Yummy "Milk and Honey" granola

It would seem from the past two postings that I am obsessed with honey.

But in fact Milk and Honey is the name of a cute little cafe here in the Wicker Park area of Chicago where they serve very good breakfast/brunch/lunch. (They also own Milk and Honey Bake Shop where they have yummy cupcakes.) But what they are really known for these days is their homemade granola. Originally used as a topping for the cafe's yogurt parfaits, the granola grew in popularity and demand, and soon were available for purchase at the cafe. You might have seen their granola packaged for purchase in specialty food stores or maybe even your regular grocery store. (They have them at the Whole Foods in my neighborhood where they sell the granola both packaged and in bulk. But then again, we are in Chicago where Milk and Honey Cafe is based). 

I usually like granola anyway, but the Milk and Honey granola blows the rest of the field away. It tastes like manna sprinkled with ambrosia - or at least what that would taste like (which makes me wonder it it has a lot of sugar, but it's so good I'll probably eat it notwithstanding - the website says it is made with whole grain oats, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, almonds and dried cherries combined with hints of coconut, honey and brown sugar.) It's a perfect complement to my super-sour homemade yogurt. 

(pic from milkandhoneygranola.com)

Milk and Honey Cafe
1920 W Division St
Chicago, IL

Milk and Honey Bake Shop
1543 N Damen Ave
Chicago, IL

My continued love affair with Southport Grocery and Cafe

I've mentioned a handful of times already (or maybe just a couple) the vanilla cupcakes at Southport Grocery and Cafe. I think everyone that I know (who likes plain vanilla cupcakes) has proclaimed them the best if not one of the best cupcakes that they have ever had. To quote our florist "I thought my grandmother made the best frosting ever and no one has ever come close. So I was doubtful when someone said this place has the best frosting. But now I stand corrected. Southport Grocery really does have the best buttercream frosting." 

Well, as much as I love cupcakes, one cannot exist on cupcakes alone.... We need real food... like hamburgers. And guess what? Southport Grocery has amazing hamburgers as well. They have fresh thick juicy patties that are molded perfectly with a firm but not too firm hand, seasoned perfectly without much filler. I love their burger buns too, which are not the standard burger buns, with great texture and flavor. And topped with caramelized onions, blue cheese (or Chipotle cheddar), and sour cream. Yum, yum and yum!

We can never have a meal there without ordering one of these burgers and they never fail to satisfy my hunger or my tastebuds. And you know what? They are even tasty as leftovers the next day, as I just found out.

(my photo of my leftover Southport Grocery and Cafe burger - still looks good!)

Southport grocery and cafe
3552 N Southport
Chicago, IL
(773)665-0100

PS. I feel like a walking PR machine for this place. Maybe I should demand some payment in the form of cupcakes?

Martha, you disappoint me...

with your choices for your favorite cupcakes.

(Swirlz' chocolate passion cupcake - pic from marthastewart.com)

I cannot believe that one of your picks for your favorite cupcakes is Swirlz, where cupcakes are pretty, yes, but not particularly of the tasty variety. I remember my friend Sue - a major cupcake connoisseur - and I ordering a bunch of cupcakes and being so disappointed at the waxy texture and tastelessness. This makes me wary of what you promote on the show.... Did you (or your crew) actually taste all the cupcakes before you featured them, or did you just like the way they looked?

If you are going to have cupcakes from Chicago, you should have done your research and had cupcakes from either - Southport Grocery and Cafe, Sensational Bites, Sweet Mandy B's, Alliance Bakery or Milk and Honey Bake Shop...

Please do your research next time.

Let the littering start!

Not quite spring yet here in Chicago....

But despite the unseasonal weather, baseball season has started. And all the hordes of Cubs fans are making their way to Wrigley. 

And littering our lawn in the process....

Go Cubs! 

You know I don't like chain restaurants...

As many of my friends know, I have an aversion to restaurant chains. 

To me, they are impersonal, uninspirational and serve usually mediocre and bland if not over-sauced fare. I mean, let's face it, your chefs and servers in these chain restaurants don't really care about the food and how to improve the restaurant and the food.  If I ever do go into an Appleby's, Chili's, TGI Friday's or anything else out there, it's not of my own accord and I couldn't do anything to prevent it.  I would rather go to an unproved run-down looking local joint any day. 

Which brings me to last night's little surprise... Shaw's Crab house. I know that it's not your run of the mill chain restaurant with locations all over the country with frozen fries coming straight from a box. But they are a huge restaurant institution, with a dining room, oyster bar and a regular bar in two locations, one in the suburbs in Schaumburg and owned by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (which owns 33 restaurants, some really chain-like with multiple locations like Maggiano's and some definitely not chain-like like Everest or Tru). And anytime, the management of a restaurant goes above the duties of managing just one restaurant, I tend to see them more like a chain, as in the case of Shaw's. 

I had been avoiding Shaw's since my arrival in Chicago, preferring to go to smaller places like Davis Street Fishmarket for my fix of oysters (which from my previous posts about oysters you might have guessed are some of my favorite food and I get a craving for it quite often). However, with the limitation of time and distance (due to our 8:15 tickets to Juno at the downtown AMC) and my huge craving for oysters the whole day yesterday, we decided to give Shaw's a try. Another thing that added in our decision was the happy hour oyster special - 1/2 off oysters from 4pm to 6pm. How in the world could I resist that??

Instead of the main dining room, we opted for the oyster bar, of course. It was pretty full, I am guessing due to all the oyster affectionados swooping down like vultures for the oyster happy hour. We had pretty good oysters. They were very fresh but not the best, which might be due more to the type of oysters that we had gotten - Island Creek and Kumamotos. Both tasty but not quite as briny and flavorful as what I had wanted... (I think I was craving the ones we had in Korea... I'll have to find out what varietal it was...) But definitely better than most of the oysters that I have gotten in Chicago.  The king crab legs were absolutely delicious too. Perfectly cooked and seasoned, so I was licking my fingers and sucking on the shells in the end. But what won me over more than the food, was actually the atmosphere - the whole room centering around the huge oyster bar, with a ton of retro charm.  

Did this change my view on chain restaurants? 

Most definitely not. Just made me think that Shaw's is not a chain restaurant. And I can't wait to go back for the next "oyster" happy hour!

PS. How do you like the photos taken with my new Nikkor 50mm f/1.8? Still experimenting, but I likey likey so far!!

Shaw's Crab House (and Oyster Bar)

21 E Hubbard St

Chicago, IL

(312) 527-2722

Good Friday means....

Fish and chips for me!

This is a habit that I picked  up in Toronto, which unfortunately is difficult to keep up in a fish-n-chip poor town like Chicago. There are no fish-n-chip shops that I know of anywhere. Pretty much the only places that have fish-n-chips here are the bars, which usually serve mediocre fish-n-chips (at best). There are some that are better than others, but for the most part, the fish-n-chips here tastes... (for lack of a better word) stale. It lacks the lightness packed with flavor. It's usually flavorful but greasy or soggy, crispy and light but tasteless. It is so bad, that the best place that I have found for fish-n-chips was the food court at Marshall Field's on State Street (now Macy's). Pretty surprising in a town full of Irish immigrants, and town filled with so many great cheap eateries. But then again, I guess this is the meat and potatoes kind of town....

So tonight, I am making my own. Wish me luck. But better yet, if you know of a great fish-n-chip place in Chicago, let me know!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Have you been enjoying the festivities this year?

Being in Chicago, it's difficult not to get into the Irish spirit of things with so many parades, Irish bars and people with (at least a bit of) Irish heritage......  

My favorite part of any St. Patrick's celebration is the Irish music and dancing.  I especially love watching the cute little kids in costume. In Chicago, there's the Trinity Academy of Irish dance, which is world famous. They're always performing in all the St. Patrick's celebrations and have been featured on Martha Stewart, Today Show etc. Here's a clip from Martha.  

I wish that I could be so lightfooted....

You want curry with that?

Since St. Paddy's day is just around the corner, we got into the Irish mood of things by going to one of our favorite Irish bars, Cullens. 

Of course, I had my fav bar grub, fish and chips. And as I was about to order, I noticed the entry of curry fries on the menu. Sounds a little disgusting...... but interesting. So I ordered a side of curry sauce along with my order of fish and chips and a pint of Smithwick's.

What we expected was an interesting way to eat fries...

What we got was one of the most delicious, delectable ways to eat fries. 

I can see why the British and the Irish love fries with curry. (btw, it almost tastes like gravy but better since it has a kick).

(pic from simplycurries.com)

Cullen's Bar and Grill

3741 N. Southport Ave. 

Chicago, IL

(773)975-0600

Is it the start

of Spring?

After months and months of freezing temperatures, the weather today will finally be breaking the 40s. Is this a sign of spring? 

Meh. With our luck this year Chicago will likely see another month of cold and snow. 

(photography from jeremyfloyd.com)

Trendy restaurants...

Last night we had dinner at Japonais. 

(photo from Gusto.com)

Japonais is a popular Japanese restaurant here in Chicago. So popular in fact that they have opened new posts in NYC and Las Vegas. Although I hear that Chicago is still their best location. 

I had been there a few times before, once for dinner and a few times to have drinks in the lounge downstairs. The lounge is actually fabulous for drinks especially in the summer with the patio opening up to the Chicago River, although the drinks tend to be pricey for Chicago.

But the restaurant?

Not my favorite place to have sushi, or other dishes for that matter. It's not that the dishes are bad. Because most dishes are pretty tasty, and the sushi is good (although not great). In fact, the spring rolls we had with lobster yesterday were some of the best spring rolls we had were some of the best spring rolls I have had and the filet mignon with the uni butter was cooked to perfection and enhanced with the scrumptuous sauce. 

  

It might be that dishes feel overpriced? I know that for the exact same dish, I can get the same dish from Mirai (another Japanese place from the same owners) for cheaper. Especially, in terms of sushi, I can get it better and cheaper at Mirai (and other sushi joints such as my fav Katsu). It might be that the dishes usually feel gimicky (like "The Rock") and over-sauced (like the oyster appetizer). But more than anything, I think it has to do with the fact that they are too trendy, seemingly caring too much about cool decor rather than service or the food. 

Is it a sign that I am getting old that I am not liking the super-trendy restaurants?

Japonais

600 W Chicago Ave

Chicago, IL

(312)822-9600

The best restaurants

Just came back from dinner at a local tapas restaurant, Azucar.  

(although as always, it wasn't quite a "local" restaurant for us, but rather a 15 minute drive away in Logan Square.) 

It just made me realize yet again that the best restaurants aren't necessarily the most expensive, most experimental or the most lauded restaurants. But rather the restaurants that really care about the food and the customers. And the ones that you really feel comfortable in. 

We had what is some of the best pork tenderloin that we have had in a while, without breaking the bank. The presentation, preparation, the flavor combination was what I would have expected from an entree that costs $30 in a **** restaurant.  But, it cost us only $10 and we didn't need a reservation, nice clothes or a big checkbook. 

These places, are in my opinion, the best restaurants (even if some of their other stuff was not quite as stellar as the pork)!

Darn! Wish I had taken some photos!

Azucar Tapas Restaurant and Cocktail Bar

2647 N. Kedzie

Chicago, IL

(773) 486-6464 

Craving cupcakes

(image from Southportgrocery.com)

Staying at home today. 

Don't get me wrong. It's actually one of those days that I am so busy that I can't even spare the time to go into the office (or the lab in my case). Funny though that I can find time to blog...

Sitting at home, I've been craving cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes, but cupcakes from Southport grocery and cafe - proclaimed as having "the best cupcakes in Chicago" by many - including Chicago magazine and myself. It's quite easy to get these cravings at home since Southport Grocery is only a couple blocks away. 

The pic looks good doesn't it? I can tell you that these cupcakes taste even better than they look, especially the vanilla. They stick with the basics at Southport Grocery, only making chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. But sometimes simplicity allows you to really appreciate the flavors and textures. The cake itself is soft, moist and light. And the buttercream is rich and sugary yet surprisingly light. 

The best cupcake I've ever had! And the one I'm craving.

PS. Yes. I have had Magnolia's cupcakes in NY and they don't even come close!  

Southport grocery and cafe

3552 N Southport

Chicago, IL

(773)665-0100

Total Eclipse~

of the....

(pic from Chicagoist)

A total lunar eclipse will occur tonight. 

The eclipse will start at precisely 7:43pm (CST) and the total eclipse is to last from 9pm to 9:51pm. 

For those of you living in Chicago, you can go to the Adler Planetarium, where they are raising the roof and you can view the lunar eclipse through theie super-fancy telescopes. Or you can be like me and view from your back deck with your naked eye ... and a normal telescope. 

A regular Friday night

Last night we spent the night doing what we normally love to do on a Friday night.

(L pic from planet99, Sushi Mike's pic from mmmchicago)

First, start out at one of our favorite neighborhood haunts, Tanoshii (although it is not quite in our neighborhood) for the most affordable, fresh uni. Of course there are many other things that Sushi Mike, at Tanoshii is known for, like the fish-n-chips (which is actually spicy and tangy tartare of tuna, salmon with tobiko on fried chips. Yum!), and all his inventive rolls. But I am somewhat of a purist and love having uni, hamachi, ama-ebi, chutoro, namasake, maguro nigiri pieces. Especially uni. And we know that Mike gets in his batch of fresh uni on Friday, which we do not hesitate to lighten his load.   
At Mike's we order uni and we get uni prepared in a variety of ways. We've had uni nigiri with nori and without nori, on cucumber and my favorite way - uni on a spoon. Not too many places would cater to you that way. But Mike loves trying out new combinations as much as we do. And Uni on a Spoon is definitely a winner.

(pic from Chicago Reader Blogs)

After we stuff ourselves with sushi, we walked a couple blocks down to Pasticceria Natalina for the best cannolis and puff pastries on this side of the Atlantic. And we walked out with more than we can eat. Unfortunately, yesterday, they were out of cannolis by the time we got there. (Not surprising since unlike other places the cannolis at Pasticceria Natalina has feather-light sheep's milk ricotta filled to order and everyone loves them!) So instead, we got the lobster tail pastry with the same ricotta filling and the "tartufo" (called tartufo, but basically dark chocolate puff pastry). And Natalie gave us a freebie to take home with us, the cream puff with candied coating, which ended up being our favorite.  Will have to go back again soon for a cannoli and their rum cake, which they told us they are starting again next week. 

And pretty much comatose from all the food, we came back home and watched the 6th season of 24 on dvd. 

What a perfect night!

Tanoshii

5547 N Clark St

Chicago, IL 

773-878-6886

Pasticceria Natalina

5406 N Clark St 

Chicago, IL

773-989-0662

The great pizza debate

Deep dish or thin crust?
 
For me it's not even close. Thin crust all the way, baby. 

It's too bad that I live in Chicago, where the best deep dish pizzerias in the world reside but a decent thin crust is not to be found. And believe me, I've tried all the ones which have even half of a reputation- D'agostino's, Pat's etc etc... What I would give to have a Lombadi's or Grimaldi's within reach.....

I have long since given up on thin crust pizza in Chicago and relegated myself to either Homemade Pizza Co or making my own with the America's Test Kitchen recipe. If you know of a pizzeria in Chicago that will renew my faith in Chicago thin-crusts, please let me know!

Schwa is back!

I have a new favorite restaurant and it's name is Schwa.

After 3 months of closing, chef Michael Carlson has re-opened his much-accoladed restaurant to the delight of many diners. And we were lucky enough to nab a table soon after the re-opening.

Here are the 10-courses that we had last night.

1) Amuse - grapefruit - sweet and tangy goodness

2) Jonah crab - crabs in vinegar with bananas, celery and coriander

3) Beer cheese soup - pretzel tasting soup with a small pretzel side and dijon mustard crisp. 

4) Pad thai - jellyfish in pad thai sauce

4.1) Intermezzo- Uni ice cream - Need I say more? Loved it! 

5) Arctic char roe - with pumpernickel, lemon, rutabaga - I'm just not a fan of pumpernickel but everything else worked. And the shot of rutabaga was fantastic!

6) Kona kampachi - with galangal, lime, maple - This was one of my favorite dishes , but I FORGOT to take a picture!

7) Liver and onions

8) Antelope - 2 ways - with white chocolate and butternut

9) Cheese - Humboldt fog  

10) Dessert - Flan - Michael and the chefs say that this is their favorite. 

Everything was simply perfection! Hope to go back very soon, if we can get another reservation, that is. (There are no waiters. The chefs server, wait and take the reservations. Hence, you almost never talk to a person for the rsvp. You leave a message and hope for the best.)

Schwa 

1466 N Ashland Ave

(773) 252-1466

Should I bake a cake?

Tomorrow is my dear husband's birthday. As it is the first birthday celebration after our wedding, I thought I would actually bake a birthday cake for him. How cute would it be to be waiting at home with a cute little cake that I have baked? 

But, alas...... I have been given the cooking genes, but have been passed over as far as the baking genes go. My past baking fiascos have taught me not to even try anything unless it involves a Betty Crocker box and pre-made icing, which is probably what I'll end up doing. Funny that I can cook, but can't bake for the life of me. 

But I do know someone here in Chicago that can bake cakes wonderfully. Actually, there are quite a few great bakeries, but this particular one stood out when I was doing research for our wedding. We ended up getting married in Mexico so couldn't get our cakes from them.....

They are The Cake Girls. Take a look at their beautiful cakes!

Beautiful, no? 

The Cake Girls

2207 W Belmont Avenue Chicago, IL

(773) 404-3147