License Suspended

Chicago Tribune photo

Not mine!

Theirs -> Fulton's on the River What makes this even more gross is that I took business colleagues there for lunch three weeks ago... ick!

If you allow yourself to really start thinking about all the gross, disgusting stuff that could be happening to your food while it is being prepared (did they wash their hands properly? did they sneeze on it? was the waitress mad at me and did she spit in it?) you will never want to eat out again. So, I try not to let this stuff get to me, but I do think that Fulton's is now officially off my roster of lunch restaurants. Too bad, they have a lovely location right on the river too :-(

Dining Out In Chicago

Grant Achatz (A-kitz) of Alinea (uh-lin-ee-uh)

I'm by no stretch of the imagination a "foodie" - someone that adores fine dining, wine and the snobbery that seems to go with it. However, I do like to read about what is going on in Chicago's exciting world of food and restaurants and when possible give a new restaurant a try. Several years ago I even managed to check off one of my "Things To Do Before I Die" items and I ate at the chef's table at Charlie Trotter's. A wonderful experience, but sadly Chef Trotter left for the second seating that evening so we didn't get to see him at work - I couldn't believe my bad luck :-(

There are other great restaurants that I have tried like Frontera Grill (Rick Bayless) and Naha (Carrie Nahabedian) and enjoyed very much. Lucky for me those two are close enough to my office that I was able to go to each of them for lunch during the work week. Somehow having two little ones at home makes it hard to get into the city for dinner out. Go figure.

Two more that are on my to-try list are Alinea and Graham Elliott. These restaurants are both owned by young chefs that have paid their dues and worked their way up in other acclaimed restaurants. Alinea (owned by Grant Achatz) has been open for a few years and has received critical acclaim. Graham Elliott just opened and the menu sounds intriguing. You can check it out at www.grahamelliott.com

Another reason I want to try Alinea has nothing to do with the food. Chef Achatz has been fighting an awful, life-threatening illness - oral cancer. Of all illness to strike a chef - oral cancer. The irony of it felt like a smack right in the head and I was stunned. I couldn't help thinking "but he's so young, so talented - he has so much going for him" (not to mention two young sons) all the things that run through your head when you hear this kind of news about someone so young.

The good news is that almost one year after he was diagnosed he is now in remission - you can read about his recent James Beard Award win at the link below as well as read a recap about the illness and his choice of treatment which ended up keeping his tongue intact and may allow him to regain his taste. His bravery in opting for a unconventional treatment of the cancer as well as his determination to continue working and creating wonderful dishes at Alinea is remarkable, to say the least, and makes Alinea one of my "must try" restaurants.

www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-0610edit1jun10,0,2056037.story

My Birthday - Epilogue

The day didn't get any better for me after my Birthday post yesterday. In fact, it got worse and we (I) seriously considered cancelling our evening plans and just going to bed at 4pm. However, after many tears and much gnashing of teeth we decided to stick to the plan and go out to dinner as originally scheduled. The only difference was we cancelled the babysitter and took the kids with us.

While part of the tears/gnashing of teeth stuff came from being frustrated with their high level of neediness, tears, tantrums, etc yesterday it also came from feeling guilty and sad about wanting to have some peace and quiet away from them. Don't get me wrong, I completely believe and support that parents do need time for themselves, away from their children, but yesterday night that wasn't what I wanted and it was, after all, MY birthday. So we made our decision and prayed that we would be spared any wildchild behavior once seated for dinner.

We went to L. Woods http://www.lwoodsrestaurant.com/ which is part of Lettuce Entertain You restaurants. LEYE has consistently come up with great dining concepts in the Chicagoland area and this one doesn't disappoint, in fact it's one of our favorites. It is has a general noise level that nicely masks the sounds of child diners but it is still a nice enough place that your kid needs to behave well.

The kids were complete angels. In fact, after dinner two separate people commented at how well-behaved our kids were?!?!?! Oh man, I needed to hear that. Once you become a parent you do not know how much weight a little comment like that can hold, especially after the day I had had with them. If you ever see kids behaving especially well out in public please get the courage up to tell their parents - it takes a lot of consistent effort to teach your children manners and good behavior in public and most parents rarely (if ever) get that kind of positive reinforement from the general public!!

The food was delicious (see below for my daughter's 5 star rating on the mac and cheese) which much to our chagrin (and despite our efforts not to "dumb down" her palate) she insisted on having. My prime rib was perfect and Hubby raved over his cheddar-encrusted white fish.

My little guy concentrated on people-watching and munching on his matzo crackers, sweet potato, tofu and broccoli. He did not make one uncontented peep - I think he must have worked all of that out of his system earlier in the day.

My daughter was charming and (quietly) entertained us with her wit and funny moves, like putting her glasses on her head ("like Daddy") and just gazing at us, waiting for a reaction.

All in all, it was a really nice birthday dinner and was just what I needed to wash away the memory of all the unpleasantness that I was drowning in earlier that day. I think the two Ketel One lemon martinis may have helped too :-)