New American

Bite Cafe: A No Frills, Authentic Dining Experience with True Vegetarian Options

Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village

Vegetarian Options Rating: ★★★★

Pescatarian Options Rating: ★★★★★

Affordability: ★★★★

Ambience: ★★★★★

Service: ★★★★

 Food Quality: ★★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Bite is one of my favorite brunch and dinner spots.  I love everything about the ambience here.  It’s easygoing, unpretentious, and the servers aren’t too cool to give you decent service.  I always enjoy the music as it’s eclectic and unpredictable, but at times very familiar.  The other night they were playing my favorite Cursive songs that brought me back twelve years ago.

They have high quality vegetarian cuisine here.  Everything I have had here has been sooo delicious except for their Chilaquiles (they were a little bland).  My go to here for brunch is their Veggie Eggs Benedict and Veggie Breakfast Poutine.  The eggs benedict can be made without the meat and it comes with a generous portion of spinach underneath the poached egg.  The hollandaise sauce and pimento cheddar spread are heavenly!  I am not crazy about pimento cheddar but this place makes me like it.  Their mashbrown is also flavorful and a nice spin on the traditional hashbrown, breakfast potatoes concept.

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Veggie Eggs Benedict with the Mashbrown

Their vegetarian poutine is out of this world!  I love their mushroom gravy.  It’s soooo hard to find vegetarian gravy for poutine because they are usually beef or chicken – based (how lame), but Bite offers a truly scrumptious mushroom gravy for their poutine.  Their fries are a great balance between crunchy and soft, the gravy and cheese curds are well distributed along with the fried eggs on top making for an oozing liquid deliciousness once you pop that egg yolk.  They serve a generous portion of fresh mushrooms, which complement the crunchy fries.

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Breakfast Poutine with Mushroom Gravy

I also enjoy coming here for dinner and loved their vegetarian burger.  It was not that generic frozen stuff you get, it was fresh and made right there with tasty aioli and generous serving of fries.

On Tuesday nights, they have a great date night deal where it’s $36 for an appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert.  It’s such an affordable way to have a lovely meal with a close person in your life.  We started with the poutine – I’ve had it for brunch before but the dinner one was slightly different and had pickled carrots and more vegetables in there.  The gravy was perfection along with the chunky cheese curds.

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Dinner Poutine with Mushroom Gravy

For our entrees, we ordered the Pappardelle Pasta, which had mild, earthy flavors.  The Pappardelle was amazing and tasted very fresh.  The sauce was a leak cream sauce that had mushrooms, a bit of parmesan and a gremolata seasoning.  There was a unique mixture of textures in there between the crunchy gremolata and the soft pappardelle.

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Pappardelle with Mushrooms

We also ordered the Ocean Trout which stole the night!  The trout was seasoned to perfection served over a celery root puree, a vegetable hash and potatoes seasoned in lemon pepper.  It was light with a mixture of delicate and potent flavors.  The trout had a tender, flaky texture and was seasoned perfectly.

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Ocean Trout

To conclude the meal on a sweet note, we ordered the Ricotta filled donuts and they were absolutely out of this world!  The filling was soft and gooey and the outside was crispy with a generous coating of cinnamon sugar.

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Ricotta Donuts

Bite is also BYOB, which makes it even more appealing of a place to eat at.  The prices are reasonable, especially for the quality of food you’re getting.  Then the BYOB aspect makes it even more affordable to come here.  I like the small, intimate feel of Bite and will continue to be a regular here.

Bellemore: Where the Small Touches Matter

Neighborhood: West Loop

Vegetarian Options Rating: ★★★

Pescatarian Options Rating: ★★★★

Affordability: ★★

Ambience: ★★★★★

Service: ★★★★★

Food Quality: ★★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Menu:

  • Drinks:
    • Smoking Berries
    • Manhattan
  •  Dinner:
    • Charred Cucumbers & Stracciatella
    • Kona Kampachi
    • Green Garlic Torchio
    • Toasted Nori Bucatini
    • Alaskan Halibut
    • Anson Mill’s Farro Verde
  • Dessert:
    • Milk Chocolate Cheesecake
    • Passion Fruit Sorbet

I had high expectations for Bellemore considering that they are part of the Boka Group and Boka is one of the best restaurants I have ever been to.  Bellemore lived up to these expectations.  I was able to make last minute reservations here and they were very nice and accommodating on the phone.  From the second we walked in to the second we walked out, we were greeted by kind faces.  The service here was excellent starting with the hosts who gave us a nice big booth to our server who was very professional to the individuals filling the water.  It was impressive.  It’s the type of restaurant that gives you new plates and silverware for every course without making you feel pretentious or stuffy.

Bellemore is the less traditional, let your hair out sibling of Boka.  While Boka is fine-dining and more traditional, Bellemore is a little more experimental and hip with similar price-points and a similar level of refinement and deliciousness.  The layout and aesthetic reminded me of Proxi, another favorite restaurant of mine that is across the street from Bellemore.  I wonder if Proxi’s aesthetic influenced Bellemore’s style or if it’s a mere coincidence.  The lighting was just right without it being too dimly lit but not too overly bright where you feel like you’re in a mall.

They were definitely into odd taxonomy showcasing stuffed birds and a provocative painting of a naked, masked woman.  It had your typical midcentury modern vibe with white lights and antique mirrors reminiscent of Bad Hunter.  Their bathroom was lovely, so please go if you have the opportunity to do so!  It was a single-stall stocked with rubber bands, bobby pins, and mints with hand lotion.  Our Uber ride there was terrible so going to the bathroom to chill out for a minute refreshed me for our lovely celebration dinner.

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Smoking Berries

Bellemore has an enticing cocktail menu and quite an extensive wine and champagne menu.  There were some cocktails that looked intriguing so we ended up ordering cocktails.  Being a Mezcal lover, I ordered the Smoking Berries, which had smoky Mezcal, sherry, berry, and grapefruit.  It was a refreshing drink that came with crushed ice and herbs.  My dining companion ordered the Manhattan, which had bourbon, vermouth, and other notable ingredients that made it a really unique and tasty drink.

While it’s trendy to have small plates, Bellemore encourages people to share some appetizers while entrées can be individually ordered.  It was refreshing to hear this since I am so used to going to restaurants that encourage us to order as many small plates as possible, which isn’t fun if you’re in a large group with different dietary needs.  We ordered about 3 courses each and everything was delicious – it was definitely more than what we needed though.

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Charred Cucumbers & Stracciatella

We started off with the Charred Cucumbers & Stracciatella – a delicate, bright, and herbaceous appetizer.  I am not that big of a fan of cucumbers but the cucumbers were charred really nicely and the stracciatella had a light and creamy consistency with hints of grilled sourdough underneath.  I would have liked for there to be a bit more sourdough but the dish had many delicate flavors with grapes and basil.  The broth was mild but extremely flavorful with a perfect kick of acid.  It was an ideal way to start a hedonistic meal.

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Kona Kampachi: a work of art!

Another refreshing appetizer that we had was the Kona Kampachi – again delicate, herbaceous flavors with perfectly prepared Kampachi – a Hawaiian yellowtail, which was pretty much like a thicker version of ahi tuna.  The Kampachi came with marinated cucumbers, Thai chiles, mint, green tomato, and mint.  It came with a light buttermilk sauce that wasn’t thick and overpowering and had the perfect consistency for a delicate dish like this.  Buttermilk is always a little bitter but it did not overpower the other flavors.

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Green Garlic Torchio

As we were progressing towards the heavier dishes, we decided to try some pasta.  Bellemore is quite pescatarian-friendly with a few vegetarian plates.  One of my favorite dishes of the night was the Green Garlic Torchio – fresh green pasta with Burgundy snails, a mushroom bolognese, parmesan breadcrumbs, lemon and basil.  I loved the fact that they did a mushroom bolognese because that is pretty rare to find, especially at a high-end restaurant like this.  The flavors were perfectly balanced along with the fun, crispy breadcrumbs generously sprinkled on top of the soft pasta.  It was a really cozy dish – the kind you just want to binge on while it’s a crisp, fall day while watching Netflix in sweatpants.  We also ordered the Toasted Nori Bucatini, which had crab that was perfectly prepared – it was creamy and buttery along with uni, lemon, butter, and chives.  While I really liked the lobster and uni in this dish along with the fresh bucatini, I was not in love with the sauce.  I think it could have been more flavorful but it was a good dish overall.

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Toasted Nori Bucatini

For the final savory dishes of the night we ordered the Alaskan Halibut and Anson Mill’s Farro Verde.  The Alaskan Halibut was cooked to perfection with crispy chanterelle mushrooms, charred avocado, tatsoi, spinach, and tamarind.  I liked the avocado, but it didn’t seem to blend with the rest of the dish, it felt disparate while all of the other pieces complemented one another.  The flavors were very mild and I would have liked for it to be a saucier dish, but the tamarind really added a nice kick.

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Alaskan Halibut

The other star of the night was the Farro Verde.  It was an incredibly innovative and flavorful dish with lovely texture.  The dish was served in a cozy wooden bowl with farro that had the consistency of a creamy risotto.  The roasted maitake mushrooms gave it that perfect umami flavor with herbs and mascarpone.  They also poured a really tasty broth over the dish adding to the balance of flavors.  I was in love with this dish because of its herbal, rich flavor.

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Farro Verde

At this point we were stuffed, but why not do dessert?  It’s a special occasion!  We ordered the Milk Chocolate Cheesecake, which was not your typical cheesecake.  The cheesecake was not the star and the ice cream on top was the main feature of the dish along with the candied sesame pralines for texture and raspberries.  The raspberries tasted very fresh and I loved the dried chocolate on top.  Since it was a special occasion they also gave us a complimentary passion fruit sorbet, which was a refreshing end to a delightful meal.

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Milk Chocolate Cheesecake
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Passion Fruit Sorbet

The food and service here were exemplary and it’s not a pretentious restaurant.  They even gave us a card to celebrate our special occasion, which I thought was cute.  You do pay a lot of money to come here so that’s why it’s a special occasion type of place but it’s worth the price given the high quality food and service you get.  If you want more of a relaxed, fine-dining experience, Bellemore is an excellent choice – sometimes you just want a dish to yourself!

Boka: A 5 Star Culinary Experience Worth the Price

Neighborhood: Lincoln Park

Vegetarian Options Rating: ★★★

Pescatarian Options Rating: ★★★★★

Affordability: ★★

Ambience: ★★★★★

Service: ★★★★★

 Food Quality: ★★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★★★

If you want an intimate dinner with exemplary service and outstanding food, then Boka is a perfect option.  My significant other surprised me by taking me here and it was such an amazing culinary experience.  One of the best of my life.

You walk in and there are multiple rooms giving different vibes like a darker more romantic room, a room with plants, and an outdoor space.  We sat in the darker room especially because it was kind of chilly outside.

The service was exemplary.  They were super fast with the water refills, changing our plates/silverware, and were very polite and professional.  Our server was also very helpful with the menu and gave us a complimentary glass of champagne for our celebration.  What a great way to start this meal.  While this place isn’t ideal for vegetarians, they had enough pescatarian options on the menu to keep us satisfied.  I think they could benefit though from more vegetarian options.

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Amuse Bouche

Before we ordered, they served us a cute amuse bouche.  It was delicious and a perfect way to start off the meal.  We started with the cured fluke.  It was unlike anything I have ever had before.  They were really nice about splitting up the dish on separate plates because we shared everything.  The fluke had this jello-ey texture mixed in with pickled watermelon and radish.  It was quite a savory delight.  Our next course was the Fontina Tortelli, which was one of the highlights of the night.  It came with tarragon, corn, and shiitake mushrooms.  It was rich in a buttery sauce and the tortelli had fontina cheese oozing out of it.  I also loved the texture of the shiitake mushrooms.  The tortelli was fresh and I couldn’t get enough of this!

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Cured Fluke
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Fontina Tortelli

They also served us some freshly baked bread with a savory chive butter.  Wow, I was in love with the Kalamata olive bread and the onion focaccia.  Both were warm and paired seamlessly with the chive butter.  It also went really well with the heirloom tomato dish, which was fresh and flavorful.  The tomatoes were fresh and diverse and they were served with pine nuts, black garlic, and plums.  Perfect balance of sweet with savory.  There was a really unique balsamic drizzle on top.

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Heirloom Tomatoes

But the tasting didn’t stop at the tomatoes, our next item was the poached halibut.  Another creative, unique dish that was absolutely mouthwatering.  The poached halibut was light and fresh with artichokes, zucchini, and green coriander.  I thought the artichoke was made to perfection and there was an interesting mixture of flavors.  Our last entree were the seared scallops which came with sungold tomatoes, corn, basil, and a lobster bisque.  Wow, this was also a highlight of the meal.  The lobster bisque was amazing and the scallops were seared to PERFECTION.  The sungold tomatoes were a culinary delight.

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Poached Halibut
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Seared Scallops

We concluded the night with a dark, milk chocolate dessert, which had really distinctive flavors too.  It had earl grey ice cream which was really delightful with sudachi – a sticky, sweet flavor.  I loved the earl grey ice cream because it balanced out with the sweet, decadent chocolate.  The chocolate was delightful and not super heavy.  They also served us complimentary chocolate truffles, which were mouthwatering.

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Dark, milk chocolate dessert

They did an excellent job staging all of the courses out so we didn’t feel overwhelmed.  I cannot wait to come back here for another celebration.  The service was also perfect without being too in your face.  Yes, this place is expensive but it serves high quality, flavorful, unique cuisine and provides exemplary customer service.

Cellar Door Provisions: Minimalist, Bohemian Delicacies

Neighborhood: Logan Square

Vegetarian Options Rating: ★★★

Pescatarian Options Rating: ★★★★

Affordability: ★★★1/2

Ambience: ★★★★

Service: ★★★★

 Food Quality: ★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★★

Menu:

  • Drinks: Coffee, Black Loose Leaf Tea
  • Pastries: 
    • Croissant
    • Bread and cultured butter
    • Rose-water pastry
  • Plates:
    • Turnip hummus
    • Smoked Beet Ravioli
    • Cured trout

Cellar Door Provisions is a cute, boho byob restaurant tucked away in Logan Square.  Its front is unassuming, but as you walk in, you are greeted with gorgeous plants, sleek wood, and a minimalist decor nested in a small interior.  It is an order at the counter type of restaurant, which gives it more of a casual vibe without compromising the quality of the dining experience.  They have very unique, small plates with refined, complex flavors.

I appreciate that they serve brunch till 3pm (breakfast and lunch items) since I’m not an early riser.  I also like the breakfast, brunch, and pastry options so your palette can get a wide variety of flavors.  Another aspect of the charm is that it’s BYOB but they had excellent coffee, flavorful loose-leaf teas and a unique turmeric drink.  I had their black loose-leaf tea and enjoyed it with my brunch.

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Croissant

While you’re waiting for your order to come out, you can split a fresh and flaky French style pastry with your dining companion (or just eat it all yourself).  We split the croissant and it was the epitome of a fresh, flaky French croissant.  It’s one of the best croissants I’ve had here in Chicago.

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Bread and Cultured Butter

Considering how amazing their pastries are, we tried their bread and cultured butter.  It was fresh, earthy, and the butter added a nice saltiness to the bread.  Cellar Door really thrives at making amazing baked products. We also started with a turnip hummus.  Being a hummus lover, I was excited to see hummus presented in a unique way – similar to how I had it in Berlin.  The hummus was garlicky and delicious with the turnips, a hard boiled egg, dukkah, and a peppery romesco.  The romesco really gave it a complex, dynamic flavor and was my favorite part of it.  It was served with pita-esque bread that was crispy.

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Hummus

We also tried the smoked beat ravioli, which came with beet sauce, hazelnuts, and cured apricot. It was an absolutely beautiful dish drizzled with flowers. The beat ravioli tasted super fresh.  The stuffing consisted of a smoke beet purée.  The smokey flavor wasn’t very potent, but the ravioli had complexity in its flavors and had remarkable spices that aren’t typically paired with ravioli.

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Beet Ravioli

I am a big fan of smoked fish so we ordered the cured trout as the main entree.  The cured trout could have been more flavorful but it had a good texture.  The sunchoke puree that it was served on provided a noteworthy element to this dish.  I did enjoy the salted radish as it added a crunchy texture.  The trout was paired with lentils, which was also another interesting texture and flavor combination. I really liked the lentils with the sunchoke.  I think this dish had potential to be something greater, but it was still quite distinctive.

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Cured Trout

We concluded our meal with a mouthwatering pastry, Kouign-Amann.  It had a delicate rose water flavor that was soaked up very well by the flaky pastry.  The rose water flavor balanced out the sweetness perfectly.

I was overall satisfied with what I ate and hope to try more of their dishes.  They had a decent assortment of pescatarian options even though they have a smaller menu.   The service was overall lovely and embodied a welcoming environment.  If you’re looking for a brunch spot that is a break from your typical omelettes and Eggs Benedict, Cellar Door is the place to try!  I wouldn’t come to Cellar Door expecting bold, spicy flavors, but I think they thrive with delicate, savory flavors with intricate textures.

Chicago Teachers’ Lounge and Eatery: A Neighborhood Spot for Educators and Everyone Else

Neighborhood: Humboldt Park

Vegetarian Options Rating: ★★★

Pescatarian Options Rating: ★★★★

Affordability: ★★★ 1/2

Ambience: ★★★★

Service: ★★★★★

Food Quality: ★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★★

I am very happy that there is a restaurant/cafe that appreciates educators since they are under-appreciated in our society.   Chicago Teacher’s Lounge and Eatery has a very relaxed, unpretentious vibe making it feel like a neighborhood hang-out. Our server was very kind, genuine, and helpful.  I would say the cuisine was “New-American” style and quite tasty.  They had a decent cocktail and wine list but it was a school night so I wasn’t drinking.  Their water has a refreshing lemon flavor to it making me like this place even more!  Little details like these definitely elevate the dining experience.   They also had cheaper sandwich options (around $13) if you aren’t looking to splurge but also more expensive entrees if you are looking to splurge (around $20).

Truffle Parmesan Fries

They had a fair amount of vegetarian and pescatarian options. My friend (who is also an educator) and I started out with an order of the truffle parmesan fries. They were drizzled with a garlic aioli and the truffle flavor was delicious. I would have liked if there was freshly grated parmesan rather than the parmesan powder on there, but it was still wonderful and I couldn’t stop eating it.

Roasted Salmon with truffle mashed potatoes and vegetables

For our entrees we ordered the roasted salmon and the cheese ravioli. The roasted salmon was out of this world! The salmon was made to perfection and served with a delicate balsamic reduction over decadent truffle mashed potatoes. The truffle mashed potatoes were heavenly and I still didn’t have enough truffle that night. The roasted vegetables were crispy and went very well with the balsamic reduction.  I loved the crunchy texture of the broccoli and cauliflower.

Cheese ravioli

The cheese ravioli was also great in the basil broth. I think this dish could have have been more flavorful though. It had a delicate, light flavor and the basil was not very strong or potent. It had more of a buttery sauce.  The ravioli had a wonderful texture and was stuffed with ricotta. It was served with sweet tomatoes, asparagus, and shaved parmesan making it feel like a balanced dish.  I wanted to try dessert because they had some excellent choices but alas it was a school night so wasn’t feeling super indulgent.

Overall, this was a wonderful experience and I plan on coming here for their Taco Tuesday!  For a place that has only been open for a couple of months, I was impressed with how they had everything under control.

Elske: Delicate Delights in a Clean, Modern Space

Neighborhood: West Loop

Vegetarian Options Rating: ★★

Pescatarian Options Rating: ★★★★

Affordability: ★★1/2

Ambience: ★★★★★

Service: ★★★★

 Food Quality: ★★★★1/2

Overall Rating: ★★★★

Menu:

  • Drinks: Glogg, Scotch cocktail
  • Pescatarian Tasting Menu:
    • Caviar Toast with a Smoked Tea
    • Mushroom Tart
    • Lentil Crepe
    • Salsify and Endives
    • Smoked Monkfish
    • Confit Hen of the Woods Mushrooms
    • Celery Root Risotto
    • Earl Grey Ice Cream and Whipped Whey

Elske is New American restaurant tucked away in the West Loop offering beautiful Danish inspired cuisine.  I was very excited to try Elske having been to Copenhagen this past year.  The decor definitely brought me back to Copenhagen as it’s minimal and all about the mid-century modern vibe.  They also have a lovely outdoor area with a fireplace for when it will eventually be warmer outside.  We were here for a celebration so it was a bourgie kind of night.  We were seated right away upon arrival as I made reservations well in advance.

The hostesses were nice and everyone was on top of cleaning up the plates and table throughout the course of the meal.  The main reason for this review being 4 stars rather than 5 stars was because of the chaotic service from our server.  Our server was a bit frazzled and stressed out.  She also conflated pescatarian with vegetarian and I was a bit nervous since it was a major dinner that was a surprise.  I had to be very clear that we eat fish since that is pretty much all over the menu here and is a staple of Danish cuisine.

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Glogg and Scotch cocktail, Publican Rye Bread in the back

We started off with some delicious cocktails.  They were fabulous cocktails, a bit pricey at about $13 each, which is pretty typical for nice restaurants in the West Loop.  I had the Glogg, which was soothing and complex with almond, red wine, brandy, and spices.  It also came with a cute little ginger cookie.  My dining companion had the Scotch cocktail which had a cranberry grenadine and lemon. It was quite intense to drink, but also refreshing.  Their cocktail menu is pretty small but they offer high quality drinks.

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Caviar Toast with a Smoked Tea

Since we were at Elske for a celebration, we decided to do the tasting menu at $85 per person.  It includes 8 courses, so while it is expensive, it was worth it for how unique and beautiful everything was.  You do have the option of the wine pairing for an additional $45, but that was a bit too much for me.  They were able to make a couple of changes to their tasting menu to make it pescatarian friendly, which was highly appreciated (otherwise we wouldn’t have gone there).  Most of the tasting menu is pescatarian friendly (not vegetarian though as it’s fish heavy) and they just switched out the two duck dishes.

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Mushroom Tart

I really enjoyed how they had the chefs bring out their dishes and present it to the table.  It made the experience more intimate.  We decided to add the dark rye sourdough with the cultured koi butter for $7.  It was absolutely scrumptious but I thought it should’ve been a part of the tasting menu already.  The tasting menu felt very customized and it was endearing to be able to meet the chefs who created such a unique dishes. The opener was a a light caviar toast served with a tea of smoked fruits and vegetables.  I really loved the smokiness of the tea, but it wasn’t overpowering at all.  The toast had a little caviar, dill, and radish creating a nice, salty crunchiness.  I have never had anything like it before and I enjoyed its novelty.  The next dish was a little mushroom tart with a caramelized top layer and a buckwheat crust.  The texture was incredibly smooth with umami flavors.  It was a perfect two-bite tasting portion.

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Lentil Crepe

One of my favorite parts of the tasting menu was the sprouted lentil crepe with a smoked whitefish salad and tarragon.  The crepe was so flavorful and the smoked whitefish really complemented symphony of flavors well.  I love crepes and would like to see more on restaurant menus.  It was also a perfect little portion.  For our fourth course we had the salsify and endives with a mild cream, burnt bread, and black truffle.   Mild flavors, but an incredibly unique dish.  The endives had a refreshing crunchiness on the firmer rye bread.  While I saw the black truffle, I didn’t really taste the truffle, which was slightly disappointing because who doesn’t love truffle flavor?

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Salsify and Endives

As the courses progressed throughout the night, they got slightly heavier in a very gradual manner.  For our fifth course, we had the roasted monkfish with an onion soubise, parsnip, and preserved lemon.  The fish was perfectly made and I loved the onion soubise.  The lemon drizzle had a mustard-like flavor, which added some zest to this dish.  It was mild and all of the flavors blended seamlessly together.

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Roasted Monkfish

The sixth course was supposed to be an aged duck breast and we substituted it for the confit hen of the woods mushrooms and their celery root risotto.  These were definitely the stars of the night.  The hen of the woods mushrooms came with a chestnut, pear cream, and thyme.  Hen of the woods mushrooms are such remarkable mushrooms.  They were crunchy, savory, and provided plenty of umami flavor in contrast to the more subtle pear cream sauce.  I did enjoy the light chestnut flavors.  But my absolute favorite dish was the celery root risotto with black truffle, candied hazelnuts, and sherry.  The first few bites just melted in my mouth and I had to stop talking to really savor these complex, gorgeous flavors.  The risotto had the perfect moist texture and sherry added a really dynamic flavor.  The truffle tones were more pronounced adding to the pure exquisiteness of the dish.  The candied walnuts also added a nice crunchy texture to the risotto.  I would come back here just for this risotto.

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Confit Hen of the Woods Mushrooms
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Celery Root Risotto

We were getting full at this point so it was nice that the seventh course was a palate cleanser for dessert.  It was a bite of their frozen fennel jelly with mint.  I appreciated that it prepared my tastebuds for dessert.  Since it was a birthday, they gave us a cake dessert in addition to their Earl grey dessert.  The cake was quite remarkable and not super sweet and sugary.  It had vanilla and nuts drizzled all over it.  The last course was the Earl grey dessert, which came with whipped whey, parsnip, lemon, and buckwheat.  Who thought of this splendid concoction?  The whipped whey was incredibly remarkable.  It was similar to merengue and was a complement to the Earl grey ice cream.  The earl grey ice cream was the star of the dish.  It tasted herbaceous and delicate.  The buckwheat at the bottom added a lovely crunchy texture to the soft dessert.

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Birthday Cake
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Earl Grey Dessert

All in all, this was an incredibly delightful and distinct dining experience.  I am so happy to have had the privilege of trying their tasting menu and I am appreciative of the fact that they made it pescatarian for us.  If you are looking for a special and creative dining experience to celebrate a special occasion, Elske is perfect for this.  It is quite expensive though so it’ll probably be awhile before I come back here, but I look forward to the next time.  There was a certain level of pretentiousness that I felt from the staff, but it wasn’t over the top and I have come to expect it in the West Loop.

Giant: A Space for all Culinary Appetites

Neighborhood: Logan Square

Vegetarian Options Rating: ★★

Pescatarian Options Rating: ★

Affordability: ★★1/2

Ambience: ★★★★

Service: ★★★★★

Food Quality: ★★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★★★

I was a bit weary of this place since I had heard mixed reviews from friends.  Some people love it while others deeply dislike it.  But I am on the “love this place” team.  It has been awhile where I went somewhere and I was truly impressed with literally everything I ate and that happened here at Giant.  It’s worth the wait and the prices.  I mean many restaurants in Logan Square cost this much and aren’t nearly as good so it’s important to compare prices to other restaurants in the area.  But don’t go here if you’re looking for a cheap meal that will fill you up.

We went here on a Saturday night and were sat down after we waited an hour, which was fine because we just got a drink at Best Intentions next store and walked around.  The seating is a bit tight like in Europe so it can be a bit awkward on date night when you’re squeezed in between two other couples and one of them is constantly professing their love to one another while you and your date are just obsessing over how delicious the food is.  The ambience is pretty and the bathroom was amazing, go to the bathroom!  It smelled great because of the candles they had, I really appreciate nice bathrooms in restaurants and bars.

Service was excellent between the hostess, server, bussers, and chefs bringing out the food in their aprons.  The menu itself is not very vegetarian friendly – for some reason they add bacon/pancetta in a lot of dishes.  Since we eat seafood occasionally, we ate a lot of seafood last night, but they were very accommodating with us not eating meat.  I was nervous since higher-end restaurants that are trendy tend to not be very accommodating with making changes but they were.  I do think they should have more vegetarian options though.

Sweet and sour eggplant with the pita bread like side
Tomato Sortallini

We both had glasses of rose wine (mine was from Greece) and they went perfectly with the meal.  We started off with the fried uni shooters, which were basically an explosion of heavenly flavors in my mouth for thirty seconds.  I don’t know what was all in there but there was something that had a creamy, goat cheese type of consistency and I loved it.  The cucumber soy salad was a great accompaniment to the shooters.  Then we had the sweet and sour eggplant with cashews minus the pancetta.  It was absolutely mouth-watering.  It was a mixture of Indian/Chinese flavors and their “pita” bread was so garlicky and delicious.  It was chilled over the sweet and sour sauce and I couldn’t get enough of it.

After the two smaller plates, we had a lot of delicious pasta.  We had the Tomato Sortallini minus the guanciale.  When they first brought it out, they accidentally put meat in it but then were very apologetic about it, ended up comping that order and then gave us a free dessert so I can’t really complain.  The sauce with the sortallini was amazing.  It came with unique, mini tomatoes and pine nuts.  They served it with some delicious sesame seed bread that absorbed and complimented the sauce perfectly.  The other pasta dish we had was the Saffron Tagliatelle with king crab and chili butter.  Wow!  The king crab was made perfectly, tasted fresh, and went so well with the chili butter.  I couldn’t get enough of this either.  There was a bit of parmesan, but nothing too overwhelming since it was a very strong dish.  Even though they subtracted meat from some of the dishes, it didn’t feel like they were missing anything.  They were perfectly satisfying.

Saffron Tagliattelle

I usually don’t eat dessert, but the desserts looked so good so we ordered the S’morgasbord, which is basically their gourmet version of smores.  It was decadent, intense, and delicious!  Their graham crackers were the best I’ve ever had and it came with these cute, little oreo cookies over a chocolate souffle.  It was really wonderful but we couldn’t finish it.  As mentioned earlier, they gave us a free dessert so they gave us the Vanilla Cajetta Ice Cream.  I am not a big fan of ice cream but I absolutely loved this.  It wasn’t a heavy ice cream at all.  The ice cream was coated in this pecan strawberry crust and made into a ball.  I actually ended up liking this dessert way more than I expected.

Vanilla Cajeta Ice Cream and S’morgasbord

All in all, I had a wonderful experience here and can’t wait to go back.  I really enjoyed the environment and how the chefs came out, served the food, and described them thoroughly.  They also served the food beautifully.

Lula Cafe: A Logan Square Favorite and Rightfully So!

Neighborhood: Logan Square

Vegetarian Options Rating: ★★★★

Pescatarian Options Rating: ★★★★

Affordability: ★★★

Ambience: ★★★★

Service: ★★★★

Food Quality: ★★★★1/2

Overall Rating: ★★★★

Menu:

  • Brunch:
    • Sweet Grain Porridge
    • Chocolate Sesame Babka
    • Smoked Trout Scramble
    • Lula Classic Breakfast Burrito
  • Dinner:
    • Baked French Feta
    • Fava Bean Hummus
    • Bucatini with Ricotta
    • Wood-ear Mushroom Risotto

Lula has been part of the Logan Square community for 17 years prior to the more recent explosion of restaurants, bars, and cafes.  I have had the pleasure of coming here for both brunch and dinner multiple times.  While I am more of a fan of their dinner options, their brunch is also delicious and affordable.  The environment is quaint and cute within a somewhat eclectic and charming space.  Their patio is always packed full of diners on balmy summer nights.  Their service has always been accommodating and the servers are knowledgeable and proud of their food.

Brunch:

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Sweet Grain Porridge

If you are looking for unique brunch fare without getting stuffed, Lula is a great option.  It’s challenging for me to come here for brunch since they only have it till 2pm and I’m a late riser on the weekends so I usually miss their brunch.  In the few times I have been able to have their brunch, I have been impressed with their unique offerings.  It’s always busy with a wait so expect to wait a bit.  While I am usually a fan of savory foods for brunch, my dining companion and I tried their Sweet Grain Porridge, which had bee pollen, soy milk, rhubarb, and sunflower.  The grain on top added a nice crunchy texture.  It was really cozy and not overly sweet.  I really liked how the soy milk went with the other ingredients  We also ordered the Chocolate Sesame Babka.  It was a bit dry for my tastes but I don’t pretend to be a babka expert so maybe they’re supposed to be on the dryer side.  It wasn’t super sweet but more mild.

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Chocolate Sesame Babka

My favorite brunch dish was their Smoked Trout Scramble served with a side of crusty, fresh sourdough bread and seasoned potatoes.  It was served with fresh dill, arugula, bits of tasty smoked trout, and whipped cream cheese.  The cream cheese did not dominate the flavors at all and complemented the fresh vegetables and herbs very well.  The eggs were also creamy and perfectly made.  I am often disappointed with scrambled eggs when I eat out because they are often dried out but I was satisfied with my eggs at Lula.  They are also generous with dill, which is my favorite herb so another reason to love this dish!

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Smoked Trout Scramble

We also tried the Lula Classic Breakfast Burrito which came with avocado, potato, cheddar, scrambled eggs, and salsa verde.  The eggs were creamy and blended very nicely with the avocado.  I think the burrito overall could have been more seasoned but the salsa verde definitely added some nice flavor to it.  If you want to get full, then breakfast burrito is a good choice even though it does not have extraordinary flavor.

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Breakfast Burrito

Dinner:
While I do like their brunch, I am more of a fan of their dinner because I think the flavors are far more exciting and adventurous.  Their cocktails are always super delicious and refreshing too, which are easier to have at night.

My favorite appetizer is the Baked French Feta.  It is heaven in a small, appetizing silver bowl.  The baked French Feta comes out baked and sizzling garnished with acidic and savory marinated olives, cucumber, parsley, and a succulent jalapeño-basil oil.  The feta is soft and moist and spreads perfectly on the delicious baked bread served with it.  I never forgot about how delicious this was after the first time I ate here.

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Baked French Feta

We also shared their Fava Bean Hummus, which was also remarkable and delicious.  I love hummus but I am not too excited to eat it at a fancier restaurant since it’s a very cheap and easy dish to make.  The fava bean element though added some uniqueness to it and the garnishes were delightful.  It was fresh and came with these savory mushrooms adding a delicious umami flavor and a fun texture.

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Fave Bean Hummus

For our entrées we of course ordered some pasta because Lula knows how to do pasta and they do really interesting sauces and flavors.  We ordered their Bucatini with ricotta and basil with freshly shaved parmesan on top.  It was another savory delight and the pasta tasted fresh along with the herbs used.  Our last entrée was their Wood-Ear Mushroom Risotto.  It was creamy with arugula and chives served on top.  The mushrooms were crispy and added a fun texture to the moist risotto.

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Bucatini with Ricotta
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Wood-ear Mushroom Risotto

We were too full for dessert but I think Lula is an incredibly well-rounded restaurant.  Yes, it’s not the cheapest, but I think it’s worth every penny because they pay so much detail to every aspect of the dish with sustainable, local, and delicious tasting ingredients.

Same Day Cafe: Food and Drinks for All Seasons

Neighborhood: Logan Square

Vegetarian Options Rating: ★★★★

Pescatarian Options Rating: ★★★★

Affordability: ★★★★★

Ambience: ★★★★★

Service: ★★★★★

 Food Quality: ★★★★★

Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Menu:

  • Drinks: Horchata
  • Entrees: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
  • Sides: Pan Potatoes

Same Day Cafe is a picturesque, relaxed cafe in the heart of Logan Square.  Its sign and exterior is unassuming but their food and beverages are everything but unassuming.  It’s a smaller cafe with a wonderful collection of records and natural light.  There are some cute plants on the wall, but it’s not overdone.  It feels unadorned with sparks of a rustic ambience.

They have a wide assortment of beverages ranging from homemade sodas to Chai.  They have a really tasty Horchata, which is perfect for drinking outside on their patio in the summer.  It wasn’t too sweet and had a really great balance of flavors.  It was absolutely refreshing with a nice cinnamon kick.

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Tomato Soup

When it comes to cute, small coffee shops, I never know whether the food will be good since I assume the food isn’t the main feature.  But the food is amazing here.  I had heard great things about the grilled cheese and tomato soup, which I usually don’t order out because it’s a very basic meal and I can make it at home for way less.  But their grilled cheese and tomato soup is far from bland and boring.  Their tomato soup has fresh basil, olive oil, and rosemary croutons.  So simple, yet so scrumptious and hot on a cold, winter day.  The rosemary croutons add a nice crunchy texture to the soft soup.  This soup was really delicious and complemented the grilled cheese.

Same Day makes their own bread and the freshness of it was apparent while eating the grilled cheese.  The grilled cheese consists of rosemary bread and more exciting cheese than just cheddar.  It has both gouda and cheddar.  I also added arugula to it, which served as a nice contrast to the soft cheese.  It also made me feel happy to eat a vegetable since grilled cheese isn’t the healthiest meal in the world.

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Grilled Cheese

We tried the pan potatoes on the side and they were also phenomenal.  Again, potatoes can be really boring, but these were not boring.  The potatoes were pan fried and seasoned with a giardiniera slaw, parmesan, and fresh oregano. The giardiniera slaw was definitely a highlight and added some nice zest to the potatoes.  I could not get enough of it!

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Pan Potatoes

The service was friendly and easy going.  Our server was really nice about splitting up the grilled cheese and putting them on separate plates.  While food menu is relatively small, there’s still so much I would love to try here.  They have brunch-esque food making it a wonderful alternative to a typical restaurant brunch spot.  What’s also great about Same Day Cafe is that you don’t have to wait and can just have a chill brunch or lunch without feeling rushed.