Summer Solstice Dinner

I had the urge to go out to dinner to celebrate the longest day of the year. After much debate, the husband and I settled on Dorado as being the place to go tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not sure if it will really be saying "summer!!" over and over to me.

This isn't really a "looking for advice" post as it is just a musing one ... is there a restaurant in your repetoire that says "celebrate summer" to you? Beyond hot dog and ice cream stands, that is ... those are a given

dayzella wrote:This isn't really a "looking for advice" post as it is just a musing one ... is there a restaurant in your repetoire that says "celebrate summer" to you?

Nothing has ever said "early summer" better to me than my recent dinner at Sweets and Savories

Tomatoes, fresh herbs, grilled pork, sweet corn, asparagus....

Best,
Michael

For seasonal food prepared to perfection, I prefer Vie over S&S, though I am happy to say I have been to both recently and would happily go back to either any time.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=35370#35370

Probably not a fair response, because it's not a restaurant, but for me, one of the best summer eating experiences is bringing a picnic to one of the Monday night carillon concerts at the Botanical Gardens in Glencoe (http://www.chicagobotanic.org). (Free except for the parking fee; no parking fee for members.) We look forward to these all year long, and bring Hecky's fried chicken or sandwiches and cookies from Al's Deli in Evanston with us. Good food, lovely music, and an incredible setting -- what more could you ask on a summer evening? Also, it's not quite as serious as Ravinia, so the kids can run around and talk without getting sushed.

Toni,

Where do you sit? I always find the sushing crowd in my area.

Regards,

Cathy, I think we've talked (via the board) about meeting there some day. Maybe this year? It seems that the places with seating (tables and chairs) contain the shushers, so we stay away from them. We like to sit on the lawn west of the main seating area, west also of the path heading out to the carillon, close to the sensory garden, I think it is. There are usually only a few other folks sitting there and they often have kids with them. (I will say once we were bothered by a family sitting there, though not by the kids, but by the dad who insisted on talking loudly about his views on profitable investing to his friends. And then once we brought my in-laws, who didn't seem to get the notion that you shouldn't shout for the cole slaw in the midst of the performance, so I'm sure we bothered others then.) There you still have a nice view of the water, though probably not as clear a view (or an auditory perception) of the carillon. My two usually take off shortly after eating and run around in the foresty area just south of where we sit, which doesn't seem to bother anyone. I guess I just try to find a place where there are few other people, or else others with kids, who won't be bothered by a little quiet chatting.

I'm definitely going to do this this year. I look out my LR window at the bike trail that goes directly to the Botanic Gardens so my plan is to bike up there with a picnic on the rack.