Seasons menu is slightly more limited. V and E both look good. Depends on if I were in the mood for Indian food. Went to Elate once before, was pretty solid.

I think calling G&G "high end food" is where one could get their expectations mixed up. I can't find a menu online right now, but isn't virtually everything on the menu under $20? Also, it's a place designed to specialize in goat and beer. I haven't been to G&G yet, though at some point I will. I'm sure I'll be disappointed because her previous restaurant (which was high end food at very reasonable prices) was probably my favorite in the city.

Dean - did I read that right that you ordered no meat products of any kind? Wha? Also, I would probably lean toward Elate.

Schwa TR (tl:dr):

On friday I had the great luck of being able to go to schwa. Me and two of my friends have been talking back and forth about doing a dinner here. We were able to score a reservation for 5:30 on friday night for 6 of us originally, but there was a last minute cancellation. We were teh first party in there and we got ourselves sat down and started pulling out our wines.

Our goal on this was for people who were very serious about food and wine, so we didn't really want to pull out too many stops, but also knew that the menu would generally call for some lighter wines. We really did need a riesling or two, but c'est la vie.

Here are the pics of the food, and I'll comment on the ones that I remember:

we started off with a shot of a clear bloody mary and moved onto this:



this had artic char, octopus, prosciutto, a mousse that I forget, some spiced sauce(the dark). I wasn't able to write down all of the ingredients to the dishes as they were very complex. This was tremendous and a great way to start off the night. I'm not normally a fan of octopus at all, its too chewy for me too often, but this was awesome. It was soft and easy to eat, and the char was just amazing. The sauce combinations with the prosciutto and char were a lot of fun to play with

from here I forget what exactly was next, so I'll just comment on the ones I remember enough


this was their play on biscuits and gravy. They had little puff balls as well as a sort of mousse as well



this was awesome. This was a chicken liver risotto. Now, this isn't for everyone,it was pretty earthy, but I'm also a fan of foie gras, so no biggie for me. This also made me real glad we had the red burgs on hand





this actually may have been the best dish of the night for me. It was a cheese ravioli with black truffles on the inside and I forget what the sauce was, but it was awesome. The person who took this picture screwed it up though, its a one bite dish and I liked the sauce off the plate



this was the scallop dish and with a pumpernickle wafer iirc. I think the yellow sauce was a mango or passionfruit sauce

[IMG][/IMG]

this was beyond words. This was a s'more with a dark chocolate mole that was one of the most interesting and ridiculously delicious dishes I had. It had a slight bit of heat, but it wasn't on the tounge, instead it was going down your throat. It was kind of hard to describe

unfortunetly we didn't get a picture of the apple pie dish. There was a small crust on top of the apples and the crust was insanely good. To go with it, there was a spiced apple soup in a cup that had some lemon butter underneath it.

the wines:







I think there may have been a repeat or two in there

is that smore thing a dessert? or did it have meat in it? was there last month and don't recognize anything except that and for us it was a meat dish (instead of chocolate, the black stuff was spicy-ish beef!) which i wasn't big on, but if that's dessert that's sick and you run really good

Great TR, KDawg. Thanks for posting.

looks like they changed it to a mole. They must've busted out a completely new menu as there was very little familiar for us. They also made a couple of changes on the fly as well

PSA

I've been to Chicago a couple times -- absolutely love the city although I've yet to experience a full-force Chicago winter and could probably never deal with it. Giordano's is synonymous with perfection to me. The first time I was there we were staying in Lincolnshire but went into the city to see the bean, get Giordano's, go to the top of the '****, and check out Michigan Ave, etc. The last time I was there I was staying just outside Hinsdale but we went into the city and again went to the bean and got Giordano's and went to the skydeck at the Willis/Sears tower before boozing (Stocks and Blondes/Tilted Kilt)..wish I would've known Tilted Kilt was a chain and would have went elsewhere but oh well.

But anyway, I'm likely coming back this weekend with several fraternity brothers and our host is asking what we want to do. Any bar suggestions/unique events going on this weekend or exclusive to winter or anything else you'd suggest for a group of guys in their early 20s?

Tom didn't you to to/still go to Miami (OH)? If so you guys will probably like the strip of bars on Lincoln in Lincoln Park between Webster & Belden. Lots of younger 20's people/Depaul students.

this please, don't know many of the restaurants.

I am staying downtown on Michigan Ave (Hard Rock Hotel) the weekend of the 18th I believe. Looking to try a dinner spot and possibly something for lunch on Saturday as well.

Going to do some research between now and then, but would appreciate any tips.

so I've been busy with work lately and went for a walk today down Broadway to find something to eat. Ran across this place called Flub a Dub Chubs. Quite simply this place is amazing. Burgers that rival Five Guys and thicker french fries with an incredible seasoning on them. Its a small little place thats underneath a bar, have to take some stairs down to the front door. Seems like its a family run place thats really friendly. I had the Roe burger, came on a pretzel bun, with a thick patty of beef, avocado, bacon and cheddar cheese and lettuce/tomato/onion. I highly recommend this place.

A few of my favorites from the list.

Blackbird is simply one of the best restaurant's in Chicago. It was recently awarded a Michelin Star.A cool sleek modern interior and a seasonal menu. Kind of pricey so the restaurant week deal is really great. Early reservations are a must!

The Bristol is amazing if you like local, seasonal, snout to tail cooking. They don't take reservations so get there early. Not downtown.

onesixty blue is another great value during restaurant week. Contemporary American and really great food. Amazing wine list.

Perennial was recently awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand award. The chef has a very subtle hand in his seasonal American menu and has a deft use of some molecular gastronomy techniques that really enhance the food.

Solid place. Fries are better than 5Guys, but still prefer 5Guys burgers. My friend picture is posted on their wall because he ordered a hot dog with ketchup only. amusing.

Has anybody been to Detention on Division yet? Was gonna go with a group looking forward to seeing "girls dancing in school uniforms". Unfortunately, they were charging $20 cover for guys so we passed. Good luck with that.

googling that place was not so easy, but here's the (mostly useless) link: http://detentionchicago.com/ !

looks like dj trentino was there though -- sick dj from my high school

I was there on their opening night...the GM from Ybar moved to Detention when it opened. I liked the setup and the whole vibe. When I was there, my buddy was DJing and was followed by Kill Skyler (residents). There were a ton of girl working there, probably 20-30, mostly walking around in school girl outfits. Most of them were nothing special. Consequently, a bunch of guys were just standing around the outside staring at these girls which was pretty creepy. We left around 12:30, but as we left, more girls came in.


Anyone doing anything cool for VDay? I tentatively have reservations at Henri and Merlo on Maple - anyone been to either? I made both to give myself some options.

Honestly I think I'd be more drawn to that bar if the girls working there were wearing more clothes. Currently the gimmick just looks stupid.

For Valentine's Day, I'm keeping it pretty low key this year. Going to Spacca Napoli for some pizza, red wine, etc. Maybe out for cocktails/winebar after, not sure. If nothing interesting on dessert list at Spacca Napoli, probably hit Pasticceria Natalina for that? Not too sure

can anyone help me out with a valentines day dinner reservation somewhere good?

looking to go out Friday night or Monday night, time flexible, preferably not after 9p.

i have 1030 on Friday at Geja Cafe (romantic-ish fondue place) but i don't want to eat that late.

if anyone can help me get something good that would be awesome. cuisine/price don't really matter but i would prefer somewhere that isn't super formal (jeans okay).

GP, are you looking at keeping it in lincoln park/lakeview area or anywhere (as in any part of the normal northern areas)

i live in old town and would prefer no more than 15 minute cab ride....so basically, anywhere.

Bistro campagne in lincoln square would be pretty good, kiki's bistro on the near north side was real good when I was there, sweets&savories in lincoln park is always a good bet, and I'd really recommend bonsoiree in logan square

How do you like living in Old Town? I currently live by the Rush triangle and we are looking at the Wells corridor by Benchmark as a possibility for our next lease.

+1 to Bonsoiree although I just checked OpenTable and they only have 5:30 and 10 on Friday available. Boka and Perrenial both have Friday openings.

I actually have an 830 on Friday for Geja that I don't mind giving away, so you can have that if you really want to go there.

Does anyone know of any good/cheapish printing places in Lakeview or Old Town? I need a couple of 11x17's with color and then a bunch of 8.5x11 and 4x6 stuff in B&W.

KDawg, how did you get res'v to Schwa?, they don't answer the phone

wow 830 on Friday would be awesome. i'll take it if possible. PM me and i'll cancel my 1030.

Kdawg those places are/sound good but i assume it'd be pretty hard to get in at this stage in the game.

Lollapalooza Headliners:

Foo Fighters, Eminem, Muse