovers heaven. For dessert, MF provides a selection of gelati, tiramisu and cakes. The molten chocolate lava cake topped with vanilla gelato was out of this world, gooey and chocolately enough to please even the biggest dessert snob. For less than 20 bucks per person we left satiated, and very, very happy. As plus for people living outside the city proper – there are several suburban “Francesca” locations.
Filed under Reviews
So, I tried for the first time my Mariage Frères tea – and it was worth the expense. The cost was 20 euros [!!!] for a 100gm tin of Thé sur le Nil, a green tea mixed with citrus and spices. Green tea, sadly is probably my least favorite type of tea, but now I might be a believer. The quality of the tea is amazing. Each leaf is probably 1+” long which puts the “whole leaf” teas sold commonly in the US to shame. The instructions on the tin said to steep 3 grams for 4 minutes, so I did and I’m telling you – this is the best green tea I have ever tasted in my life. After the recommended 4 minutes of steeping, the tea was sweet, light, delicate and fruity. I didn’t even need to add any sugar.
Now I just need to find a way to get back to the store to get some more.
Filed under Finer Things Club
5255 N. Clark St
Chicago, IL
While most middle-eastern restaurants conjure up images of dark, tapestry-lined rooms with low tables and hookahs, Reza’s obliterates these stereotypes, with a bright, airy ambiance and exposed brick walls. Located in the heart of ever-eclectic Andersonville, Reza’s serves up a variety of delicious Persian dishes in a friendly atmosphere. The service is pleasant and on a typical night, the large restaurant is packed and buzzing. The menu is expansive and the portions are generous. Dinner entrees come with a cup of soup, a basket of pita bread and a plate of feta, parsley, onions and radishes as an appetizer. Even without this appetizer, the hearty dinners are big enough for two to share. Reza’s rice-heavy dishes may not be the most authentic or spicy, but they are certainly filling.
Particularly notable are Reza’s kebabs that come in seasoned ground beef, filet mignon, chicken and lamb varieties. Served over a bed of couscous (on request) or dill-spiced rice, these simple, hearty dishes will please even the pickiest eater. A wide variety of desserts (baklava, yum) and drinks (sangria and more) finish off the night well. However, if you are a tea snob beware that their Persian tea is usually steeped too long and is very bitter! All in all, Reza’s is definitely great for a crowd (which is the only way we have ever gone) – especially if you get a couple of the Vegetarian samplers, which include dolmeh, falafel, kashkeh bodemjan (eggplant dip), hummus, and tabbouli.
Filed under Reviews
One of the absolute best things you can have as a snack is gelato (even if it is below freezing out). So of course, I couldn’t help myself when I passed this coffeeshop/gelateria combo, Linz and Vail (2012 Central Street, Evanston, IL). The shop is tiny and cute, with a window counter in the main room, and a small dining room with comfy chairs, a few tables and… A box of Mr. Potato Heads. Linz & Vail serves Intelligensia coffee, which will probably appeal to the caffeine-inclined, but I made a beeline for the homemade gelato.
A single scoop cost about four bucks with tax, but had the neat option of allowing you to choose up to 4 flavors for your cup. I chose chocolate and nutella: other options were Stracciatella (chocolate chip), Pistachio, Coffee, Vanilla, and Lemon (I hear it changes daily). All in all, the gelato was good, but not amazing. The flavors were great, but the texture seemed a little light, I’m for dense gelato, so that put me off a bit. The chocolate was better than the nutella, which almost tasted like it was whipped. All in all, it was definitely tasty – plus the staff was very polite and friendly, which I cannot say for some other coffeeshops I’ve been to recently.
Filed under Reviews
Duck Walk
919 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL
The hipsters that the Eaters are, we tend to frequent the Belmont Ave. area on the north side of Chicago. Conveniently tucked away into a small niche mere feet from the Red Line Belmont station’s exit lies the veritable Thai culinary fiesta that is Duck Walk. The actual seating area is small, the bathroom is ungodly tiny, but the food is great. I (M) had the Rama chicken of course, which I say is probably the best I’ve had thus far. The peanut sauce, always the key to a great Rama chicken dish, was excellent: not too spicy, but not too bland, and plenty thick enough to pack the power that normal peanut butter would. The broccoli garnish was very well cooked (most other places tend to dry out their broccoli) and the chicken morsels were very nice, on par with another Eater favorite, Star of Siam.
But Duck Walk added their own special touch – a slice of orange on top of the rice plate provided with the meal. While this may not seem like much, the orange’s flavor and juiciness perfectly complemented the meal, adding an extra dimension to an already fantastic dining experience. And all for just $6.25, a lower price than I’ve found at any other restaurant. Simply excellent! If you are lucky enough to eat there for weekday lunch, an entree and appetizer combo is available for less than six dollars.
Filed under Reviews
Hannah’s Bretzel
180 W. Washington St.
Chicago, IL
A revelation! Somewhere to eat in the loop for lunch or after work. That is – somewhere that isn’t Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks. You can find this little, 4-seater organic cafe on the corner of Washington and Wells, next to Corner Bakery. The specialty is the Bretzel, the proper German appellation of “pretzel”, which you can get with nutella, preserves or cream cheese. Alongside this eponymous specialty, HB makes a mean gourmet sandwich (Turkey, gruyere, and many more). For a snack or pick-me-up, the store is also jam-packed with a selection of coffee/tea drinks and a mind-blowing assortment of international organic chocolates. In fact there is an entire wall of chocolates for the choosing.
HB claims to be the only organic restaurant in the loop. No preservatives, no splenda, and no american cheese (praise!). Even the drink cups are made from a biodegradable corn material. All in all, we are in love with HB, and we recommend all of our Chicago friends check it out. The grub is great, the price is right, and you won’t be supporting the chain-restaurant regime. Plus, it sure as hell beats Auntie Anne’s.
[edit] A HB location recently opened at 233 N Michigan Avenue.
Filed under Reviews
{{photo: Wall of Teapots at Mariage Frères, Paris}}
Teas in our cabinets right now: did we mention we love tea? favorites have *
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Filed under Finer Things Club, Note
While the eaters have never been to Brazil, we know two things – we like bread and we like cheese. A lot! We also like cooking new foods. We have a long queue of dishes we are excited to make eventually, and Pão de queijo (Cheese bread in Portuguese) has jumped right to the top. A typical snack food in Brazil and Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina (where they are known as is known as chipás or cuñapés), these little pods of butter and cassava flour contain nothing but gooey cheese. We found a chipá recipe from fellow WordPresser Pip in the city that we are dying to try out. We will let you know how it goes.
Filed under Recipes, World Eats
Right now I (L) am craving orxata de xufes (horchata de chufas), a Spanish drink of tigernuts and sugar with water. It is extremely uncommon (at least I’ve never seen it) in the US, where the Mexican horchata, which is rice-based, dominates. True, it’s a warm weather drink, and it’s freezing cold here – but some brutally cold orxata de xufes would really hit the spot.
{photo} The Boqueria Market in Barcelona, home of awesome Orxata. Maybe I should write more about this market later.
Filed under Finer Things Club
1016 Church Street
Evanston, IL
http://www.thaisookdee.com/
Thai is one of our favorite cuisines – so for a nice easy dinner in, we decided to get some delivery from a local joint (Eater 2 has previously eaten in at the restaurant, and it is pleasant and clean, if a little cavernous). Thai Sookdee is good, comforting, Thai food, but not extraordinarily authentic, so if you are really into spice and heat, this probably isn’t the place.
Eater 1 had Rama Broccoli, also known elsewhere as Pra Ram Long Song, a tasty dish of chicken, thick peanut-chili sauce and rice. The dish was good, but there was a little too much broccoli in relation to the chicken, but that’s a usual issue with Rama dishes – and broccoli is healthier anyway…. Eater 2 had Pad See Eiw, another favorite. The dish was very solid and had good amounts of broccoli, egg and chicken and a balanced soy-based sauce. Unlike some Pad See Eiws the sauce was not greasy and the noodles were not the extremely wide kind that get gummy. We had crab rangoon for an appetizer, which was crispy, tasty and perfectly bite-sized. The sweet chili dipping sauce that came with was also excellent.
All in all, it was a very satisfying meal, and we’ll probably return. Only drawback was the rice was a la carte (50 cents for a small, 1 dollar for a large – which was VERY large). Pet Peeve!
Filed under Reviews
Prinz Myshkin
Hackenstrasse 2
Munich, Germany
A vegetarian restaurant in the heart of a country known for its obsession with meat products typically wouldn’t have been our first choice. But after an adventurous day in Munich, the eaters decided to give this highly-recommended establishment a try. The minimalist, upscale central room with all white walls was an inviting contrast to the overcast day outside, and the food definitely completed the experience.
The menu was international fare, ranging from East Asian sitr-frys and Indian lassis, to pizzas and crepes. We felt like going Italian on this day, ordering two of Prinz Myshkin’s pasta dishes. The tagliatelle tartufa, with truffels, marscapone, and cream was rich and flavorful without the gut-busting portions typical of many American restaurants. The tagliatelle amanda, with tomato cream, hazelnuts, and oyster mushrooms was so well balanced and subtly flavored that it actually made Eater 1 reconsider his dislike of mushrooms altogether. After the main course, we ordered a small pot of tea to bring the meal to a close. As we sipped, we discussed the polite but never pushy service, the chic but not overwhelming decor, and the food that consisted of what was easily our finest meal in Germany.
Filed under Reviews
There’s definitely some low-hanging fruit we can pick off here. These following restaurants are missing from our repertoire, and we know we can hit them fairly easily: Poland, Belize, Philippines, Austria, Cambodia, Russia.
We even found an Uzbek restaurant, but I wouldn’t consider that low-hanging fruit….
Filed under Note
Welcome to “Eating the world” – our new blogging adventure (with lots of food).
Filed under Note
Eating The World 