Finally...my new camera is in! This is now my 5th Nikon camera in the last 6 years. Wow, that's a lot! One of those cameras I lost on a United airplane and of course they "couldn't find it"...sorry I'm not bitter...so anyways, really I've gone through 4 upgrades. This new one should hold up for a few years, I'm hoping. Well, I've tested it out and the image above is the result of my all day tinkering. Thank you all for being patient with my less than impressive photos the last couple of months and probably another few posts till I get the settings right. I did sell my last lens and upgraded to a new one as well. I'm excited, can't wait to take some photos!
New Beds!
in Shops
They're a lot larger than I expected, but so comfy and the babes seem to like them! Got them from Petco on sale, and free shipping!
Ikea Alternative - Greycork!
in Shops
A new furniture company competitive with Ikea and made with high quality materials, easy to assemble, no tools necessary and most importantly, stylish with great design qualities! Check them out, Greycork!
Long Lake Traverse City
Last Dinner at Ada St 1664
We found Ada through our server Sara from Little Goat. She highly recommended it and she was so sweet and helpful to arrange dinner reservations for us the same evening. Who does that? No one! She heard we were not having such great luck with food in Chicago and made it her mission to change that for us. It's people like her and the people at Ada that really care about local food that make the culinary scene so exciting. They really wowed us and helped end our trip on a super high note!
Anyways, back to Ada...when we arrived, from the hostess, gm, executive chef, and our servers we were really treated with such great care. They were all so great! About the restaurant, the building, man it is super cool. We loved the atmosphere! An urban, outdoorsy, creative, and festive environment, we loved it! I could not capture through photos the wonderful vibe it had, but it was urban cool.
On food, with the help of our server we ordered the Shiseto Peppers, Gnocchi, Pork Ribs, Steak Tartar (not sure on spelling), and we added the Bacon Salad changed to feta cheese, Linguine, Pretzel bun ala mode dessert and Chef Zoe sent us the Octopus and Chocolate Grenache dessert. We loved how creative and how much love was put in the food. We especially loved the Ribs, but everything was so good, super delicious! Our mouths were overjoyed with orgamic pleasure, enjoying each bite. We knew it was going to be another one of those nights where we would be uncomfortably stuffed, and we were. Service was excellent! A definite must try!
Brunch at Little Goat (Chicago)
Oh my! I didn't think it was possible after 2 full days of eating and being un-wowed by the culinary scene in Chicago. So after changing my search strategy to just high ratings, not necessarily the most reviews on Yelp, I came across Little Goat, which looks really cute and they do get high marks, but not necessarily the most reviews...so we make our way...
It's a little further than the places we have been going to in the downtown area. We finally start to walk up and I get a good feeling at just the way the street it's situated on. We walk in and wow, it's so cute! I love it! It's got this retro earthy feel...lots of character! That's what I've been missing on our trip. I mean we liked RPM, but it didn't have much character. We sit in a cute little 2 seater booth and the server, our wonderful Sara, greets us. She helps us through the menu, Matt is being healthy and boring so he makes his own omelette and I follow her suggestion and get the Prathas Burrito (indian flatbread . sunny side eggs . avocado-bean salad . chili pepper sauce . sheep's milk cheddar), $13 and I also get one Sourdough pancake. I was a little apprehensive about the burrito, but man when it came out and I tasted it, wow, it was exactly what I wanted! It was tasty, creative, but actually tasted somewhat healthy too. It wasn't too heavy. But, most importantly it was delicious! And when I finished that, I had the Sourdough pancake...no joke, best pancake I've ever had! It wasn't doughy, but kind of spongey with subtly crispy edges, mm...so good! I gave Matt a try and he agreed, it was pretty good. Goodness, please go visit Little Goat if you haven't, it such a cute place and the food is so awesome! Love all the character in the food and atmosphere! And our sever Sara...she was super awesome and helped us with our dinner plans! Her suggestions were Ada, the Winchester, Kuma, and a few other places. We tried Ada and she was right, super awesome restaurant, again character in food and atmosphere! I want to put this restaurant in my pocket and take it with me to Houston! Obviously a must try!
Food In Between...
RPM and our last day of great eats, were the okay restaurants that got a significantly high amount of reviews and ratings, which we didn't agree so much. We thought they were all ok and they included Quarino, Wildberry Pancakes, Portillo's Hot Dogs and Sunda. We still had a good time, but they weren't the most impressive of the bunch.
First Meal at RPM Italian (Chicago)
Our first restaurant in Chicago this trip! It was a good choice. We enjoyed all the food, but that Burrata, best dish hands down! Mama DePandi's spaghetti add meatball was good and the Carbonara was good, but I still think Houston's Coppa's Carbonara is the best I've had. But RPM's Carbonara was a close second. The restaurant is super nice, very modern and gorgeous. Great introduction into Chicago's culinary scene! We enjoyed it!
Hello Chicago!
I forget how nice Chicago is...I've been once before and it's where I fell in love with gourmet popcorn, Garrett's. This beautiful city, I'm getting reacquainted with, but Matt's first time. We'll be here a few days to enjoy city life before we head over to Traverse City for some lake time. Just a few photos of our 3 days here in this great city! All the individual places will be in the next posts.
MF Sushi (Museum District)
in Restaurants
I know you're thinking to yourself, when are you going to get your camera? And to that I say, soon. I sold my camera a couple of months ago so I'm sorry that you are subjected to photos off my iphone, but I promise, soon.
Now, the reason why I am blogging is to share about the good news of MF Sushi! I know their architect, same as the architect and builder of Triniti. Nice. I love that backdrop of the orient behind the sushi chefs. As Matt noticed, the sushi bar area looked different from what you're used to...no glass partition between the chefs and the patrons. It looks like all their ingredients are built into the counterop bar.
Now to the food! I typically like clean, simple, sushi, sashimi will do thank you. And I don't typically go for all the pizazzy stuff...but at MF Sushi, their signatures nigiri is the best! I would pass on the ginger salad and mochi ice cream, just stick to the sushi. Sorry, I can't find their menu online else I would tell you what we ordered, but pretty much most of the nigiri items, expensive but super delicious! Our server was really great, but also forgot his name. I definitely liked the new digs, always love their food, great option for high end sushi!