Both the (1) charred sweet potatoes with pomegranate, onions, tahini, and mint and (2) lentil soup with smoked yogurt from Avec's lunch menu. I'm a sucker for smoky flavors, and both dishes had just the right amount. Avecshould bottle and sell the smoked yogurt that topped the soup. The sweet potatoes had a really lovely sweet/smoky contrast and the pomegranates added a nice crunch. The beet muhamarra that comes with the trio of dips and on a couple of the tartines is also an accolade-worthy condiment.

I actually enjoyed my lunch at Avec more than the dinners I've had there (which I've also loved). We got there right when they opened at 11:30 on Friday. We didn't have to wait but it was packed solid when we left about 45 minutes later.

Truffled egg salad with mini brioche toasts at afternoon tea at The Langham Chicago last week.
This is a contender for a top 10 bite in 2016! It was my birthday so they brought me a second one.

https://instagram.com/p/BCMWp4UlyX4/

Quail Egg Ravioli at Schwa. Exceeded expectations. Wow.

Dlongs wrote:Quail Egg Ravioli at Schwa. Exceeded expectations. Wow.

Definitely mind blowing. Glad to know they're still serving it.

Two things from my recent visit to mom in Michigan: ham salad from Drier's in Three Oaks (ham is actually the dominant flavor, with pickle, onion, and mayo playing important but subtle supporting roles); hot pastrami at Stage Deli in Farmington Hills (with the mushroom barley soup a close second).

Smoked trout panzanella at Ada Street. The smoked trout was stellar, but also enjoyed the perfectly textured bread and grapefruit sections.

It would have to be a toss up between the Basil chicken at Siam house in Niles on the lunch buffet for whatever reason just stood out from the rest of the buffet offerings or the El Jibarito at Santiago's which filled me up nicely.

Black goat soup from BobSang Korean Kitchen in Assi Plaza. Picture stolen from Yuqing L. on Yelp.

I'm on a roll lately.
Took mom to the Original Pancake House in Park Ridge for an early mother's day and ordered the cheese omelet topped with Bill Kurtis' beef chili. Incredible. I can't figure out how they made it so fluffy; it was like they added leavener. It came with pancakes so I couldn't finish it all, and I was never happier to take home leftovers. I also had the Tibetan coffee that had a pat of Kerrygold butter in it. It tasted a little like a latte, and the ad was right: it did keep me fully awake for the next 6 hours or so. Quite a feat for a weekend. Can't wait to go back here.
Photo stolen from Gerry T. on Yelp

Pie Lady wrote:...ordered the cheese omelet topped with Bill Kurtis' beef chili. Incredible. I can't figure out how they made it so fluffy...

Odds are they separated the eggs, whipped the whites up to a peak and folded the yolks back in. I've tried that, and it produces interesting results, but I still prefer my eggs flat and leathery (no really).

JoelF wrote:I still prefer my eggs flat and leathery (no really).

In that case, you should have been on my flight this morning. They managed to reach a new high in leathery eggs. How do they do it?

Corned beef eggs benedict from McBob's in Milwaukee. I seriously can't help stopping in this place every time I'm in Milwaukee.

The Chicken Fried Chicken at Bread & Wine was outstanding! In some ways it's probably the best chicken finger I've ever had, but that doesn't really do it justice. It is a boneless thigh and breast with some sort of chicken "bacon" in a light salty breading. Delicious.

I keep forgetting to post, but lately, my go-to lunch when I neglected to bring it with me is the Mahi-Mahi Wrap from Franklin Tap. It's delicious and a little bit spicy, and comes with about 12oz of soup. All the soups have been fantastic too (mushroom, potato-leek, and tortilla). And it's a pretty cheap deal, considering I usually save the soup for day #2.
http://www.franklintap.com/menu

Deep fried Oreos at the Taste.

Kokoretsi at Taxim, Wicker Park. Beautifully charred heart, liver, etc. Braised lamb shank a close second. Both highly recommend.

Is it a killer music venue with really good food? Or is it a very solid restaurant with great music, no cover? 210 Restaurant in Highwood could conceivably be both.

I stopped in tonight to hear Archie Parks on 210's vintage Hammond organ, playing with his jazz trio. Sitting at the cozy bar, I ordered one of Chef Jeff Tomchek's concoctions, a USDA prime burger topped with tomato jam, Wisconsin Dante cheese and Jeff's grandmother's recipe bread-and-butter pickles. This was accompanied by some sauteed organic zucchini & yellow squash from Frillman Farms in Prairie View.

Tastes bordered on awesome. Crunchy squash, perfect amount of that jam and cheese on the burger, and the sweet spiciness of the pickle slices cut through very nicely. With the cool jazz riffs wafting over the pro sound system, all was right with the world.

Nice evening indeed.

210 Restaurant and Live Music Lounge
210 Green Bay Road
Highwood, IL
(847)433-0304
http://www.210restaurant.com

Caramel Custard doughnuts from Pleasant House Bakery at the 61st Farmers Market.

61st Street Farmers Market
Saturday, between 9am-2pm, on 61st Street between Dorchester and Blackstone Avenues

Pleasant House Bakery
Now known as Pleasant House Pub, new location, at 2119 South Halsted Street in Chicago. 773-523-PIES
https://pleasanthousebakery.com/

Wandering around the Route 66 Car Show on in Berwyn on Saturday, freshly returned from Chile (the country) and took great delight in the offerings from Cigars and Stripes. The "Tijuana Street Dog" was a delicious, spicy explosion of flavor that I needed - great flavor in the pepper, salsa and sauce in addition to the bacon-wrapped dog. The smoked wings, doused in the "Hot" level of sauce were as delicious as the previous times I've tried them.

Big Jones' Crawfish and Cheese Hushpuppies

I could eat a bucket of these. My mouth is watering just thinking of them.

bobbywal wrote:... freshly returned from Chile (the country) and took great delight in the offerings from Cigars and Stripes. The "Tijuana Street Dog" was a delicious, spicy explosion of flavor that I needed ...

Ha ha ha! Because hot dogs (aka "completos") in Chile suck, right? Lived there for ten years and know whereof I speak.

Katie wrote:

bobbywal wrote:... freshly returned from Chile (the country) and took great delight in the offerings from Cigars and Stripes. The "Tijuana Street Dog" was a delicious, spicy explosion of flavor that I needed ...

Ha ha ha! Because hot dogs (aka "completos") in Chile suck, right? Lived there for ten years and know whereof I speak.

Also spent some time in Chile. It is still hard to comprehend just how floppy the dogs are there! Honestly, I would consider bananas crispy in comparison!! No wonder the local dogs need to be covered in avocado, mayo, tomato.... That being said, there is plenty of delicious local food as well.

Ha ha. I had plenty of delicious food while in Chile including a very nice time at Cuerovaca in Santiago but I spent most of my time in mining country and it was seafood, seafood, seafood. The Dogs and the Fries were very lackluster...

Two recent ventures into Chicago's newish outpost of NYC's Paulie Gee's have delivered far and away THE BEST new pizzas I've tried this year.

Paulie Gee's pork-alicious Mo Cheeks pizza has topped Coalfire's "Original" Nduja pie on my best of Chicago list...now THAT'S saying something! This also places Mo Cheeks squarely behind one other pizza on my best pizza in Chicago list (any guesses as to what my top pizza is?).

Smalls' ribs.

I get it now.

Three highlights from my recent trip to Denver:

Cho77
Marinated Chicken Skewer, Shishito Pepper, Tomato, Peanut Sauce

Euclid Hall
Patty Melt: ground short rib, bacon aioli, beef fat onions, cheddar curds, French batard
^ Quite possibly one of the best burgers I have ever eaten.

ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro
French Onion Soup Dumplings

Team Temperance mocktail at Nico last night in celebration of heirloom tomato week.

Tomato water, cucumber juice, lemon, splash of soda.

This was soooo refreshing on a humid summer night!

The alcoholic version has gin and I think sherry.

Really really wanted to try Paulie G's, but they aren't open on Mondays, and I ran out of time. That said, people hemmed and hawed about Uncle J 's hot links being "not the same", but.. are you kidding? I flew these back, reheated them, and they were still better than any hot links I've had in SoCal, with/without the "medium" sauce. ate them with Chinese sides and was still like: why can't we have nice BBQ?

Pasta Carbonara from Da Enzo, Trastevere, Rome. It was all that I thought a carbonara should be, but never really has been, until this plate.

Sun Wah BBQ