Food4Talk

Atwood Café
www.atwoodcafe.com
1 W. Washington Street
Chicago, Illinois 60602
312.368.1900

Note: This picture is from the Atwood Café  website (www.atwoodcafe.com)

The Background: DG, MM, and I dined at Atwood Café on Sunday, September 20, 2009. A week prior, DG, a Facebook friend and co-chair of Friends of Muntu volunteer group, sent out a FB email asking people if they wanted to go see Stoop Stories at the Goodman Theatre.  So, four of us planned to attend and eat at Atwood Café.  Although, CND  had planned to meet us for dinner, she could not meet us at Atwood  due to traffic and wether issues. However, we hooked up with her at the Goodman.

The Food:Initially we were going to pop in the Atwood Café for a light fare but I was really hungry and ordered from the Chef’s Menu, that is, a three course prix fixe menu.  For my first course, I ordered the mixed baby lettuces with tangerine-basil vinaigrette and teardrop tomatoes. I found the salad refreshing and  for some reason, the tomatoes triggered bittersweet thoughts about the ending of summer.  The tomatoes also added the right amount of color to the greens.  My main dish was grilled organic chicken breast with bacon-scallion mashed potatoes, french green beans, port wine reduction.   I ate half because I wanted to save room for dessert which was a dark chocolate soufflé cake with rum zabaione, chocolate sauce.  Heavenly.

The Wine: I ordered one glass of a 2007 Adlesheim Pinot Gris from the Wilamette Valley, Oregon (http://www.adelsheim.com/).  I feel the need to add that I am not a wine expert.  I order what I like.  If I do not gag when I take the first sip,  then I think it is pretty good. My standards are a bit higher than that but I order what stikes my fancy at the time of dining.  I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about pairings.  And, and, more often than not, I will ask the waiter to make a suggestion (Note to self, It might be a good time to do another wine tasting class with Bin36.).

The Ambience: I love the decor. On the  www.atwood.com website, they descibe the dining room as vibrant and I agree.  I am usually winding down on Sunday evenings, so the food, the company, and the ambience gave me a boost for the show.

The Service: The service from the waiter was below average but not terrible.  There are waiters and waitresses that look at a table and decide how much of a tip they might get.  If they think the tip is not going to be “large” then they will not spend a lot of time with the diners, especially inexperienced wait staff.  That is what I felt about the waiter we had.  Once he saw that only one 3-course meal was going to be ordered (the other ladies ordered a drink and one course), then he did not feel obligated to spend a lot of time with us.   He showed up, took the orders, and came by at his leisure.  Even when we told him we had to be at the theater, he did not seem too concerned. The bus staff made him look better than he was.  In this instance, it was the waiter.  I have been to the Atwood Café on a number of occasions and never had an issue with service.

A few more details: I have been to the Atwood Café  for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is one of my favorite “contemporary comfort food” restaurants.  It reminds me of home.  It was a perfect night to dine there as the weather was rainy and  almost fall-like night.  On such nights, I want to be in familiar surroundings where I know the food is consistently good. That’s the way I feel about Atwood Cafe.  The evening could have easily come undone because the first 20 minutes of the meal DG was on a business call and could not get off.  I did not know MM but we clicked and were able to find things to discuss while DG completed the call.

The  Atwood Café is in  the heart of the loop.  It is situated on the  southwest corner of State and Washington Streets and diagonally across from Macy (formerly Marshall Fields).  It is within walking distance of the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Theater, Millinium Park, the Art Institute, the Architecture Foundation,  Symphony Center, and the Chicago Cultural Center.

Finally, The Atwood Café is apart of the Burhnam Hotel, an architectual landmark.   Atwood Café is named for Charles B. Atwood who was an artictect in Daniel Burnham’s firm.  As many of you know, Daniel Burnham was a city planner and architect and much of what you see in Chicago is his vision, especially the lakefront and the Emerald Necklace which connect the city’s major parks (or did).  There are many books about Burham but the most fascinating one is not about his at all.  The book “Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson gives a good account about who he is and his role in shaping the architecture of Chicago.

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Note: This picture of the citrus salad is from the Province website.

Province
www.provincerestaurant.com
161 N. Jefferson St.
(norhteast corner of Jefference and Randolph)
Chicago, IL 60661
312.669.9900

The Background: Reva, Charlie, and I were at Province on Friday, September 11, 2009 for dinner.  Reva and I were a little early and Charlie was a little late (which nevers happens).  Prior to Charlie’s arrival, we (I, Reva doesn’t drink) ordered a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, Grove Mill, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2007.  I began my first glass, as Reva and I caught up on books and movies.  However, when we started to worry, Charlie appeared.

The Food: Overall, the presentation of the food and the food itself were very good.  I appreciated how the menu was arranged: bites, raw, soup/salads, small, big, bigger, and vegetables.  Prior to ordering we were brought on a small piece of toast a tasty morsel of chopped jicama, corn, garlic and cilantro(?). I ordered the House Cold Smoked Salmon “Cone”.  It was literaly a bite packed full of flavor.  It could be conceivably two bites if you were on a date trying to impress someone. Then, I ordered the Green Acres Farms Beets & Radish Salad with goat cheese &olive oil. Now that was good. For my entree, the Gunthorp Farms Rabbit Confit in a marcona almond emulsion was tasty but slightly saltier than I would have liked.

Reva ordered the Softshell Crab Bisque with sherry and peppers for her first course.  She loves her soup extremely, extremely hot and on that score Province delivered.  We have eaten out many, many times and I cannot tell you how many times Reva will make the request for EXTREMELY hot soup only to get back warm soup.  It boggles the mind but I digress.  For her entree, the House Ground Cheddar Burger (with out brioche roll), potato frites, and house made ketchup.

Charlies first taste was the House Smoked Sable Ceviche with hawaiian papaya.  I said it looked delicous and he agreed it was.  His entre was the Lavender-Honey Glazed Rotisserie Natural Chicken with cress salad and salsa verde.

We all like the food because there was that two to three minute period when everyone begins eating and nothing is said; just savor the meal.

The Wine: 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Grove Mill, Marlborough, New Zealand.  I really liked it and thought it blended well with my meal.

The Service: We found our waitress to be, let’s say, distracted most of the time we were there.  When a large crowd came in we lost her completely.  We were all annoyed by the disappearing waitress.  Reva and Charlie rarely get visibly annoyed (I’m the emotional one), but when the waitress disappeared for the umpteenth time (okay, to be fair, the fourth or fith time), they were annoyed to the point of not leaving a 20% tip. It may have even been less than 15%.  They always leave a 20% or more tip even for adequate service.  I can not remember what I left but I suspect I would have supported them.   The bus staff and another wait person were excellent and were instrumental in having visible annoyance not turn into anger and possibly a horrible review.

The Ambience: When I walked in I noticed that the space was open and airy.  I found it appealing.  The noise level for most of our meal was manageable because the restaurant was not populated.  As it became more so, the noise level rose but not to the point of unbearable.

A few more details: We talked about their latest trip to Lake Tahoe, work, books, movies and generational differences in the workplace.  As always with Reva and Charlie, it was a nice evening. Defnitely one of our more quiet ones.  But with good friends, sometimes very few words are needed.

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Pizza Capri

http://www.pizzacapri.com/

1501 E 53rd St
(between Harper Ave & Lake Park Ave)
Chicago, IL 60615
773.324.7777

It was a beautiful Saturday (8 August 2009) afternoon and I was running my usual errands so that my work week would run a lot smoother. I called one of my friends to see what she was up to because the day before she talked about being in the ‘hood. She picked up on the second ring and I asked her what she was doing and she said that she and RL were at Pizza Capri in the Hyde Park neighborhood and was I close enough to stop by. They had just ordered and I said I was about 15 minutes away and asked them to order a Salmon salad for me.

I arrived and was happy to hang out with them. We made small talk and joked with each other. In fact, I asked CYT if she were okay and if Facebook was down because she hadn’t posted all day. We laughed and laughed. Their food arrived. A few minutes later my salad arrived. CYT and RL had talapia and salmon dishes, respectively.

The food is always consistently fresh at Pizza Capri and easy on the wallet and they deliver. I have ordered on the coldest, wettest days and the food has arrived warm and tasty.

After we ate, we paid and went our separate ways. What I liked about that perfect in-the-moment moment was it all came together quickly, took almost no time at all, and had a positive impact on my day and the rest of my weekend. We are all so over-scheduled that it is easy to say no to a spontaneous invite. So, the next time your girls or boys call for a quick no fuss get together, throw caution and schedule to the wind.

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Park Grill

http://www.parkgrillchicago.com/

11 N Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60602-4812
312.521.7275

In my opinion, The Park Grill makes an excellent burger. Generally, I try not to order hamburgers at “fancy” restaurants because there are too many other choices. However, on Wednesday, July 29, 2009, I felt my inner carnivore surface and craved a hamburger. In addition, I had heard they make great burgers. CYT and I ordered salads and split the burger on the specials menu. Neither CYT nor I was disappointed.

We also ordered a lovely quartino, that is, a half carafe, of Viognier. For all the wine purists who say beef and white wine don’t go together, well, I say it ain’t so. The wine, salad and half burger went well together. I did not have the heavy feeling of eating too much. The meal was very satisfying and I felt the wine complementary.

There was one tiny glitch. It is almost not worth mentioning but I have to because Food4Talk is about the whole dining experience. Overall, the service was good. However, when we ordered the quartino, CYT tasted it and thought it was okay. As the waitress was filling CYT’s glass, the waitress noticed a crack in the carafe. She immediately replaced it. When CYT tasted the wine again, she said to the waitress, “You opened a new bottle, didn’t you?” The waitress said yes. CYT remarked that there was a marked difference and the wine from the newly open bottled tasted extremely good. Since I didn’t have a taste of the first quartino, I cannot comment on the difference but the wine I tasted was light and fresh.

Okay, there was one other thing. There seemed to be a huge gap between the time we finished our salad and the arrival of our burger. This was a bit disappointing since the woman two tables over arrived later than we did and was served her meal of a salad and scallops before us. Overall, it is not a huge thing but when you are hungry….  The good news is that when the burger arrived it was nice and hot.

This was my third visit and I will certainly visit again. The food was very satisfying and the issues were small. Some might say it is a bit touristy but when hunger strikes and you are near Washington St. and Michigan Ave it doesn’t really matter, does it? 

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The Chicago Firehouse Restaurant

(312) 786-1401

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