I've had an idea!" Brandy's friend Brocco proclaimed one day. Brandy inwardly rolled her eyes, all too aware of what one of Brocco's brainwaves could mean. "You know how athletes consume all those sports beverages with electrolytes and the bars filled with protein powders? Well, what if someone combined the two to make the ultimate power bar?!" "Electrolytes and protein," Brandy mused, "So you mean bacon? Because electrolytes are salt and protein is meat, so... salty meat?" Brocco considered this. "Why not?!?!" he exclaimed, "Everyone loves bacon! I'll make bacon protein bars!" "The thing of it is, deary," Brandy explained, "Bacon is pretty hard to improve upon. Come on, let's go to brunch and I'll show you what I mean."
Brandy chose Osteria la Madia in River North, an Italian inspired eatery, famous for its wood fired pizzas and house made pastas. Though an established spot, they only recently launched a brunch service, which offers both a la carte or prix fixe options.
Osteria la Madia had a relaxed, sophisticated feeling to it, maintaining a fine dining atmosphere while remaining unpretentious. The long, narrow-ish dining room was dressed in dark woods and lighted by just a few windows at the front, which made for a slightly darkened space that normally wouldn't have been noticeable at a dinner service. The small bar at the front of the house and the open kitchen at the back made the entire space feel lighter and more open.
Brandy went for something a little more unusual; the 3 Hour Roasted Grape Pizza with Taleggio cheese and shaved prosciutto, "So we can round out the holy trinity of ham," as she put it. As Osteria la Madia was largely known for its wood fired pizzas, it seemed only appropriate to try this intriguing dish, and Brandy was hardly disappointed. There was a nice mix of sweet and savory in the pizza with the slightly pungent cheese, the pops of juice from the grapes, and the delicate saltiness of the prosciutto, all held together by the chewy, thin, slightly charred crust. "It's such a different kind of pizza," Brandy raved, "I don't know that I've ever had anything quite like it, especially not for brunch, but it just makes so much sense! Sweet, savory, chewy, crispy... this pizza has all my favorite things about brunch in every bite!"
After consuming pretty much every type of salty, cured meat in the house, Brocco finally had to admit that he couldn't think of a way to improve upon what hundreds of years of culinary know how had already accomplished. But while basking in the warm aftermath of the friendly and relaxed service, lots of hearty, carefully prepared dishes, and quite a few cocktails, Brocco seemed to have had another idea. "Alright, if I can't improve on the electrolyte and protein delivery system bacon and its brothers already have, then maybe the secret is in packaging and marketing!" he exclaimed, "Imagine if we took slabs of hand cut bacon and sold them as nutritional meal replacements?" "If you did that, I think you'd suddenly see a lot of formerly svelte athletes gaining a lot of weight and filling out legal forms against you with some very greasy fingers," Brandy replied.
The writers of this blog were invited to dine free of charge in exchange for an honest review.
The Short and Sweet Review
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