A half a caramel from Dans Candys in Joliet... Man... It was creamy, mouth coating and brilliant. Hard rootbeer barrel was dang fine as well

Route 30 location...

Dans Candys
1003 Plainfield Road
Jolet, il.

http://www.danshomemadecandies.com

Jim,

When the caramel apples come in at Dan's that is a pretty amazing thing. Dan's is definitely a hidden gem!

glennpan wrote:Jim,

When the caramel apples come in at Dan's that is a pretty amazing thing. Dan's is definitely a hidden gem!

thanks glenn, weve pretty much finished all those caramels in the past few hours... a caramel apple sounds really good.

Chicken and Waffles topped with Belgian Frites at Findlay Market in Cincinnati. So good.

Special pasta/shrimp item--infused with saffron, dill, and technicolor--at Terzo Piano, added in honor of the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit. Get it while it's still on the menu.

First harvest of snow peas, briefly sauteed in butter, a pinch of salt and a squeeze of wasabi paste (per Momofuku, except he used fresh grated horseradish)

[autocorrection corrected 6/4]

Fresh Strawberry MSU ice cream at Sinclair Grill in Webberville, MI





Sinclair Grill
345 W. Grand River
Webberville, MI 48892
(517) 521-0000

bloody mary at the local biker watering hole...



I know it's a crappy picture but it sure hit the spot

The Old Fashioned ice cream I had yesterday afternoon at Jove T's pop up ice cream stand at David Burke's Primehouse was outstanding. Bourbon brown sugar ice cream, orange sherbert flavored with bitters, and bourbon soaked cherries. $5 for a very generous portion. Fridays 3-5pm. Look on twitter @DBPrimehouse to see what two flavors will be offered that day.

passionfruit gelato from black dog. i've renounced sorbets- too sweet, so it was great to see one of the most aromatic of fruits used in a gelato. so fresh, and light, yet creamy. one of black dog's many brilliant flavors.

Poutine . . . and of all places, at Fork (previously Square Kitchen, then Fiddlehead) in Lincoln Square. This rendition featured crisp and tasty fries, duck confit, with an herby duck gravy and aged cheddar sauce poured tableside. It was hardly a traditional poutine, but I'll say that it was one of the very best tasting poutine this poutine fanatic and friend of Canadian poutine-lovers has ever tasted.

An almost innumerable number of goodies made during a one week pastry camp class I attended at The French Pastry school this past week. I don't think I could pick a favorite, but Alsatian beer bread, hazelnut financiers, apricot passionfruit pate de fruit, sea salt caramels, artisan baguette and a perfectly tart, not too sweet sour cherry sorbet were among the highlights.

Everything we made turned out extremely well though, with the tiny exception of a seemingly slightly overbaked chocolate nougatine crisp. This was the second enthusiast level class I've taken there, and the quality of the instruction has been uniformly superb. Throw in their gorgeous facilities and equipment and the use of nothing but highest quality ingredients, and it's a bit like being in baking heaven.

BR wrote:Poutine . . . and of all places, at Fork (previously Square Kitchen, then Fiddlehead) in Lincoln Square. This rendition featured crisp and tasty fries, duck confit, with an herby duck gravy and aged cheddar sauce poured tableside. It was hardly a traditional poutine, but I'll say that it was one of the very best tasting poutine this poutine fanatic and friend of Canadian poutine-lovers has ever tasted.

You forgot Bransfield's.

BR wrote:Poutine . . . and of all places, at Fork (previously Square Kitchen, then Fiddlehead) in Lincoln Square. This rendition featured crisp and tasty fries, duck confit, with an herby duck gravy and aged cheddar sauce poured tableside. It was hardly a traditional poutine, but I'll say that it was one of the very best tasting poutine this poutine fanatic and friend of Canadian poutine-lovers has ever tasted.

I personally think this is one of the most underrated dishes in Chicago (and Fork perhaps of the most underrated restaurants)

Just to clarify--the owner of Fiddlehead chose to reconcept a bit and rename his place. The result is Fork.

boudreaulicious wrote:Just to clarify--the owner of Fiddlehead chose to reconcept a bit and rename his place. The result is Fork.

Just found this short article about the change. I was not a fan of Fiddlehead, but I know from the dates mentioned that I had not eaten there while the current kitchen staff (assuming it's the same or similar now at Fork) was in place (Fiddlehead had been open a number of years after Square Kitchen closed). I plan to return and try a little bit more at Fork and see if I remain impressed.

The Cubano pizza from The Boiler Room. Great crust, lots of pork...I almost finished my half and was sorry I didn't polish off the last bits of my third slice.

I was recently back visiting and the two things that stick out most in my mind are:

Black mole at Frontera. I tried the mole trio and the other two were good, but the black mole was incredible. I had never been to Frontera (or Topolo) before and after that visit, it puts all other mole's I've had to shame. Talking with the bartender, he said that it usually isn't on the Frontera menu, only Topolo because of the cost of ingredients that go into it and the amount of time it takes. If it's still on the menu (either for that matter), I'd go there ASAP. Ask for a side of their hot salsa as well. Good fresh chili flavour, but packs a huge, lingering burn.

The other thing I had that I wish I could have daily is the Salt Cod Brandade at Avec. Just downright delicious. No real other way to explain it.

Salt & pepper dungeness crab at R&G Lounge in San Francisco.

Yes!!!
That salt and pepper crab is one of the best things I have ever had.
This is also the only restaurant I have ever been to that woulden't let us order any more food at some point as they were concerned we may not eat it all! We ate it all.

Regards,

Bourbon

The funny thing about R&G is that when I walked in my expectations immediately crashed. Tons of people ordering lychee martinis and the like from the bar. I was pretty sure I was in for some seriously "gentrified" Chinese food. Fortunately that turned out not to be the case.

Tons of people ordering lychee martinis and the like from the bar. I was pretty sure I was in for some seriously "gentrified" Chinese food. Fortunately that turned out not to be the case.

.

That's a bit ironic (not sure if this is proper usage). Someone else could have perceived "gentrification" by virtue of seeing you in the place . Best not to jump to conclusions, I suppose. Or are you Chinese? Or just "down". No personal offense. Just love the concept of gentrification and how no one thinks they are part of it, including yours truly.

Hope no one makes fun of me on twitter.

When I go to an ethnic restaurant I'm generally encouraged when I see lots of people of that particular ethnicity eating there. I didn't think that was a particularly controversial point of view.

I didn't suggest you said anything controversial, nor do I think you said anything wrong. I was just making an observation about how many of us view gentrification. I agree that it is often encouraging to see people of the same ethnicity as the cuisine. That was the point--your hopes were dashed when you saw what appeared to be gentrification. People behind you might have seen you and had their hopes similarly dashed. That's my point and, again, it was nothing personal. I was actually laughing as much at myself, because I would have thought the same as you.

Anyway, I want that crab, no matter who else is in the restaurant, even if they are serving Jagerbombs there. Thanks for sharing!!

Doesn't really have anything to do with 'gentrification' - R&G, like Mission Chinese, gets tons of pub, ergo is full of tourists. Nothing wrong with it - tourism is a core industry in SF, and has been so forever.

i had a rather strange sounding, but delicious sandwich from Real Kitchen today (they probably feed me 2-3 times a week). it was pork belly, grilled strawberries, goat cheese, pickled rhubarb (a little scant) and marcona almonds. as with all their sandwiches, it was served on the great baguette from le boulangerie. a thick, meaty slab of pork was enhanced by the different textures and the sweetness of the strawberries.

real kitchen
1433 w. montrose (at clark)
773-281-2888

Pork belly breakfast sandwich(rosemary rubbed pork belly, shaved brussle sprout slaw, fried egg, kimchi aioli, brioche roll off the brunch menu @ The Peasantry: simple, fantastic.



short rib pastrami has was pretty damn good as well.

The salty-spicy stir fried crab at Nha Hang Viet Nam.

Mindblowingly good.

Probably some of the best service I've had in Chicago, we experienced at Acadia this weekend: welcoming, informative, timely, and efficient--all without being in the least bit intrusive. It belongs, i think, in a "Best Thing . . . " string.

Oh yeah, food's pretty good, too.

pacent: Thanks for the heads up about Nha Hang and its crab splendors. I have an overseas guest now and we headed for Nha Hang because of you -- new to me -- and had a delicious meal last night. The crab are sweet as well, if we had the same thing (I tried to explain and these were the result) and a mess to eat. But so so good. Nha Hang also had the best rare beef salad that I can remember.