Molly's Wedding

The whole reason for going to Chicago was for my dear friend Molly's wedding.  We have a long Bryn Mawr history.  We met at Bryn Mawr freshman year in our Intro. French class.  She also lived on the floor above mine in the dorms.  We bounded over our strange roommate experiences.  We continued through all of our French classes together and eventually landed in Paris junior year.  While in France she met Kaspar. 

The wedding was held at the University Club of Chicago.  The room reminded me very much of the Great Hall at Bryn Mawr. It was a great setting for a wedding.

I don't know how I ended up in the worst seat ever for pictures.  This is actually one of the better ones.  Although Molly is a bit lost you can see the big smile on Kaspar's face.

The bride was beautiful and I had such a great time seeing old friends and meeting new.  Molly's family is a big catholic family.  They were all so welcoming and friendly.  We had a marvelous time.

Of course for me, I love seeing what the food will be.  They had a beautiful cake that matched the invitations.  And the squirrel cake toppers were so cute.  I think they might rival my lobsters.

The first course was butternut squash ravioli.  It was very rich and dense; I could have eaten a pot full.  Somehow I missed the picturing the Caesar salad.  I was very happy to have some greens after all of our not-so-healthy dinning in Chicago.

The main course was Amish Chicken.  Not sure what that is exactly but we dined on a split chicken breast with saute onions between.  The sauce was so light and just kept the chicken moist.  My favorite part was the potatoes dauphinoise.

Of course, wedding cake finished the night off.  Mr. J and I left feeling quite old.  We walked out the door around 11:30pm, way past our normal bedtime.  Sunday we were slow getting out the door and I kind of feel like I am still recovering.  Regardless, we had a great time and I was so happy to be able to celebrate the big day with the bride and groom.  Congratulations!

Friday's Favorites: Chicago Eats

Let's just say that thank goodness we walked all over Chicago. Our meals were not that healthy and we need the extra calorie burn to continue fitting into our clothes.

1. Frontera Grill for snacks and a drink.

2. Frontera Grill for a meal.  This is some really good food.  There are so many options it is worth making multiple trips.

3. Chicago-style hot dogs.  I was recommended to go to Hot Doug's  by just about everyone.  Mr. J was so excited to check them out.  Then we realized that ever year they celebrate Columbus day with a little 2 week vacation.  They were closed.  No Hot Doug's dogs for us.  I guess we will just have to go back.  I ended up having another hot dog one day at lunch but I am sure Doug's are a bit better.

4. Italian Beef sandwich dipped.  This was a Chicago tradition that Mr. J couldn't wait to try out.  We ended up at Al's Beef.  He got the large.  It was a gigantic slow roasted beef sandwich with hot peppers and then dipped in au jus. We were told it is the "salt and fat" that makes it good. I was agree with this statement.

5. Stanley's Kitchen and Tap.  Here they serve comfort food at their best.  I found out that on Sunday they have an all you can eat brunch that includes all of the typical breakfast fare including an omelette station but also lots of fried chicken, mac 'n' cheese and biscuits and gravy.  One plate filled me right up.  It was so good.  I think this was some of the best mac 'n' cheese I have ever at.  The best thing about this was it was only $12.99 per person.  Oh and did I mention make your own Bloody Mary bar? 

Frontera Grill

There were two restaurants that I really really wanted to check out in Chicago. One was the Girl and the Goat.  Unfortunately, the time I got around to make reservations the only one available was at 10:45pm Sunday night.  This is way past our bedtime so that was out.  The other restaurant was Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill.  Mr. J and I have a tradition of having a great meal as the first activity of a vacation.  We arrived in Chicago shortly before noon and after leaving our luggage at the Drake we walked over to eat lunch.

Rick Bayless is created with bring fresh Mexican cuisine to the US.  In addition to being a fabulous meal, this was also the birthday meal for Mr. J.  Of course, you cannot eat Mexican food without a Margarita and Mr. J promptly started his meal off with the traditional "limey" Margarita.

Blue Agave Margarita: Cazadores Blanco tequila, Cointreau, fresh lime juice, shaken tableside.  

Entremes Surtido: Appetizer platter of cheesy quesadillas, chicken taquitos with crema, ceviche tostadas, jicama salad & guacamole

We absolutely could not pick what we wanted to have...there were SO MANY options that looked delicious.  Our compromise was an appetizer sampler platter.  There was quite a few different samples and the deal maker was the ceviche.  I enjoyed the jicama salad way more than I could have ever imagined.  Basically after this I was full but when you are at a restaurant like this there is just no reason to stop.

The platter came with a trio of salsas.  The one in the far right corner was a habenero salsa. It is some of the hottest salsa I have ever tasted.  A smidgen on the tip of your fork sets your mouth on fire.  Needless to say Mr. J dumped on his food and then ate making the funniest facial expressions.

Picking an entree was equally as hard. I was leaning toward the make your own duck tacos but our waiter convinced me of the duck entree.  See the tacos just came with the three salsa above. Although they were delicious I wanted something new.  The entree came with a new sauce and tortillas.  I could only eat half of the dish but it was phenomenal. 

Pato en Tlatonile: Wood-grilled Gunthorp duck breast, rustic sauce of toasted sesame, arbol & ancho chiles. Sesame-flavored corn torta, braised City Farm chard with caramelized onions.  

Enchiladas de Mole Poblano: Homemade tortillas rolled around Gunthorp free-range chicken, doused with Mexicos most famous mole. Black beans.

Mr. J got the mole enchiladas.  I find this funny for someone who does not live and die chocolate.  Crazy enough, I love chocolate but don't really care for mole sauce.  The black bean side that came with the meal was my favorite.  If I could back I could just eat a bowl of these black beans.

Cafe Tacuba: Arette blanco tequila, Kahlua, fresh-brewed Intelligentsia Black Cat Espresso and half-and-half, shaken over ice tableside.  

Of course no dinner is ever complete without dessert.  Mr. J opted for a dessert cocktail.  Very strong, very coffee - E and very chocolate - E.

The only disappointment was the dessert.  Although delicious, my ice cream was more like a milkshake.  Mr. J's after dinner drink came and then we waited...and waited.  It was almost 10 minutes later before my ice cream made it to the table in its melty-state.  The taste was great, fresh and sweet.  I only wish it was colder and non-liquid.

Homemade Ice Creams: Salted pecan with brandy & cajeta with dark rum. Topped with homemade cajeta (goat milk caramel) .  

 It's good stuff!  In the end we called this Mr. J's birthday celebration meal.  Happy Birthday Mr. J!

Frontera Grill
445 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60654
Phone: 312-661-1434

Chicago!

Last weekend we were in Chicago.  A lovely friend of mine from Bryn Mawr was getting married and there was no place better I would have been than in Chicago to celebrate the special day with her.  The wedding happened to fall the day before Mr. J's birthday so we decided to make quite the weekend.

We were able to stay at the Drake Hotel.  The place where Princess Diana stayed when she visited Chicago. Marylin Monroe and Joe DiMaggio also frequented the hotel and bar.  It was a very neat building that overlooked Lake Michigan on one side and was the beginning of the famed Magnificent Mile on the other.  Our room ended up being a gigantic corner room.  No, we are not super rich or famous.  We just travel a ton for work.  When I am cursing to myself about a canceled or delayed flight, I think of these perks and my negative thoughts diminish somewhat.

Regardless of the room and location, any hotel that offers Peter Roth Thomas products is a grand in my book.  I made Mr. J store all of the extras in his toiletry bag.

I haven't been to Chicago for at least 10 years.  Mr. J works with Northwestern but stays north of the city when he visits.  One of our favorite things to do in a new city is simply walk around and enjoy the atmosphere. I was in awe of all of the buildings.  We got a three day Chicago Go Pass.  It was on sale for $102 per person which allowed General Admission to basically every tourist attraction for 3 days.  The first thing did was the Architecture Boat Ride on the river.  The only things I know about architecture is from what I read in "Devil in the White City".  It was interesting to learn about the different styles and history of each building.  The views were amazing.

Our passes also got us onto any ride at the Navy Pier.  I was very excited to ride the Ferris wheel.  Although this on is smaller than the first one at the world exposition way back when I was still a bit fearful.  I am not scared of heights but I kept thinking that it was stopping. 

Mr. J may look innocent but he tried to sway the seat a few times.  He was mad because I wouldn't let him sit next to me.  Our little bucket was leaning way too much for my comfort.

The ride was almost 8 minutes.  It was a long 8 minutes in my mind but again the views of the city were amazing!

Millennium Park had this thing we affectionately called "the Bean".  It was a very reflective work of art that you could walk around and underneath.

 This was the only picture we have together but you can see us in the bean.

Among the various activities in the city, we managed to walk north to Wrigley Field.  It was so small. I am used to Fenway which is by no means big but Wrigley was small even compared to Fenway.

More highlights to come, including yummy yummy food sites.   We could not have asked for a better weekend.