Late at night, Böhmer is quiet with a muted buzz from the still busy bar. We get seated by one of the large windows at the entrance and check out the menu of seasonal and local ingredients. While we didn’t order very many dishes, I was quite impressed with the plating.
On a whim, we changed our plans and decided to have dinner at Mado on our last night in Chicago. Having enjoyed the talk and time spent during a pig butchering demo (more in a later post!) earlier in the afternoon at the restaurant, we thought it would be nice to check the actual dinner service out.
In a nutshell, molecular gastronomy is the application of science principles to food preparation and presentation. We see this in full-effect at moto in Chicago, where food and science meet in a playful frolic across your plate. We went all-out and opted for the GTM (Grand Tour Moto), a 20-course, 5-hour extravaganza. At times, it was a phenomenal mix of fantastic food and showmanship, sometimes less-so. But it definitely resulted in an interesting meal at the end of the night.
Mercat A La Planxa has some great dishes, and we found everything out of the kitchen to be well-prepared and again, proportioned for more than two people. We ordered eight dishes and that was too many. We could have stopped at six, due to both stomach space and time. But what we ordered? Good stuff.
Our first night in Chicago brings us to The Purple Pig where charcuterie, cheeses, and tapas-like dishes dominate the menu. Large communal tables run down the centre of each arm of this L-shaped, loud, and boisterous room. It’s about 8:30 and it’s packed. Our drinks are set up and we’re ready to roll down the [...]
Origin‘s the new resto from Claudio Aprile and I really like the space. This room exudes a very polished form of trendy and the open central kitchen provides some interest. It’s a cool place where you’d want to take a group to hang out. With that in mind, it’s definitely more of a photo post [...]
It’s only very recently that I’ve checked Fin Izakaya out and to be honest, though it had solid food with a couple high notes, I wasn’t wowed on my first visit. But by the end of a second, most excellent, visit to Fin, it had secured a place on my mental “places to eat” list. [...]
Though it’s been a while since I last went, I’ve always enjoyed my meals at Japango, the tiny sushi joint on Elizabeth street. So I’m not sure why it’s taken so long to visit Yuzu (opened back in 2008!) by the same chef/owner, Bruce Bu. But craving sushi one night, I finally made my way [...]
Mixology hasn’t really gone too far in Toronto the way it has, say in Vancouver or Seattle. However, I’m seeing more and more hints these days that Torontonians are starting to get into their cups a bit more seriously. Now, I can’t really count myself as one of the knowledgeable bunch, but I can appreciate [...]
Due to some financial issues, Jamie Kennedy sold his popular and eponymous wine bar in late 2009 to Scott Vivian, his (then) sous. Loping the JK off of the title, Vivian has since re-dubbed it Wine Bar. While not very creative, Vivian wasn’t trying to establish a new world order, instead, he wanted to keep [...]
