brr

any truth to this?

Congratulations Chapter One on attaining a Michelin star!

Bistro Bis, Charlie Palmer Steak and Johnnys Half Shell are all within a 5 minute walk of the hotel....and are all in the price range you mention

anyone been recently? we'll be staying at the Renaissance Chancery Court in Dec and wondering if Pearl is worth the $$?

great pictures - thanks!

Hello there! We visited Chicago from DC last week and wanted to share our thoughts on Custom House...... We had lunch there and prices are reasonable, $6ish for apps and $10-15 for entrees which range from sandwiches to 'proper' entrees. It also seems clear from reading this thread that the lunch and dinner menus are very different. I had asparagus soup with creme fraiche which was ok - it just seemed a little lacking in taste. I then had hangar steak with duck fat fries - both were excellent and the fries were among some of the best I have ever had. My wife had the steak sandwich with caramelized red onions and horseradish which was also very good and a side of polenta, which while not being as thick as I would have expected, was creamy and delicious. Service was a little subpar. Our first server was a sullen young French (?) lady who did little to hide her contempt of us, our child and our stroller. We were not apprised of the lunch special, and waited an age for her to take our order. After she took the order she dissapeared and it wasn't until towards the end of the meal we were informed her shift has ended and she had gone home. We reluctantly relayed our concerns to the GM (we're really not the complaining type but are slowly coming around to the realization that unless you say something you'll just end up all piseed off) who responded with concern and some comped desserts, a delectable mint choc chip ice cream sandwich and a very dense and chocolately brownie type thing and a trio of sorbets (mango, rhubarb and coconut) - we literally licked our plates! Notwithstanding the service issues I think we'd be tempted back for dinner the next time we are in town.

no pork or shellfish - how unfortunate in an area that treats these two ingredients with reverence we were in Bilbao for 2 days last month the restaurant in the guggenheim is quite good - for lunch you can order a E20 menu or site in a back room and order a more adventurous E45 or E55 menu - we ordered the E45 menu and generally enjoyed it although we felt that some of the young chefs dishes did not quite hit the mark (yes, the restaurant is a part of the Martin B group but to my knowledge he gives Josean Alija a fairly free rein and my guess is Martin B is rarely there) - time permitting, I will post a more complete review of this meal complete with photos I also echo the recommendations for tapas in the Plaza Nuevo - we did not try Victor Montes because we fell in love with the tapas at a place called Naga (I think) which is nestled in one of the corners of the square have fun on your trip - Bilbao is a great little city and they have clearly worked very hard to spruce it up over the last few years

clicked through here from the other thread - I also have a great cellear space underneath my front porch that I'm thinking of moving my wine into my question is this: I know wines like cooler temps but is there a threshold temperature below which you should not store wine on an extended basis? I'm worried that on those night when its hovering around zero that this uninsulated spot may be too cold is there such a thing as too cold when it comes to storing wine?

from todays Post - Q&A w/ Todd What are you working on now? A special gin and tonic. It's made with a syrup of honey, yuzu juice and quinine from a Brazilian rain forest. I'm even making my own tonic, using a seltzer bottle, and the ice cube will be long and narrow like a test tube. This sounds delicious

hmmm, my memory is a little hazy from our happy hour there - but I recall $3 or $4 dollar pints and $5ish lumpia?? We got there shortly after 5 and happy hour was in effect

we got there at 2 on Friday and were surprised at how busy it was - almost every table was filled not the greatest meal we've had there but good nonetheless we had meatballs, the fried risotto ball special and the goat cheese w/ fig jam - theye were all good - some of the meatballs weren't fully heated through but thats a minor quibble we shared 3 pizza's - margarita, arucola and pancetta, and a special with 'two amys sausage' - I really like the arucola and pancetta pizza although on this occasion they skimped a little on the arucola for dessert we had the orange panna cotta w/ caramel sauce and shortbread cookie - dessert is quickly becoming my favorite part of a meal there - this was divine! and a nice gesture - a free scoop of the mint choc chip for our 4 yr old - absolutely the best mint choc chip ice cream I have ever tasted - truly exceptional - the taste was akin to what you get when you pop a mint leave into your mouth - it made us want to order a full serving but by then we were ready to burst

we have a real soft spot for the Tabard Inn, esp the outdoor courtyard for brunch - love those fresh made doughnuts!

inquiring minds need to know.....what were the other two?

it is indeed, I am quite partial to their 'Plain' Porter...as the old song goes, "when times are tough and you're feeling down, a pint of plain is yer only man!"

dayum, those salt air margaritas are good! chips (incl plantain chips) and salsa were also tasty place was mobbed at 6.30 on Saturday - I didn't eat there