ELIZABITES

October 23, 2008 · 2:17 am

The Peninsula bars

While I still mourn the loss of some of my favorite Chicago bars of my past (1056 freestyle-Saturday nights anyone?) I have recently rediscovered some of my other more high-end favorites around town, like The Peninsula Bar, a perfect stop when I am dressed up for some reason or am already downtown (hence not having to schlep there from Wicker Park). It’s got a fireplace which is an instant bonus, lots of overstuffed chairs and couches, wasabi peas in the nut mix, a nice Riesling by the glass, a chill vibe and surprisingly good music. But..it’s when we walked out of the bar and into the hotel’s gold-adorned Lobby that I rediscovered what truly may be my new favorite bar in Chicago. The Chocolate Bar. Not new but still decadent, it’s the ultimate dessert spread for those in the mood for everything from lollipops to crème brûlée (in spoons!). Along with live jazz quartet, it’s spread out in all of its Wonkaland glory every Friday and Saturday night, and is $33 worth of yum (the price of 10 beers at 1056, but these days I could handle the sugar, the beer notsomuch). If we weren’t so dang full from dinner we would’ve for sure gotten all Augustus Gloop on that buffet.

Chocolate Dessert Bar set up on Friday and Saturday nights.

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October 21, 2008 · 2:49 pm

The search for scones

I think it was my father who recently asked me what a scone was. My initial reaction was a smug, “Um it’s like, you know,… a scone. Duh.” But when I tried to actually describe one, it wasn’t as easy as I initially thought. They aren’t cupcakes or muffins, nor are they quite cake, bread, a cookie, biscotti or even a biscuit—but they sort of combine textures, flavors and ingredients from all of the aforementioned carbs into one delicious tea-dunkin’ treat that gets you in touch with your British side. And clotted-cream-filled or not, whenever I see a homemade scone on a brunch menu (as I did at Lula Cafe over the weekend), I always try to convince the table to order one to share. We let the bread basket fill us up before every other meal, so why should breakfast be an exception? Lula changes up their brunch scones, and ours was a warm milk chocolate chip (covered with those large, crunchy granules of sugar I could just eat all their own) with homemade strawberry preserves. Restaurants like Sepia and Gioco offer homemade scones on their brunch menus, and there’s got to be more. Or at least there should be. Anyone know of any others?

Milk chocolate chip scone with strawberry preserves at Lula Cafe

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Filed under cheap, tasty brunch, I like to eats

October 20, 2008 · 12:42 pm

Meals on Wheels at Macy’s

We pretty much had to roll ourselves out of Macy’s Friday night after making our way through the Meals on Wheels Celebrity Chef Ball in cocktail dresses and heels. Between holding our drinks, juggling tasting plates and salivating, it was hard to get a ton of pictures, but I did capture the lovely presentation of mini sweet and savory tarts from Fox & Obel. More than 60 chefs took part in the annual event, each creating one item to taste. We saw lots of pork, duck, mushrooms and fall veggies being used in dishes, and a few standouts included a pork tenderloin mole with guac from Adobo Grill, a bbq bacon burger from Marc Burger and a delicious stone crab bisque soup from Joe’s Seafood, Steaks and Stone Crab. I also loved sweet potato cupcakes from Bleeding Heart Bakery and chocolates from Sarah’s Pastries. We miraculously still had room for a final stop at the Berry Chill stand, and eyed (but resisted) the Frango mints on the way out.

Caramel crunch, lemon-cucumber, rhubarb and apricot walnut tarts from Fox & Obel

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October 20, 2008 · 8:38 am

Mystery sign

What Chicago bakery is this arrow pointing to? Leave your guess in the comments for a chance to guest blog.

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October 19, 2008 · 7:30 am

Lovely pumpkins

The mini pumpkin patch in the outdoor patio of Lovely bakeshop. 1130 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773.572.4766

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October 18, 2008 · 8:47 am

Random foto Friday

Vintage beer cans from antique shop, Cedarburg, WI

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October 18, 2008 · 2:06 am

A poll new world

Look up and to the right, it’s a poll! I’d like to say that all this blogging has allowed me to tap very deeply into my tech-savvy side, and I was able to program the thing on my own. But alas, I did not. It’s a new option on wordpress and one that I am probably a little too excited about. Happy voting!

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October 17, 2008 · 4:06 pm