All posts by Barbara Payne, Editor

Writer/editor - food, wine, spirits, travel and fun, plus news about developments in biomedicine and about single working women
Chicago food and drink

Memorial Day 2016 – 3 bubbly ideas and 9 north side restaurants

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As Chicagoans gratefully welcome warmer temps, we’re ready to start toasting summer with Memorial Day food and drinks.  One of the best ways to celebrate is with sparkling wine, and here are some fun ideas from Segura Viudas, one of Spain’s most popular maker of bubblies.

For beach or boat, throw a few  Segura Viudas Brut Minis (~$6) in your bag alongside your sunscreen and life preserver. It’s enchanting to have your own little bottle of smooth bubbly whenever you want. OR if you’re going climbing or some other adventurous trip, take along a full-size bottle of Segura Viudas Gran Cuvée Reserva (~$14) to celebrate when you reach your goal.

If you just want to stay home and impress your friends or family with your cooking skills, stock a few bottles of the affordable and always-versatile cavas Segura Viudas Brut (~$10) or Segura Viudas Rosé Brut (~$10). Try Spicy Fish Tacos or build your own taco bar with spicy salsa from scratch. Cava goes great with spicy foods without turning up the heat.

And then, of course, if you just want to let the pros do all the work, you’ve got a ton of fun Chicago food and drink options. Here are 9 on the north side:

  1. CASTAWAYS BAR & GRILL, North Avenue Beach, is open all weekend serving salads, wraps, sandwiches, and quesadillas accompanied by frozen cocktails and even Corona in a can. Music, too.
  2. CLARK STREET DOG & BAR, 3040 N Clark St., starts the fun on Friday through Monday with $7 to $9 summer cocktails. Open 9 am til late night.
  3. COMMONWEALTH TAVERN, 2000 W. Roscoe, features $3 to $14 brunch items on Saturday and Sunday, with a $3 Build-Your- Own Mimosa Bar and $6 Build-Your- Own Bloody Mary Bar.
  4. FLAGSHIP, 1622 W. Belmont, introduces al fresco dining this Memorial Day. Choose from succulent brunch items 11 am to 3 pm on Saturday and Monday only.
  5. KANELA BREAKFAST CLUB, 5 north side locations, intros al fresco dining and a new bar menu this Memorial Day weekend. Check out special drink concoctions like Rosemary’s Bubbly (gin, fresh squeezed grapefruit, lemon and orange juices, rosemary syrup, a splash of prosecco, served on the rocks; $9).
  6. KIZUKI RAMEN & IZAKAYA, 1482 N. Milwaukee, Monday only for lunch or dinner, $4.50 (half-off regularly $9) Shochu Sake flights. Surprise yourself with this rich combination.
  7. MAK: MODERN ASIAN KITCHEN, 1924 W. Division, opens its small-but-charming patio for Memorial Day, serving the dynamic flavors of traditional Chinese cuisine with a healthy and modern twist.
  8. STRETCH BAR & GRILL, 3485 N. Clark St., offers 25-percent off and a free Stretch koozie to all Veterans with proof of Military ID. Check out their Cubs game day beer, shot and food specials.
  9. TAVERN ON LITTLE FORT, 4128 N. Lincoln Ave., has Saturday and Sunday deals on brunch items along with a $3 Build-Your- Own Mimosa Bar and $5 Build-Your- Own Bloody Mary Bar.
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Chicago food and drink

4 Chicago summer fun ideas

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Feel the beat and eat food from Tennessee!
Feel the beat and eat food from Tennessee!

After-work music party in the park! May 23, 24 and 25:  Hot country music and food from Tennessee – right here in downtown Chicago. The Soundtrack of America: Made in Tennessee concert series will be streamed live here onto a two-sided video wall in Congress Park. Country stars Citizen Cope, Jason Isbell and Old Crow Medicine Show and Ashley Monroe will be performing at iconic attractions in Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville. The video screens have 360-degree panoramic camera angles and interactive capabilities between artists and audience. It’s the first long-distance concert of its kind, and local vendors will have the finest foods from Tennessee on offer throughout. The party starts at 5:30 pm Monday, 5 pm Tuesday, 5:30 pm Wednesday. Congress Park is located at the south end of E. Congress Parkway at about 530  S. Michigan Ave.

 
May 27 to 29: The World Gelato Tour comes to town. Chicago favorites Black Dog Gelato and Vero Coffee & Gelato are two of 16 contestants that will be participating in the World Tour. In this free cultural public event, 16 gelato artisan teams from North and South America will tell their stories and present their unique flavors to the public and to a jury of experts and journalists, whose votes will be combined to award the best gelato flavor in the Americas. The top three flavors and artisans will represent the Eastern Americas at the Grand Finale of Gelato World Tour to be held in Rimini, Italy in 2017. Join the gelato party in Millennium Park noon to 8 pm each day. Tickets here.
 
Memorial Day weekend: ROOF on the Wit Hotel will be regularly transforming its rooftop space into vacation dreamlands from four different countries this summer. This Memorial Day weekend feast your eyes on decorative vibrant colors and lush greenery representing Rio de Janeiro, site of the Summer 2016 Olympic Games. Indulge in traditional Brazilian street fare such as feijoada (black beans, chourico, cilantro, bacon, fried farm egg, hot sauce), pastel (smoked shrimp, hearts of palm, marcona almond, orange, pineapple) and coxinhas (jidori chicken, grilled corn, roasted peppers, pimento aioli), that are carefully prepared by the Wit culinary team. Then sip your stress away with a lime-sparked caipirinha made with Leblon cachaça.
Memorial Day weekend carnival DJ lineup:

All summer: The Renaissance Hotel by Marriott, 1 W. Upper Wacker, has opened its new rooftop lounge called Raised. Great views, beautiful warming-fire devices for cool nights, great mixed drinks and wines, and a fun atmosphere make this a great place to enjoy a summer afternoon or evening. Enter the Renaissance’s trendy cocktail lounge on the main floor and then take the elevator up to the third floor. The space has both inside and outside areas large enough to accommodate big parties, but with plenty of smaller spaces designed to make you feel cozy. And the views during “l’heure bleu” (just after sunset when clear skies turn deep blue) are fabulous. Check it out online here.

Chicago food and drink

British sparkling beats out champagne and Queen turns 90

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In honor of Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday, the British consul invited Chicagoans to sample top-quality British cheeses, sandwich combinations, wines and spirits. That may seem like a contradiction in terms to some here in the U.S. who have traditionally not considered England a model of good cuisine or a source of good wine. But the British have always been known for their broad range of beers and ales (served room temperature), and the U.K. is also proud to be the source of 70% of the world’s brands of gin.
Hattingley Valley sparkling - courtesy of Christina Slaton
Hattingley Valley sparkling – courtesy of Christina Slaton

And lately England is coming out on top in another surprising arena: sparkling wines. Cuvees from England have taken the top prize in the last two International Wine & Spirits Competitions, according to an online article on Grape Collective. Some experts say that England has the same soils as the Champagne region of France and now, as global warming heats things up, it’s getting similar temperature conditions, too – or at least three out of four years, according to one attendee sipping Hattingley Valley English sparkling wine. A perfect setup for making prize sparkling wines. A British brand Fieldstone sparkling wine won a recent blind tasting against competitors from Champagne. Someone at the event said, “I guess global warming is good for something.”

British Scotch eggs, sandwiches and cheeses - courtesy of Christina Slaton
British Scotch eggs, sandwiches and cheeses

The cheeses were savory and the finger sandwiches appealing, making a nice showing for our fellow-English-speaking allies. Cheeses included Amber Valley Sage Derby (a surprising pale-green-laced yellow cheese with a soft texture like Havarti), Amber Valley Blue Stilton (beyond comparing with the average blue cheese you get here in America), English Vintage Reserve Cheddar (the British do a great job with cheddar), Wigmore Soft Brie, and Dunlop Mild (semi-soft and pleasing). Next to them were plates of a well-known British snack known as the Scotch egg – breaded and deep-fried hard-boiled eggs – served sliced in quarters and topped with a dab of grainy mustard. Familiar pub fare.

The event also showcased several brands of gin made in the U.K. Gins, including Beefeater, Hayman’s, Sipsmith and Plymouth, offered creative cocktails using various combinations with Madeira, bitters and more. Guests were drinking everything from dusty dry to barely-sweet pink cocktails, and everyone lifted their glasses as the Consul General Robert Chatterton Dickson proposed a happy birthday toast to the Queen. The magnificent view from the consulate’s 61st floor home made an impressive background for Chicagoans joining in to celebrate good things British.

Chicago food and drink

Pick produce to music at Chicago 2016 farmers’ market kickoff

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English: Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris) with vari...
English: Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris) with variously colored stems on sale at an outdoor farmers’ market in Rochester, Minnesota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you love shopping at farmers’ markets? I remember my first visit years ago – my imagination was so fired up that I was expecting home-grown tomatoes even though it was June! If you haven’t tried it yet, this is the year to start treating yourself. You can even celebrate the opening of the season by attending a “garden” party complete with music at Daly Plaza next Thursday, May 12 from 11:30 to 3 pm.

You’re probably not going to save money shopping at a farmers’ market, but you’ll get to choose from fresh-from-the-earth, often organically grown produce and know that you’re supporting local growers. Well, as local as possible. This is Chicago, after all. You’ll find farmers from downstate Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin and a few closer. At least you’ll know they don’t have to pick their produce unripe so it will travel well in a truck for thousands of miles

Spring brings options like green onions, young greens like Swiss chard, arugula and spinach, garlic scapes (check out this spinach/garlic scape soup recipe) and more.  A great time to top up your vitamin K levels… Here’s a full list of by-the-day-of-the-week farmers’ markets in Chicago 2016.

 

Chicago food and drink

Freixenet cavas – Segura Viudas

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You know the name Freixenet (pronounced fresh-a-net). Its black-bottled Cordon Negro Brut namesake has been one of the world’s leading sparkling wines for decades. It was the first non-French sparkling many baby boomers tried back in the 70s. And oh, how we liked it.

Calçots with Romesco sauce for dipping
Calçots with Romesco sauce for dipping (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When sparkling wine is made in Spain via methode champenoise, it’s known as cava. Freixenet makes cavas and other types of wine, and it also owns a brand known as Segura Viudas, makers of several value-for-dollar cavas. Dry. Sparkly. Delicious with food.

When you visit that lovely winery outside Barcelona in the spring, they’ll set up a red-hot barbeque on the patio and roast some calçots for you to peel and eat by hand. Calçots are a special variety of spring onion grown in Spain and served with a fabulous romesco sauce made of ground nuts, red peppers and spices. Naturally, you’ll be invited to wash them down with one of Segura Viudas‘s excellent bubblies.  Watch out! It’s all so good you may have trouble stopping…

Photography - Segura Viudas Winery (2)
The patio at Segura Viudas winery outside Barcelona – fabulous grilled calcots!

Read about these beauties on the Segura Viudas website.

 

Chicago food and drink

Cubs opener safe rides home from Captain Morgan and Uber

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1913 Chicago Cubs, baseball card portrait
1913 Chicago Cubs, baseball card portrait (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Going to the Cubs home opener? Planning to imbibe a bit to celebrate and wanna get home safely? Thanks to Captain Morgan Rum partnering with Uber, you can  score 15 bucks towards a ride on UberX – if you’re one of the first 3500 users to apply a special promo code on your account for a ride home that evening.

$15 vouchers good for:

  • WHAT: Rides on uberX from Wrigleyville
  • WHEN: 6 p.m. CST on Monday, April 11 and 2 am CST on Tuesday, April 12
  • WHAT TO DO: Starting on Monday at 2 pm CST, enter promo code ‘HOMECAPTAIN’ in the Uber app. Download the Uber app if you haven’t; signup is free.
  • HOW IT WORKS: The $15 voucher will be automatically applied to your account when you take a qualifying ride.

The partnership will provide up to $50,000 worth of ride vouchers for baseball fans 21 and over. Good going, Captain Morgan and Uber.  Rum ‘n’ cola, anyone?

 

 

Chicago food and drink

Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel shakes up the wine world

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Jacob's Creek Double Barrel Shiraz - beautiful!
Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel Shiraz – beautiful!

Heresy or genius? About four years ago, at a dinner with copious quantities of wine passing ’round, an idea crept into the minds of the winemakers at Jacob’s Creek wines, home of Barossa Shiraz and Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. What if, they said, we took our fine finished wines and did something radical with them? What if, they said, after we’ve finished them with American or French oak, we let them rest another spell in whisky casks? What will that do to our fine finished wines?

You and I are the winners, because the answer is unequivocally: good things. After many months of experimentation with time frames and different types of barrels, JC winemakers have perfected a process that dramatically changes and ultimately elevates their final products into another realm.

Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel Cabernet Sauvignon  * * * * Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel Shiraz  * * * * *
The normal finished Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon is elegant with notes of cassis, red fruit, black currants and toasty oak and vanilla. It’s fresh and bright with lots of tannins and a long finish. The normal Jacob’s Creek finished Barossa Shiraz comes out of the bottle soft and velvety, with notes of plum, cloves, blackberry and chocolate. It’s a lovely Australian example of what most countries know as syrah.
Add – 3 months aging in an Irish whisky barrel Add – 3 months aging in a Scotch whisky barrel
Double Barrel Cab – opens aromas to darker fruits, leaf, richer. “Depth of concentration, softer, fleshier.” Beautiful. Double Barrel Shiraz – notes of olive, darker blackfruit, oak char, intense fruit. Gorgeous.
Tasting notes - before and after whisky barrel aging
Tasting notes – before and after whisky barrel aging

They knew that extra aging couldn’t be for too long; you don’t want your lovely Cab or Shiraz tasting like whisky. Thank goodness, Jacob’s Creek’s Ben Bryant explained, they took their time figuring it out.

In a couple of mini-tastings I conducted among friends, the consensus was that the change was not only dramatic, but also transformingly positive. The wines were lovely to start with—even confirmed Cab drinkers admired that first-finished Shiraz—having been made with grapes harvested under ideal conditions. Then, the Double Barrel treatment brought out hidden mystically mysterious gems in the wine.

Wow, people. Go get some Double Barrel and see what you think.

Chicago food and drink

Roka Akor – steak and sushi in Asian-inspired surroundings

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Roka Akor checkerboard wall of wood shingles
Roka Akor checkerboard wall of wood shingles

Beautiful, chic, Asian-inspired decor that coordinates with the top-drawer steak and sushi-inspired menu. That’s Roka Akor, 456 N. Clark St. Ended up going here for an event that didn’t take place and decided to sit down at the bar and take in the ambiance anyway. Loved the sexy, bluesy-jazz music emanating at just the right volume form a clearly quality sound system. Loved the rich texture of the checkerboard of shaved and shiny wooden shingles on the wall and the airy asymmetrical pattern of sturdy beams in the Asian-latticed ceilings. Lots of light from floor-to-ceiling windows. Subtle interior lighting that enhances the trendy-but-comfortable atmosphere.

Roka Akor red-ice-cube cocktail
Roka Akor red-ice-cube cocktail

Pat(rick) Henaghan, who’s not only manager but a master bartender himself, offered to make a sample of one of the cocktails he’d designed for the event that was postponed. Surprising, certainly, to see him putting deep-orangey-red ice cubes in a tall glass. Whoever heard of deep-red ice cubes? Well, Pat explained, these are made from a combination of strawberry and yuzu (Asian fruit) puree that freezes beautifully into a slow-melting ice-pop texture (Popsicle is the brand we adored when we were kids) and gives an amazing shot of color to the vodka/Seville sour orange cocktail he created. This one will be on the regular menu soon – a perfect drink for enjoying in the sun on Roka Akor’s patio.

Roka Akor tempura
Roka Akor tempura

On Pat’s recommendation, tried the vegetable tempura – a generous portion of lightly battered-and-fried slices of carrot, sweet potato, broccoli, zucchini and eggplant served with two amply filled dishes of sauces – one sweeter, one slightly more acidic – both low-sodium and both delicious with the perfectly cooked vegetables. Five- and six-dollar Happy Hour specials are available 5 to 6 pm on the patio and in the lounge; the rest of the Roka Akor menu cries out for further experimentation.

Judging by a short conversation with Dean, who was passing by on his way to a demonstration of menu items for staff members, this seems like a good place to work. Pat even invites staff members to submit drink recipes for the menu – unquestionably a nice way to make people feel recognized and appreciated.
From this limited experience, have to say you’ll likely enjoy your visit and feel much appreciated as a customer, too. Visit them at www.RokaAkor.com.
Chicago food and drink

5 Think-Spring drink ideas

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A glass of champagne
A glass of champagne (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Picture yourself sitting at a small table by a window overlooking a sun-splashed patio crowded with bright spring flowers. A light breeze caresses your face while the sun warms it. Your crisp white napkin is folded in your lap, and your wine glass is sparkling in the light, while you and a friend share a story and laugh about the long-gone threat of winter.

Now, imagine what’s in your glass:
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Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut sparkling cava (~$12 for 750ml and $3 for the mini) – Winemaker’s notes: Crisp, creamy, clean and well-balanced sparkling wine. The fresh palate combines apple, ripe pear and bright citrus with a long finish and a touch of ginger. Comes in that sexy black bottle we all recognize – a big seller in the U.S. for decades – and goes well with almost any food. Statistics show this as the #1 imported sparkling wine in the world.
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Baron Philippe de Rothschild Mouton Cadet Rosé 2015 (~$11) – Winemaker’s notes: The very fresh nose opens on red currant, raspberry and pink grapefruit aromas, followed by cherry and garrigue (an herb mix of the juniper, thyme, rosemary and lavender plants that grow low to the ground in limestone)notes that make the wine aromatically complex. Then when it hits your palate you get freshness, too, along with citrus touches, and a nice lingering finish.
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Perhaps a cucumber and mint cocktail made with vodka and tonic? Get the Prairie Spring Fever recipe here, and read about the organic vodka on Prairie Organic Spirits. Or maybe a combination of tequila, cherry, lime and agave is up your alley. Get the recipe here for The Bass from Maestro Dobel®.
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Whatever you choose to drink, even if you choose to lose the booze with a lovely DRY Sparkling vanilla bean, make sure you’re ready to celebrate spring flowers and sun and life. The time is near.
Chicago food and drink

Review: 312 Chicago restaurant

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The folks at 312 Chicago know how to cook, for sure, but they also have a sense of humor. They’ve just spent the month of March celebrating their 18th birthday with a special “Get Smoked” 3-course prix fixe dinner for $18.
312 Chicago turns 18
312 Chicago turns 18
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When I asked our server why the “get smoked” thing, he said, “Well, Chicago used to have a law that you couldn’t smoke until you were 18. So we decided since we were turning 18 we’d get smoked! Alas, Chicago changed the law just a couple of weeks ago to say that you can’t smoke now in Chicago until you’re 21.” We all agreed, then, that customers can likely expect another fun opportunity like this again three years from now…

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The wines on their list lean towards the Northern Italian, as does the food, so we asked our server to recommend for us. We were pleased with the suggested Cannonau di Sardegna D.O.C. Riserva. Hearty enough to go with the appetizer and the pasta courses, but not so strong as to overwhelm. According to one wine writer in “The World’s Best Wine under $25,” it “emphasizes ethereal, perfumed aromatics rather than an overt expression of fruit.” Well, okay!
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They did a fabulous job with their “get smoked” menu. Starting with a dish of hot, melty soft, creamy, smoked house-made mozzarella served atop two lightly cooked, peeled slices of delicious fresh-tasting tomato and accompanied by ribbons of fresh, fragrant basil.

Next up was a dish of their house-made fettuccine – tender, delicate and delicious wide noodles – coated with just the right amount of tomato-y Ameritriciana sauce and studded with bits of fried pancetta, and seasoned with a touch of red pepper flakes. Perfect spice. Perfect pasta. Perfect combination. The serving was generous, and the leftovers were delicious again a couple of days later served with sautéed scallops and steamed greens. Mm-mm.

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We were pleasantly surprised when we cut into the third course dessert, “torched chocolate cake with lemon gelato,” a light yet rich-tasting layered confection topped with browned (smoked) meringue that hit just the right note after the meal. The gelato was especially tasty and the caramel sauce was just icing under the cake.
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And then came, compliments of the house, little après-dinner glasses of their house-made Limoncello. Thick and lemony and sweet and a lovely ending to a fresh and pleasant meal. Although the restaurant no longer does regular wine dinners, they are introducing a new feature this year. They will have a bartender serving drinks out on the patio (weather permitting, of course) all summer. The restaurant, attached to the Hotel Allegro, is situated at the corner of LaSalle and Randolph, across from the Townsend Center, so if you’re going to be that area, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy their food and drink in a comfortable yet elegant atmosphere.