Lamb and pork belly sausage with roasted beets, afried egg and stout mustard at Three Aces




Three Aces
1321 W. Taylor St

Oyster Sampler last night @ Holy Mackerel, these were some of the best oysters I have eaten:

hey jim. so glad to see your camera back in action!!!!!

"Steak frites" at The Drawing Room this evening: a generous quenelle of the best steak tartare I've had thus far, served next to perfectly-fried, piping hot potato cubes sitting on a light-as-air (in terms of both density and richness) cloud of truffle aioli.

Oh, this tartare...the beef quality was perfect, the texture was perfect, the seasoning/dressing was perfect. It pushed the previous best steak tartare I've ever had (the steak tartare hand rolls at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal) to second place. I regretted not ordering it for all three courses.

Pears with burrata, honey, and some kind of nut at The Publican. Pretty damn amazing.

local597 wrote:hey jim. so glad to see your camera back in action!!!!!

thanks I was without a home pc for a couple weeks.

a couple bests at the same place over the past weekend:

the crispy pata(braised pork shank), and the pork belly topper for the pancit canton @ Sunda(pics on the Sunda thread).. truly magical pork imho.

Fresh clams and oysters at Swan's Oyster Depot in SF (was in Oakland for 3 weeks of training). Tasted like they came right from the ocean, and the habanero salsa preparation they make had a nice bite without being overpowering.

And the bread was excellent also.

Jim & Pete's - Medium Sausage & Giardiniera pizza - well done - with a side of stuffed artichoke.

Living 2 blocks from this place, we have a "freshness upon delivery" advantage, so it's always good to very good. Sometimes teetering on the edge of almost mediocre. Tonight it was outstanding.

The artichoke was that right combo of dry toasted breadcrumb on top that got more succulent and saturated on the way down. The pizza was stout but thin with a great charred-edge crust and toothsome cheese. The sausage is not the best, but coupled with the carroty hot crunch of the giard, this combo was damn near ethereal. As a life-long giardiniera maniac, I am finally delving into the realm of sausage/giard. on pizza. I. WILL. NEVER. LOOK. BACK. Hell, the whole meal I was dripping sweat in all the right places. It felt great.

On a side-note - I honestly believe medium pizza's are far better than the large or extra-large. Especially when it;s delivery.

Happy camper on this Pizza Friday.

Jim & Pete's Restaurant
Place page
7806 West North Avenue
Elmwood Park, IL 60707-3536
(708) 453-5204

Last week I had a small green pepper, garlic, and onion at Jim & Pete's. Pretty damn good. The fried broccoli app was pretty good too. I ate the whole thing myself and was belching fried broccoli all night....but it was worth it!

been thinking about it all week.

Danny's(jhawk1) BBQ shrimp from the cajun food get together this past Saturday. Brilliant... Probably one of the top 5 things I have eaten anywhere, all year..... That buttery broth was incredible, I tip my White Sox hat to you my friend..

Khao poun at Thai Bar-B-Que in Milwaukee for lunch today: silky with a sinister heat, cured me of my cold. Very close second: "Asian-inspired" (read: lemongrass) Manzanilla clams with andouille sausage last night at Roots, also MKE. Thanks, Kennyz, for writing about both places.

"Old" fries with gardiniera at Edzo's

g-d amazing!

=R=

That is food pr0n at the xxx level

6 course tasting menu at Naha last Saturday. With three other people and we were each given something different for 5 out of the six courses. Was able to have 20 different plates at the table. I will post the menu when I get it scanned. It was fantastic....

Traditional Day-After-T'Giving sandwich of Beefsteak Hearty Rye, turkey slices (that had been John Kass-brined & roasted the day before), stuffing, lettuce, cranberry sauce, light mayo, Lawry's seasoned salt. Putting the ingredients back in the fridge, I spotted some leftover Pita Inn white sauce & hot sauce. Thinking that this was possibly a good way to ruin a great sandwich, I drizzled on some of each. And my instincts were spot on--both sauces complemented everything else perfectly--sweet, savory, salty & spicy. Made it better, made my day.

Yesterday's food fest was led by a Caveny Farm Bourbon Red turkey, and I have to confess, I will NEVER buy a grocery turkey again.

The dark meat was flavored like a good game bird, and the white had texture, intense flavor, and plenty of moisture.

Best turkey I've ever tasted, and it actually exceeded the "fixins".

Although a strong second place fell to a slice of Hoosier Mama's maple pecan pie!

Where can we find the aforementioned bird ? PS. Happy Holidays to all!

The Stuffed Chicken Breast at The Village Inn Skokie.
Chicken Breast Stuffed with Spinach, Provolone, Onions and Mushrooms served with a yummy sauce and I get the Mash with no Gravy and just use the Sauce that Come with it. Some time I get The Cajun Grilled Asparagus with dill dipping sauce for an app. with it too.

The Tuesday Night Rib Dinner at Cleo's on Chicago is also very yummy at a very affordable price with fresh cut French fries.

The Spinach Chicken Wrap at the White Palace is also very yummy but kind of a rough place if you go at night. I mean really gangster go during the day.

I had a couple of Caveny Farm birds for Thanksgiving too. Here is where to find them:

http://www.cavenyfarm.com/

A few slices of a special edition Surryano ham from Surry Farms in Virginia. They make serrano-style hams from Berkshire hogs, which are always delicious, this experimental one was made from plum-fed hogs. As soon as the fat melted on my tongue, the flavors from the plum and plum pit feed came through clearly.

Apparently they're also doing some peanut-fed* and cranberry-fed hogs. I'll be curious to try those out when I can track some down.

-Dan

* peanut feed originally being a requirement for Smithfield Hams

dansch wrote:A few slices of a special edition Surryano ham from Surry Farms in Virginia.

Surry Farms was featured in the latest issue of Garden and Gun, The New Frontier of Country Ham. Surryano ham, "a playful combination of Surry and Surrano" truely sounded delicious. Where did you try surryano, restaurant or shop locally?

G Wiv wrote:Where did you try surryano, restaurant or shop locally?

I tried it at Feast, a small gourmet market in Charlottesville with a great cheese/salumi counter. They carry a great lineup of local meats, as well as imported ones and US favorites of mine, Fra' Mani and Salumi.

I also tried copa from Olli Salumeria Americana, a new salumeria in Richmond (no website at the moment, but they have a facebook page and an article with photos on tasting table). I'm going to be in Richmond on Thursday and hope to try their full lineup, including cured Mangalitsa...

-Dan

Graham Elliot last night.

Wagyu in a truffle broth with shaved truffles and foie gras snow. Oh, and the Wagyu was seared in foie fat.

I was hesitant about posting this, but after all the Villa Nova talk going on in a diff thread, it got me thinkin about all the pizza joints in the area, and how few I've tried. I had a Villa Nova large sausage pie two weeks ago, and tho it was good, the cheese was a bit saltier than I'd like, and also it was taken outta the oven before any browing of the cheese happened. In looking over the Villa Nova thread, I saw a favorable mention of Obbies - a place I used to drive by all the time on my trips to / from Bobak's or Jim & Franks, but never thought twice about except for the odd name. I thought long and hard about cold calling Obbies and ordering a pie, but I have some weird neurosis about ordering from a joint if I don't have a menu. Prolly cuz I know I'm missing some kinda coupon. So anyway, rambling done, I found a recent menu (with coupons) for the oft heralded Salerno's on Grove in Berwyn. I've had their pie twice, and was not a big fan. Their normal crust is a thicker model, and it ain't light at all. On the menu, I saw the words "Thin crust available on request." I requested, and I came up huge. This was the best pizza I've had in three years. 16 inch, all spinach, half snausage. With my two dollar off coupon, it was still 25 bux, but if they have any consistency, then this is my pizza in the area, hands down. This was not cracker thin, but it was cracker crust. The edges were not cracker or tavern thin, they were a few times thicker, but just as crunchy, if not more. The middle pieces held up with plenty of crunch as well, and very little limpness or bending. I'm sure folks will take my waxing on of a Chicago area pizza place with a grain of salt given the glut of pizza, but just like taquerias, most of the pizza places around are total ass. So, anyway, great sausage, real cheese, super crunchy crust, perfectly browned top, thin tangy sauce - THIS is what Chicago Style thin crust pizza used to be when I was growing up. Easily the best thing I've eaten lately, DEFINITELY the best pizza I've had in three years.

Salerno's on Grove, well done indeed!

Salerno's Pizza on Grove
(708) 484-3400
3250 Grove Ave, Berwyn, IL 60402

Habanero caramel cheesecake by moi. Slight vanilla cookie crust, firmer cake with sour cream tang, marbled with habanero caramel sauce. Made last night before bed, chilled and set in time for breakfast this morning:

On what will probably be my final visit, the ham hash at Patty's Diner.

I don't know what it is, but that is the best hash I've ever tasted. I'll miss it.

Pastrami from City Provisions--incredibly smoky and delicious! I also picked up some of their luscious pork liver pate and a nice piece of Pleasant Ridge Reserve.

The doughnut holes at the Amish Rise 'n Roll store in the loop. I am a doughnut junky and I also have a gluten intolerance, so my splurges are well worth it. These doughnut holes are amazing. They are very soft and taste fresh and there is a thick powder sugar/cinnamon coating on the outside and they literally melt in your mouth.

Seriously I bought a small box of them for a friend for her birthday and I landed up eating them all for lunch. I'm going to be in trouble later.

Rise 'n Roll
Clark and Monroe across from the fancy McDonald's in glass

Shaggywillis wrote:The doughnut holes at the Amish Rise 'n Roll store in the loop. I am a doughnut junky and I also have a gluten intolerance, so my splurges are well worth it.

Are the doughnuts gluten-free? And, I'm assuming there's just one Amish baker called Rise 'n Roll--these must be the same folks who have products at Amish Healthy Foods on Western?

Shaggywillis wrote:The doughnut holes at the Amish Rise 'n Roll store in the loop. I am a doughnut junky and I also have a gluten intolerance, so my splurges are well worth it. These doughnut holes are amazing. They are very soft and taste fresh and there is a thick powder sugar/cinnamon coating on the outside and they literally melt in your mouth.

Seriously I bought a small box of them for a friend for her birthday and I landed up eating them all for lunch. I'm going to be in trouble later.

Rise 'n Roll
Clark and Monroe across from the fancy McDonald's in glass

Those are really really good. I bought a box figuring it woulk keep for a while the the fridge at work but a coworker and I polished them off.