Historically, July has always been a great food month for me. The weather cooperates and new restaurants emerging everywhere or being discovered by me. Glad this month lives up to its expectations.
The charming neighborhood of Streeterville got even more charming with the addition of Robert’s Pizza & Dough Company. A vision of Robert Garvey, a New York native, entrepreneur and certified Pizzaioli who spent twenty years perfecting the recipe for pizza dough. His belief was that every slice of pizza should be a journey.
You wouldn’t guess from the name, but the restaurant has the most charismatic space overlooking the river with large windows kept open so patrons can enjoy the scenery as they enjoy thin-crust artisan pies, each made with unique ingredients. Home to lamb vindaloo, dessert and seafood pizzas, the restaurant is not afraid to continuously push the envelope even for simple classics.
I’m also proud of myself for choosing a Sunday evening for my visit. Sundays and pizzas just go together and you know what else does? Wine! As you can imagine, a place like this has some very exquisite wines to choose from, and both my friend and I settled for the Red Zinfandel blend. A hot summer day always calls for a light-bodied red. It was yummy.
We started with the Burrata and Arancini for appetizers. A delicious blob of creamy mozzarella served with a tasty date jam and drizzled with Calabrian oil so it had the sweet and spicy flavors. The Arancini were larger than I’ve had, stuffed with mushroom risotto and gooey, warm Taleggio bathing in my favorite Arrabiata sauce.
We decided to try two salads since they’re known for them. The Beet & Kale Salad was perfectly satisfying with the champagne vinaigrette, while the Grilled Octopus knocked my socks off. Chef had mentioned that they bring in their seafood from all over; from the Gulf of Mexico, Rhode Island to Virginia. I must know the source of that octopus because it was so fresh, then cooked with the perfect smoky char. The olive puree was dreamy and the Marcona almonds added a delightful crunch.
Just as we were getting full, the Seafood Pizza showed up and one look at it, made us both forget how full we were. Medium-risen golden crust, fired in a brick oven, topped with lightly seasoned shrimp, clams, octopus and calamari that looked so beautiful. With it, came a seafood sauce for dipping (Robert’s recipe), made with fish broth and lots of butter! This really is a delicious summertime pizza to enjoy. Moreover, it’s unique!
Pizza restaurants, listen up and start creating never before-tried recipes for Chicago pizzalovers to enjoy!
A good meal needs to end with good dessert. Their homemade gelatos are excellent. I enjoyed a dollop of their chocolate gelato, as I stared at the river and faded into my food coma. It wasn’t easy to leave.
What a relaxing and enjoyable experience it was dining at Robert’s Pizza & Dough Company. The food is remarkable and the service is outstanding. I want to go back, and next time I won’t leave without their Fish Stew!
You know what I haven’t had in a long time? Tapas! And it’s one of my favorite cuisines! I recently met Black Bull Chef Marcos Campos at an Olive Oil World Tour event held at the restaurant and we got to talking about all the amazing seafood they offer. Logically, the next step was for me to try it and write about it!
I have always loved their space. They have the most stunning entrance I have seen at any restaurant with lots of plants adorning the doorway. Dim lights giving a candlelight effect, an open kitchen, and soothing music; a dining experience here is truly a journey to Spain.
Both my friend and I started with our first experiences of ‘pourron’ with the Vinho Verde Rose from Portugal. On a hot day, it felt like heaven. We sipped the rose throughout our meal because it paired well with almost everything we ate during our dinner, before switching to a more robust Red Sangria. Nine pages of wine, sherry and cocktail offerings on their menu, so you will not run out of choices!
You know what else I haven’t had in a while? Shishito Peppers! They were absolutely the best thing to nibble on, blistered perfectly with a touch of sea salt.
Along with that, our amazing server Julie came out with more pinxtos, including publican quality bread, marinated olives and ‘tomate.’ You see now why we felt like we were in Spain?
If you haven’t had Tatati De Atun, your life isn’t complete. Pan seared Ahi Tuna with a Salmorejo sauce black garlic aioli and picual olive oil. Just the most exquisite tuna dish to be had!
In terms of presentation, the Pan Seared Scallops with spinach cream and caramelized onion puree were exotic beyond words. Two giant scallops placed in oyster shells on a beautiful bark with lots of green. I was afraid to even touch it, that’s how pretty it was.
Although I’ve had squid ink pasta before, the Arroz Negro could be my new substitute in this food family. A giant paella skillet with short-grained Bomba rice, squid ink, calamari, baby scallops, head-on prawns, saffron and parsley aioli, is also their most popular dish. This Valencian dish takes about forty minutes to cook, and serves four people. A dish serving four for two sounds appropriate for me!
I know I will keep going back for this one!
Didn’t think I could possibly be more impressed with the food here, when two giant Carabineros (Spanish Prawns), literally flown in from Malagas were placed in front of us.
Cardinal prawns lightly grilled with lemon sea salt and a salsa mery. The heartiest, deep-sea prawns I have eaten with the most striking red color I have seen on a crustacean. I was about to ask if there was red coloring in it. I now get why these are highly sought-after because they are exceptional in flavor with mild lobster-like sweetness to them.
The feast ended with a Pan Con Chocolate with dark chocolate mousse, olive oil cream, olive oil powder, black olive jam, sherry confit figs, baguette crostini and olive oil ice cream. Do I even need to bother explaining the creativeness of this dessert? You need to try it!
Chef Marcos is beyond talented and he is greatly passionate about cooking. I got to chat with him for quite some time after the meal, and it was evident that he doesn’t plan to stop pushing the envelope when it comes to giving patrons a true taste of Spanish cuisine.
I feel so fortunate that I got to experience a meal at Black Bull!
Another fun brunch in the books! And, with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while.
The new City Tap in the West Loop couldn’t have been more perfect for our reunion with its incredible food and vibe. And it made me wonder why I don’t visit Fulton Market more often. It’s buzzing with restaurants and beautiful people and will even more with the addition of this new gastropub.
City Tap is clearly becoming a neighborhood favorite. The place was packed both inside and on their beautiful patio when we went. Tables are well-spaced from each other (a pet peeve of mine), and plenty of greenery in the restaurant including a ceiling decorated with flowers.I love floral decor!
The cocktail list is an impressive one and the Ginger Basil Margarita immediately caught my eye. My friend started with the Honeysuckle Mule and we were both beaming. A good drink can really set the right tone for a meal. Too bad that neither of us are beer drinkers to take advantage of the 48 beers on draft they have there! In addition, they have a Bloody Mary bar with all kinds of fixings imaginable!
We went a little crazy with appetizers because there were so many good ones to choose from! Starting with the Blue Crab Mac n Cheese with melted fontina and herbed bread crumbs which was delish, we eased our way into the Avocado & Grapefruit Salad. If you’re into the sweet and tangy combo, you will love this salad. Fresh greens strewn in with sweet almonds, chunks of feta ,and ruby red vinaigrette will leave you snacking your lips. Easily one of the best salads I have eaten.
The Corn & Crab Hushpuppies were beautiful, deep-fried dumplings gussied with corn and real crabmeat and served with honey-thyme butter, which was definitely the highlight. They were addictive and they were terrific.
The brunch menu has Salmon & Latkes, which got me very excited. Potato pancakes topped with briny, smoked salmon, dill yogurt sauce and heaps of pickled onion that covered the entire dish. Not a problem for me, because I’m an onion-lover! Every bite was like eating a salmon cake with lots of yummy condiments.
The Strawberry Sundae Pancakes is another dish to write home about. Fluffy pancakes with strawberry and elderflower compote, chocolate sauce, vanilla gelato and whipped cream. You have no idea how how happy we were to be eating these.
Back to savory, the Truffled Gratin Pizza was the best of all worlds. Medium crust with a white sauce base, scalloped rosemary potatoes, mozzarella, gruyere and truffle oil, with thinly sliced truffles for topping. This pizza was ultra-decadent and leftovers went home with me!
We thought we were done, but then we had dessert. How could we not?! Especially when the Orange Olive Oil Cake and Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Skillet show up in front of us. We stuffed our faces, again! Get these if thats all you get there because they’re both phenomenal!
When you go to City Tap, you’ll understand the hype yourself! I predict that it will not only be the new summer spot, but it will also be here to stay!
Guys, if you don’t know already there’s a decade old sushi restaurant nestled in the Noble Square neighborhood that’s serving some of the city’s finest sushi. A modern sushi eatery offering both classics and creatives.
The menu is detailed with extensive offerings in every section of the menu. Appetizers made a great first impression and set a great tone for everything else to come. It was an exceptionally hot day when I visited with my friend and we decided to kill the heat with more heat, as we indulged in their Spicy Miso Soup. It was an excellent choice as we sniffled and slurped the bowl clean. I felt like I had a detox.
Instead of the usual agedashi and vegetable tempura, we decided to try their Sea Thru and Tuna Eve for starters. The former made with smoked salmon, cream cheese, jalapeno wrapped in soy paper was then deep fried to a perfect crisp. The Tuna one was poke-style marinated tuna served in a seaweed tempura boat. The tenderness of the fish with the crunch of the seaweed was the coolest thing.
We went all out with the maki, although favorites had to be the Little Sea Monster and the Peppery Scallop. The portions are large as are the sushi pieces, because they come loaded with delightful ingredients such as cream cheese, wasabi, bonito flakes, tempura crumbs, etc; you get the picture. You can just tell that every roll has been carefully designed to present the best taste and texture. I would expect nothing less from Chef Sompol Chaosaowapa (Chef O) who I also got to meet towards the end of the meal.
The restaurant also prides itself for offering a wide variety of vegetarian and vegan maki. The Secret Garden summed it all. A spring mix of asparagus, avocado, mango and kampyo deep fried together and dressed with sesame and miso. It had all the sweet, spicy, tangy notes I desired.
We ended with a tantalizing Shrimp Yakisoba. Your usual stir-fried noodles but packed with lots more veggies and tons of sweet sauce, which I loved.
The Green Tea Mochi icecream cooled both my body and my palette and was just what we needed at the end of that meal. It was creamy and delicious and to be honest, I could’ve had ten more!
I’ll make a trip to Seadog Sushi Bar any day of the week, and especially when I have my next sushi craving. Because I know, they will fix it!
There are some restaurants that you can frequent a million times and each visit still manages to be better than the previous one, and by leaps and bounds. Imagine the level of excellence a restaurant like that would be able to achieve.
An example of one in the city, is another gem from The Fifty/50 Group, called Portsmith, located on the first floor of the Dana Hotel and Spa in River North.
This restaurant knows and understands seafood like no other and Chef & Partner Nate Henssler along with Chef De Cuisine Christo Vlahos are simply whipping up magic, daily.
I went in with a friend to try their new menu and came out utterly stunned by the amazingness of the entire meal and experience.
Let’s start with the drinks; it happened to be National Tequila Day when I visited so we ordered The Perfect Storm with tequila, green chartreuse and lime, with crème de violette poured in tableside, leaving you mesmerized for minutes after. What a magical drink! The S.S. Swizzle with white rum and strawberry sage was also a brilliant combination of liquids. Just two examples of their solid cocktail program.
The Charred Shrimp Cocktail was absolutely delightful. The plumpest shrimp I’ve seen mildly seared, giving this classic a spicy twist.
Then there was Chef Vlahos’s own favorite, the Green Papaya Salad. The salad actually got my eye the minute I glanced at the menu, and it was everything I had hoped for and more. A tangy and spicy mix of shredded unripe papaya with Thai, basil, spearmint and peanuts for some crunch. The Pad Thai vinaigrette though made all the difference. Those Lao people are lucky, I tell ya!
I’ve always loved Portsmith’s Chef Oyster Series concept, where every month they feature an oyster created by a renown chef and this month it happened to be by Tanta, Imagine delicious sunset beach oysters only with Peruvian ponzu, salsa chalaca, and bonito flakes. And then imagine them being gone within minutes. I would’ve even eaten the shell if I could have, because those flavors were insane.
The King Crab Bun was as wonderful as I remember it. I’ve always loved this Portsmith staple that’s served on a bao bun with brown butter and fine herbs. It’s simple, its satisfying, and you will go back for more.
The new Calamari dish on the menu has all the delicious Indian influences in it. Breaded calamari served with a special Tandoori sauce, served with raita (yogurt) and mangoes. Trust me, you want you try this one at least once in your lifetime!
Having tried their winning New England Clam Chowder at Chowdah Fest earlier this summer, I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to now have it in a sourdough breadbowl. The broth has this creamy, salty and comforting taste that makes it difficult to put your spoon down or stop dunking pieces of bread in it. But boy is it filling!
I had to be selfish about the Shellfish Risotto. You see what I did there? All kidding aside, this is a pasta made for pescetarians. It’s got shrimp, scallops, mussels, calamari, clams and crème fraiche cooked together for hours with tender arborio. It’s luxurious in every sense, with the seafood notes taken in dedicatedly by every grain of rice.
For sides, the Roasted Corn Elote dazzled for being a simple dish, but the highlight for the entire night could have very well have been the Umami Potato with salmon roe and house made Squid Ink sauce. You ain’t eaten anything like it and I can bet my bottom dollar on it.
Dessert was stunning and decadent in every single way. T he Sundae was glittery and tasty but the Plum Crisp which bakes for twelve hours before appearing in front of you is drizzled with a bourbon caramel sauce also in front of your eyes, while your screaming ion the inside for it to stop so you can start eating it. This one’s too hard to resist.
I will admit I was damn full with that lengthy and extravagant meal, but I also ended the month on the best foodie note possible, so I’m glad.
If you kind of like seafood, love seafood, or even hate seafood, you should pay a visit to Portsmith . Because even if you are in the latter category, you won’t find a better place to convert you and show you what us passionate pescetarians are raving about.
One doesn’t usually associate ramen with summer, but after visiting Strings Ramen in Lakeview to help celebrate their two-year anniversary, I am convinced that ramen can be an all-year phenomenon.
This BYOB eatery is cool and I mean that in the true sense. You feel immersed in Japanese culture the minute you walk in and are even greeted by the staff, in Japanese. My friend and I went to their Lakeview location in the city this month; the other one being in Chinatown.
While the restaurant is intended to provide a focused ramen experience with a dozen ramen options to choose from, there is no dearth of fun appetizers, maze soba, donburi and sashimi, if ramen is not your thing.
After cooling down with a melon cream soda, we started with a steaming bowl of edamame, a bowl of wood ear salad and a plate of shrimp gyoza.
The wood ear salad was a first for me, but mushrooms and vinegar together was fun to experience. The boiled shrimp dumplings were the best I have had, and came with a spicy ponzu sauce that only made it all the more better.
Since the ramen portions are known to be huge, we wanted to go right to it, but not before trying their new chilled seafood summer special, the Hiyashi King with king crab, salmon caviar, uni, cucumber, and fresh noodles.
Neither my friend or I had the courage to try the Hell Ramen which comes with five incremental levels of spices. The Kinoko with shiitake, marscapone, yams and spicy radish in a shoyu broth was just fine for me. Actually, extremely delicious and the broth was super slurp-worthy.
My friend asked to try the Premium with filet mignon, spicy clams, pork, red onions and shichimi.
For a while there was complete silence at our table and we both seemed dedicated to our ramen bowls, which I thought, spoke for the food.
After our sinuses were tickled and our mouths adequately tantalized, they brought out the special Matcha and Red Bean Pudding with a dollop of whipped cream. I can’t tell you how badly we both needed that. A yummy and decadent treat.
The good news is, from August 1st to August 3rd, you can order ramen and score free LED light-up chopsticks, plus that dessert I was talking about.
I can personally vouch for what psychedelic fun it is to eat with the glow chopsticks. We were unstoppable after that.
Strings Ramen has got to be on your list of restaurants to visit or re-visit if you’ve already been. The most delicious ramen in the city, plus you can help them ring in two successful years in the city!
Another laurel for the team behind acclaimed restaurants like Piccolo Sogno and Maillard Tavern, and this one’s for Nonnina. Not a first visit for me, but recently went back with a friend and got reminded of how there’s still access to old style Italian cooking in the city, presented in an upscale setting. Best of both worlds!
Partners Tony Priolo and Ciro Longobardo have graciously brought their beloved family recipes to life, at the restaurant. Service is impeccable and on-point. At any given time throughout our four hour dinner, we had at least three people checking up on us. And a shoutout to our server Leonardo for recommending his favorites that were all great picks!
Drinks were summer spectacular, refreshing and thirst-quenching. The Daniela was my preferred choice with Prairie cucumber vodka, carpano blanco and watermelon juice. My guest ordered their Cristina with St-Germain and a delectable fig vodka. You’ve got to try!
Manager Davide immediately started us off to the Zucchini Blossoms. So crunchy, perfectly salty and incredibly addictive. A delicious way to commence the meal!
While I’ve had other stellar octopus dishes, the preparation here is seriously perfection. The Polpo al Forno is first boiled and then grilled, then laid on a tuna-caper sauce with fingerling potatoes and roasted peppers. Flavors galore!
The Baked Clams were a large serving of middle neck clams wood-fired with bread crumbs, garlic, parsley and lemon. The clams were so fresh and this dish was one of the best versions of this dish. The clams were nicely chopped and had the best briny flavor.
I loved a change from the usual beet salads restaurants are doing lately. The Pesche + Fichi was such a summery treat; a medley of peaches, California figs, arugula, candied pecans and stracciatella cheese. Certainly a refreshing way to break the meal.
For pastas, the Aragosta “Fra Diavola” were so nicely put together with green and white ribbon pasta (can you tell I’m a Spartan fan?). On the side was a grilled half Maine Lobster, sofrito and all of this was topped with a garlicky tomato sauce.
The special that day was the Grilled Swordfish and it was terrific! Served in a brandy-shellfish stock, with lots of garlic and capers and a tangy black olive relish. It was served with fingerling tomatoes and sautéed spinach. Even the spinach had flavor.
So happy we took everyones suggestion and ordered the Tortino al Cioccolato which came with a Raspberry gelator and fresh berries.
Nonnina is the kind of restaurant where you leave utterly satisfied and grateful for your meal. Its hearty, comforting but still innovative. And I’d go back just for the service!