Last Minute Chicago Holiday Dining Recommendations

I was invited to dine at the restaurants mentioned free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

As much as I love staying inside the week between Christmas and New Year's, usually snuggled under my down comforter with my dog noisily snoring beside me and a cup of some boozed up hot beverage clasped between my hands, eventually I start to get a little cabin fever. And with this year being unseasonably warm (seriously, Chicago, what the hell? I could go back home to Arizona for 50 degrees in December!), I'm feeling the itch to get out for a few more meals before 2018 ends. So enjoy this quick roundup of some of my recent favorites for brunch, dinner, and everything in between!

Dinner at Le Sud

This French/Mediterranean inspired addition to Roscoe Village has gotten great buzz ever since it opened earlier this year. Me? I like a bit of non pretentious French cuisine, so I was very interested to check it out. The inside is the perfect kind of cozy without being overly cramped and the perfect kind of vintage without feeling artificial. This isn't the kind of place you're going to find Americanized French staples, like onion soup or coq au vin. Instead, you will find things like house made charcuterie, a decadent fois gras tart (that is so perfectly balanced between sweet and savory that it could easily be an appetizer or a dessert), a perfectly simple steak frites, and a very inventive vegetarian seared pumpkin entree with leeks and fregola. Everything here is incredibly thoughtful and uncomplicated, while demonstrating an immense amount of skill and care. Go any night you can, or check out their special service for New Year's Eve.

Dinner at Bobby's Lincoln Park

Bobby's recently opened their first location in the city in hopes of replicating their beloved Deerfield location's success. The menu boasts a lot of meat and seafood focused plates as well as handmade pasta dishes, but the vibe is surprisingly casual. The space is open and airy, a rarity in crowded Lincoln Park, and the service is exceptionally friendly and personable. It's may sound ridiculous, but I was impressed right from the start with the bread service, which came with a simple roasted garlic butter that I would have happily bought a bottle of if they had been selling it. The Shrimp Bobby was an excellent take on a scampi, the Steak Tartar was gloriously delicate (I also mixed that delicious garlic butter into it and by God, it was amazing), and the scallops with cauliflower puree and orange zest were a delight. If you want a little taste of everything Bobby's has, order The Mark Miller, which is a platter of sausage, roasted chicken, tender skirt steak, peppers, and onions. For a lighter (by comparison) plate, the Linguini Nduja is also wonderful, with a rich egg yolk sauce, crisped panchetta, sweet onions, and a little kick of heat.

Brunch The Kitchen

Having dined at The Kitchen a few times, I knew to expect only the best. Of course I wasn't disappointed, and despite some minor Instagram drama (don't ask...), I found myself more impressed than ever before with the inventiveness coming out of The Kitchen's kitchen. Highlights for me included a collection of awesome non-alcoholic cocktails (something I'd love to see more of at other restaurants), a succulent southern style Shrimp and Grits with andouille sausage, an earthy Mushroom Toast with red kale and scrambled eggs, an impossibly creamy yogurt panna cotta with blueberries and housemade granola, and poached eggs with green shakshuka, chickpeas, and toast points. They will actually be serving brunch on Boxing Day (December 26th) from 10:00-3:00 and all day New Year's Day, so if any of this sounds good to you, get on that. Also, they will be featuring an exclusive holiday donut flavor (pst... it's chocolate spice with cranberries and candied ginger!) in addition to their already stellar line up of freshly made pastries.

Tea at Vanille

Taking family to a relaxed tea service is just the kind of tradition I'd like to add to my already packed list of holiday traditions. After all, who can resist tiny sandwiches and delicate tea cups? Vanille Patisserie recently launched a beautiful tea service at their Lakeview and Hyde Park locations, offered at 12, 2, and 4 Mondays through Thursdays. The service consists of as much Benjamin's Tea as you can drink (my personal favorites include the Forest Berry and the Roasted Almond) accompanied by mini sandwiches, scones with a variety of spreads, freshly baked madeleines, Vanille's signature macarons, mini cupcakes, and other delightfully tiny treats. At just $28 a person, I think this might be one of the best tea service deals in town. Pinkie's up!

Brunch at Parley @ Joy District

I think we all know that I have very mixed feelings about brunch buffets, but if you're looking for a spot to drink away your holiday stress with a group of fun loving friends, this might be the place for you. Especially if you have a sweet tooth! The dessert table at Parlay is a little overwhelming with it's donut wall, platters of cereal treats, and legions of layered pudding cups. Fresh pizzas and chaffing dishes with various savory dishes help to balance out the glucose, but I'm tempted to tell you to skip them all together and just go in on the sweets. Calories don't count in December, after all. $50 gets you access to all the food as well as bottomless mimosas in a variety of flavors, but if you STILL haven't uped your insulin levels enough, there's the brunch cocktail menu that features giggle inducing large format cocktails, like the Scumdilyuptious served in a gumball machine with rubber ducky floats, or the Mega Mimosa and the Mega Mule; giant sized versions of the classic cocktails that are perfect for using as selfie props.

Revisit: Lark

I was invited to dine at Lark free of charge, but all opinions stated below are my own and have not been influenced.

As I've talked about before, up until last year, I'd spent over 10 years living in Lakeview, but what some of you might not know is that my day job is also in Lakeview. I literally used to walk to and back from work every single day, and let me tell you, it was pretty glorious to not have to deal with the CTA. It was during one of those morning walks to the office a few years ago that I first noticed the signage for Lark going up. The space had previously been occupied by some generic Boystown bar that served forgettable food and watered down cocktails, so I was very excited to see what this new development might bring. And as you can see from my original... um... I mean Brandy's original review of the place, I was pretty smitten with their simple, yet flavorful food, especially their wood fired pizzas.

Flash forward to today and Lark is now a staple of the neighborhood, hosting themed brunches every weekend and all kinds of trivia nights and viewing parties during the week. The restaurant recently underwent a few updates, so I happily accepted their invitation to come in and see what kind of changes they'd made.

Although they have a drop dead gorgeous patio, the day we stopped in (I took along my friend Jenna) was pretty warm, so I opted to stay inside and enjoy the AC. Their new drink menu sections off all the cocktails by spirit. I loved this sort of set up, as it enabled me to quickly narrow down what I was in the mood for. I went for the Monotonous Lark, a cocktail from the "Tiki" section of the menu, that combined coconut rum, blue Curacao, pineapple, and vodka. I love a good tropical blue drink. Jenna went for the El Diablo Duck Mule, which was made with tequila instead of vodka, mixed with ginger beer, lime, and cream de cassis. The mule even came adorned with an adorable rubber ducky painted like a panda, and we were informed that the restaurant had an infinite supply of different designer ducks to float atop their drinks. They even had special ducks in lederhosen ready to go for Oktoberfest. Too cute!

I insisted that we start off with one the house signature wood fired pizzas, so we went with the prosciutto, arugula, and mozzarella. The crust was just as crisp and chewy as I remembered, with the slightest hint of char on the edges. This particular pizza's mix of salty, peppery, and creamy flavors was right up my alley, and the little finishing drizzle of truffle oil sure didn't hurt anything.

For her entree, Jenna wanted the Chilaquiles, which turned out to be a re-worked version of the Breakfast Nachos from Lark's original menu. It still resembles the nachos more than a traditional chilaquiles, which are generally prepared more as a hash, but I wasn't about to complain. The chips were nicely crisp, which made it easy to scoop up the mountain of toppings. Jenna had chosen to add some chicken to hers, which was a perfect addition to the zesty guac, spicy green salsa, scrambled eggs, pickled peppers, and streams of sour cream. I may have stolen a few bites from her plate, not gonna lie.

I decided to try the Recovery Burger. This burger was a pretty traditional stack, with cheddar, bacon, tomato, lettuce, a fried egg, and an onion ring, but everything was prepared exceptionally well. The onion ring added a very nice crunch to the whole thing that I really enjoyed. The only aspect I was a little confused by was that I had been asked how I preferred my meat cooked, to which I responded, "medium rare." But as we found out later, these burgers are always cooked as "smash burgers," that is to say, they are smashed on the griddle so that they develop a slight crisp on the outside. Since smash burgers are typically thinner, I'm not sure how they intended to cook mine medium rare, but I was perfectly happy with the result regardless.

Finally, the restaurant surprised us by bringing out one of their signature desserts: a S'mores Pizza. Using the same wood fired oven, they had topped their Neapolitan-style crust with Ghirardelli chocolate chunks, mini marshmallows, chocolate syrup, and crumbled graham crackers to create the ultimate campfire fantasy. Just looking at this thing brought a smile to my face, and the smell of the toasted marshmallows nearly hypnotized me. Though the crust was pretty light and airy, the whole thing was so rich that we could barely finish a slice each. I highly advise bringing along some friends to help you down this sucker.

All in all, I'm very glad to see that Lark is still operating to the high standards they were when I first visited them all those years ago. Though I may not live in Lakeview any more, I'd be more than willing to once more take the journey south from my current home in Rogers Park to visit with Lark and slowly work my way through every single one of their cocktails.

Bites Asian Kitchen or Street Meats

The Slow and Savory Review

Umm... hey there! I'm Jessica and I have been Bunny and Brandy's "interpreter" since the inception of this blog seven and a half years ago. If you've been reading this blog on the regular since then, thank you so much. It's been a crazy journey that has taken me to a lot of places I never dreamed I would go. That being said, Bunny and Brandy, those darling old lushes we all know and love, are getting on in years now and have decided to hand the reins over to me for a little while. I hope you all won't mind, but if you do start to miss them, feel free to let me know in the comments, and I'll see what I can do about getting them back in the saddle.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to check out Bites Asian Kitchen and their new East meets West brunch menu. Funny thing is, Bites is actually right across the street from my office. I am literally looking at their teal awning as I type. And while I am in the habit of supporting a lot of the restaurants in the immediate area, for some reason, I had never gone to Bites before. I don't really know why that is, but (spoilers) after this meal, I am determined to frequent it a lot more often!

I met up with my friend Kristin, who I've barely seen since she gave birth to beautiful baby girl last spring. And this being one of the first chances she's gotten to step out of the house on her own, she was just as excited as I was to check out the cocktails. She started off with Good Morning Mexico, a sort of mix between a Paloma and a Mimosa, which she really liked because it was refreshing and very original. I went for the Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, which had mango, strawberry, cucumber, lemon, elderflower liquor, and gin. I get kind of iffy with cucumber in my cocktails because it tends to take over the ENTIRE drink. In this case, however, it actually worked quite well with the sweetness of the fruit.

As Bites specializes in smaller, shareable dishes, Kristen and I decided to order a few things to munch on. First up was the Emerald Gyoza. These were pretty traditional gyoza (a type of Japanese dumpling that can either be pan fried or steamed), but they had a really creamy interior filling because of the incorporation of some edamame. The whiskey soy sauce and wasabi mayo on the side also gave them a more interesting flavor and more modern feel. Next, I reached for the Teriyaki Sliders, which were literally dripping with a beautiful soy butter glaze. As sliders can be a little tough sometimes, I was really happy to find these suckers were perfectly pink in the middle and plenty juicy. The western side of my palate was satisfied with the melty mozzarella cheese and the crispy fried shallots, while the eastern side loved the shiitake mushrooms and the slightly sweet flavor. Kristin had requested that we order the Tempura Avocado, which I was a little skeptical about, but they turned out to be really delightful. The outside of the wedges was light and crispy, while the inside was perfectly creamy and not at all greasy. The last of our little snacks were the massive shrimp cakes. These had a nice bouncy texture to them, and while their flavor was a little muted, the addition of some sweet chili dipping sauce and a cucumber salad really helped to bring out their specialness.

For our second round of drinks, Kristin picked the Blueberry Mojito, while I went with the Thai-rish Coffee. Kristin's mojito was very fruity and had just the right amount of mintiness to it. She actually managed to lap me because she could not stop sipping on this thing, and she ended up having to order one more cocktail before we ended the meal (her last drink was the Smokey Blonde, which was a really excellent whiskey cocktail). I have a deep love for Thai coffee and Thai iced tea, so you can imagine how much I LOVED the Thai-rish coffee. It was a little bit too easily drinkable, if you know what I mean.

For the main event, I really wanted to try their Okonomiyaki, a Japanese dish that is sort of like a combination of a pancake and a frittata, and comes slathered in Japanese mayonnaise and a sweet glaze that resembles BBQ sauce (yes, it's different, and yes, it's delicious), and is then topped with seaweed and bonito flakes. I'd only had okonomiyaki once before, but I knew what to expect because of my obsession with food Asian food vloggers, so I warned Kristin that the bonito flakes would be "dancing" on top of the okonomiyaki so that she wouldn't freak out and think it was alive. She was interested to try it, but she was already pretty stuffed, which left the entire dish up to me to finish. I really liked the big hunks of bacon hidden in the batter along with a variety of veggies, which made every bite kind of exciting and different. One of these days, I'm going to try my hand at making one of these suckers.

Finally, we finished off our massive meal with their Coconut Milk French Toast. The French toast itself was pretty good, nothing amazingly special, but had a good texture and just a hint of coconut flavor. The real star on the plate was the pandan syrup. I've never really had pandan anything, but I am officially now on the lookout. It's got a vivid green color, like matcha, but the flavor is like a coconut and vanilla custard, and it turned this French toast into something really spectacular. I would order this again in a heart beat if only so that I could drink that syrup.

If anything sums up my new found love for Bites, it is probably this; while sitting here at my office desk, trying to write up this post between doing actual work, I have just been salivating at the memory of this meal. I literally just went to Grubhub to see if I could order some lunch, only to have my heart broken when I was informed that they don't open until 4:30. Ah well. I'll just have pop over there tomorrow morning.

I was invited to dine at this restaurant free of charge in exchange for an honest review of my experience.

Wrigley BBQ or Smoke Gets in Your (Pork) Belly

The Slow and Savory Review

"It used to be funny when Hawk would talk about selling everything we own and buying a food truck, but I think he might be serious this time. The other day I caught him looking at listings for mobile smokers on eBay and he keeps dropping hints about an industrial deeper fryer he wants for Christmas!" Brandy's friend Bailey was explaining about her husband. "Well, life on the road has its advantages. But why has he come down with wanderlust all of the sudden?" "He's been watching a ton of barbecue shows and he thinks he needs to go South to brush up his skills." "Well, that's nonsense. There's wonderful barbecue right here in Chicago!" "But it's better in the South, isn't it?" "Tell you what. Get your coat and we'll go get some barbecue for brunch. Then you can tell me if you need to cross the Mason Dixon line to eat real meat."

Brandy took her friend along to check out the recently revamped Wrigley BBQ in the heart of East Lakeview. Since being taken over by Mitch Liebovich (who previous ran a successful barbecue restaurant in Pittsburgh), the entire menu has been renewed to focus on smoked meats (as opposed the previous menu, which put more focus on the sauces) and barbecue classics tweaked for the Midwestern palate. Mitch himself actually met with Brandy and Bailey, letting his passion for great food shine as he explained the changes he'd implemented so far and what he hoped to do in the future, including additions to some of the pre-existing restaurant design.

Getting themselves a glass of Cheerwine from the soda fountain (Brandy was over joyed to see the North Carolina favorite soft drink), they started in with an appetizer of fresh made Jalapeno Cornbread. Ever spice shy, Brandy was a little concerned, but the peppers just ended up lending more of smokey flavor than any heat. The bread texture was utterly perfect, being moist and bouncy without crumbling to pieces, and it had just the right amount of sweetness and grit to it.

Next up, the ladies decided to dive into an order of Chicken Nachos. The gigantic portion was more than a little intimidating, especially considering they still had more food coming in the pipeline, but they were both so happy after taking their first bite that they had decided to indulge. The nachos were deeply satisfying on every level, having been loaded with sour cream, shredded cheese, sweet corn, BBQ beans, succulent pulled chicken meat, and cool shredded lettuce. "There is no being delicate with a plate of food like this," Brandy commented, BBQ sauce penetrating the crevices between her fingernails and sour cream clinging to her lips. The biggest surprise was just how juicy and flavorful the chicken meat was. "I thought getting chicken would be a cop out, but this is amazing!" said Bailey.

Unable to decide between the Brisket Hash and the Biscuits and Gravy, Bailey compromised by ordering the hash with a side of gravy and a single biscuit. "I would have been happy with just the hash but once Mitch explained how he makes the gravy to order and actually puts his barbecued brisket into it, I knew I had to try some." Bailey, the ultimate gravy connoisseur, was not disappointed in the least; the gravy was hearty enough to be a meal in itself, and when combined with the surprisingly light and buttery biscuit, it was pure heaven. The hash wasn't anything to be sneezed at either, with a creamy cap of cheese covering a very generous helping of melt-in-the-mouth brisket, crispy potatoes, and topped by a perfectly fried egg.

Brandy picked the BELT, a take on a BLT with smoked and crisped pork belly in place of the bacon as well as sharp cheddar and avocado joining the party. The pork belly had a really unique texture from first having been smoked and then slightly crisped up, which Brandy rather enjoyed as a textural contrast next to the soft veggies and the Texas Toast. "It speaks to how well balanced this is that even with a rather large slab of meat in here, this sandwich isn't overly rich or greasy. That's a rare thing to find in a breakfast sandwich," she pointed out.

Finally, they decided to round out their meal with something sweet; the Bourbon Bread Pudding French Toast, which had a seasonal variation prepared with pumpkin bread. Instead of being presented in slices, this french toast came in thick cut sticks ("That's what we Brits call 'Soldiers.' Perfect for dipping into egg yolks," as Brandy explained to her friend). The result of having cut the toast in such a fashion was a very crispy exterior and a pure custard interior, and with this version having been made with real pumpkin puree, it gave the impression of being the filling of creamy pumpkin pie. Pouring the homemade bourbon syrup over that French toast was the single most satisfying experience Brandy had that day, possibly even that week. "I've never had a French toast like this!" Bailey exclaimed, "I'd say I want to bring some of this home so Hawk can try it, but I don't know if I'm going to be able to share."

Thoroughly stuffed, Brandy and Bailey finally began to pack up their things. Mitch's hospitality was certainly something that stuck with both of them, and the passion he so clearly put into his food impressed Bailey to such an extent that she was already planning to bring Hawk for a return visit before they had even left the restaurant. "I guess there really is good barbecue to be found in Chicago, if you know where to look," said Bailey. "I know where to look; under my finger nails. Next time, I'm bringing gloves," said Brandy.

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

The Short and Sweet Review

Strings Ramen or Spinning Strands of Gold

The Slow and Savory Review

Record heat waves are nothing to Brandy now that she has set her mind to fall mode. "I don't care what the thermometer says. It is September, for goodness sake, and I'm ready for hot beverages and hot soups," said Brandy, "But I refuse to eat or drink anything pumpkin flavored until October. People tasting pumpkin before October are morally bankrupt." On the receiving end of her rant about the climbing temperatures verses the desire for fall foods was her good friend Brocco. "You know, in Japan, there's this philosophy that if it's hot outside, you should eat hots foods because it will cause your body to try and cool itself off even more," he pointed out as he wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, "So you can still have your hot drinks and such even though its warm, and they might even help you feel better!" "That does it then," Brandy proclaimed, "You and I are going to go have something hot for brunch. Something that warms the body and the soul."

They headed to the newly opened Strings in Lakeview. This little outpost near the Belmont train station boasted the same lineup of richly flavored broths and handmade noodles as the original Chinatown restaurant, but with plenty of exclusive new additions to the menu. The decor really did evoke the feeling of a ramen shop in Tokyo, with bright and unique lighting all around, high and minimalistic tables, and lanterns hanging from the industrial inspired ceiling.

Brocco and Brandy started off with some steamed Chicken Gyoza and a bowl of Yuzu Miso Salmon Sunomono. The gyoza were just the thing to peek one's appetite for the meal to come. Their interior was wonderfully juicy and tender with just a hint of spice, while the outer skin remained bouncy and supple. The Sunumono was actually quite refreshing, being served over a bed of shaved cucumber and other vegetables and dressed with sweet vinegar. Brocco really loved the succulent fish, which tasted as fresh as though it had been caught that day. Brandy enjoyed the softly sweet flavor from the yuzu miso and thought that the tender chunks of fish were going to make for perfect palate cleansers in between sip of their ramen, which hit the table almost immediately after the starters did.

Brocoo had gone with the Kuro Buta Tonkotsu Ramen, which matched a creamy pork bone broth with sesame seeds, wood ear mushrooms, green onions, a soy sauce marinated egg, and thick slices of fatty pork belly. Diving straight in with his chop sticks, Brocco discovered the tangle of noodles lying just under the surface and pulled up a mouthful-sized portion, then proceeded to slurp them up without abandon. "Young man!" Brandy scolded him. "No, it's ok!" he protested, "You're supposed to slurp your noodles. It shows that you're enjoying them and it cools them off enough to eat straight away. You don't want your noodles to sit too long in the broth, or the texture won't be right." As these noodles had been made fresh, they had an exceptionally wonderful texture with just enough chew to them. Brocco found that the broth in his ramen was actually a bit lighter than he had expected it to be, but it was still deeply flavorful and well seasoned. It wasn't long before he was lifting the bowl to his mouth so that he could slurp every last bit.

Brandy went with the Premium Miso Ramen, which came adorned with corn, spicy ground pork, clams, bean sprouts, red onions, lots of garlic, and a couple slices of filet mignon. "I've never seen ramen served with steak before!" Brocco exclaimed in surprise. Brandy was amazed by just how tender the meat was, and even though it was surrounded by a lot of very strong flavors, its true beefiness still shone through. The miso broth was soft on the tongue and not too salty, but Brandy thought it tasted particularly good with the addition of the fresh garlic. After her first bite of golden, chewy noodles, she found it difficult to stop eating and very soon, her chop sticks were coming up out of the broth empty. Luckily, Strings offers Kae Dama, which is an extra order of noodles, meant to be used with one's broth once the original noodles had been finished off, and Brandy happily took advantage of the service in order to sop up every last bit of her bowl.

Finally, the pair finished off their meal with a couple sweet bites: a Tiramisu cup and a little piece of Sasa Dango. The Tiramisu was amazingly creamy and smooth with a good hit of coffee flavor. "Not what I would expect in a ramen restaurant, but it's rather tasty!" said Brandy. "Funnily enough, tiramisu is a pretty popular dessert in Japan," said Brocco. The Sasa dango was a lovely dumpling, made from sweet rice flour with a sweetened red bean paste center, all wrapped up in bamboo leaf and steamed. Both Brandy and Brocco very much enjoyed the chewy little bite, which made for the perfect end to their meal.

Brandy really appreciated String's adherence to Japanese tradition while making efforts to modernize and customize their selections. The food came to the tables incredibly fast, which is also a fairly common practice in traditional ramen houses, but there still had been an effort put in to present the dishes in a very pleasing way. The prices were also very reasonable considering the quality and time put into the food (only a single item on the menu topped $20). Stepping back out into the sweltering heat, Brocco turned to Brandy and asked, "Well? Did it work? Do you feel any cooler?" "No," said Brandy, "We better go back inside and keep eating ramen until it stops feeling like the inside of an oven out here."

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

The Short and Sweet Review