Sun Times Article

I found it!  Here is the link to the article in the Sun Times.  Thanks Pat Bruno :~)

http://www.suntimes.com/restaurants/reviews/1348306,WKP-News-brunoBESTLIST26.article

The caesar

So, I have been busy-tis that time of the year!  We were in the Chicago Sun Times again yesterday!  They had a list of the 12 best things of the year by the dining guide guy Pat Bruno and our caesar salad was in the article as something not to miss! Awesome! Actually what is super cool about it is that the caesar is good, but it is different.  We take a half a head of organic romaine lettuce and slather it with caesar dressing then we throw the half head right on the grill.  This creates some smokey flavor and a bit of caramelization with the dressing. Then we add a bit more dressing and serve it right on a plate. Over the year and a half that we have been open, some people were surprised by the caesar because a caesar is fairly standard wherever you go, so they aren't expecting it to be different. We have gotten better about training our staff to warn them so that the customers know it is different but give it a try because it is so yummy!  The smokiness really lends a lovely flavor layer to the traditional caesar flavors.  Anyway, I wanted to make it so you could read about the article in the Sun Times but I can't find it right now...working on it and will update it when I get it!

Music and the holidays

Yesterday was Friday and it was the 3rd Friday of the month, so we had a band. It was Compass Rose, and they are just so good.  They have fun while they play, they put forth a beautiful sound and they love to perform.  if you can, you should come out the third Friday in December-the 19th. Compass Rose will be playing again from 9-11 and it is such a great time. The audience is appreciative, the wine and beer are tasty and the atmosphere is fun, casual and pleasant. We are going to try to get some more musicians in here, as it is so fabulous, so we'll let you know as we book them!

So the holidays are coming...Thanksgiving is only 5 days away and the end of November is only 8 days away.  Are you ready? I haven't even thought about it! I do think you should come on in and enjoy some great food, wine and company this holiday season. Plus we are doing this fabulous gift certificate promotion where if you buy $100 you get a $25 gift certificate FREE! How cool is that?!?!  Hope your holidays are joyous and bring you peace!

Liz

Yipee!

As you may or may not know, I am a teacher as my full time job and help out at the restaurant in my free time. This past year, in addition to helping out here, I also tried for national certification of teaching, which was a rigorous and sometimes arduous process. Most of the work was done from Dec-june and only yesterday did I get my scores...I passed!  This, right now, is more of a relief than a joy, as I have been rewriting my work, thinking about all the things I could have improved but simply didn't have time to do right...ugh!  But now that is all behind me. BIG SIGH! And I am a NBCT!! That feels pretty good, really. 

Yummy Beer!

As you may have guessed, I love to drink wine, good wine, different wine, new wine...but I also love good beer.  Now although that makes me an expensive date, it also means our restaurant has a pretty good selection of both.  We started carrying Bell's as our only tap beer a few months ago.  I have loved Bell's since I was living in the city, working at La Bocca della Verita and drinking after work at the Green Mill back in the 90's.  I cannot try to explain how much Bell's I consumed back then, but I was genuinely bummed when they had their issues and pulled out of the Chicago market.  But they are back and I was one of the excited ones.  Craig has always wanted to get a mini fridge/tap since it would cost upwards of $5000 to install a tap system and carry one beer.  Once Bell's was rereleased, we decided the stars had aligned.

Anyway, this is a long way of saying that we serve Bell's as our only tap beer and it has been quite a successful endeavor.  And now we are having a guy from Bell's come out and talk about beer while we match food and beer together. I am quite excited about it as there are few things better than fantastic food and great beer! Hope you can join us!  Check out the website for more info-I think the menu is posted and all the details. I have conferences that night so I'll be late, but I will be there!

oops

So I made a promise to myself that I would post at least every 2 weeks...didn't keep that promise! Please forgive me!

Right now I am sitting at a table in my restaurant at 10:00 p.m. and listening to the most delicious music-soft and lilting. Some is slightly familiar, most of it new to me (although some in the audience are singing along so they must not be new...). Ingrid Baudins and her friends whose names sound like famous singers from long ago sing together in harmony and have a great time.  I think that is one of the things I like most about watching the bands we have had here...they all totally enjoy performing and each other.  There has been no drama, no huge egos, just people here to share their music with an appreciative, albeit sometimes noisy crowd. My cheesecake is creamy, sweet and lucious and the moscato matches perfectly. Sigh, what a lovely evening.

reservations

I just have a small observation.  My husband and I have been in the restaurant business for a long time (52 years in total!) and we have noticed something unique about Oak Parkers.  People call and make reservations for the most random times.  I mean 6:30 and even 6:45 are pretty standard times but we get times like 6:35 or 7:05.  I think that is SO funny!  Just something that tickles me...

Sundays

How many of you go out to eat on Sundays?  What is different about going out to dinner on Sundays from all the other days of the week?  Well, I think the biggest difference (and there is a difference-ask any server that works Sundays) is that people are going out to dinner with not just their families but their extended families.  I am just sharing the giggles I get on Sundays.  I enjoy every night because they vary and that variety keeps it interesting, but usually Sundays win in the interesting contest!

Have a great week!  As you may or may not know, I am back at school, teaching those most fabulous students ever!  (and I do mean that from the bottom of my heart)

Liz 

Cheese Dinner

So we had this dinner.  We originally set it for max of 32 people and for the first two weeks we offered tickets, we only sold like 14 or something.  Then in the last week, we actually had to turn people away!  That was crazy.  Actually Craig took down their info as a waiting list.  We decided that we would just take them all and we did.  We ended up with 45 people and it was great. The people that came were a mix of regulars that are fun and interesting people and new people that were intelligent and enjoyable as well. It was  like a big party with a great group of people.  The cheese from Carr Valley was great and the wine was even better.  One of our wine reps came-Damian Castin (spelling?) and two of the wines were his.  He was gracious enough to chat about those wines.  If you are ever looking for a wine, Damian is your man!

The dinner was also fabulous, but I am only a little biased...We had the grilled veggie pizza which is so yummy with applewood smoked cheddar that just melts in your mouth.  and the ricotta cheesecake was delicious as always.

We are having another dinner in September-on the 24th-but this time we invited my second cousin Rufus to come down and bring some produce and then we are cooking it up and he is going to chat with people as is Gary Cuneen from Seven Generations Ahead. I am excited, as the food will be great, the wine perfectly paired and the company, if it is anything like the first dinner we had, will be warm, fun and inviting!

Liz

Cheese dinner

We did a cheese dinner on Wed, July 30th that I meant to discuss, but have let myself be distracted!  Before I discuss the fun time we had at the dinner, I want to share why we did the dinner in the first place.

Let's start with some background.  I teach full time and have my summers off.  This past year I went for a National Certificate, which was a great deal of work and kept me from helping as much at the restaurant. Craig worked hard throughout the year.  After I finished the work for my certificate, I committed to Craig that I would work to help relieve the pressure on him and I did throughout June. Then I decided that he needed to actually leave Oak Park to relax because even on his 'days off' he worked and I was worried it would burn him out (which would be a nightmare to fix!).  As I result I sent him on vacation. The rules were that I didn't care where he went, but he was not allowed to go to the restaurant or home for 48 hours. Originally he tried to play golf, go fishing and a few other things but they fell through, so finally he settled on exploring Wisconsin and sampling cheeses. That was something that we wanted to do together, but he decided he would check it out first.  

Craig wandered the countryside, armed with a map from the Wisconsin Cheese Association and he visited a few cheese places.  He had a BALL-music on, windows down, beautiful weather!  He met Sid Cook at Carr Valley and they chatted about cheese, cows, life and eating.  Sid sent Craig off with lots of tasty items for his cooler.  Craig also went to Brunkow (they come to the Oak Park Farmers' Market every Saturday) and several other places.  He came home with his huge cooler packed with cheeses in every shape, color and size, with sheep, goat and cow milk cheeses.  It was awfully fun to open and taste!

He wanted to go to...I think it is called Fantom Cheese but just couldn't coordinate it.  They are these two ladies that make fresh goat cheese (my personal favorite) and it is phenomenal. Some day we are going to get up there and visit them, learn about their operation and ideas and buy some goat cheese-probably lots of goat cheese.  

So, that is the reason we did the cheese plate, but also the reason we held the cheese dinner. I will have to write about the cheese dinner later, because it is time to relax before bed!

Pat Bruno

Well, it happened.  We were reviewed!  The Sun Times called us about a week beforehand saying they had reviewed us and needed to come out and take pictures.  Well that set my belly a'rolling!  They couldn't tell us what kind of review it would be...did he like it? was all I really wanted to know!  Then, I was reading the Trib and their review of Graham Elliot's new place and he was remarking that the restaurant reviews are not as focused on the food as he would like--that in order to receive a certain ranking, you had to have expensive plates and heavy silverware and fancy outfits...and I guess I never thought about it like that. But then again, atmosphere is important. I am pretty sure I would have a hard time dropping $150 per person at a restaurant with peanuts on the floor, regardless of the quality of the food. But then again, maybe not?  I don't know exactly how I feel about all that, but I do think it is an interesting question, and I think it would be eye opening as a restaurant owner to get ahold of those checklists!  I know we are not a 4 star restaurant-our food is simple and we focus on the ingredients speaking for themselves, not intricate food preparation. But I also think that our food is damn good, especially when it is prepared properly.  Every once in a while a dish comes out not done as well as it should, and even though it is rare, it still disappoints me. I want everyone to experience and enjoy the food the way it should be done! I should take solace in the fact that our errors in food preparation are few and far between and everyone makes mistakes! If we were perfect, well, that would be pretty cool.

Anyway, here is the link to the review. He seemed to enjoy his experience and get what we are trying to do. The only thing that really disappointed me is the lack of mention about our involvement in the local, green and organically minded movement. It is such a huge part of why our food tastes so good, that I feel as though it warranted mention, but you can't get everything you want. :~)

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/dining/1096419,WKP-News-brunotrat08.restaurantreviews

Liz

off topic

So I went to a play last night at the Shakespeare Theater.  I know, it is not often that I get out, but I took my girls to see Funk it up!  I have to tell you it was phenomenal!  It was clever, funny, intelligent, dirty...all those things I love...my kind of humor.  It incorporated all kinds of musical inside jokes, and the lyrics were ...well clever!  If you get a chance, you should go see it.  Beware-the language is harsh at times, as were some of the topics but I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did my girls who are 13 and 16 and one loves rap, the other loves lyrics and intelligent humor. I don't know how long it is around, but go see it and have fun!

more cheese

On Sunday of last week I went to a sale that the American Cheese Society held after their awards ceremony.  It was pretty unreal.  First of all, I have NEVER seen so much cheese in my life!  There were huge blocks of cheese, little tiny servings of cheese, cheese in jars, cheese in tubes...more forms than I have seen in one place.  I volunteered to help coordinate the sale, so I wandered around and assisted people in the check out process. To be honest, Bob gathered us all together and told us our duties and said, "ok I am going to let them come up.  get ready."  None of us quite knew what to expect and we were, in essence, mobbed with people.  They were buying pounds and pounds of cheese left and right.  In the back of my mind, I was wondering, what are these people going to do with all this cheese? as well as thinking, oh that one looks good or what is this one? It was quite an experience! After an hour or so, all that was left were huge blocks of cheddar, jack and other orange cheeses. Again, what does a person do with all that cheese?

I met some great people while I was there. I can't remember their names, but they also love food and doing it right.  It is somehow satisfying to chat with people that have some of the same thoughts about food.  If you feel like food should be enjoyed and great care should be taken in its preparation, you should join Slow Foods, or at least check them out.  They try to promote people, companies, businesses that endorse that way of life.  They also work with other organizations like 7 Generations Ahead to facilitate that lifestyle, bring farmers and their buyer closer together...making those connections with your food.  Pretty cool.

Liz

Cheese

I love cheese. Really!  That is half the reason we are doing a cheese dinner on Wednesday (Craig loves cheese, too, which is the other half!)  I love hard cheeses, like parmesean, grana padano and some cheddars.  I love medium cheeses like gouda, jack and some of those spanish sheep milk cheeses that I can't ever remember the name. I love soft cheeses like brie, cambazola, and any triple cream! What I love more than anything, though, is goat cheese.  Goat cheese has that lovely bite and what a texture-especially fresh goat cheese.  Feed me goat cheese, good chewy bread, yummy. fresh, august tomatoes and red wine and I would be happy forever! 

I went to a kind of heaven yesterday.  The American Cheese Society had their voting for the best cheeses in the nation and all the hoopla is this weekend.  However, yesterday, the cheese that was left over after the judges tasted them, went for sale for an invite-only audience of retailers and restaurants. We were lucky enough to be invited (thanks Bob at Slow Foods) and went into the cooler.  There were racks and racks of cheese.  Some cheese was in a half wheel, others were in smaller sections.  They were all $3 a pound-which is a bargain if you think about it.  We bought some goat cheese (for me, really) and then a couple other cheeses that were interesting. I haven't tasted them all, but I am excited to try them!

I go on another cheese adventure on Sunday where there will be another cheese sale at Kendall College and I am volunteering this time.  It should be interesting to meet all the people and hopefully talk to some of the cheese purveyors themselves.  I'll let you know if anything interesting happens.

Liz

I know!

So, we started this and then, lo and behold, I (liz) went out of town. I am up in the Cascade mountains at a cabin along the Wenatchee River. It is beautiful, really! The trees, the fresh air, the mountains that jutt right up into the sky...gorgeous! I am here with my parents and my dad's entire side of the family-his siblings and their respective broods. We are all up here for our reunion we have every 2 years and, because we own a restaurant, I am here with the girls and Craig is at home working! Really these family reunions are great-everyone gets along, for the most part and we all cook dinner at least one night for everyone else and we all drink too much fairly regularly. TOday was tubing down the Wenatchee and tomorrow there will be a crew that plays golf and another that will go hiking (I haven't decided what to do yet). This reunion there are so many little kids-which is pretty cool. My girls end up entertaining them a great deal since they are 13 and 16 and both are super talented at amusing little people. So the reunions are fun and that is what I am doing while Craig is working, working, working. If you go to the restaurant this week, give him an extra smile. :)

Liz

first one!

So, we decided that people might like to learn a bit more about us, our restaurant and what we are doing, so we created a blog.  Both Craig and Liz will be contributing randomly when the urge hits us, when we have a funny, sad or frustrating story, or when we just want to vent.  Please enjoy :)