Cafe Ba Ba Reeba

Dining Area where we were sitting with giant mirror

For our third and final meal of Restaurant Week, we went to Cafe Ba Ba Reeba, a Spanish tapas restaurant in Lincoln Park.  It is located at 2024 N Halsted in Chicago.  Natalie had been there before but Nick had not.

The restaurant week menu offered a 4 course meal including 1 pintxo (bite sized tapas from Northern Spain), 2 regular sized tapas, Paella (Spanish rice dish) and dessert.

Pintxos

For our Pintxos we chose a chorizo wrapped date and cheese and a short rib stuffed piquillo pepper. We usually have had bacon wrapped dates so it was a new twist to have chorizo instead. We enjoyed the combo of the date and the cheese - sweet and salty. The short rib was good but would have been better with a little cheese as well.

Charcuterie Plate

Since we have eaten at a lot of tapas restaurants in the past we wanted to try some different tapas than we normally get at other places.  The first tapa we ate was a Charcuterie plate with Serrano ham, salchichon, chorizo and manchego cheese. Serrano is thinly sliced dry Spanish ham similar to the Italian proscuitto; salchicon and chorizo are sausages and manchego is a cheese from the La Mancha region of Spain.  Natalie likes Serrano ham better than proscuitto because it is a little less salty.  The manchego cheese was served atop a toast point with a tomato bruschetta like topping.  This will be the new way to do bruschetta in our household.

Salmon with celery root puree and kale chips

Our second tapa was a piece of cooked salmon with celery root puree and kale chips. The salmon was good not great.  The highlight was the celery root puree which had the consistency of mashed potatoes with a punch of flavor.  We were surprised at the kale chips; they had a crunch texture but a lot flakier than a potato chip.

Our third tapa was beef tenderloin topped with blue cheese and served with potato chips.  We got this dish because we had enjoyed a beef and blue cheese dish at Meson Sabika in Naperville.  We didn't enjoy this version as much as at Meson Sabika, but it still tasted good.

Beef & blue cheese

Our fourth tapa was spiced lamb kebabs with lemon, mint and tomato.  It obviously had a Middle Eastern flavor to it - a nod to the Moorish flavors of Southern Spain. The lamb was cooked well and not dried out but what made it really good was the sauce.  It wasn't spicy in terms of heat but it had a lot of interesting spices that highlighted the mint and the tomato.

Lamb Kebabs

Chicken & Pork Paella

Seafood Paella

For our third course we had Paella which is a Valencian rice dish with meat and vegetables. We chose 2 different paellas - one with chicken, pork, green beans and artichokes and the other with shrimp, scallops, mussels, green beans and hot peppers. We enjoyed the seafood one better because it had a more dynamic flavor profile.  We don't often order paella at tapas restaurants because it is more fun to try more of the smaller tapas.  It was nice to be able to have paella, in fact it was only the second time Nick has ever eaten paella, but in the future we will probably stick to the tapas.

For dessert we had a butterscotch custard cream and a caramel dulce de leche tres leches cake. Neither one was that large but they were a nice final sweet note to end the evening. The texture of the cake was smooth and didn't drown in the milk, but we were hoping for a bit more of the caramel taste.      The custard cream was served in a large shot glass; but even though it was small it didn't disappoint.

Butterscotch custard cream

Tres Leches Cake

Final thoughts on Cafe Ba Ba Reeba:
Food - good food but there are more convenient tapas restaurants located in the suburbs for us.  It took us quite a while to find parking in this neighborhood.  All of the side streets are resident permit parking at night and there is limited paid parking on the main streets.  We did finally completely luck out and found a spot that was both close and free. But this is an exception to the rule which is why we would rather stay closer to home for this type of food. We felt this restaurant didn't try as hard to give a really good value for Restaurant Week.  With the items we ordered we probably only saved a few dollars in comparison to the better bargain deals at Table 52 and Joe's Stone Crab for us for Restaurant week.  If we had been eating off the regular menu we probably wouldn't have gotten dessert and may have even left paying less money.
Service - the service was generally good, but they didn't explain the dishes as much as at other tapas restaurants we have been to.  Also our food wasn't as spaced out as we would have hoped for a multi-course meal.  One of the tapas came before the pintxos and then the paella came out before we were done with all of the tapas.

Dining Area where we sat

Atmosphere - this restaurant is very large and has several different rooms. We actually sat in what would be the outdoor area during the summer, but fortunately it is very well heated and just like any other room during the winter. There were a lot of groups, like at most tapas restaurants, so there was a very energetic vibe to the restaurant. The tables in our room were spaced very close together, however, so we felt crowded and it looked very difficult for the servers to maneuver.

Zenwich

For a rare lunch out we went to Zenwich in Elmhurst (at 416 N York Road).  We had heard about this place from Chicago's Best and since we don't live too far away we thought we would give it a try.

Zenwich offers sandwiches with a Southeast Asian twist, akin to a bahn mi sandwich.  We ordered 2 sandwiches that each came with a side.

Japanese style panko encrusted crab cake sandwich

The first sandwich was a Japanese style panko encrusted crab cake with baby greens and garlic basil sauce.  Natalie liked that the crab cake was a square shape to fit nicely on the thin ciabatta bread.  It was a good bread to meat ratio.  The sauce was tasty and gave the sandwich its Asian flare. Nick thought it could have had a few more greens on it.  This sandwich came with a side of ginger slaw; we were hoping for a little stronger ginger flavor to come through but didn't get it.  They also offered a wasabi slaw so maybe you get more of punch with that one.

Famous Remus

The other sandwich we ordered was called the Famous Remus.  It included grilled caramelized pork, shredded carrot & daikon, cucumber, red onion, jalapeno and cilantro with peanut sauce.  All of the vegetables were reminiscent of a bahn mi and gave it a crisp, salad like feel. The carrots made it crunchy but all of the vegetables didn't overpower the meat. There was a healthy amount of peanut sauce, too much for Natalie, but just enough for Nick.  It made the sandwich a little messy to eat, but good. This sandwich came with homemade seasoned chips that had a nice kick to them.

Final thoughts on Zenwich:
Food - if you're tired of your old standard sub places, this is a refreshing change.  We wish this type of place were located near us during the work day, because we would be frequenting it often. When mentioning this to a friend later, he recommended another sandwich, the Pork Katsu. Zenwich also offers many vegetarian sandwich options and salads.
Service - nice friendly counter service.  We decided to dine in but there were many people that had called ahead for carry out.
Atmosphere - located in a strip mall, if you don't know exactly where it is you might pass it by the first time. There are 6 tables for dining in.  The interior is painted with lively colors, including a bright green wall.

Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab

For our second Restaurant week meal we went to Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab in River North.  It is located at 60 East Grand Avenue in Chicago.

Lounge/Bar Area

The Restaurant Week menu was $33/person for dinner for a three course meal.

Crab Bisque

For an appetizer we both had crab bisque.  It was a thick bisque with large chunks of crab meat. We are more used to having lobster bisque so this was a pleasant change. The other option for an appetizer was Manhattan Style Clam Chowder, which we do not enjoy as much so we were very happy with the bisque.

Stone Crab Claws

Mashed Potatoes

For an Entree we had the choice of 2 different meals - either 6 medium Stone Crab claws with Hashed Brown Potatoes and Cole Slaw or an 8 oz Filet Mignon with mashed potatoes and a grilled tomato.  We had one of each so we could try everything.  We've never had stone crab claws before but we love them now.  They were pre-cracked so we had to be a little careful of the thick shell pieces, but they were easier to eat than crab legs. The cole slaw pairs nicely with the crab - it is presented a little differently with relish and tomatoes; the relish brought out a sweetness that most coleslaw doesn't have. The filet mignon was perfectly cooked.  The waiter told us that they had some of the best steak in the city and we didn't believe him until we tried it.  It was buttery and very tender - we were able to cut it with a butter knife. In Nick's opinion, it is his second favorite steak behind Ruth's Chris.  The mashed potatoes were served a little bit differently with a breadcrumb topping and were very tasty.  But the side dish we enjoyed the most was surprisingly the grilled tomato.  It was topped with a green leaf (spinach or kale?) vegetable and baked with a layer of cheese.  It was uber tasty and we were surprised at the quality of the tomato for that time of year.

Filet Mignon with Grilled Tomato

Hash Brown Potatoes

Cole Slaw

Banana Cream Pie

For dessert we had the choice of either Key Lime Pie or Banana Cream Pie with Caramel sauce so we had one of each. Both were good desserts-we probably enjoyed the banana cream pie a little more. But this isn't a place that we would go just for desserts.  Instead we would fill up on more crab, steak or side dishes.

Key Lime Pie

Overall we were really overwhelmed with the quantity of food for a prix fixe menu.  Probably the cost of this meal from the regular menu would have been twice as much.  They did not lesson the quantities even though it was restaurant week. We had more than enough food and even had to pack some items up to go.



Final thoughts on Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab:
Food - we were really happy with all of the food. This is a place we would recommend to other people as it was recommended to us. There is also a location in Las Vegas and the original location is in Miami. Anyone who enjoys steak or seafood would like it here.
Service - friendly staff, willing to share their opinions.  It looked like all of the wait staff were willing to help all of the tables.

Dining Room

Atmosphere - Because of its location near Michigan Avenue there was a lot of out of town traffic.  Also we witnessed a lot of business dinners.  We went here on a Monday night and most likely due to Restaurant Week the reservations were booked until 10pm (we were there at 6:30).  I'm sure many of the walk ins felt they would be okay to get a table on a Monday night but that was not the case - it really felt like a weekend evening.  Before our table was available we waited in a large bar/lounge area where you can also order off the same menu, but in a less formal setting.  The main dining area is huge and evokes a sixties era feel with dark wood, pictures and music from that time period. All of the wait staff were in tuxedos.  Because of the height of the ceilings it can get a little loud.

Table 52

Before we talk specifically about the next restaurant we ate at, we want to give a short introduction to Chicago's Restaurant Week (since 3 of our next few restaurants will be a part of this).  Chicago's Restaurant week started in 2008 with 35 participating restaurants; now there are over 200 restaurants and it is running from Fri 2/17/12 to Sun 2/26/12.  During Restaurant week, participating restaurants provide a fixed price multi-course meal for a lower price than the regular menu.  This sometimes means smaller courses, but usually it is a better deal than ordering the items separately.  For lunch the meals are $22 and for dinner the meals are $33 or $44.  We are going to 3 restaurants during this event and wish we could go to more (but there is the time and cost factor that limit us).  We made the reservations a month ago to make sure we would get in to some of these places.

Table 52

Deviled Eggs

Our first Restaurant week stop was dinner at Table 52 in the Gold Coast.  It is located at 52 West Elm Street in Chicago. Table 52 is known for classy Southern/comfort food. The chef, Art Smith, is known for being a personal chef to Oprah.  This was the first year that Table 52 participated in Restaurant week and apparently all the tables were reserved before the week even started.  This factoid didn't surprise us because the restaurant is popular on its own and there only 13 tables in the main dining area.

Lemon and goat cheese drop biscuits

Although we went to eat at Table 52 during Restaurant Week, they certainly did not skimp on the quality of the food or ingredients.  Here is all the food we got:

Deviled Eggs Amuse Bouche- a good start to the meal; they served them with the bottoms slightly cut off to make them level to avoid rolling around on the plate.

Lemon and goat cheese drop biscuits - these were cooked in little cast iron skillets in the restaurant's wood burning pizza oven. The aroma was intoxicating and it was a great combination of ingredients - it wasn't too strong of a goat cheese to overpower the rest of the biscuit flavor.  We wished we could have had more.  (Actually we overheard at another table that if you order from the regular menu you get continuous service of biscuits.)

Peanut Fried Green Tomatoes

Low-Country Shrimp and Grits 

Appetizer course (we got to choose from 3 different options)
1) Peanut Fried Green Tomatoes with pimento-goat cheese, country ham and green tomato relish. We loved this appetizer and it is definitely a reason to return to this restaurant. The tomatoes were crispy and paired well with the goat cheese spread.  This was only the second time that Nick had eaten fried green tomatoes and he may be ruined for trying them anywhere else.
2) Low-Country Shrimp and Grits with wild shrimp, stone-ground white corn grits and spicy tomato stew.  The grits were warm and gooey and the shrimp was cooked perfectly. It came a close second in our opinion to the fried green tomatoes.


Entree (we got to choose from 3 different options)

 Cornmeal Crusted Catfish

1) Cornmeal Crusted Catfish with bacon, cheese grits, braised collard greens and a hush puppy. The aroma of the hot sauce really tied the whole dish together. It wasn't so hot that it overpowered anything else but it enhanced all of the flavors. The fish was firm and flaky and not overcooked.
2) Short Rib with barley risotto, carrot-ginger puree and shallots.  The short rib was a well marbled  piece of meat that was full of flavor (whoever on the show Top Chef thought this was a healthy meat was definitely mistaken).  The whole dish made you feel like your were in a Southern household.

Short Rib with barley risotto

Note: this next item was not part of the fixed price menu.
We decided to order the cornbread as a side dish since we had heard it was really good.  The cornbread was baked in the wood burning oven and was filled with bacon and jalapeno bits and covered in a honey butter glaze.  The heat from the jalapenos with the sweetness of the honey were in balance and enhanced all the flavors.  The texture of the cornbread was smooth throughout and wasn't gritty like boxed cornbread would be.  We were hoping to eat the cornbread along with our main entrees.  Unfortunately this didn't happen.  We kept waiting and mentioned the cornbread to our waiter who was aware of the situation.  (We have found in the past with other fixed price meals we have eaten that it sometimes throws the wait staff off by adding other food to the order.) So we were done with our entrees for several minutes before we got the cornbread - in fact the wait staff had cleared all of our plates and silverware so they had to re-set everything for what we later called our pre-dessert course. The title of pre-dessert was somewhat deserving because it had sweet points and was worth the hype and the wait.  Later the wait staff did comp the cornbread and were very apologetic about its lateness in arriving to our table.

Cornbread

Dessert (we got to choose from 3 different options)

Hummingbird Cupcakes

1) Hummingbird Cupcakes - banana pineapple cake with cream cheese frosting.  Natalie had researched this ahead of time and knew this was their signature dessert.  Nick hadn't read the reviews so his expectations were low but he loved it - the pineapple didn't weigh the cake down, but it was soft and airy. On the regular menu this is served as multi-level cake, so it would interesting to see it presented in a different way.
2) Southern Pecan Pie - Shortbread crust, fresh whipped cream, caramel sauce. This was a typical pecan pie; compared with the cupcakes, it was nothing extraordinary or unique, but good nonetheless.




Final thoughts on Table 52:

Southern Pecan Pie

Food - everything was very delicious. We would want to go back and eat the meal again. It was definitely elevated Southern food - we've never experienced food like this in such a fancy setting.  We love their "baker" - the items from the wood burning oven (biscuits and cornbread) were amazing. The restaurant week value for the meal was exceptional.  We definitely got a great deal.
Service - very attentive, the wait staff is constantly refilling your water glasses from chilled water carafes (in fact for Natalie it was almost too much but Nick drinks water more quickly than Natalie). The wait staff were very accommodating about the cornbread incident and we didn't hold it against them.

Small Cookies as a final thought

Atmosphere - Table 52 is located in the Gold Coast in a former carriage house of a mansion that survived the Great Chicago Fire.  The interior has painted tin ceilings and the pictures hung on the wall remind you of a warm Southern home. It felt like we were eating in someone's dining room.

mk

Sea Bass Amuse Bouche

Since neither of us were going to be available to go out to dinner on Valentine's Day we decided that Monday the 13th would be our night of celebration.  We went to a restaurant in downtown Chicago called mk. It is located at 868 N Franklin and serves contemporary American food.  It's a fairly fancy (expensive) place and in fact we found out that back in April 2011 mk served as the location for a President Obama fundraiser that cost each guest $35,800.  So I guess you could say that we got a bargain in comparison.

Lobster Salad

As starters we ordered tuna tartare with celery root and olives and baby greens with lobster, shallots and a citrus vinaigrette.  Both dishes were light and crisp.  The citrus vinaigrette made lobster salad pop with flavor.  The tuna was finely shaved and paired well with the saltiness of the olives.

Tuna Tartare

Brussel Sprouts

Short Ribs

Venison

For entrees we ordered venison loin with grits, black trumpet mushrooms and juniper berry sauce and short ribs with root vegetables.  We also ordered Brussel sprouts with truffle butter as a side dish. The short ribs were very tender; they almost fell apart with a fork.  As a side note short ribs are quick becoming one of Natalie's favorite things to order. The venison was cooked to perfection - venison can easily be ruined by being overcooked and chewy. The grits and mushrooms really completed the dish. However we were disappointed by the Brussel sprouts.  The truffle butter flavor was great but the Brussel sprouts themselves were a bit woody tasting and undercooked.

You put the lime in the coconut

All of the desserts have really whimsical names so that makes them even more intriguing, plus they really are good. We ordered 2 desserts.  The first one was "Two bananas walk into a bar" which was a banana souffle cake, marshmallow, macadamia nuts, dark chocolate and malted banana ice cream.  The second one was "You put the lime in the coconut" which was coconut panna cotta, coconut and lime gelee, starfruit and passion fruit sorbet. Both of the desserts were enjoyable. The coconut dessert lived up to its name and was very exotic tasting. From its components we almost overlooked it but upon recommendation from the wait staff we decided to pick it and were impressed.  The gelee pearls were a fun texture in your mouth.  Also this dessert reignited our love of the starfruit. In the banana dessert, the banana souffle cake was moist but not too gooey. By getting a little bit of all of the components (cake, marshmallow, nuts, chocolate and ice cream), it made for a smooth sweet sugary bite.

Two bananas walk into a bar

We would definitely go back to mk just for desserts which you can (kind of like Hot Chocolate).  The food changes seasonally including the desserts.  There were desserts we saw on their menu back in the fall that sounded just as appealing.

Final thoughts on mk:
Food - really good fancy food, the only disappointment was the Brussel sprouts, for us the entire meal would only be for special occasions. But the desserts were amazing as well and we might think about coming back just to their lounge to get dessert.
Service - very attentive, water glasses were always full.  The wait staff was helpful in describing all of the components of the dish when it was served.

Atmosphere - From the top down the architecture was stunning, There was a pyramid skylight that ran the length of the building with arching support beams. There is seating on multiple levels with clean lines and exposed brick walls. There is a lounge in front for drinks and desserts. Although it is a fancier restaurant, there were people in all types of attire, but we'd recommend business casual.

Xoco

On Friday night we had tickets to a musical in downtown Chicago therefore we couldn't go to a traditional sit down restaurant because there wouldn't have been enough time.  We chose to go to Xoco, a more casual quick service Mexican restaurant run by Rick Bayless.  The address is 449 N Clark Street, but you actually enter around the corner off of Illinois street.  It is right next to Rick Bayless's 2 other restaurants - Frontera Grill and Topolobampo. This is actually the second time we have been to this restaurant - the first time we went was over a year ago right before seeing another musical (do you sense a theme?).

Pepito Torta

Xoco offers quicker Mexican food - mostly tortas (sandwiches) and caldos (soups).  We ordered 2 tortas, drinks and dessert.
    The first torta was called "Pepito"; it had braised shortribs, caramelized onion, artisan Jack cheese, black beans and pickled jalapeno.  It was very tasty - the short ribs were tender and not chewy and all of the other ingredients paired nicely together. The meat to bread ratio was just right.

Fresh Orange Pineapple 

The second torta was called "Cochinita Pibil"; it had suckling pig, black beans, pickled onion, and habanero (which is specifically off to the side otherwise it would have been too spicy).  We didn't enjoy this one as much, maybe because it didn't have any cheese.  Actually it would have been better with a little more of the pig.

Cochinita Pibil Torta

We had our tortas served with fresh Orange Pineapple juice which was very refreshing and reminded us of the Tropics.

For dessert we had 3 freshly made hot churros with sugar and cinnamon.  These were accompanied by Almendrado hot chocolate - basically hot chocolate with almond milk.  Mexican hot chocolate isn't very sweet so we used the sugar that was coming off the churros to sweeten it a little. We also dipped our churros in the hot chocolate to get all the flavors at once.  It reminded Natalie of a her Spanish language textbook from elementary school which had the fanciful name "Churros Y Chocolate".
We enjoyed our first experience at Xoco a little better than this second experience. This second time we definitely liked the short ribs torta better than the suckling pig one - where the first time we liked both our tortas equally.  We don't remember which ones we ate back then.

 Churros and Hot Chocolate

The food at Xoco is a littler pricier than other more casual type restaurants but you are probably paying for it being affiliated with Rick Bayless. We plan to go to Frontera Grill in a few months and have already made reservations - we hear it that you have to book weeks/months in advance so we're being really safe.


Final thoughts on Xoco:
Food - tasty but overall for tortas sandwiches we prefer Cemitas Puebla
Service - You order your food at a counter and then are seated and your food is delivered to you.  Since we also ordered churros (dessert), it was nice that they waited until we were done with our tortas before serving the churros so they could be fresh and still warm.  The only thing that is delivered to your table is the food you order.  If you want water, you need to get it yourself at the counter.
Atmosphere - the seating is either at bar like counters or communal tables.  We got a communal table with other people at it.  So this is not the place for a private conversation, but Xoco has a fun casual vibe.