Little spots around the city (Chicago) Part 1

On my trip to Chicago I decided that I would try to go to as many Chicagoan type places as possible during my stay there. Unfortunately I was only there for a short while and there were a lot of hidden Gems around the city. So I thought I would share some of the little spots I visited to grab a sandwich or a quick bite to eat while I was acting like your typical tourist.

On my very first day in Chicago I decided to fill my stomach after the long flight with a sandwich from "Pot Belly's". "Pot Belly's" is a chain of sandwich shops specific only to Chicago. This sandwich place isn't your typical run-in-run-out sandwich place that we are all accustomed but actually offers a comfortable eating space and a few things you wouldn't expect from a sandwich shop. "Pot Belly's" looks and is decorated like your neighborhood deli and makes use of a lot of wood for it's decor. It's pretty spacious and while it's no fine dining restaurant, it is still a very comfortable and inviting place to chow down on your sandwich. While I was eating my sandwich I noticed that there was live music playing, which was a nice touch to make the place more of a neighborhood hang out.

Italian Sandwich and Dill Pickle

Roast Beef Sandwich

On my visit here I had their Italian sandwich and probably the largest dill pickle I have ever seen or consumed in one sitting. The Italian sandwich was well made and quite tasty but wasn't really anything special or out of the ordinary. The sandwich contained what you would typically would find in an Italian sandwich. The pickle on the hand was quite good, I say that because I like dill pickles. it was huge and packed full of juicy dill pickle flavour (like a punch to the face). My traveling buddy decided they would dine on a roast beef sandwich. As you can see from the expertly taken picture, the provolone cheese on the sandwich was nice and gooey. The beef was not dry and juicy and was delivered on a low calorie bread. Again this sandwich was not spectacular but very satisfying and well made.

The sandwiches here are not anything special but they do deliver a tasty sandwich that hits the spot when you have munchies while wandering around the street. The best thing about this place wouldn't be the food but the atmosphere. The place is warm and inviting and the live music just adds to the vibe of a neighbourhood hang out.

For More Information.
Pot Belly's

Who's House? Chef's House

On a cold wintery night I decided to have a nice warm meal at the "Chef's House." The "Chef's house" is a student run culinary restaurant by George Brown College. The culinary students are the ones that cook your meal, take your order and even pour your beer, which is something I can appreciate because I know the money I spend on the meal will be going directly back to educating these young future chefs.

The space is decorated to be modern but not pretentious. The kitchen for the restaurant is large and long  and is actually a feature point for the restaurant. The restaurant is covered in TV monitors while the kitchen is covered with cameras directed at the students chefs in action. The restaurant's space was decorated very well and you would've never have known it was school building (at least not until you start looking for the bathroom). The wait staff were attentive and very courteous (though it was kind of fun to see how nervous the student wait staff were).

The Menu is small, which I believe was done so not to overwhelm the young chefs. There was a choice of three starters, three mains and three deserts. On this particular cold winter night my companion and I decided to order one of each. 

Before any of our courses were served a roasted sweet potato leek soup, with coconut cream, spiced walnuts came out first.

Roasted Sweet Potato

This soup was more of a puree then a thin soup. The sweet potato soup was a sweet soup which really didn't suit my tastes. I personally don't like sweet soups and I thought this soup was particularly sweet. The texture was smooth but the sweet potato was sweet and the coconut cream was sweet, which I thought was too much (Food show judges say it all the time, "too sweet because it was sweet on sweet"). The spiced Walnuts were a nice touch, the walnuts had a little bit of spice and added a crunchy element to the soup.

Next up were our starters: a house smoked trout, picked Cookstown beet, candied olives and a baked three‐mushroom strudel, spinach puree, Woolwich goats’ brie cheese.

House smoked Trout

The smoked trout with pickled beets and candied olives was a very enjoyable dish. The fish delivered a nice subtle smokiness to compliment the acidity of the pickled beet. The portion size was perfect too as to leave you with plenty of room for the next two courses.

Three‐Mushroom Strudel

The mushroom strudel had loads of flavour packed in between the flaky crust. The mushrooms were delicious and had a nice earthy taste. Combing the strudel with the creaminess of the brie and the freshness of the spinach puree creates an amazing tasty bite which I highly recommend everyone to try. 

Next up to bat were out main courses: braised beef short rib, Yukon gold pave, glazed cipollini onions and Butternut Squash & Ricotta Agnolotti, Hazelnuts, Brown Butter.

braised beef short rib.

The braised beef was expertly prepared by the young chefs. Some restaurant that serve a braised beef short ribs sometimes sacrifice tenderness for having a moist piece of meat or vice-versa but the braised short rib I was served was not only a generous portion but was extremely tender and moist. The Yukon gold pave was something I haven't heard of but was a delicious side (beef and potatoes, what not love?). The best way I can describe a Yukon gold pave would be a side dish of scallop potatoes. The potatoes were not too soft and still maintained a nice texture of sliced potatoes stacked on top of each other to compliment the tenderness of the beef.

Ricotta Agnolotti

The ricotta agnolotti like the roasted sweet potato soup really didn't suit my tastes. This was not a savoury dish and was on the sweet side. the pasta was cooked right and was al dente and the hazelnuts added another dimension to the texture but the dish as a whole didn't work for me. After having a sweet soup and then getting a sweet main to follow really was not a very good combination (at least for me).

and finally we have our deserts:

.....

well it was a little better then that.

My Associate and I had the mixed berry crumble with sour cream gelato and the flour less chocolate cake.

Mixed Berry Crumble

The mixed berry crumble was a really tasty desert and had a really nice balance of flavours. There was the sweet and sourness from the berries, and the cold, and creamy sour cream gelato. The only change I would suggest is to make the shell that held the berries less dense. I thought a thinner pastry shell would've helped highlight the berries a little better.

Flour less Chocolate Cake

The flour less chocolate cake was beautiful presented on an off centered plate and a splash of raspberry coulis. If I was a bigger chocolate lover I think I would've looked this desert better. This desert was more like a brownie and packs loads of chocolate flavour. I've never been a very big fan of brownies and thought this desert packed too much sugar on one dish. The raspberry coulis was a good way to cut through the sweetness with a bit sourness.

The Chef's House had a lot of hits and misses for me overall but I enjoyed the experience.  The student servers were all very attentive and tried their hardest to make sure we enjoyed our food. I would like to comeback again to the chefs house and try their new menu because I know the service will be top notch and the chefs would be trying their hardest to make the absolute best dish.

For More Information:
The Chef's House

Takes "Five Guys" to make fries?

Burgers are one of those foods that everybody has had at one point and opinions have always varied about which is the best place to have one. I'm still traveling around and stuffing my face with burgers and trying to find that perfect burger. So I finally decided to check out a fast food restaurant that has received a lot hype "Five guys and fries" (around Yonge and Dundas).

The new fast food restaurant is bigger then what I would have expected and has quite a few tables spread out. The space is decorated in a checkered red and white theme that reminded me of a diner from the 50's or 60's era. The restaurant walls are also covered with praises from different publications from both the States and north of the border. There is also a big open kitchen where you can see your burgers being grilled on the flat top and assembled, which is kind of neat thing to see.

The menu is not too big, which consisted a few different kinds of burgers, sandwiches and hot dogs. On this trip I decided to grab a cheese burger and their famous fries.

The regular burger at "Five Guys and Fries" is a double patty and a single patty burger is considered their small burger. On this day, my favourite dining companion and I decided to each get a burger (1 regular and 1 small) and share a large order of fries. The one thing that was a bit of shocker to me was the price of the meal, which was over 20 dollars. 20 dollars for 2 burgers and an order of fries is a lot of money, especially for a fast food restaurant. For the price of the meal I was expecting the greatest burger ever made! The one good thing I can say though is that they were really generous with the frech fries. They would fill up a cup of fries and place it in a paper bag then fill up a metal tray and just dump the fries straight into the bag.

The burger's themselves were good but I didn't think they were anything special. They were better then burgers you would get at a grocery store or at McDonalds but I could think of a lot of other places where I've had a better burger. The meat was fresh and they did a really nice job of caramelizing the the beef patty on the flat top, which gave it a nice crunch. The toppings were fresh and bun was soft and chewy which made the burger really enjoyable to eat.

The giant mound of french fries were good too, they were fresh cut and fresh fried to order. I personally prefer my fries double fried to get a soft inside and crispy outside which I think these fries could have benefitted from. The fries were good but they were too much of a good thing, 2 people eating one large order of french fries could barely finish them.

Overall the meal was good but I couldn't help but feel ripped off for what I paid. The burgers weren't topped with any gourmet ingredients or sauces like at dangerous dan's diner or big smoke's burgers and the fries were good but not great (when I compare them to other places I've been too). The burgers were above average but they don't make me crave them like I do for other burger places. I would've enjoyed my meal more if the price point was lower. I don't think I will be coming back here anytime soon (at least not until they lower their prices)

For More Information:
Five Guys and Fries

I love tacos

Mexican food has always been a personal favourite for mine, I just love the spices and fresh vegetables placed on top. I do occasionally venture to a taco bell from time to time but that really isn't mexican food, when I really want mexican food I head to kensington market where there are lots of little mexican joints around the area. Kengsinton market is where I recently found what I believe to be the greatest taco shop in Toronto, "Seven Lives".

Seven Lives is located in what only can be described as the tinniest food court i have ever seen. The little taco shop is located in a building along side other little food shops within an area that I can only estimate as maybe 1000 sq feet. There are only 2 tables in the back next to restaurant equipment, where people can go and enjoy their meal. This is not exactly a place I would go for a romantic meal but is definitely a place I would goto to get some awesome food.

The little taco stand has only a few tacos on their fridge menu but each one packs huge mexican flavour.

Fish taco and a spicy shrimp taco

For some reason I decided to go all seafood with my taco selection (and what a great decision that was.) The fish taco was fried perfectly and had a crispy batter and very moist flaky inside and really complimented the mounds of fresh guacamole and pico de gallo. The fish inside of the fish taco could've been eaten by itself with an order of fries but being stuffed in taco shell makes this dish a stroke of genius. Next up in my taco tray is the spicy shrimp taco, which packs huge flavour. The heat from the marinade  for the shrimp wasn't scorching like a fire in my mouth but flavourful and had a lot of depth. The shrimp was piled high with more guacamole and pico de gallo on top. The picture may not do these tacos justice because they are quite large (packs a lot of value for your money.) I had a lot of trouble folding one taco and trying to eat it without half of it falling out the other side. Half way through the taco I finally had the good sense to get a fork, which further increased my enjoyment of gorging on seafood. Lesson learned for next time? get a fork.

The tacos were delicious and I still salivate over the prospect of eating them again and again and again..... anyways, for those that are looking for authentic mexican food with out the bells and whistles should definitely head over to the seven lives taco stand. Seven lives taco stand may be hard to find but it is well worth the scavenger hunt through kensington.

For more information:
Seven Lives

Risottos and Chicken

So I decided to finally try two new recipes from my Gordon Ramsay cook book; a roasted zucchini mushroom risotto and a prosciutto wrapped chicken breast stuffed with sage and ricotta cheese.

 Prosciutto wrapped chicken breast stuffed with sage. This was a bit of a scary dish for me because I've never used sage before and I didn't know if i liked sage or what kind of flavour was to be expected.

The first thing i did was to make the filling; I chopped up a few sage leaves, mixed the sage with ricotta and seasoned it all with a bit of salt and pepper. I did notice the chopped sage leafs gave off almost of floral kind of scent with made me unsure if this would turn out to be a dish that i would like.

Next I butterflied chicken breasts and carefully stuffed them so that filling would not overflow from the sides or the ends. After stuffing the chicken breasts, I wrapped them up in prosciutto and cellophane and placed them in the fridge to set for one to two hours. Wrapping the chicken breasts and refrigerating them helped the breast and prosciutto maintain their shape and didn't fall apart when they were handled further.

The pieces of chicken were then pan fried for two minutes on each side to make the prosciutto crispy and baked in the oven with some thyme. When the chicken was ready I had to remove them from the oven and let them rest for a bit so the delicious juices wouldn't escape.

To go with my chicken I decided to make a roasted zucchini and mushroom risotto.

The first thing I did was halve the zucchini, score them and place them on a baking tray. Once on the tray I added olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh lemon juice and a laid a few basil leaves on top. I roasted the zucchini in the oven and gave them a very rough chop and then started work on the risotto rice.

Risotto was little bit of tricky thing to do. I had to toast the rice in a little bit of olive oil and then slowly added one ladle of chicken stock at a time to my rice once my pan of dry. Cooking risotto was kind of a slow process because I couldn't just dump all the chicken stock onto the rice because I would just end up with mushy rice.

As my risotto was cooking, I started to sauté some mushrooms off in another pan to soften them up and remove some of the moisture. When the rice achieved the desired texture I combined it with mushrooms, zucchini and a bit of parmesan cheese,

 My Creation

The chicken was a bit dry because I baked them for a little too long but overall the results were quite good. The ricotta was very mild and helped the sage from being too overwhelming. This might be a personal preference but I think the next time I try making this dish I will use a different herb other then sage. Its not that I didn't like the dish, I just feel like maybe something like basil would've worked a little better.

The zucchini mushroom risotto turned out really well. The risotto rice was cooked to a nice texture and was al dente. The sautéed mushrooms added a very nice earthy taste to the risotto which really complimented the roasted zucchini. The lemon that was added to the zucchini provided a bit of acid to brighten it up.

Recipe Information:
Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite.

The holidays always make me feel "Sociale"

Over the holidays I had to loosen my belt and gorge myself on quite a few family dinners. With so many family dinners I find it very difficult to choose my favourite one but there is one meal in particular that stands out in my mind and it was my dinner at Eno-Teca Sociale (College and Dovercourt).

Eno-Teca Sociale was one of the most hyped restaurants to open in Toronto and is still one of the most busiest restaurants in Toronto. Eno-Teca Sociale serves rustic italian dishes in a small intimate environment. The restaurant is dimly lit and has small pieces of art work hanging along one side of the restaurant and a beautiful bar and white brick wall along the other. Even though the restaurant is small it is still quite loud from the hustle and bustle from the many restaurant-goers but at the same time it is still audible enough that you can maintain a conversation with your dining companion.

The wait staff at the restaurant were very quick and courteous and was more then happy to explain what ingredients each dish contained or what kind of wine you should have to accompany your meal. The friendly staff really made the experience that much more enjoyable, almost as if I was dinning at a friend's home.

On this night in question my dining companion and I started our evening with a beef capriccio and a grilled radicchio salad.

Beef Carpaccio

Eno-teca Sociale called their beef carpaccio "The Crown Beef Carpaccio", which I can honest say That it is quite the accurate statement. This is probably the best beef carpaccio I've ever had (the king of kings of beef carpaccio). The pieces of beef were soft as a cloud and almost melted in your mouth. The marrow was subtle and added a bit of creaminess to the dish. The sun choke chips were a very welcome addition to the dish that added a nice crunchy texture to keep the dish from getting boring and finally the greens on top added some freshness to the dish that kept it very light. Once you combine all the flavours in a single bite you will definitely experience a kaleidoscope of flavours and textures.

 Grilled radicchio

The grilled radicchio salad is not your ordinary salad and could probably stand on its own as an entree. According Eno-teca's menu the salad was described to contain : grilled radicchio, Treviso, pumpkin seeds, apples and burrata. The grilled pieces of radicchio were well seasoned and delicious and could've easily been mistaken as a mushroom because it almost had protein like texture. The pumpkin seeds were candied and added a sweet and crunchy taste that just complemented all the different flavours. The burrata was creamy and was mild flavoured and helped as a vehicle to deliver the flavours on the plate.

Pappadelle with a lamb ragu

For my Entree i ordered the Pappadelle with a lamb ragu. The in house made pasta was cooked to perfection and absorbed all that delicious delicious ragu. According to our server the lamb was braised for a really long in red wine, which really shows because it just shredded apart on my fork and was not dry at all. The ragu tasted fresh and had vibrant tomato flavour that made this dish that much more enjoyable.

Toasted Pasta

My date for the evening order the toasted pasta, which was predictably delicious. The pasta dish was toasted spaghetti with bottarga (was poor man's caviar according to our waitress), chili and garlic. One the pasta first arrived to the table, we could really smell a nice seafood flavour emanating from the plate.  The toasted pasta was a little crispy but not hard, which made for a unique texture. The chili and garlic sounded like very strong and pungent flavours but were actually very balanced to provide the right amount of heat and flavour. The bottarga was just like caviar, which was salty (but not overwhelming) and crunchy. The dish as a whole was very luxurious and something i'm going to have to try the next time I visit the restaurant again.

The whole dining experience was very enjoyable and relaxing. The servers were never pushy and tried to rush you off to flip the table but were always warm and inviting. Even after our meal, my side kick and I just decided to sit around a little bit with a glass of wine to enjoy the ambiance. This is a fantastic restaurant that I think everyone should at least visit once.

For more information
Eno-Teca Sociale

I like Cheese and I like noodles

It has been a while since my last adventure but today's excursion is Joon's in Korea Town (around the area of Bathurst and Bloor). This is a little inconspicuous spot that I think a lot of people might miss when they walk by, which is a shame because they would be missing out on a great comfort food for this cold winter weather. This little gem is located down the stairs along Bloor street and is has a very basic decor which fine for me because i didn't come to eat the decor.

Joon's menu has a lot of your typical korean dishes found in most korean restaurants, pork bone soup, dumplings and Bibimbap but what they are known for is Dak galbi. I know a lot of you are probably wondering, what the heck is Dak galbi? well... according to my good friend wikipedia, "it's a popular South Korean dish generally made by stir-frying marinated diced chicken in agochujang (chili pepper paste) based sauce, and sliced cabbage, sweet potato, scallions, onions and tteok (rice cake) together on a hot plate." After having Dak galbi once, you will definitely have cravings when you walk by this restaurant.

Joon's has a variety of Dak galbi that patrons can try; the non spicy teriyaki, joon's original spicy Dak galbi, and a suicide Dak galbi (popping the antacids just thinking about it.). I've had the teriyaki and the Joon's original spicy and I highly recommend getting the Joon's original spicy Dak galbi. Joon's original spicy is not an overwhelmingly spicy dish but actually packs a lot flavour from the sauce and spices used to prepare the dish.

Before Being cooked

On this visit to Joon's I ordered Joon's Original spicy, which does not disappoint. The dish is first brought to the table on a big flat pan with raw dark chicken meat, cabbage and a spicy chili paste. The dish is left to cook by itself for a few minutes with the server coming around every few minutes to stir the dish.

Food is cooking

As the dish is cooking, the aroma of the korean chili sauce and the chicken start to fill the air and continue to wet my apetite. Once the dish is almost cooked the server comes around with the extra options to add to the dish (they are not free but I highly recommend you get them). On this occasion I decided to add noodles, rice cakes, and mozzarella cheese. Adding mozzarella cheese sounds like a weird addition to the dish, but it actually adds a whole new dimension and texture to the dish that I didn't expect.

Dish completed

Once all the ingredients have a chance to stew and marry together, my dining partner and I dig in. The pieces of chicken are tender and moist and some pieces were even able to develop a nice caramelized  crust (drooling on to my key board). The rice cakes themselves provide a nice chewy element that has soaked up some of that delicious delicious chili sauce. The chili sauce is not an extremely spicy but a very flavourful sauce that has a bit of a bite of heat. The cheese helps bring everything together and adds another chewy salty element that just helps the dish stick to your ribs. 

This was definitely the perfect dish to have on a cold winter afternoon. It was served seconds off the stove top, piping hot and was quiet the hardy dish to eat. I thought this was a great comfort dish that warmed me up and made it easier for me to face the bitter cold. 

If you haven't had dak galbi before then i highly recommend coming to joon's to try this korean comfort food. Once you try it, you'll soon develop an addiction to the dish and probably have to adjust for your increasing waist size. 

For more information:

Joon's