Tags: chicago
mehran and his iphone dined at schwa restaurant tonight. chef michael carlson is one of the most innovative chefs i know of. tonight’s desert was frozen fois gras (yes), pound cake, strawberry gell, and strong black pepper ice cream. so good. the second desert course was beet ice cream with the essence of bitter bacon made by a barman from violet hour. i know this writing does not sound appetizing. blame it on me. once you see and taste the food, you will love it. the setting is unpretentious and intimate (13 small tables), and it takes about two to three months to get in (after the initial few weeks it takes them to return your call). thanks michael and the crew.
Tags: chicago, restaurants
believe it or not, chicago restaurants are much better, and more innovative than san francisco restaurants. here are a few restaurants you may want to try:
alinea one of the best restaurants i have ever been in my life. in its own class. the tour menu is about $250, pairing wine about $200. easily $500 per person and well worth it. certainly better than the french laundry in napa, and the over-rated charlie trotter’s in chicago.
moto experimental. questions your pre-conceived notions of food. can handle it once a year.
schwa all in all probably my favorite restaurant in america. very down to earth for a $100/course menu. they often call you, “hey man” and “right on.”
green zebra can you believe one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the country is in the meat country?
frontera grill incredible mexican food. not homey but really good.
vermilion contemporary latin american and indian fusion. marvelous.
blackbird president obama and michelle went there on a date a few days after he became president elect. for the year i was commuting from san francisco, i used to go there twice or three times a week. what makes the food so good is that chef paul kahan is also an analog lover. chef paul and his partners have done a lot of good for chicago with blackbird, avec, publican, violet hour, and big star taqueria.
Tags: chicago
yes, we moved from one windy city to another. hopefully we love chicago as much as we love san francisco. interesting that lots are so small in the city that most people use garage decks and roof decks. so here is SORA in our “yard.”