Category Archives: new restaurants

July 21, 2010 · 12:05 am

Floriole Cafe and Bakery

Floriole Sign

Scorching hot Saturdays and Sheffield Garden Walk crowdification aside, I loved my quick lunch visit to Floriole last weekend. Even with a somewhat limited savory menu (a few sandwiches, a quiche, a salad or two), we probably spent a good 10 minutes drooling over the sweet-filled bakery case before ordering. I don’t love the idea of pre-made sandwiches sittin’ around, but the bacon, goat cheese, arugula and fig looked the freshest and most enticing. I wished the bread was a little less chewy and freshly toasted, but the date-cheese-bacon combo was the perfect array of salty, sweet and crispy.

Bacon, date, argula and goat cheese sandwich with carrot, ginger and pepitas salad

With mass dinner plans that night, we held back on the more serious desserts (fresh fruit tarts, chocolate croissants, milk chocolate caramel hazelnut tarts, pot au creme), and walked out with lemon-lavender macaroons that melted perfectly in our mouths. But a few photos of the rest…

Passion fruit and brûléed tarts

These almost looked too perfect to eat…

Chocolate and caramel pot de crème

Floriole Cafe and Bakery, 1220 W. Webster

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Filed under cheap, tasty brunch, new restaurants

June 30, 2010 · 12:05 am

5 reasons why I love (Black Dog Gelato)

1. Sesame fig and chocolate chip gelato. Holy yum. How you can resist anything with the word “sesame”? Especially in a sweet and chocolate-chip laden application? Creamy, sweet and luscious, with the perfect fig flavor that lingers at the end of every bite and chocolate chips for crunch.

Sesame fig with chocolate chip at Black Dog Gelato

2. The rest of the flavors. I didn’t try them all (although they are generous with the samples), but the decadent goat cheese caramel cashew was also delicious, as was salted peanut (can you tell I am into the savory gelatos?)..but really you can’t go wrong with any of them.

An array of flavors...

3. Gelato cookie sandwiches. This one is vanilla gelato flanked by two oatmeal raisin cookies chilling in the sun before being devoured. They offer an array of rotating cookie sandwiches, as well as other fun treats like whiskey gelato bars rolled in bacon.

Oatmeal cookies and vanilla ice cream and a reflection

4. The hand-written thank you on the window from owner Jessie Oloroso. There doesn’t appear to be much signage yet, but this still drew me in..a sincere, genuine touch from a highly anticipated (and by the looks of the first weekend’s steady stream of customers), welcome neighborhood gelato spot.

Love the hand-written thank-you from the owner..

5. And other reasons why I love Black Dog? Two new wooden benches outside, hours until 11PM on weekends, hot pink walls, a warmer, cozier and more inviting use of the space than the previous Piccolo. Black Dog Gelato, 859 N. Damen, 773.235.3116

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Filed under 5 reasons why I love..., Best bite, new restaurants, thick

June 23, 2010 · 12:05 am

Sprinkles storefront

So what if it looks like a bird’s-eye view of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, I still kind of like the storefront of the impending Sprinkles cupcake shop on Walton (in the old Sur La Table space). I remember writing about this place years ago, and finally, they are set for a mid-July opening with cupcake flavors like Belgian dark chocolate marshmallow and lemon-blueberry with lemon-cream cheese frosting, frosting shots, drinking chocolates and gluten-free selections. More cupcakes for Chicago? Well, they get points for a cool storefront, so why not? 50 E Walton St.

The Sprinkles storefront, taken from the 900 N. Michigan parking lot

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Filed under new restaurants, random spottings, red velvet cupcake report

June 17, 2010 · 12:05 am

Cookie Bar

Sign at Cookie Bar

The second I discovered the ice cream cookie sandwich at DMK Burger a few months back, I knew I had to investigate the origins of the perfectly chewy, delicious cookies that flanked the ice cream. OK, it’s an ice cream sandwich, can you really mess it up? Well, no, but the cookies still made the dessert, and when I heard they were the stars of the show at the brand new Cookie Bar in Lincoln Park, I had to head over. Before I found the place, I was expecting a tiny, bite-sized spot (like More cupcakes, noted my dining companion, or Hoosier Mama Pie), a little space for a relatively small snack. But Cookie Bar is surprisingly spacious. It’s not good or bad, just unexpected, and it doesn’t look like the space is fully being utilized (yet?). I was also a little thrown that the only disco ball-paraphernalia in the room is painted on the wall in the logo, rather than dazzling dizzily above as the funky Web site might have you believe. But no matter! We have come for cookies, and daily-changing fresh baked, dairy-free and gluten-free cookies there are.

Chipotle chocolate chip, Lisa Marie, crispy chocolate chip and potato chip chocolate chip cookies

I knew I’d love the chipotle chocolate chip just by the sound and dark red powder sprinkled on top of a moist, chewy and flat chocolate chip cookie, and did. An awesome combo that works for an ancho chili fudge pie, Mexican hot chocolate or any other chocolate-chili duo. The Lisa Marie Presley was also delish, a thicker, peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips, caramelized banana chips, peanut butter cups and more peanut butter. The crispy chocolate chip and potato chip chocolate chip (I wanted to see big chunks of potato chips in this, but only noticed crumbs) didn’t wow us as much, but this is the kind of place you go back and try varieties until you find your favorite; they’ve got oatmeal-chili-mango-macadamia, milk chocolate chip and ginger, black sesame, green tea, and holy hell, a balsamic caramel we didn’t even see on our visit.

Mint chocolate chip

We didn’t have room to swing these, but the gluten-free mint-chocolate also looked divine, and the dairy-free cookies on tap are made with coconut oil. Other bonuses..the hilarious non-bacon bakery statement on the Web site, almond, soy or rice milk options for Alterra coffee, totally nice owners, Callebaut chocolate in the cookies, and plenty of room for hightop seating by the wall of windows, OK, I take it back, some extra room is a good thing. Cookie Bar, 2475 N. Lincoln Ave. 773.348.0300

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Filed under Best bite, great for date, new restaurants

May 17, 2010 · 12:05 am

On the table: Leo’s Coney Island

Ketchup, mustard, salt, pepper, hot sauce, sugar. 3455 N. Southport

Brunch at Prairie Fire

Did you think I’d go to Prairie Fire for the first time and only do a mystery spot on the place? Especially when a bacon waffle is on the menu? Yeah, yeah, bacon waffles, we’ve seen them, but really, can you resist one? Luckily the brunch menu offers relatively heathy items like eggs benedict, local mushroom and goat cheese (I said, relatively) omelets served with potatoes or juicy red tomato slices (I love that this is a side option) and other egg dishes, so you can easily throw in a bacon waffle for the table. Slather it with maple syrup and you’ll be happy you did…the pork doesn’t seem off-balance or over-whelm the fluffy sweet cake. You almost can’t detect it for a few bites, but you soon discover that chef Sarah Stegner’s version of the ironic waffle-du-jour is perfection.

Simple, perfect, bacon-laden goodness

But just when you’ve gotten over that sweet dish, the lemon ricotta pancakes catch your eye. A light-as-air thin stack arrives, bearing specks of lemon rind and fluffy ricotta mixed into the batter. The only thing this dish maaybe needs is a side of blackberries or something colorful, a little tart and sweet, but really, they are just fine stacked up on their own.

Lemon ricotta pancakes at Prairie Fire

Now that decided on sweets to share, the aforementioned local omelette is basic, but delicious. For something heartier and with a kick, order the chiliquiles with sour cream, guac and two eggs.

Omelette with goat cheese and mushrooms

Chiliquiles, and the object of order envy when my companion got this

With a fresh but hearty brunch menu, I can’t wait to get back to Prairie Fire for lunch or dinner, especially on a Tuesday evening when their guest bartender series has guest bartenders shaking things up with mixologist Daniel Sviland behind the bar. 215 N. Clinton Street

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Filed under cheap, tasty brunch, I like to eats, new restaurants

May 10, 2010 · 12:05 am

On the Table: Karyn’s on Green

2 wine glasses, 2 water glasses, 4 forks, 2 knives, 1 votive, salt, pepper, 2 napkins, 2 bread plates. 130 S. Green

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May 3, 2010 · 12:05 am

More Franks ‘N’ Dawgs

Franks 'N' Dawgs sign

As promised, a few more enticing pics from my lunchtime jaunt to the new Franks ‘N’ Dawgs in Lincoln Park. This place is dangerously close to my office, and serves as a nice alternative to salad bar overload at Whole Foods. And by salad alternative, I mean Chef Joe Doren’s jaw-dropping hot dog creations like the Stylin’ Dawg (German-style brat with apples, walnuts, celery, grapes and mayo), Beef Curry (ground beef and Indian curry with orange marmalade, orange salad, parsley, blood orange oil and raisin slaw), Tur-Doggin (turkey and date dog with duck confit, herb garlic aïoli and pickled onions) and Cheesehead (Sheboygan brat, caramelized onion, grilled portobellos and smoked gouda). Every month Doren also hands the reigns over to a local chef who makes a monthly dog special (when I was there it was a pork loin sausage with smoked bacon, fried egg and maple mayo from Lockwood’s Phillip Foss, next up is Avenues Chef Curtis Duffy). It only intensifies your ordering conundrum. Once you do decide on your dog (I recommend throwing in the $4.50 mystery corn dog with beer mustard), you pick a celebrity “number” for your order (see Frank On the Table below), from Chris Rock to Brad Pitt. Add to that fresh ingredients, light-as-air buttered artisan buns from Nicole’s, a Wisconsin-inspired brat selection, an intriguing Chicken Cesar dog with black garlic, and list of Global Dawgs like the lamb keema with English peas, cucumber salad and caramelized pearl onions and you know this isn’t another chili-cheese dog spot (but they have those too). But it was Global N’Awlins that caught my eye first..spicy, juicy andouille, fried okra, fried shrimp, kicky gumbo sauce..a po’boy hot dog style…

N'Awlins Dawg

The opposite of that might have been the Fu, ordered by my vegetarian companion. But with marinated tofu, goat’s cheese, grilled eggplant relish, portobellos and a bright green Italian salsa verde, even I didn’t miss the meat.

Fu Dawg

Ever see a corn dog presentation almost too pretty to eat? Housemade beer mustards accompany the mystery corn dog (made with a different sausage of the week, ours=German bratwurst), and Anson Mills polenta batter which creates a sweet, golden coating that’s crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Franks ‘N’ Dawgs, 1863 N. Clybourn, 312.281.5187