Headquarters Beercade or She's a Pinball Bruncher

The Slow and Savory Review

Brandy has always been a big fan of games of all sorts.  "A quick session of mahjong or solitaire each day can really do wonders in improving brain power!" as Brandy likes to say.  In fact Brandy is so good at games of strategy that she even once won a bridge tournament by such a large margin that the other players are still paying out their antis to her to this day.

A few weeks ago, Brandy was invited to preview the new brunch menu at

Headquarters Beercade in River North, a restaurant that features scores of retro video game machines and vintage pinball in addition to craft beer, cocktails, and gastro-pub style food.  "Combining games of skill and strategy with brunch sounds like a excellent idea to me," Brandy remarked, "I'd imagine it will be a good wake up for the mind and the body!"

Everything at Headquarters Beercade was designed to evoke a feeling of nostalgia for an certain generation of people.  "Don't grow up, it's a trap," declared a neon sign over the main arcade, and indeed the whimsical atmosphere did make Brandy begin to feel young again.  A wall of antique televisions sat beside the bar, flashing in and out of 20 year old movies and wrestling matches.  The three bars around the space featured lots of detail work and thought, like an old bathtub that had been turned into a cooler, the beer handles made of telephone receivers, and the wall of cassette tapes that served as DJ booth.  The games (which were all free to play) were mainly gathered at both ends of the open space, encouraging patrons to walk about and explore every nook and cranny.

Staring off with a couple of cocktails (like she does every morning) Brandy ordered first the Swipe Right and then the Basic AF.  The Swipe Right was a sweet and spiced mix of chai tea infused vodka, pear, Drambuie, prosecco, and lemon that made for a zingy start and a smooth finish.  The Basic AF came adorably presented in a chilled steel cup with a sprig of rosemary, which complimented the cranberry, ginger, and lemon flavors, making for a cocktail that reminded Brandy of a Christmas dinner, but would have been good any time of the year.

The first dish to the table was The Sammie, a pretty standard breakfast sandwich made with scrambled eggs, Swiss cheese, tomato, arugula, and bacon on toasted brioche.  Though the sandwich was simple enough, it was well thought out with the toast being soft and yielding so as to not overwhelm the rest of the ingredients and the eggs and bacon balanced out nicely by the fresh veggies.

Next up was the Tex's Toast, a chocolate French toast served with maple syrup, raspberries, and whipped cream.  As one of Brandy's favorite flavor combinations is chocolate and raspberry, she was particularly excited to try this dish.  While the toast wasn't as chocolaty as she had hoped it would be, it did have a nice dense texture, wasn't overly sweet, and was picked up by the brightness of the berries.

Switching back to the savory side of things, a dish called The Cure was presented to the table.  This plate of deliciousness, which consisted of French fries topped with eggs, bacon, creamed spinach, giardiniera, scallions, and fried brussels sprout leaves, was a sure fire winner in Brandy's book.  Hovering somewhere between a poutine and disco fries, this dish had everything, from the crunchy veggies to the perfectly cooked fries to the crispy brussels sprout leaves.  "It's like someone made a Greatest Hits album for brunch!" Brandy exclaimed with joy.

Following that came the HQ Benedict, made with pork belly, more giardiniera, charred scallions, and a spicy hollandaise.  The benedict was fatty and rich, the perfect thing for clearing up a hangover, with just the right amount of spice to wake up the palate.  The bread element, which was actually two rounds of brioche instead of the traditional English muffin, actually worked rather well just having a light toast on it, and though the charred scallions, which had been left whole, were a tad unwieldy to convey to one's mouth, their smoky flavor fit right in to the rest of the dish.

After such a rich dish, a salad course was actually quite welcome.  The salad Brandy was presented with was called The Sweeter Side and consisted of mixed greens topped with candied pecans, roasted beets, sliced Fuji apples and goat cheese.  The dressing on the salad was bright and lemony, toning down the natural sweetness of the beets and nuts, and like any good salad, this one combined lots of complimentary textures.

The final dish of the day was the Quiche, made with spinach, asparagus, and fontina cheese and served with a small side salad.  This particular quiche was more veggie than egg, meaning it also had lots of cheesy flavor and a more dense texture.  The crust though was surprisingly light and buttery, even crisp like a cracker along the edges.  "If I hadn't eaten so much already, I could probably polish off an entire pan of this," Brandy mused, "But as it is, I think I'll go try my hand at a few games."

After a few hours of pinball wizardry, Brandy finally resigned herself to heading home.  The warm, magical atmosphere at Headquarters was incredibly infectious and left Brandy with a smile on her face, not just from the games, but also from the care that had been taken in designing everything from the interior to the food.  There was a real emphasis on doing as much as possible in house, right down the furniture, which Brandy loved, and even the servers seemed to take a real pride in their place of work and all its details.  "Its rare that I'm so affected by the decor of a place, but in this instance, I'd say the playfulness of my surroundings made everything taste even better than it would have otherwise.  From now on, I'm going to suggest every brunch spot I visit put in at least one pinball machine."

The writers of this blog were invited to dine free of charge by the restaurant in exchange for an honest review.

The Short and Sweet Review

From the Kitchen of Bunny and Brandy: Brunch Snacks with The Laughing Cow®

Bunny and Brandy are official brand advocates for The Laughing Cow® in 2015.  While the writers of this blog receive compensation for participation as a brand advocates, all opinions are original to the creators.

Sometimes there is simply too much deliciousness at brunch for Brandy to handle.  Even her notoriously bottomless stomach can be intimidated when presented with a menu full of delectable options.  "The only solution to the dilemma of what to have for brunch is to have everything," as Brandy puts it, "As the great Julia Child once said, have everything in moderation."

It was the spirit of that sentiment that recently got Brandy thinking about miniaturizing some of her favorite brunch dishes so that she could enjoy all of them at once.  Making the dishes smaller also had the added benefit of being perfect snacking foods when having friends over for a brunch celebration, whether it be as simple as watching a game on television or celebrating one's book club finally finishing Finnegan's Wake.

Having attended a whimsical event hosted by The Laughing Cow® a few weeks prior, Brandy already had a good foundation to start planning her snacking brunch.  The Laughing Cow® cheese comes in a variety of enticing flavors, all of which are creamy, rich, bold, and perfectly portioned into single serving wedges.  Inspired by the versatility of The Laughing Cow® cheese, Brandy managed to scale down a few brunch classics in her quest to reinvent snacking, and here below she is presenting the fruits of her labor for all of our loyal readers to share in.

Bloody Mary Bites

• pearl or cherry sized tomatoes
• celery
• The Laughing Cow® Creamy Swiss Garlic and Herb cheese or Creamy Spicy Pepper Jack cheese for extra kick
• hot sauce

Cut the tops off of the tomatoes and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and core.  Using about 1/3 to 1/2 a wedge of The Laughing Cow® cheese, fill each tomato.  Cut the celery horizontally into 2-3 inch long pieces, then slice them vertically until they are about 1/4 of an inch thick and place them into the cheese so they are standing up like the garnish in a bloody mary.  Top each tomato with a drizzle of hot sauce and serve.

Mini Stuffed French Toast

• Slices of French Toast, either made from scratch or from frozen
• The Laughing Cow® Creamy Swiss Original
• Fruit jam or spread of your choice (Brandy recommends strawberry or blueberry jam, apricot preserves, or pumpkin butter)

Cut each slice of French toast into 4 equal pieces.  On two of the pieces, spread about 1/3 a wedge of The Laughing Cow® Creamy Swiss, then add your fruit spread of choice.  Top with a second piece of French toast and serve.


Two Bite Breakfast Sandwiches

• Buttermilk biscuits, either from scratch, frozen, or from ready to bake dough
• Breakfast sausage
• 4-6 eggs
• The Laughing Cow® Creamy White Cheddar

Scramble the eggs with a pinch of salt and cook them in a skillet over medium heat until no longer runny.  Cut each biscuit in half horizontally, then cut into quarters vertically so that you have 4 sandwiches per biscuit.  Slice the cooked breakfast sausage into 1/2 inch thick medallions.

Assemble the sandwiches using a little bit of egg, one round of sausage, and a layer of The Laughing Cow® White Cheddar between each ingredient with thicker layers on each biscuit to keep everything together.  Optional: decorate with your favorite toothpicks and serve.

This post was sponsored by The Laughing Cow®, however all opinions expressed are those of the writers of this blog, who for the record, have never met a cheese they didn't like.

Festival Recap: Chicago Gourmet 2015

On Sunday morning, Brandy awoke to a feeling of pure excitement.  No, it wasn't because she was preparing to attend yet another fabulous brunch, it was because this was the day she was going to Chicago Gourmet, the catalyst of the food festival season, where every restaurant worth their pink Himalayan sea salt turns up with something new, exciting, and bite sized.  "It feels like Christmas morning," she said, taking a deep breath of the cool, but humid early fall air, "Only this time, Father Christmas has left a seven course meal under the tree instead of some useless trinkets!"

Jumping right into the thick of the festival at 12:00 sharp, Brandy stopped by the Four Corners Tavern Group tent, where they were serving up Moscow Mules in mini copper mugs as well as three pretty unique dishes: deviled duck eggs with bacon, Wagyu beef sliders, and waffled cheese, the latter of which Brandy found had an extraordinary texture that had her craving a second bite.  "No time for second helpings though!" she proclaimed, "Onward!"  Gibson's Restaurant Group also had their own tent, serving their usual array of crowd favorites like shrimp skewers, watermelon salad, and filet mignon sliders and Rockit Ranch served just one dish and drink at a time, but rotated them throughout the day, Brandy's favorite of which was a coconut street corn and the Strawberry DNA cocktail, which tasted fresh as a summer's day.

At the larger tasting tents, Brandy quickly found lots of tasty treats.  Chef Matt Troost brought a duo of dishes that Brandy was head over heals for; from The Charlatan sweet corn grits with chicken thigh in tomatillo sauce, topped with Pequin hot sauce, pepitas, and cilantro, and from Three Aces whipped mortadella with pickled mustard seeds, pepper jelly, and watercress on house made sweet potato bread.  Artisan breads seemed to be all over the place with other dishes like Bittersweet Bakery serving both sweet and savory versions of their brioche (one with bittersweet chocolate and one with duck pate and mustard) and Sarah Gruenberg previewing her up coming restaurant Monteverde with a spicy njuda with pickled radish on ciabatta.  Seafood was another star of the show (even aside from the Supreme Lobster & Seafood Co. tent, which always boasts the longest lines at the festival) with both Arami and Salero presenting octopus on their plates (a poached Spanish octopus, Japanese seaweed salad, tobianjian vinegrette, pickled red onion and shiso, and an octopus escabeche with puffed grains respectively), while The Promontory and MK served tuna dishes (oak seared tuna, smoked watermelon, chewy tomato and basil gel, and raw tuna sashimi with roasted corn relish) and Longitud315 and Pump Room featured crab (blue lump crab meat, purple peruvian potatoes, avocado and guasacaca sauce, and shredded crab and tomato on brioche).  New this year were several worldly themed tents, including the Mexican Pavilion and the Italian Invasion.  It seemed the idea was more to invite restaurants of those persuasions rather than for all of the dishes to match the theme, such as Acanto bringing along gigantic salted caramel apples to the otherwise pretty Italian flavored dishes, which while delicious, were unfinishable when considering how much more there was to taste.

Brandy's favorite bites of the afternoon were certainly some of the most creative.  Dusek's brought a cauliflower and almond purée, smoked Trout roe, pickled chanterelle mushroom and a corn tuille that was an absolute delight in texture while hitting every different kind of taste bud.  Cooper's Hawk Winery had a roasted beet and goat cheese salad with arugula that was pleasantly refreshing among so many other rich dishes.  Longman and Eagle put their own twist on a traditional Reuben with some duck pastrami while Park Grill brought smoked pork "wings" with sweet corn uchepo and peach mostarda. Marion Street played to the season with a pumpkin soup with celery root and maple manchego crème fraiche and Kinzie Chophouse featured a pumpkin polenta with braised short rib.  Perhaps Brandy's favorite bite of the entire festival came courtesy of City Winery with their seared ​5 spice duck with green tea soba noodles​ in a curried coconut-peanut dressing & amarena cherry-lychee compote, adorably presented wrapped around a small wooden fork.

Hitting the midday wall, Brandy went over to the main stage to take in a few demos.  Art Smith and Lorena Garcia served up plenty of sass while they combined forces to create a shrimp and tamale dish that perfectly fused Southern American and South American cuisine.  "Pretty makes it taste better," was Art Smith's mantra as he sauteed his shrimp in a tomato sauce, telling the crowd that he and his "culinary wife" would soon be returning to television in an episode of a new Bravo show.  Following that, Jose Garces and Takashi Yagihashi took the stage for an Iron Chef style battle, in which each chef brought a customized basket of ingredients for the other to create a dish with.  Chef Takashi had the idea to use the abundance of seafood in his basket to make a paella, but after it was pointed out to him that the contest had to be finished in 30 minutes, he said the dish would probably be more of a risotto, while Chef Garces used his basket to make a Korean style bi min bop bowl.

Moving to the sweet side of things, the Dessert Pavilion seemed a bit smaller than years past.  Firecakes brought an array of their signature donuts, while Coffee Cake Connection handed out their gluten free cinnamon coffee cake.  Eli's Cheesecake presented their original cheesecake made into a sabayon with peaches and almond streusel and Sandra Holl from Floriole Cafe & Bakery brought a cheesecake mousse with hibiscus soaked apples & almond crumble.  Scott Green from Travelle at The Langham, who create one of Brandy's favorite sweets from last year, didn't disappoint with a cream puff and sable cookie sandwich with chocolate ganache.  Outside of the designated dessert tent, Brandy adored the apple cider gelee and sage pot de crème with apple butter, altoids compressed apples, and sage white chocolate rocher from Homestead on the Roof and the S'mores cone with peanut butter and banana from Big Green Egg.

And so another year of Chicago Gourmet wound down to its inevitable conclusion and Brandy stumbled out of the park with sore feet, a full belly, and a smile on her face.  "Ah, Chicago Gourmet, I cannot wait for the magical weekend next year when you once again appear from the mists like Brigadoon and bring forth all that the Chicago food scene has to offer," Brandy sighed, "But in the meantime, I think I'm due for a long nap."

Remember to check out our Facebook Page for tons of pictures from this year's festival!

The writers of this blog were invited to attend Chicago Gourmet free of charge in order to facilitate the writing of this post.

Emilio's Tapas or Eggs-Tending a Helping Hand

The Slow and Savory Review

Brandy is always disturbed by the idea that there are people in this world who simply don't like brunch.  "How can one not love brunch?  It's like the greatest hits album of meals!" is often Brandy's declaration.  At this point, she has heard every counter argument in the book.  Brunch is over rated.  The service is bad.  The lines are too long.  It's nothing but hungover, inconsiderate people.  Well, maybe that's true in New York, but it certainly isn't in Chicago where, as Brandy has proved over the last 5 years, the brunch scene is a dynamic, budget friendly, foodie paradise where chefs are often allowed to experiment with recipes and formats a little more freely than they can at dinner service.  And, as Brandy recently discovered, brunch can even make a major difference in people's lives.

Brunch for a Cause started in San Diego as a group of young professionals who wanted to shine a light on some underfunded charities in their area.  The idea took off with events being held all over the country at various restaurants, all of whom worked closely with their Brunch Ambassadors to provide special deals and dishes to enjoy while benefiting scores of worthy causes.  It was only a matter of time before such a brilliant idea made its way to Chicago, and recently, Brandy was pleased to attend the inaugural event at Emilio's Tapas in Streeterville, which benefited Camp Kudzu.

As the day of the event was a beautifully mild summer day, Brandy did the rare thing of choosing a seat on the patio, which overlooked a quiet side street.  The special the restaurant had worked out for those dining with Brunch for a Cause was a shockingly inexpensive choice of four courses for $25, plus $20 more for unlimited select cocktails and wines.  Never one to turn down an option to make her brunch bottomless, Brandy went for the whole hog, so to speak ("It's for charity, after all," she justified to no one in particular), and decided on the Gipsy Rose (sic), a concoction of Spanish Cava, strawberry, and lemon that made for a bright, sweet, and effervescent treat all throughout the meal.

For the first course, Brandy chose the Queso de Carba con Nueces, some pecan coated goat cheese with honey, red wine poached pear, toast, greens, and grapes.  Such a straight forward dish could have easily had its presentation ignored, but Brandy appreciated the little bit of extra effort that had been put into plating it.  The rich, creamy goat cheese was a perfect match for the sweet pear, with the nuts providing a nice crunch.  Brandy could have done with a few more pieces of toast, but in the end she just mixed what was left of the cheese with the greens to make a nice little salad.

The next course was the Tostada a la Andaluz (which Brandy thought resembled more of a bruschetta) that was topped with some eggplant, beets, and more goat cheese.  The over all taste was actually a nice counterpoint to the previous dish, as this one had a slightly tangy, pickled flavor as well as an herbal finish.  The overall plate was very hearty, even for a dish meant to be shared, and could have easily made for a nice little lunch all on its own. "I'm not usually the biggest fan of eggplant," Brandy said, "But I do have to say that this is possibly the most colorful way I've seen a normally drab vegetable dressed up in quite some time."

For her protein, Brandy chose the Gambas a la Plancha, a row of grilled shrimp with lemon and garlic butter.  The shrimp were very tender and fresh with a wood-fired taste from the grill.  The garlic butter was wonderfully balanced, serving to enhance the shrimp, rather than overwhelm them.  They were so delicious that Brandy considered ordering a second plate of them, but by that point, even her tremendous appetite was beginning to wane under the weight of the previous dishes.

After a bit of a wait (the first three dishes had come out fairly quickly, though as they were tapas and meant to be shared, that perhaps wasn't so strange) the forth course finally arrived, a dessert not on the regular menu consisting of vanilla custard filled crepes with chocolate fudge sauce and sliced almonds.  The crepes had a lovely texture that was light and fluffy, but still thin and delicate, while the custard was thick and rich.  The chocolate sauce, while delicious, dominated the dish a little with its decadence, but the almonds were a nice little touch.

For the price, Brandy thought the amount and quality of food at Emilio's had been a brilliant value, and the fact that it had all been for the benefit of a worthy charity made it that much better.  Though the service had been a little patchy with the drink refills and there had been a long wait for the dessert and then the check, the attitude of the servers was relaxed and friendly.  "It was the thought of benefiting someone while I brunched that brought me here, but its truly the food that would bring me back," as Brandy put it.

Brunch for a Cause will be planning monthly events at restaurants all across Chicago, so make sure to like their Facebook Page to find out when and where the next one will be!

The Short and Sweet Review

From the Farm Dinner at Farmhouse

Brandy has always been a fan of eating as locally as possible.  Granted, this hasn't always been easy, especially for those six months she spent living in a penguin sanctuary in the South Pole, but for the most part, Brandy finds that she enjoys her food that much more when she knows exactly where it came from.  "Farmers are the unsung heroes of every day life," she often says, "Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful that someone somewhere decided to plant a crop of asparagus or culture some goat cheese.  Providence bless the farmers!"

Being ever conscious of where her food comes from, Brandy has loved seeing the trend of recent years of listing the origins of produce, dairy, and meat on restaurant menus.  Names like Klug Orchards, Slagel Farms, and Three Sisters are practically a guarantee of great produce, meat, or grains for Brandy at this point.  So when one of the leading restaurants of the farm-to-table movement in Chicago, Farmhouse, invited her in to their Gold Coast location for a special five course dinner in which they would showcase not only the fruits of local labor, but also some local craft beers, Brandy simply could not say no.

Farmhouse are such big believers in farming locally that they actually own their own farm, which creates much of the produce for their restaurants (the second being in Evanston with a third to open soon).  There's even a rooftop garden at the Gold Coast location that produces chilies and micro greens, which the chefs and bartenders are encouraged to visit every day in order to get inspired to create new dishes and cocktails.  The decor of Farmhouse is ecologically minded as well, using salvaged pieces from old buildings to create an antiqued, rustic, yet comforting feel.  Even the black walnut wood used to make the bar came from the Farmhouse farm property.

After a gorgeous and fortified summer cocktail, the first of the dishes arrived at the table.  The first course consisted of a simple amuse bouche, made with green grapes and cured ham on a thin piece of crusty bread.  The two bite wonder was a great start for things to come with bright bursts of flavor from the fruit, a smooth umami sensation from the ham, and a nutty, buttery richness from some fresh butter and whole grain mustard.  This paired very well with Farmhouse's own Free Priscilla Cider, made with tart apples from their own orchards, which was crisp and rather refreshing with less sweetness than a typical cider.

Next came the Chilled Melon Soup with spiced yogurt, mint, and njuda.  The soup was bright and fresh as a summer day, ending in a smokey and slightly heated finish that spoke of the oncoming fall.  Brandy particularly liked the torn up bits of poolish (a type of cracker-like flat bread) that added a bit of chewy texture, keeping things exciting bite after bite.  This dish was paired with the Calmut Queen from 3 Floyds, a wheaty beer with a nice citrus finish.

The fish course was a Grilled Rainbow Trout with tomatillos, bacon lardons, and black bean relish.  The skin of the fish was delightfully crunchy, while the meat was tender, flaky, and absolutely perfect.  The beans had a little bit of bite to them, cut with the soft acidic tomatillos, and finished off with some fresh herbs from the rooftop garden.  The bacon actually seemed to be gilding on the lily and Brandy could have easily enjoyed the dish without it.  Revolution Brewery's Rosa was the accompaniment to this dish, a beer that Brandy had already had and grown quite fond of for its floral notes and smooth sipability.

Finishing off the savory dishes was a play on a surf and turf with BBQ braised shortribs and butter poached shrimp with popcorn grits.  This was perhaps Brandy's favorite dish of the night, if only for the fork tender shortribs with their slightly sweet glaze.  The grits too were nothing to sneeze at with a nice stone ground texture and true popcorn flavor, enhanced by crumbles of sweet dehydrated cornbread.  The beer with this dish was Dark Horse's Smells Like a Safety Meeting, a very hoppy, full bodied beer that could stand up to the bold flavor of the meat.

Lastly, for dessert, Brandy was presented with a Peaches and Cream Ice Cream Sandwich.  The peaches, which had been made into a marmalade, were almost so sweet that they bordered on syrupy, but not in a bad way, as the dry shortbread cookies and very floral vanilla ice cream helped to balance them out.  This pairing was perhaps the most well thought out one of the evening, as the Penrose De Minimus Mandarina was rather sour when tasted on its own, but enjoying it with a sweet dessert brought out its more fruity and malty flavors.

Executive Chef Eric Mansavage certainly did himself proud, making use of the absolute best in late summer flavors and showing how locally produced products can inspire all sorts of unique combinations.  "If I wasn't such a city minded gal, I might consider buying a peaceful little farm myself and learn to cultivate the land.  Or I can do what I've always done and let those who already do it, do it better than I ever could while I enjoy the spoils of their efforts.  Yes, that seems the sensible way to go."

The writers of this blog were invited to dine free of charge by the restaurant in order to facilitate the writing of this post.