Sweet Willie

Is it Graeter's or Virginia Bakery that has the cheese crowns? THANKS MUCH MichaelB FOR THE ADDRESSES!

Is Servattii's still open? It would be very appreciated if some locals please post some addresses to the above places. My searches haven't been productive.

Yes, that is the big yellow sign restaurant right? I've been quite pleased with a few items we've tried from there, we need to get back there soon, we've been so happy w/Pad Thai that we keep forgetting to go back to Crabs & Things. Next sushi dining will be at Sushi Station.

no, I didn't, not yet. Went again for breakfast recently, found out that they no longer serve Frushi on weekdays, just weekends

great photos

The Thai restaurant is Pad Thai which I wrote up here, VERY good, perhaps some of the best Thai in the burbs. Have tried Kampai a few times recently, quality is really hit/miss. Some really well executed/unique items, then some really horrible ones like serving cheap nasty store bought dumplings, deep frying them and then putting some of the teriyaki like sauce on them that covers unagi. We will go back seeing as there are some really good items and it is sooooo close to home.

Miss June's was indeed closed when we were there, oh well. The Four Seasons Nevis (FSN) is not a super luxury resort in terms of the materials used to build it, in every other way it was a terrific resort. The staff at the FSN was some of the best I've run into (including Asia); in fact even the taxi drivers were full of info and terrific to talk with when riding in their vehicle. From spraying the beaches to keep sand flies at bay to being incredibly prompt with any request, the FSN lived up to my self made hype surrounding the trip. An example: I caught a 40lb Mahi Mahi from a fishing charter that picks you up right at the resorts pier (make sure you ask for Capt Claude, GREAT CAPTAIN!!!, knew his stuff and was very service oriented). The fish was a great fight. Upon return to the pier, Capt Claude filleted one side and put the 10 lbs of fillets in a plastic bag for me. (protocol is to give 1/2 the catch to the Capt). I walked up to the concierge at 11:30am and stated I would like this cooked for myself and 10 others. Chef Timothy of the cabana called me in our room as I was cleaning up after fishing to state that he would love to take his time and prepare a wonderful dinner for us. I mentioned that tonight was our last night on the island and there was a group awards dinner, his reply was "no problem, I'll have it ready for your group at 1pm". Let me say that that was some of the finest fish I have EVER had, just incredible, grilled w/just a hint of jerk to accent the fresh flavor of the recently caught fish. Chef Timothy also prepared a family style salad and some sides to feed the group. Man what a meal!!! All meals were very good at the FSN, there was more than enough variety that one staying a week would probably not get bored eating the same item. The resort is made up of groups of two story buildings with 8-14 rooms in each buiding, ground floor rooms have a nice patio and the upper rooms have a large screened porch. There is a quiet pool if the noise elsewhere gets to you. Tons of hammocks all over the property The spa is wonderful, the comforts and pampering were terrific. There are two small pool areas, one that overlooks the mountain and one with a 5' waterfall. Both have 4 lounge chairs and are shaded. You have full access to these areas all day on the day of receiving any spa treatment. I golf but not while on vacation. Those that did gave the course high marks. Water taxi service can be arranged to/from ST Kitts if you land on that island. Some of our group took it over for an evening of gambling on St Kitts. Had dinner twice away from the resort. One night we went up to the Montpelier Inn http://www.montpeliernevis.com/ The dinner and view were wonderful. The pool sucked as it is very crowded and narrow. I don't think I would have been happy if we had stayed here. The other place was (I’ll have to review my notes, I forget the name of this place and with good reason, very mediocre) Some went to Sunshine's next door to the FSN for a rum drink called a killer bee, heard it was good and cheap as well. Others went out to dinner at Bananas located at Cliffdwellers http://www.cliffdwellers.org/index3.html it is so steep that there is actually a tram that takes you up to the restaurant. Only negative was that our company’s sales trips are always in the months of May or June due to our fiscal year end. As a result the temp was a low of 80F degrees with lots of humidity. I melt when it is above 75 so I was not too happy about that. The FSN lobby is open air and it was not that comfortable for me to enjoy a Cuban cigar and drink w/the temps and humidity.

← I went to Paradise Pup over the weekend. Burger w/grilled onions was wonderful, EASY to see why it is in the top 5 listed. The egg challah bun is very good and fresh The Merkt's cheddar fries, made with REAL CHEESE, not cheese sauce crap were great. They taste better as the cheese cools a bit. I prefer the regular crinkle cut fries as opposed to the seasoned fries. A black cherry drink was a refreshing change of pace from my usual ice tea or lemonade choice.

Am down on Nevis now, Miss June's is closed for a couple weeks

Arun Sampanthavivat of Arun’s restaurant fame is working w/Jordan Mozer on design of Shanghai Club, an upscale Chinese restaurant opening in the old Biggs mansion (1150 N Dearborn St) in early summer.

just earned a trip to the Four Seasons on Nevis, woo-hoo! Had read about a place called Miss Junes http://www.missjunes.com anyone been?

What did you find? I had dined at Phil's Bar-B-Que @ 9205 Gravois Rd. in south St. Louis. 314-631-7725. Place I understand has been going for 40 years now, too bad IMO they don't understand BBQ, not memorable.

Amusee to start: spring roll (not fried) of shaved shallot, bean sprouts, shaved celery with a vinaigrette. Appetizers: Duo of Vietnamese Spring Rolls. Cold: slow roasted pork, shrimp, sweet spicy shallots and Warm: Chicken, vermicelli, four pepper vinaigrette. Also Banh Xeo. Entrees: Roast Duck Breast w/Seared Foie Gras. Lemongrass duck rillette, confit of plum, creamy polenta, green cardamom jus. Roasted Rack of Lamb w/Red Curried Loin. Fennel salad, sweet coconut gnocchi, eggplant chutney. Amusee was a wonderful way to start. Banh Xeo was ok, but also included on this plate were a couple deep fried mushrooms w/a light batter over a marinated mushroom salad. Also crispy pork belly served w/a chopped mango salsa. Mushrooms and crispy pork belly were terrific. The duck and foie gras were cooked perfectly so pretty hard to mess that combination up. The lamb rack and loin were two of the best pieces of lamb I’ve ever had, so full of flavor. Combined w/the salad and chutney made this a very enjoyable dish. A couple flights of Pinot Noir were the wine of choice for us. With an Executive Chef of Roland Liccioni along w/Chef Arun (yes that Arun) Sampanthavivat, I expected more out of Le Lan. Menu and the flavors we experienced are more in the French category rather than Viet. Le Lan Restaurant 749 North Clark Street Chicago 312.280.9100 http://www.lelanrestaurant.com

So I couldn’t help myself and just had to try Hot Chocolate, thanks to Ronnie’s awesome power of persuasion. Started w/mussels done in a green curry, diced red pepper, creamy broth that I’m pretty sure contained coconut milk. Mussels were quite good and fresh, diced red pepper was not necessary except as eye appeal. The creamy curry was very good to dip the piece of crusty bread into. Next was Napoleon of Canasta Pardo consisting of crispy phyllo, caramelized apples and a date puree with shards of sharp, rich, moist cheddar cheese. The cheese was heavenly and as I ate, I came to the conclusion that I wanted only the cheese (and some more of that crusty bread). I think next time I will go with the cheese selection. Entrée of Kobe Beef. Unless the Gov has relaxed their laws, I did not think that true Japanese Kobe was allowed into the US, so I’ll assume it was Waygu or some American Kobe. Entrée consisted of seared Kobe skirt steak, string potato fries, olive oil roasted grape tomatoes w/a creamy mini cup of a cheese sauce not mentioned on the menu but I’m guessing some sort of gorgonzola. I was fortunate to have Kobe beef in Japan a few times but it was not skirt steak, it just melted in my mouth. The Kobe effect with this dish, a semi tough skirt steak was lost on me. None the less it is a good cut of beef and was even better w/a bit of the cheese sauce on it. With all that I only had room to try a small hot chocolate called a Black & Tan which is 1/3 hot fudge and 2/3 medium hot chocolate. Quite tasty, I wish I had room for the Banana, which was graham cracker tuiles layered w/caramelized bananas, roasted banana cream, butterscotch, hot fudge and a “one banana, two banana” surprise. Other starters included: Rabbit Rillette, Ruree (puree?) of Asparagus, Chopped Tuna Salad, Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese salad, Mixed Greens Salad. Other Entrées included: Brie in Brioche served warm with a salad of seasonal mushrooms, asparagus, and parsley. Tuna Melt sandwich with mayo, wild capers, roasted red peppers, havarti cheese on toasted ciabatta. Chicken and Bacon sandwich w/avocado and honey mustard aioli. As you can imagine with Segal, there are a ton of desserts and many people were ordering just the sweets. Don’t sit at the bar if you don’t have to, I found the chairs uncomfortable. The only real negative was the fork design. It just never fit well in my hand. First time I’ve ever had problems with utensils! Hot Chocolate 1747 North Damen Chicago 773.489.1747

how did you like it?

We'll be there for 3 full days.

This pizza will not travel well at all, make sure you're eating in the car to enjoy fully.

Those are in my top 5 for sure. I've never really understood going for an Italian (or some other European) meal when there is soo much good local cooking around.

BEWARE of any BBQ place that dumps a ton of sauce on the que so that you can’t even see the meat, is exactly what was screaming through my head as the waitress at Smokin’ Woody’s set my three meat combo platter down in front of me. I had tried the beef brisket, pulled pork and rib tips combo, what I was served looked like BBQ sauce soup w/three lumps I assumed were my three meats. Beef Brisket, again, why do I even bother!!??, The brisket here was almost like it had been steamed, sliced and BBQ sauce dumped on it, there was no smoked flavor to it whatsoever. I’m an eternal optimist that believes some chef in Chicago is going to have been to Texas, tried beef brisket down there and cook it here. The sauce is a far second though to the actual smoked piece of meat, after many many BBQ places, I’ve come to the conclusion that the chefs in Chicago don’t get it, but that stupid eternal optimist in me will search on. Pulled pork. It was ok, but again, they have this smoker. USE IT!!!! The pork had a slightly smoked flavor. I would not get it again. Rib Tips turned out to be ribs, which were actually quite tasty. I wouldn’t go out of my way for them, but they were sure decent for north side BBQ. Smokin’ Woody’s 4160 N Lincoln Ave Chicago 773.880.1100 Hours: M-W 11:30-9, Thurs 11:30-10, Fri-Sat 11:30-11, Sun 12-9

Went to the Morton's last night, Excess! (but what did I expect? ) Morton’s 48oz Porterhouse Steak for $84, The waiter’s quote “tonight our lobsters are averaging between 3 ½ to 4 ¼ pounds” My “normal” size porterhouse was a very good steak, one of the best I’ve had lately. Sautéed mushrooms were terrific, full of flavor. Garlic mash potatoes were good as well. Contrary to our table, I did not like the creamed spinach. Desserts disappoint! Go elsewhere for your sweet nightcap. Just this morning I sautéed and put the leftover steak and mushrooms along with some scrambled eggs on a burrito with some fresh home made guacamole. YES, so good.

I’m a little (ok, VERY) bothered when a restaurant does not have their signature item. Such was the case this morning at Orange on Harrison. No Frushi! While I enjoyed my pear/cantaloupe juice (GREAT juice combination) I gravitated towards the steak benedict. I’m not normally an AM steak guy, but this morning I was. An excellent cut of steak, prepared perfectly to my medium rare w/two poached eggs, hollandaise and a bit of balsamic reduction all sitting atop a thick piece of brioche toast. Great breakfast, hit the spot. Now if I can only get to try this Frushi.

I still have to disagree about June in the Caribbean. Staying here: http://www.fourseasons.com/nevis/ and will probably rent a car for a couple days to get around. How about you?

JUNE! Why the heck would I want to go to the Caribbean during JUNE (free trip or not)!??!!! It's nice almost everywhere in the US by May. I'd rather have the $, even 50% of what the company is paying for myself and spouse to go. Anyhow, back to the food, enough rant, A new associate working here, stated that a place called Sunshines next to the Four Seasons prepares (to quote) "Awesome" lobster. I'm not a big fan of warm water lobster but am a fan of getting off of the resort so we'll probably go. Montpelier came highly recommended.

Hi creepygirl, I'm heading to SanDiego at the end of April, How was your trip? Willie

Thanks for posting. Is someone local planning an eG gathering to go to this roast? sounds great to me, I would fly in if my schedule allows.