Wood

We went to dinner at Wood which was featured on Check Please last year. Its menu consists of fresh seasonal items with a section of small plates and of entrees. We ordered 4 small plates and 1 entree to be able to try more things.

Amuse bouche - juice

Before any food came they brought us a juice as an amuse bouche/palette cleanser. It was nice and refreshing.

Burrata - heirloom tomatoes, peaches, arugula.  This was a wonderful, fresh dish with seasonal ingredients that were well paired together.

Burrata with tomatoes

Scallops - cauliflower puree, cabbage, breadcrumbs. Natalie loves scallops so we had to have this dish. The scallops were delicate and tender with a lot of smoky flavor.

Tagliatelle - sausage, olives, tomatoes, basil, parmesan. This was a nice pasta dish and Nick liked it even though he doesn't love olives.

Scallops

Tagliatelle

Flatbread - Saxony cheese, bacon lardons, onions.  We both felt this was a little too salty.  It was not the best flatbread we've had but still tasty.

Roasted pork loin - corn, onion, pepper sauce, bacon and peppers. Another nice seasonal dish with fresh corn.

Flatbread

Final thoughts on Wood:

Food - the food was great.  We especially enjoyed the burrata, scallops and tagliatelle. The produce was all fresh and seasonal and all of the flavors were great together.

Service - They brought out our food in courses - 2 small plates, followed by 2 more small plates followed by the entree.  It seemed like there was a lot of time in between each of these courses but that was our only service issue.

Atmosphere - the interior is decorated in a lot of wood, hence the name of the restaurant.  It felt both rustic and modern at the same time.

Roasted Pork Loin

Hot Doug's

Hot Doug's is a restaurant in Chicago that has been featured on every local and national food show (and in fact when Nick was picking up the food the National Geographic Channel was filming a show). They are known for hot dogs and gourmet sausages. We have been to this restaurant a couple times before but Hot Doug's will be closing on October 4, 2014 so we wanted to go one last time before that time.

We love the fancy and interesting combinations at Hot Doug's and would have gone more often but they are located a bit far from us and they are only open from 10:30am to 4pm Monday through Saturday.  And to further complicate things they are cash only and always have a long line wrapped around the building.  Nick went on a weekday because a Saturday would have been crazy - and he still waited in line 1 1/2 hours.

Long line to get in

We ordered five sausages knowing that we would split them and we wanted to savor as many as possible this last time. Four of them were from the specials menu and one was from the regular menu.

From the weekly specials menu:
Baked ham sausage with prickly pear mustard, pineapple salsa and smoked Gouda cheese. This had a little more heat than we thought with the salsa. It was very complex, with a lot of tropical flavors but then the Gouda kind of throws it in a completely different direction.

Baked Ham Sausage with Pineapple

Bacon Cheeseburger Sausage with Coca-Cola BBQ Sauce, maple smoked cheddar cheese and smoked onion marmalade - this had a good smoky (from the onions) and sweet flavor (from the bbq sauce). It had more of a bacon flavor than cheeseburger flavor but we still enjoyed it.

BBQ Cheeseburger Sausage

Bison sausage

Game sausage of the week - Smoked bison Sausage with wild rice, Asiago cheese, bacon-garlic mayonnaise and corn relish. This was Nick's favorite of the bunch. He felt the smokiness and snap of the sausage were excellent and with the corn and Asiago it made him feel like he was eating at a five star restaurant.

Celebrity sausage - Basque-style smoked pork sausage with virtue cider mustard and Iberico cheese. This sausage didn't have as much going on with it just the sauce and the cheese but it had some interesting (Spanish) flavors.

Basque style smoked pork sausage

From the regular menu:
The George Mitterwald - Chicken sausage, zesty Santa Fe style - this was probably our least favorite, but it is really hard to compare to the fancier weekly specials which tend to have a bit more pizzazz to them. If we hadn't been eating this sausage in combination with everything else it would have been great.

Cheese fries plus sausages

Cheese Fries - Nick overheard people in line raving about the cheese fries so he ordered them.  They were okay but it is hard for any fries to impress Nick.  Hot Doug's does offer duck fat fries on Fridays and Saturdays and we were sad that we never went there on one of those days to try them because they are supposed to be great.

Final thoughts on Hot Doug's:
Food - we love the intricate and gourmet combinations that they come up with.  Natalie isn't a huge sausage person to begin with but she feels these are amazing. We are sad to see them close but there is another fancy sausage place in Lincoln Park (Frank N Dawgs) that will have to fill the void.

Chicken sausage 

Service - Once Nick got to the front of the line, Doug himself was at the counter like always.  He spends a lot of time with each person making sure they order what is best on each sausage.  Nick felt Doug may have been a little distracted on this day due to Nat Geo film crews filming.  After placing the order it only took a couple of minutes for the sausages to come out.

Doug himself

Atmosphere - it is a casual atmosphere inside with lots of sausage memorabilia and the bright colors of a classic hot dog cart.  It was a little chilly outside but good thing it was not too cold due to the long wait.  It may have been a slightly longer wait than normal for a weekday due to the film crew. But Nick was able to talk with the other patrons in line with him.

Devon

For Natalie's Birthday we went to a seafood restaurant called Devon in Oakbrook Terrace with Natalie's parents.  Devon used to be called Braxton's Seafood and was located in the Oak Brook mall but due to a leasing dispute had to leave and relinquish the name.

Shrimp Cocktail

Shrimp cocktail - jumbo shrimp cocktail, with Creole remoulade sauce and cocktail sauce.  Nice standard shrimp cocktail but kind of interesting that it is also served with a remoulade sauce.

Spring roll

Vietnamese crab spring rolls - with daikon, avocado, mint, basil, pea greens, carrots, sweet and sour dipping sauce. These were good but we only got a small bite of them so we wish we could have more.  Natalie's bit didn't have any avocado in it but it was still good and fresh.

Smoked Salmon Flatbread - garlic white sauce, red onion and watercress. Nick's favorite appetizer - crunchy, a little salty, good flavors.

Smoked Salmon Flatbread

Lobster Bisque - tasty, on par with other good lobster bisque we have eaten.

Lobster Bisque

Georges Bank scallops - with sweet potato corn hash, bacon, corn butter sauce. Good scallops with nice accompaniments that accentuated their flavor. The scallops were large and firm, but still tender.

Georges Bank Scallops

Monchong - wood grilled Hawaiian fish, with lobster mac n cheese, and whipped potatoes. Nick would have preferred it with a different preparation with a sauce on it (he felt it was a bit dry).  Otherwise the fish itself was good and a very large portion.  Natalie liked the smoky flavor.  The lobster mac was good but we almost always want more lobster.

Vanilla Creme Brulee - this was large serving of creme brulee (probably a little larger than normal due to the birthday celebration). A nice way to end the meal.

Final thoughts on Devon:

Monchong

Food - Nick was more impressed by the appetizers. He prefers Parker's Ocean Grille in Downers Grove or Catch 35 in Naperville.  He seems to remember liking Braxton's a little more so maybe there is a different chef than before.





Service - very good service.  They were super attentive to our needs with refilling drinks to making sure everything was just right.
Atmosphere - a little dark inside but a nice/fancy environment inside.  The new location isn't as nice as the mall and it is a bit difficult to find parking as a lot of the parking nearby is reserved specifically for the hotel next door.

Sushi House

Shrimp Tempura Roll

We went to dinner at the Sushi House in La Grange.  They have 6 locations all in the suburbs. We ordered a few traditional sushi rolls and few specialty rolls.

Alaskan & Unagi rolls

The 3 more traditional rolls were the unagi roll with bbq eel and cucumber, the Alaskan with salmon, avocado and cucumber and a shrimp tempura roll. These were pretty typical sushi rolls; they aren't as flashy or intricate as the more specialty rolls but they are also more affordable.

Sweet heart - spicy tuna, crunch crumbs avocado, tuna over top and served with a spicy honey sauce. This is definitely something we haven't seen before.  They took tuna and used it as the exterior of the sushi and shaped it into a heart and put all of the rice and other items inside of it.  It was fun to look at and actually a bit spicy to eat with both the spicy tuna and the spicy honey sauce.

Sweetheart

Dragon Roll

Dragon roll - bbq eel, cucumber and fish eggs with avocado outside. This is a bit more elaborate of a sushi roll (but not as unique as the sweetheart).  Natalie loves bbq eel and avocado so we tend to order things like this at most sushi restaurants we go to.

Crazy roll - Tuna, salmon, whitefish, avocado, deep fried.  The fried exterior of the roll is like the tempura batter on shrimp or veggies. These were large pieces of sushi that barely could fit in our mouths.

Final thoughts on Sushi House:
Food - excellent sushi.  The sweet heart roll was fun and creative.
Service - we ordered a few sushi to start and then wanted a couple more.  It took a long time for someone to come back to take that order we were almost ready just to get the check.
Atmosphere - typical Japanese style restaurant.  At some point we would like to sit in the pit style seating in the front (where you basically sit on the ground).

Crazy Roll

The Purple Pig

We went to dinner at The Purple Pig in Chicago. This restaurant has only been open a few years but has received lots of awards including James Beard awards.  It is located on Michigan Avenue, is very popular and doesn't take reservations so it can get very busy.  We saw reviews that talked about 1 1/2 to 2 hour waits.  We decided to go there on a day when we carpooled together to work so we could go straight to dinner.  That way we got there at 5pm.  This was on a Tuesday and we were able to walk right in and get a table. By the time we were leaving all the tables were full and there were a lot of groups waiting, so we lucked out.

Cheese Plate

The Purple Pig does have a lot of pork related dishes, but that is not all. Their menu is quite extensive and there are antipasti items, smears (to spread on bread), fried items, cheeses, paninis and a section called a la plancha (which literally means cooked on a griddle).  They claim that their dishes are more tapas/small plates style so they encourage you to order more than just a couple of things. We found that some of the dishes were indeed tapas size but others were more regular size and therefore we were pretty full by the end of it.

What we ordered:

Greek Cornbread with honey and cheese

Cheese plate with Hickory Kidde, Owl Creek and Chocolate Goat cheese. We started with a cheese plate with 3 different cheeses on it. There were 25 different cheese selections so we had to rely on the waitress to tell us about some of them because the descriptions were not listed and all of the names don't necessarily tell you much either. One of them was sort of Gouda-esque, another wasn't that memorable and the Chocolate Goat is what it sounds like, chocolate goat cheese.  This was really fun and interesting and almost could have been a dessert.

Bobota "Greek Cornbread" with feta, mizithra cheese (sheep and/or goat cheese) & honey - this was really good and unique; a play on cornbread with the traditional honey and then with a couple of Greek cheeses to make it more interesting.  It all tasted great together and it is something that could be done easily at home to jazz up cornbread. The creaminess of the cheese offset the sweet honey to find a perfect balance to complement the cornbread.

Eggplant Caponata with Goat Cheese

Eggplant caponata with goat cheese - this was one of the smears that you put over bread.  The bread was already covered in goat cheese and then the eggplant went on top. It was quite a large portion (larger than just tapas size).  It had a thick coating of cheese which was almost too much (although it is quite difficult to say that you ever have too much goat cheese). Because of all the cheese and the "smear" nature of the eggplant it did get a bit messy as well. We both really enjoyed all of the flavors but for a tapas style dish it was overwhelming for just 2 people.

Chorizo Stuffed Olives

Chorizo stuffed olives - just what they sound like these were olives stuffed with chorizo.  They came from the fried section of the menu so they were lightly fried and served with a creamy sauce to offset all of the robust flavors.  These were the perfect size and gave us just enough of a taste to leave us wanting more.

Pineapple Glazed Rib Tips

Pineapple glazed rib tips with grilled fava beans, green onion and fennel - we really enjoyed this dish but when it came out to the table we were taken aback because it was really not a tapas size at all; it was pretty much a full entree size so we were starting to get full.  The topical flavors were nice with rib tips.  We wished we could order it again without have ordered as many other things to fully enjoy it.

Pork secreto with roasted red pepper, leeks pickled watermelon rind - this dish sounds better than it actually was. The pickled watermelon rind was different and not what we expected.  But overall this dish just couldn't compare to the rib tips.

Pork Secreto

The dessert was a chocolate mouse tart with candied popcorn.  It was playful and reminiscent of something Graham Elliott would do.

Final thoughts on The Purple Pig:
Food - lots of options which could be overwhelming.  We enjoyed several of the items but there were a couple of misses as well. Also we are fairly adventurous eaters but there are some dishes we felt were a little scary including tripe, pig's feet and blood sausage.  So be aware when looking at the menu.

Chocolate Mousse dessert

Service - it was good to have a very knowledgeable server who was friendly and willing to answer all of our questions. Maybe if we had asked a few more questions we would have been steered into different (and maybe better?) dishes
Atmosphere - the interior of the restaurant is not very big.  Although they have seating outside during warmer months we opted to still eat inside because it was so hot outside. Inside there are a couple of long communal tables.  We were happy to have arrived early enough to get our own table. The restaurant is also known for wine which seemed to be quite plentiful so there are lots of wine racks making up the decore. They were playing rock music a little loud to somewhat drown out the noises of the exposed kitchen.  Overall we would consider going back if not for the potential long waits because they don't take reservations.

Volare

We went to dinner at Volare in Oakbrook Terrace after seeing the Chicago location featured on Chicago's Best.

Rolled Eggplant

Rolled Eggplant - this is the dish that was featured on Chicago's Best, thinly sliced eggplant and stuffed with ricotta.  We both really enjoy eggplant so it was nice to have it served in a different way (not just as eggplant parmesan). This would be a fun dish to try at home as well.

Warm Kale Salad

Warm Kale Salad - the name is a little weird but this was a great salad with lots of stuff in it - garbanzo beans, prosciutto, pancetta, brussel sprout leaves, red onions, white beans, shaved parmesan; this is normally an entree sized salad but they were able to make a half size order so we wouldn't get too full on it. For not being kale lovers it was smoky and crisp but still salad-esqe.

Black Pasta with Seafood

The pasta dishes were huge and we probably were only able to eat about 1/3 of the dishes at the restaurant and then took the rest as lunch for the next day.

Fussilloni al Ragu di Vitello - pasta with ragu of veal, porcini mushrooms and peas (lots of peas). This was a very hearty dish with lots of veal.  The peas were a bit excessive.

Spaghetti Neri al Pesce - black spaghetti with shrimp, scallop and lump crab meat, lots of seafood. This was tasty.  It was a bit over-sauced as you couldn't really see the black pasta underneath.

Pasta with veal and peas

Dessert - We weren't going to order a dessert but we found out they have several small desserts (kind of like Season's 52) and that was good because we didn't have much room.  But they had a cannoli cream dessert that we split, basically cannolis that we stuffed ourselves.  It was a small but good end to the meal.

Cannoli

Final thoughts on Volare:
Food - tasty and we would go back since they are close to us. But we would keep in mind that the pasta entrees are massive and therefore maybe only order one and a full size kale salad.
Service - not memorable. We were there on a weeknight without a lot of other customers so we weren't ignored but they seemed to be setting up for a larger party coming later.
Atmosphere - typical Italian restaurant look. We didn't get too much of a sense of it because there weren't that many people there.

Mecenat Bistro

We went to dinner at Mecenat Bistro in Western Springs.  It was recently featured on Chicago's Best and we wanted to try it out since we live close by. As we will explain more later, this became a 2 part/2 day meal.

Bruschetta Platter

Bruschetta platter with 3 different types of bruschetta.  The first type had smoked salmon and dill cream cheese on it so it was kind of like lox and bagels.  The second type was the closest to traditional bruschetta (but it wasn't traditional). It had prosciutto, roasted red pepper, pesto, goat cheese and balsamic vinegar.  The third type had wild mushrooms and blue cheese.  The cheese was a mild blue cheese so it didn't over power the mushrooms.  We enjoyed all 3 of these "bruschettas" and would order them again. It was a great dish for 2 people since their were 2 of each type of bruschetta.

$5 Burger

We were there on a Tuesday night which is $5 burger night.  Since this was such a deal we decided to get a burger. It was a fairly simple burger with cheddar cheese, red onion, and pickles on a pretzel roll. Good quality burger, nice and tasty and quite large for $5.  We had to wait quite a bit to get our meal (we heard this was because it was busier due to burger night) so we probably wouldn't come back on a Tuesday night just for this.

Duck Confit Eggrolls

Instead of ordering another entree we ordered 2 more appetizers because they sounded more fun.  We got Duck Confit Eggrolls with chili sauce and Corn and Avocado Fritters with mango salsa. Nick really enjoyed the eggrolls, Natalie thought they were just okay. There was a good balance of duck, spiciness and crunchiness.  Natalie enjoyed the fritters although there wasn't much avocado in them so they should of just been called corn fritters.  The mango sauce they came with was like a tropical apple sauce with that type of consistency.

Corn Fritter

At this point in the meal we kind of wanted to order the chocolate lava cake dessert because that is what had been featured on Chicago's Best. But quite honestly all of our food took such a long time to get out to our table that we couldn't stay there any longer, especially knowing it would take at least 15 minutes to bake the cake.  We were disappointed because we wanted the service to be better.  From the way Nick was faced he felt we were being ignored as he saw the wait staff helping other tables a lot more.

Coconut Curry Shrimp

Well after this meal we had a somewhat negative view of the restaurant despite eating some good food.  Since it was close by and we are impulsive, we decided to meet there on Natalie's way home from work the next day so it would be slightly earlier and not as busy (and not burger night).  On the weeknights from 4-6pm they have 1/2 price appetizer happy hour specials if you sit in the bar area. We decided we would eat at the bar and order 2 appetizers and the cake all at once so everything could be served quickly.  There was no one else in the restaurant at this point so we experienced something extremely different than the night before.

Grilled Brie

We ordered Coconut Curry Shrimp and Grilled Brie.  The shrimp came with a brown mustard on the side.  They had an unusual but tasty flavor to them and Nick liked the mustard a lot.  The brie came with pesto and a citrus chutney. The pesto and the chutney were great with it and made it even more interesting.

Right after we were done with the appetizer the cake came out - such perfect timing. It was rich and decadent and came with vanilla ice cream and berry sauce. It was definitely a flowing lava cake and was worth waiting a day.

Final thoughts on Mecenat Bistro:

Lava Cake

Food - good food, the appetizers were definitely more intriguing to us than the entrees and our favorite of all of them was the bruschetta platter. The cake was great but not worth a problematic rest of the meal.
Service - the difference in the service between the 2 meals was night and day. They probably thought we were weird eating at the bar and not ordering any drinks but that is the only way to get the 1/2 price appetizers which is definitely worth the price. If the first night had been our only experience we wouldn't be recommending it and it was only because we live close by that we returned.
Atmosphere - definitely a wine bar look to it. There is an outdoor patio area, the bar and a medium sized dining area. We had driven past this location in the past and didn't realize that it was a restaurant.