Chocolate Rum Ball / Austrian Bakery by TrackBelle, on Flickr

Austrian Bakery's Chocolate Rum Ball - Chocolate cake with real rum wrapped in a rich chocolate ganache. This was amazing. So dense and so good. My favorite boozy dessert of the year so far.

Every weekend recently I've been walking over to Catering - Chocolates (Jay Shindler's place on Wells St) and picking up baguettes ... they are amazing. Rustic, super crusty, great texture to interior ... the perfect bread. I now plan my weekend meals around what will be most tasty with the baguette.

http://www.cateringchocolate.com/gourme ... ogram.html

Don't know much about Champaign, but wasn't expecting to find good Chinese there.

Twice Cooked Pork w/ Bean Paste at Lai Lai Wok was fantastic.

Lobster roll at GT Fish & Oyster tonight. The roll was hot, soft, and buttery. The lobster was well cooked and fresh tasting. Was it authentic? Was it just like one you had on the side of the road in Maine? I don't know, and frankly I don't care. I do know that this was a damn good sandwich.

Schaller's Pump really hit the spot last night before WSP, corned beef sandwich on Rye, served with a tub of horseradish & yellow mustard.


Schaller's Pump
3714 S. Halsted

jimswside wrote:Schaller's Pump really hit the spot last night before WSP, corned beef sandwich on Rye, served with a tub of horseradish & yellow mustard.


Schaller's Pump
3714 S. Halsted

Nice to see another Spreadhead on the board, and a foodie to boot!

HonestMan wrote:

jimswside wrote:Schaller's Pump really hit the spot last night before WSP, corned beef sandwich on Rye, served with a tub of horseradish & yellow mustard.


Schaller's Pump
3714 S. Halsted

Nice to see another Spreadhead on the board, and a foodie to boot!

right on, nice couple weekends of shows between Milwaukee & CHicago. My ears are still ringing & my mind is still a little foggy from last nights show.

we made sure we ate ok before and after the shows: Philly Way(Milwaukee), Girl n Goat, Red Hot Ranch, Schaller's Pump.

jimswside wrote:

HonestMan wrote:

jimswside wrote:Schaller's Pump really hit the spot last night before WSP, corned beef sandwich on Rye, served with a tub of horseradish & yellow mustard.


Schaller's Pump
3714 S. Halsted

Nice to see another Spreadhead on the board, and a foodie to boot!

right on, nice couple weekends of shows between Milwaukee & CHicago. My ears are still ringing & my mind is still a little foggy from last nights show.

we made sure we ate ok before and after the shows: Philly Way(Milwaukee), Girl n Goat, Red Hot Ranch, Schaller's Pump.

The last couple weeks, starting with the show in Indy and ending last night, have been awesome. One of the best runs I've seen i the 15 years I've been doing this. But, man am I glad it's over.

Had a really crappy Friday, last Friday and a friend took me to my favorite place in Chicago, Hoosier Mama's for a slice of the Chocolate Chess and a cup of coffee, it was perfect, so good, warm, gooey, chocolatey and a lovely treat.

Pie does fix everything. Maybe we should feed it to the economy.

Yesterday it was Halloween, and for the past week Mr. Pie and I have been eating our weight in sugar and fat. It's been great, but we decided that starting at midnight, we're going back to eating healthy. So I brought home a pizza for dinner. Paterno's was the only non-chain place somewhat on the way home that we haven't tried yet and was open (damn you Burt!). Although the space is a little icky (lots of flatulent, unpleasant sots at the bar) the staff was very nice and the 'za was quite good.

I don't like room temperature/cold pizza, and since we went for a walk first, I had to reheat my half in the oven. The crust was crisp and really fantastic...some of the best I've had. I ordered the thin crust, which is not cracker thin but what I consider to be the best thickness—maybe 1/2" or so. The sausage was nicely seasoned and I believe homemade. The overall topping could have used some more seasoning, but I'll definitely keep this place in mind for future pizza runs. I can't get that crust out of my head!

Pie Lady wrote:Paterno's was the only non-chain place somewhat on the way home that we haven't tried yet...

Ha! As I was riding my bike home from work yesterday (with a pit stop at Smoque for a Brisket Cemita...to be somewhat on-topic), I was wondering about Paterno's as I passed by it. I meant to search the forum for it but forgot. Thanks!

Pho Ga at Hoanh Long. I was all upset that Ben Tre was closed (thought it was Tuesday, grrr) so I headed here instead. It was better than I remember, with a rich broth and juicy, tender chunks of chicken as big as my thumb.

Not sure if it was the weather, glasses of Old Pogue or what but the Slagel Farm meatballs at Longman & Eagle last night were great. I had them there once before but these seemed much better than I remebered-not too soft, lots of flavor, and a really polenta w fonduta.

Roast Beef with Wild Mushroom Sauce...
but I made mine with whole wheat gnocchi. Really easy and outstanding. I might make it for Christmas dinner.

Haute Dog at Saigon Sisters.

Bahn Mi + Hot Dog = Delicious

Milanesa Cemitas from Cemitas Puebla. I could eat there very single day.

Gnocchi with crispy goat belly at the Bristol.

As soon as I picked up a gnocchi, I could tell it was light as all get out and would be pillowy soft and delicious. Coupled with the crispy, smoky goat belly, this was a knock out delicious dish.

epicFades wrote:Milanesa Cemitas from Cemitas Puebla. I could eat there very single day.

I fianlly got to Cemitas Puebla Saturday.
The Atomica is the best damn thing I've eaten in a long time. I'd almost crawl the 4 miles from my house on my hands and knees for one of those.

Two to add:

I may have posted this in this thread earlier, but DAMN...that "House shredded Chicken with spicy vinegar" at Spring World - I think it just made my list of best plates of food in Chicago. If you ever wanna Frankenstein some eats together at Spring World, try this: Get an order of egg rolls, and an order of the chicken. Cut the egg rolls in half, and scoop the innards out (they're not that good, anyway, let's face it.) Stuff your four egg roll shells with the chicken. You're welcome.
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Puerco adovada at La Casa Del Pueblo. I think I just found out what many in the neighborhood already know: Sunday is a pretty good day at LaCDP. I've been crossing things off the menu at this place - chipping away. I made a nice discovery with trying the puerco adovada today. Chicken tinga, puerco adovada, a few tortillas, beans and rice, maybe a few green chicken tamales for good measure. This might be one of the best meals you can get for the price. Their steam trays have lind mines all over them, but once you find the stuff you like, you are in serious business. IMO, their tinga, and their puerco adovada are crazy good, and if you get there early enough, their tamales are great as well. Only thing that stinks is that the tinga and tamales are generally sold out by early afternoon.

Butternut squash ravioli with sage brown butter sauce at Bistronomic last weekend. Every bite was an explosion of flavor, the best ravioli I've ever had.

Pepper Beef at Hua Ting in Hinsdale.

I have never thought that they could so anything near what a place like Lao Sze Chuan does, but my wife likes to go there for the Chicken and Green Beans, and the atmosphere is nice. They had a special, Pepper Beef, and it was surprisingly good. Very rich and flavorful. Served on a bed of lettuce, which was perfect, becuase the beef and crunchy lettuce provided a nice contrast.

I guess I should dig into their menu a little bit more.

Montreal Smoked Meat Pastrami Sandwich from Fumare at the Chicago French Market.

Best pastrami i've had in Chicago, and perhaps the country. On par with Langer's in LA and better than Katz's & 2nd Ave Deli in NY.

Nothing like a Pastrami sandwich with a side of 1lb. of Pastrami.

Last night I had a wonderful dinner at Campagnola in Evanston. The soup (butternut squash) and salad (butter lettuce) were very good, the braised short rib was one of the best around, but what really blew me away was their vanilla bean bread pudding. I think it was the best bread pudding I've ever had.

In Chicago for this past weekend and Kuma's is NO JOKE!

Kuma and Nuerosis Burgers and Mac & Cheese with Prosciutto and camalized oniions. Outstanding and the burgers were done to perfection (MR). The wait on the other hand... not so much.

On the way back to MI we hit Stop 50. I would like to think I've had a lot of pizza in a lot of different styles and I have to say this is the best I've ever had. I'm sure there are others that would argue there are better but I've not had them.

Appitizer - We could not choose so we had the sampler which was outstanding.
Featured Pie - Roasted root veg w/ goat cheese and balsamic.
Procuitto - Pistachios on pizza, who knew!!

Because we live quite a distance away we had to suffer through a suasage as well!!

All in all a great weekend and great food!

I am a big Stop 50 fan, been eating there regularly for years.

However, I just tried Smoque for the first time recently. Wow! Another vote for Smoque - just excellent!

A big thumbs up to Wendy’s for re-inventing itself. The NEW thicker burgers are a major improvement !! Plus, their newly introduced BIG “ W “ Double Cheeseburger has scored big with me.

Their new French Fries however – with sea salt or not – need to be re-worked. I always opt out for their baked potatoes – although I wish they would bring back the multiple toppings.

Smak Tak Red Beet Borscht

The sweet potato chevre tart, the meatballs with papardelle, and the burger at Owen & Engine. Seriously delicious. The quality of the burger is outrageous and I can't even qualify why the meatballs were so good, other than they were veal/pork mix with a light sauce. The tart had the right mix of tang and creaminess, with what I think was balsamic-sauteed cippolini onions dotting the top. Every time I go to O&E I am blown away.

Otoro with tableside grated Himalayan salt and wasabi.

Roku Akor
111 W. Illinois St.
Chicago, IL 60654
312-477-7652

PreFlopRaise13 wrote:Otoro with tableside grated Himalayan salt and wasabi.

Roku Akor
111 W. Illinois St.
Chicago, IL 60654
312-477-7652

Was the wasabi the real stuff?