25th Anniversary - Snacking across Chicagoland

Yesterday (August 7) was our 25th wedding anniversary, and we spent more than 25 hours enjoying Chicago and environs.

We started Wednesday evening, with dinner at Gianotti's in Schiller park, chosen mainly for its proximity to Rosemont hotels. We were thinking a light meal because of other foods we'd brought with us for celebrating, so no appetizers or desserts here. Their creamy garlic dressing was delicious and light, a nice counterpoint to, say, Dave's Italian Kitchen's version which is like a 2x4 of garlic to the back of your head (but in a good way).

My Chicken Marsala was excellent: fantastic sauce with strong butter and marsala flavors, lots of mshrooms. Only down note on this was a baked potato in foil (ruins the skin, whose crispness is what makes a baked spud worth having). MrsF's lobster ravioli, a special, were a disappointment. They were not house-made, in contrast to most of the other filled pastas, and were bland and unremarkable, in a pretty good vodka sauce. Overall, a middling grade, as the prices were a bit high for relatively ordinary Italian fare. If you go, ask whether the pastas are house-made, and stick to those, the folks around us were enjoying other dishes more than the special.

Gianotti Italian Steakhouse
4926 N River Road
Schiller Park, IL
http://www.vicgiannotti.com/page1.aspx
847-678-2800


Back to the hotel, we opened the first of my gifts to MrsF, a 25 year old bottle of Graham's port (found at Binny's in Highland Park). It was my first experience with a vintage port. Much darker in color than I'd expected: I thought, like most red wines, and like tawny ports, that it would become more translucent and amber with age. Very rich, smooth and sweet, it nicely complemented a flourless chocolate cake from Bittersweet that MrsF picked up the day before. The cake was only about 6" across, but about 2" high and filled with chocolate mousse. Wonderful. I'd picked up a blue cheese and some walnuts, but we never got around to them.

www.bittersweetpastry.com
1114 W Belmont Ave
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 929-1100

Breakfast the next morning in the hotel was, well, hotel breakfast. A nice amuse of strawberry smoothie was provided, eggs were prepared just right, but damnit, somebody teach hotels the value of the hash brown, please! "Breakfast potatoes" are a sham and mere filler. Breads including brioche, baugette and croissants were outstanding.


We hopped the L for our day trip, followed by a short bus ride to Water Tower Place. Bought a couple Lindt bars in their shop and got a couple free Lindor truffles for our trouble. Godiva had no such sampling. Wonderful soaps and other body items in Lush in the front of Macy's. Gamer's Paradise going out of business. Walking south on Michigan, popped into the Apple and Garmin flagship stores, then into 520 N Michigan. Gaped at the Lego displays, sampled a couple of relatively stale olive oils in a store I won't name, and went into Vosges Haut Chocolate.

Samples there were of their Cajun (Creole?) and a caramel hazelnut milk chocolate bar, both very nice. Picked up a couple bars for the boys (who, yes, were left at home), and we bought some truffles for following a light lunch (see below). The Rooster, with taleggio cheese, was outstanding, with sort of a cheesecake flavor to it. The Black Pearl I didn't like so much: the wasabi didn't seem to integrate with the chocolate, they were two separate tastes. The Balsamico was interesting, with a raisiny finish. MrsF didn't like the olive oil, white chocolate and kalamata olive one, thinking it was too much like soap, I thought it a terrific treat.

Vosges Haut Chocolate
520 N. Michigan Avenue (North Bridge Mall)
Chicago, IL 60611
Ring: 312.644.9450


A left on Illinois brought us to our first trip into Fox & Obel. Wonderful foods, we split a pair of landjager sausage, an olive ciabatta, and a couple drinks. Yes, we got out of F&O for $6.05! Saving room for dinner. The landjager was a bit chubbier and not as spicy as the ones MrsF's family have brought back from New Glarus for years, but tasty and lots of fatty chunks.

Fox & Obel
401 E. Illinois
Chicago IL, 60611
312 410 7301


This was followed by more ordinary sightseeing, taking Columbus to Millenium Park and a tour from the Chicago Architectural Foundation (224 S Michigan Ave) of historical skyscrapers. Step in the Rookery, the Board of Trade and the Field/La Salle Bank/Bank of America building to get a feel for old Chicago architecture and interior design. You won't regret it. (Only snack was an iced coffee from Corner Bakery)


Dinner was at Avec. Wow, wonderful place. Started with some olives, and the chorizo-stuffed, bacon-wrapped medjool dates, in piquillo pepper sauce. Wow, again, like a refined version of Gary's stuffed peppers at the LTH picnics. Accompanied by an Italian red that was very tasty, but a little more tannic than I prefer. Followed on by the crispy pork pizza, which was absolutely amazing with arugula and apples, some salumi and cheeses, and a spanish red. Nice garnishes for their salumi and cheeses: mustard, parsley and tiny gherkins for the salumi, sliced grapes, parsley and marcona almonds with the cheese. Their wood-and-gas oven makes amazing crust on the pizza, crisp and chewy. The party sharing the table with us gifted us with a couple small pieces of the taleggio focaccia with truffle, another perfection.

Avec Restaurant
615 W Randolf
Chicago IL 60606
312-377-2002
http://www.avecrestaurant.com

A sleepy trip home on the L and we were home again. Here's to many more multiples of 25 years of marriage!

Congratulations on both your marital longevity and your way of celebrating it. Sounds delightful.

Congrats on your anniversary,
wishing you many more years of happiness

JoelF wrote:Yes, we got out of F&O for $6.05!

JoelF,

$6.05 at Fox and Obel! Wow! That's almost as big of an accomplishment as 25 years of marriage.

Congratulations, my wife and are celebrating 20 years in a few weeks.

Enjoy,
Gary

We're getting on towards fifteen...and that sounds just like the type of celebration we'd want for 25! Congratulations, Joel, many happy returns on the day!