nsxtasy

"Boring"? Wow, then I guess I'm a fan of boring food. While the dishes at high-end restaurants on the coasts may feature more esoteric ingredients or preparation techniques, the last dinner I had at Sanford was every bit as delicious and satisfying as the best meals I've had on the coasts (and I've eaten at most of the famous high-end places in both coastal states mentioned).

Mine, too, by far. Unfortunately, I was disappointed by a surprising number of dishes. ← My two favorites were the Tony's chicken ("crack chicken") and the crispy shrimp in mayonnaise. I too was disappointed by a surprising number of dishes - almost everything else. One of the reasons I was disappointed was that the selections seemed to consist of one EXTREMELY spicy dish after another after another. I like spicy food as much as anyone, but I also enjoy some variety in a meal. And why no soup, and no dessert (not even a fortune cookie)? I've eaten at LSC on several previous occasions, and I know they are capable of wonderful food (including those two favorites). This time it just didn't seem like the type of progression from one course to another to another that you would normally see in a Chinese restaurant.

MRI photos? Just kidding. Sorry to hear about it. Of course you have our best wishes for a speedy recovery!

It's the same. The website link above shows them with six locations: four in Indy, one in West Lafayette, and the one here that Fresser is posting about.This is the first I've heard of a Cajun place serving posole...

I haven't been to L2O, but the reports I've seen have been consistently positive. EDIT - Ignore the comments below! I was confusing C-House, which I have not been to, with Custom House, in the South Loop. My bad! I had dinner at Custom House a few months ago. I loved a couple of the dishes, thought others were just okay, and was quite disappointed by the desserts. Overall, I would say that it was good, not great. Where is great? In that same genre of contemporary American casual fine dining, I have found the best place in the city, on numerous visits, to be one sixtyblue, although Executive Chef Martial Noguier will be leaving there on September 6, shortly after your visit. I've also enjoyed Aigre Doux and North Pond. I would gladly return to any of these three, and would recommend them over Custom House.

Well...For one thing, if you're going to do one "top table" meal (Alinea), you might want to balance it with something not quite so high-end. For example, North Pond would be a great place to go with that, not quite so elaborate, but excellent food from James Beard-nominated Chef Bruce Sherman in a wonderful, uniquely Chicago setting in Lincoln Park, with the city skyline towering over the opposite shore of its namesake pond. Or, if you do want to have a second "top table" meal, there are other places which are slightly different in some ways. For example, Spiaggia is one of our best places, but the only truly high-end place that is Italian, rather than contemporary in cuisine. Or, Everest leans towards the French-Alsatian end of things (although still contemporary and innovative in nature) and has that marvelous view of the city. And L2O is our newest "top table" and is unique in its emphasis on seafood. However, if you must choose among those three, like many of us, I have not yet been to Avenues since the change in chefs, so I cannot venture an opinion on the changes Chef Duffy has made. The other two, well... you really can't go wrong with either Trotter's or Tru; both deserve their fine reputations.

Yum! Horchata, a beverage made from rice, is pretty common in authentic Mexican restaurants around here. I like it a lot; it's like drinking rice pudding, only thinner (obviously) and not quite as sweet or strong in flavor.

Lake in the Hills (LITH) is northwest of Chicago, not north. It's just south of Crystal Lake, a fairly large town that used to be too far away to be considered a suburb, but pretty much all the land in between it and Chicago has filled in in recent years. You don't have to go far from LITH to get some of Chicago's finest, authentic food specialties. You can get excellent double-crust "stuffed" Chicago-style pizza at Giordano's, which has a location in Algonquin, a small town just east of LITH. And you can get a pretty good representation of Chicago style hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches at Portillo's, which has a location in Crystal Lake.

Ellen.

I can do this for the table at which I was seated: Going around the table clockwise, starting with myself at the far end in the Princeton t-shirt: Ken - nsxtasy Beth - HOLLY_L Hwa - einberliner Richard - companion of LAZ Leah - LAZ Hillary - hsm Tom - nr706 Sharon - companion of nr706 Kathy - companion of nsxtasy

Chocolate Velvet, from the Four Seasons in New York.

The "Chocolate Velvet" I made is from a cookbook, so I probably should not copy it. The book is "The Four Seasons Cookbook" by Charlotte Adams, with special consultant James Beard. As I mentioned at dinner, this is the signature dessert at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York City.I only did two things different from what was specified in the recipe, and you should be able to get the same results just going by the recipe. One variation was that I made it larger for our occasion. When I do the straight recipe, I use the second largest (7.5" diameter) of my set of four Farberware stainless steel mixing bowls as the mold. This time, I multiplied all the quantities by one and one third, and used the largest (9.5" diameter) mixing bowl. The other thing I did differently was, instead of making the genoise from scratch, or using store-bought lady fingers (both of which I've done in the past), I bought a thin layer of plain (but rich) yellow cake from Bennison's, our local bakery, to use for the cake layer... and I gotta tell you, it was better than I could have made from scratch - although it's kind of odd asking for a plain cake layer (I had to have a discussion with Jory Downer, their award-winning baker, to explain what I needed). An interesting side note on the cookbook... it was published in 1971. A few years later, it went out of print, and was almost impossible to find. I was looking all over for it in the mid 1970s and finally located my current copy. I believe they reprinted it in 1984 and has been much easier to find since then. Click on the book cover photo to order from Amazon:

I'll bring one. I'll also bring a set of nesting, oval-shaped Corningware shallow casseroles.

The same thing is true in Evanston.Note for those driving to the Evanston Farmers Market and/or the banquet at the church: They are VERY STRICT about enforcing parking rules in Evanston. Feed those meters where required (and yes, they really do enforce the meters up till 9:00 pm).

Yup. In a nutshell, the Red Line will be using the elevated tracks after 9 p.m. on Thursday, and starting 9 p.m. Friday for the rest of the weekend. They don't specify which way they will go around the Loop, but I assume it will be the same as the pattern used during the current diversion, running along Lake St. and Wabash Ave. (the north and east parts of the Loop).The diversions won't be in effect on Thursday until after our dinner at Blackbird. Those traveling by el after the dinner at Blackbird, you will board the inbound Pink Line or Green Line train at Clinton and Lake. If you need to change to a Red Line train, during the diversion you can change trains at the first stop (Clark/Lake); the same platform is where the diverted southbound Red Line trains go, or you can walk to the opposite platform to pick up the northbound Red Line trains. Those traveling by el after the Violet Hour, you will be taking the inbound Blue Line train. You can get off at Clark and Lake (underground), then go up the stairs/elevator/escalator to the elevated tracks where you can catch the diverted Red Line trains in either direction. The diversions won't be in effect on Friday until after our dinner at Lao Sze Chuan. Those traveling by el after the Lao Sze Chuan dinner will still be able to catch the Red Line at the Cermak/Chinatown stop. You can always ask any of us locals at dinner how to get where you're going.

If you need a more conventional supermarket (as distinguished from Whole Foods) - sometimes you need staples, or soft drinks, etc - there is a Jewel located on Chicago Avenue four blocks south of the church, across the street from the other Whole Foods.

And, of course, then you get into the arbitrary definition of what is "not too far north or south of either". Downtown Cleveland, home of Lola, is 25-30 miles from I-80. Is that "not too far"? The small Lake Erie town of Vermilion, home of Chez Francois, requires a detour of 15 miles. South Bend, where LaSalle Grill is located, is right along the Toll Road. Toledo straddles the Toll Road, too, although its dining offerings are not as impressive since Diva closed.

I figure I'll probably be around later on Saturday afternoon and will be happy to help with stuff like that, a Sam's Club run, other local type stuff!

True, but that's not the closest Whole Foods to the church. There is another Whole Foods about two blocks north of the church, at 1640 Chicago Avenue. It's not only slightly closer, but it's also on the way from the Farmers Market to the church. Yes, they carry gelato at both. If you're driving, parking is generally easier at the one south of the church, although there is a city garage (first hour free) kitty-corner from the one north of the church that is a good bet on Saturdays when the WF lot is crowded.In case you're wondering why there are two Whole Foods in such close proximity, the one further south was previously a Wild Oats Market and was acquired with that chain.

Our plan is to make our dessert at home, and bring it fully-prepared to the banquet. It will be logistically easier that way (especially since some of it requires advance preparation and chilling). There's a Costco on Touhy in Skokie, which is close to Niles for those going to those markets on Saturday morning. In Evanston itself, there's a Sam's Club; if you find that you need something during the afternoon on Saturday, call me (Ronnie has my number) and I can run over there and get whatever you need.

When you catch a taxi in the city of Chicago, it runs on straight meter rates anywhere inside the city, including both airports. It also runs on straight meter rates from the city (including both airports) to the following close-in suburbs:Bedford Park Calumet Park Elmwood Park Hines VA Hospital Norridge River Grove Burbank Cicero Evanston Hometown Oak Lawn Rosemont Blue Island Des Plaines Evergreen Park Lincolnwood Oak Park Stickney Burnham Dolton Forest View Merrionette Park Park Ridge Summit Calumet City Elk Grove Village Harwood Hts. Niles Riverdale Going from either airport to towns not listed above, it's one and a half times the meter rate; going from elsewhere in the city to towns not listed above, I think it's straight meter till you cross the city limits, and then it's double the meter for the remaining portion. For those wishing to take cabs from the airport to destinations in the suburbs, American Taxi is a popular option. They offer flat rates from the airports to most suburbs, as noted on their website. You can call them when you are getting your baggage, and they will give you a cab number to look for when you get outside.

Oops! I got it backwards, sorry! Bongo Room (both locations) opens at 9:00 on weekends (Saturday and Sunday). During the week, they open earlier; depending on whom you believe, they open at 8:00 (Metromix) or 8:30 (Menupages).

I assume this was at Seasons, the fine dining restaurant in the Four Seasons hotel (and not The Cafe, the more casual restaurant in the same hotel). Seasons is often overlooked during discussions of the finest restaurants in Chicago, and unjustly so, IMHO. I suspect it's because they continue to maintain the high standards of the restaurant in a way that the menu, style, and identity of the place aren't as closely associated with the Executive Chef compared with other top hotel restaurants (e.g. NoMi, Avenues, etc), and don't change as dramatically when there is a change in chefs. I've been there several times over the years and I've always been impressed, by the food as well as the service.

Lunch hours are listed on their website as 11:30-2:00, which makes it iffy. I would suggest calling the restaurant to ask them directly.

Number 553 Lamb with Pure Cumin Powder Xin Jang Style $11.95, according to the menu on their website.