A couple weeks ago Steve sent me this link. I have gone back many times since to look at the photographs by Josef Hoflehner. I love the color palettes and the softness but especially the patience it took to create them. "Patience" is the title of a series of color land- and seascapes that Hoflehner and his son travel the world – and then wait, sometimes days – to capture. Beautiful light. Natural patterns. Subtle, calm, peaceful: Patience.

Different light this weekend.

Saturday, February 16, 2013.

Sunday, February 17, 2013.

Both so pretty.

Balena.

My Dinner Club went to Balena last week. I absolutely love this space*, so I was glad I got there early for a good look around and a drink while I waited for people to arrive. For starters, I have to say the specialty cocktails were probably my favorite thing any of us ordered. Since I've been on a brown liquor kick I was deciding between the Francesco and the Mirto. The bartender wouldn't pick one over the other so I chose the Francesco. I had two. But I tasted several others and with one exception (the Dark&Stirred), loved them all. 

So awesome – we decided to just order a bunch of stuff and share. The Kale "Caesar" Salad for starters. I try and try, but I do not like kale. I also do not like anchovies but I tried those again too. I still do not like either one. The croutons and dressing were fantastic. Then we had the Brussels Sprout pizza. Out of all the things on the menu, I was the most ho-hum about the pizzas. Big mistake. It was my favorite thing we ate.

Of course I had studied the menu before we went and was deciding between the Tagliolini Nero – crab, sea urchin and chili – and the Roast Porchetta with creamy polenta and parsley red onion salad. We ordered both. The crab on the pasta was super good, but the dish itself could have been a lot warmer, temp wise. I didn't distinguish any sea urchin and I didn't care. I love black pasta though, so this was a good choice overall. We got two portions of it – good thing, otherwise we'd have each only gotten about a bite. The porchetta wasn't quite what I was expecting but it was also decent. More like a thick slice of ham with a crust of bacon around it (this is probably normal, I just wasn't expecting it). The polenta side was YUM. Better than the additional side of Baked Polenta with tomato fondue we also ordered, I thought. 

Dessert. Not normally having strong feelings about dessert one way or another, I conveniently opted out of the discussion on which one to pick. If pressed I side with chocolate anything. This was the case when a deciding vote was needed between the Mocha Parma Cotta and the Caramel Pine Nut Tart. As we ordered the Mocha, Teresa snuck in the second choice tart. Both were delicious, but the Mocha Parma Cotta – I can see myself going back for just that dessert alone. It was ridiculously good. Only one other dessert comes to mind that similarly blew me away, the salted caramel cheesecake at Enoteca Roma. 

And something must have been in the air because two people also ordered Caffé Corretto + Liquor. Who knows what the other liquor choice was – she sent it back to get the Faretti Biscotti Joy had chosen. I don't want to give too much credit to this shot of a coffee accompaniment, but it prompted a passing around of the small glass and sharing stories of losing virginity. Even the server delivering it was practically drooling just from it's scent.

So basically, I'd go back for sure. But I'd like to sit at the bar for drinks, pizza and dessert (+dessert coffee!).

*Our table was under the window (and kitchen!) on the right in the top image. 

**All images are from the Balena website.

So this happened. (Not really).

It was summer. Hot and sweaty and sunny. Girls were wearing sundresses and boys with tan backs were riding dirt bikes shirtless. The sunlight was so bright and thick you could see the yellow rays, and every color on the street was a richly saturated version of itself.

I was walking in DUMBO, looking for an art installation I'd heard about. Some creative housewife in Brooklyn had enlisted other creative housewives in Brooklyn to do a monthly "exhibit" in spots along the overpass. Each woman had a section she was responsible for designing and maintaining. There was a stairway leading to the top of the bridge, and each new theme was written in red chalk, on the vertical section of the step so it wouldn't get rubbed off by foot traffic. The first theme had been written on the bottom step. They were on the 11th theme.

Themes were single words, like SPRING or YELLOW. The current theme was SKY. One woman's section had about 100 light blue helium balloons, tied down with dark blue string, floating in the breeze.

I was noticing street signs looking for Freemont. The sign before Freemont said Magnolia, so I knew I was getting close. There were people everywhere. Sprinklers were spraying, doors and windows wide open, music playing out of speakers on the street. To my left was the overpass and to my right were the buildings, similar to homes you'd see in San Francisco. They appeared to balance on an uphill slope. Some had very tall, steep, narrow staircases to get to the front door, with garage doors underneath at the street level. Besides wanting to see the installations I was visiting a friend who lived there, Nicole.

When I got to Nicole's place, it was totally wide open. I could walk right in the front door and there was a large foyer with red Oriental rugs on the dark wood floor and the plaster walls and trim were painted in varying hues of turquoise. There were textures and fabrics draping the windows and doorways and pieces of antique furniture sparsely placed here and there. There was also a ping pong table. Then a college-aged girl stumbled in and she said Nicole wasn't home but did I want to see her room? And I also realized I was me, but my college-aged self, and of course I wanted to see her room. The house was an elaborate maze of interesting rooms, similar to a Wes Anderson film. We passed a few hippy-like kids laying around. A light breeze blew gauze-y floor-to-ceiling curtains.

Her room was pale yellow and the window faced the street. She had built a loft on the front wall and we climbed up it to get to the closet door up there, where she kept all the art she'd collected from a club she was the president of. You had to be asked to be a member to this club – it was very exclusive – and all the pieces that made it into the closet were very special. We sat up on the ledge of this loft leafing through large sheets of thick paper with intricate drawings on them.

Suddenly I had to go, and as I was making my way through the house I bumped into Nicole. People were sitting around smoking weed in a circle and we were both passing through the room from opposite doorways. I said, "You live with all these people?" Nicole is married and I found it odd she cohabited with about a dozen college students – I was back to my adult-aged self – but I also thought it was so cool. Anyway, I was in a hurry to meet Katie at the harbor for a ride on the boat she'd rented for the summer.

The boat turned out to be more like a ship. An ocean cruiser? It was massive and we were sitting on the deck at the top and there was enough room for several couches (they were made out of a woven natural fiber and covered in thick navy and white striped fine cotten upholstery) and space enough in the middle for a small dance floor. Katie's parents were sitting on one couch and her daughter Sarah was laying on the deck playing cards. Some people were fishing off the back.

I was sitting on the edge looking out at the water and trying to decide if it was littering to throw some of the pumpkins that were in a display near me into the ocean. I was debating in my head whether sea animals would eat a pumpkin, even though there was no way they'd ever have eaten or seen one in their habitat. Would they recognize it as food? Whether it would decay enough that little fish would nibble on particles or whether a whale would just pop the whole thing in it's mouth. And furthermore, would adding a thing like a pumpkin to the ocean be considered polluting the water?

Then I didn't care and I just started pitching pumpkins overboard and it was great. They would hit the water many yards below and surprise me by floating. It was so pretty to see the deep dark navy of the water, with white sunlit reflections bouncing on the waves, in contrast to these bright orange pumpkins bobbing. Some people were yelling at me for doing it but I ignored them.

Then I was back at Nicole's house. It was much more quiet and vacant than it had been earlier. I was tip-toeing back to the light yellow bedroom. When I got there it was empty and I snuck a drawing I did into the sacred closet. As I was leaving I ran into the girl and when she asked what I was doing there I said, "Just looking for Nicole," and then I got the hell out of there. I was climbing over the latched gate at the top of the stairs, and heading down the steep steps to the street and the sun was setting. The bright, vibrant street during the day was starting to fill with filthy dirty homeless people wearing layers of soiled clothing, pushing shopping carts loaded down with their stuff. They were setting up camps in between the SKY installations that the housewives of Brooklyn had actually origionally created in order to bring them some beauty. But I was afraid of them so I started to jog home. Past Freemont, past Magnolia.

Autumn.

Love this time of year.

Clare Elsaesser

This morning while I was drying my hair I was thinking about my bathroom for about the one millionth time, and it occurred to me it might be perfect to do a water theme. Coincidentally (there are no coincidences, right?) I came across this artist's Etsy Shop, Tastes Orangey, today. I love the darker, greener tones. These images sort of remind me of some of the older Samantha French paintings. Also these. And these.

I want one. Which is your favorite?

1. Undertow, 2. My Home is the Sea, 3. Married to the Sea, 4. Summer Girl

Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

I seriously want to plan a trip to Japan around eating at this restaurant. I want to meet Jiro. What a fascinating, simple, disciplined, thoughtful, stoic man.

I want to walk in that subway. I want to breath in that restaurant. I want to watch him assemble the sushi. I want to bite into that tuna. I want to taste those damn eggs! (The egg apprentice made over 200 pans before one was accepted – then he cried). 

Jiro Dreams of Sushi was an interesting look into the life's work (literally, he started at age 10 and was still at it in 2011 at age 85) of a culinary master. The 10-seat restaurant, set underground in the subway, creates a custom 20-piece sushi menu every day for lunch and dinner. There is at least a month's wait to get a reservation, and the meal will cost around $300. I think I'd like to save up, reserve my spot, and fly around the world for dinner.

Ruxbin

We had Dinner Club at Ruxbin on Thursday. I loved this place.

I read about it a little online and of course studied the menu beforehand. I loved that they don't take reservations. I loved that it's BYOB. I loved their "house rules". I loved their rooftop garden. I was so excited to go.

Then I got there and one of the chefs was just hanging out outside. Totally nice. Totally approachable. I recognized him from the blog and felt awkward at first – but was quickly put at ease. So nice. I was glad I'd read about their seating policy and how our whole party was supposed to be there, but then I wasn't quite sure what to do/where to go – he was kinda blocking the door. It was nice out so I just decided to sit down on this – I don't know what to call it? – Structure? It was kind of a salvaged patio, kind of a train car, kind of an uncovered covered wagon? The seats were made out of plastic crate pallets, the end tables old elementary school desk tops, there was a "bar" with sliding glass medicine cabinet doors. The roof was simply a criss-crossed string of lights.

The other DC members started to arrive and we all sat out on the benches with the other people waiting for their complete parties to get there. It was a diverse group of people. The chef/greeter/"bouncer" went over the entire menu in extreme detail with one girl who was waiting. We listened. We drank cans of beer. At one point Jason let us know we could wait upstairs, inside, but we stayed put. (Upstairs on the landing there's a stainless steel industrial table and wooden bench on a balcony for waiting, a bathroom to the right, and an open doorway blocked with a deli-style refrigerator case and a view to the little kitchen with the chefs cooking behind it. Above the opening was a chalk board with the housemade sodas of the day: some kind of citrus passion fruit tea and a lavender lemonade (we had both, yum!)).

So before I talk about the food, I have to describe the bathroom. Remember those photography class dark room doors? That are more like a cylindrical can, and then the door spins around as you turn it and next thing you know, you're inside? That's the door to the bathroom. "VACANT --->" and "OCCUPIED <---" signs show you how to get in and if it's in use. Super cool and great. Then the walls were wallpapered with concert flyers and it was dark inside and lit by candles.

Ok, and the decor is all random and vintage and salvage and wood and metal and the overall effect is cozy and warm. Light streamed into the intimate tight dining room from the large picture window. All kinds of interesting lighting, shades, beams, bars, and colors filled the room. The ceiling is papered with pages from cookbooks.

There were five of us and we decided immediately we'd just order and share. We got four appetizers (tuna, beet salad, octopus, and garlic french fries). The octopus (grilled chickpeas, pickled green onions, radish, black soy bean, grapes and a ginger-scallion vinaigrette) – I think he said is marinated in wine for two days before it's prepared – was my favorite. But I don't think you can count the fries. Because the Fries. Were. Amazing.

For entrees we got the Tomato Tart, Sea Scallops, Amish Chicken, Pork Loin and Salmon. You can read the details here while the menu lasts. I loved it all. I think the consensus of the table, if we had to order them, went pork/chicken, tomato tart, scallops, then salmon. The dishes kind of rolled out staggered as they were prepared. Our server let us know/asked if that would be ok. We said yes.

Which leads me to, I thought the service was excellent. It was kind of service by everyone. Different people took our order, delivered plates, cleared empties, opened wine bottles. You could tell everyone there worked as a team and truly, they seemed to all genuinely love what they were describing, preparing, and serving. When we asked our waitress what her favorites are, she literally basically ended up listing everything on the menu!

I didn't get any shots of the actual food!
It was like the plates were cleaned the minute they were set down.

After dessert – we got both the berry shortcake and the pretzels & beer – we felt like we needed to beat it out of there to open up our table. So we took our leftover beer and wine and headed back to the "patio" out front for our after dinner cocktail. I have no idea if this was allowed or not, but nobody stopped us and nobody seemed to care.

Anyway, like I said originally, I loved this place. I can't wait to go back.

PS: The blog, which I kind of can't stop reading, is a thorough account of concept to creation to the opening of this restaurant. You can tell everyone involved loves it, which is probably why the people that go there love it too.

Leanne Shapton: Swimming Studies

Yesterday my friend brought my attention to the recently released book, Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton. After a quick trip around the internet, I knew I was going to have to get a copy – for myself and maybe even a couple as gifts. When I read and looked at some of her descriptions and swim-sensory memories, I knew them as my own. The smells especially. It was like she climbed into my head and woke up the old swimmer in me. I can't believe how relatable everything is. And then she combines it with her drawing and painting talents and – I'm just floored. Especially love the swimming watercolors. So beautiful!

Seriously the moments, colors, textures she's captured! How wonderful to discover these with the Olympics about to start. I was already feeling nostalgic about my years as a competitive swimmer and so so so looking forward to watching the events. I'm coming out of my skin in anticipation for the Men's 400 IM tomorrow night. Finding this "memoir" right now – it's just perfect.

Read more about this author and artist here.

Nellcóte

Went Thursday with dinner club. AWESOME atmosphere. Adored our server (some girl with dark hair). Becker asked her if it was the old Marche (it is) and it launched into her taking us on a tour of what they are developing out back. There's a full champagne tasting room. All dark wood and marble. Then you walk out these french doors. They have this back actual alley that's been blocked off. Cobblestone-y, brick patio alley. Old French style poster ads are kind of plastered on garage doors and light strings illuminating the area. They plan to have tables back there. You access that area not thru the crazy bustling restaurant but down a little cobblestone pathway? I have no idea if this is true or not, but it also literally looked like a Hollywood set it was so perfect.

Seeing that was the highlight for me. We got 3 pizzas (margarita, sausage and mushroom (fave), truffle and fried egg); the asparagus salad; some skate fish thing (with persimmons I think?), to me too salty but a great consistency; and the steak (ribeye?) thing with pearl onions (yum!). Fancy shaved asparagus with dark walnuts and shaved parmesan. I'd like to try to recreate this at home. It's the kind of thing I could eat a huge bowl full..

Crazy friendly staff. Did not care at all that we were easily 20 minutes late for our reservation once everyone got there. Before dinner drink service was SLOW, but I guess if you order a specialty cocktail, the kitchen staff gets involved and well -- so duh, it takes longer. BUT yum. My "vodka" cocktail was delicious. It had mint in it. Not sure what else. Awesome contemporary music was kind of blaring (our server said it wasn't as loud as usual – Serious?) overhead. It is a huge, high-ceilinged place, with chandeliers and large pillars, and the poor acoustics are the only drag result of a super cool, simple, modern and antique architectural space.

So it was noisy. Our table of 8 turned to 6 was unable to hold one conversation. One solution is to go with a way bigger party, so it doesn't matter you can't hear everyone. But I would love to go back for an early dinner with a party of four or to sit at the bar for appetizers and cocktails right after work. Or brunch! Then watch the place fill in and leave when I couldn't hear anyone anymore. Although, I do think some time around midnight is when it's heightened sound and not being able to hear a single word anyone is trying to tell you, is part of what makes it so much greater.

And anyway, then there was this floor to ceiling wall of individual fresh lavender stem vases. Sorry but that's cool. Sitting outside in the summer would probably give you the perfect mix of music, vibe and talk-ability. I'd totally like to go back.

Kane Country.

On Monday I went and visited my friend Karen and walked around her yard a bit to get some inspiration for my own. The varying colors, textures, heights and patterns were wonderful to soak in. Disappointed I didn't take a shot of the flowing rocky creek in the backyard. The property is beautiful and also peppered with interesting wood and iron sculptures.

On Sunday I plan to visit the nursery and have Jose over to estimate some planting. I am leaning toward putting in 3 evergreens and a colorful deciduous in the back left corner, and possibly some hydrangea for the back right. This will be the big push this year in addition to dragging out the railroad-tie border and then extending and reshaping it to create a more organic flow.

Chicago Chef's Table @ Province.

Two weeks ago, Marcia and I went to a book launch party for Ameila Levin's cool new cookbook, Chicago Chef's Table, which features over 50 of Chicago's best chefs, restaurants and recipes. It's a beautiful book, well designed with wonderful photography – a great addition to any cook's library, but especially for one with ties to Chicago.

The party was hosted by Province, and we got to enjoy not only champagne and several passed appetizers, but a 5-course dinner with accompanying wines, all put together by the restaurant's chef Randy Zweiban. It was amazing! I wish I had written down the appetizers (bummer!), but here's what we had for dinner:

Course One: Nichols Farm Asparagus Salad | goat cheese, pretzel chip, preserved lemon. Tomero, Torrontés, Medoza, Argentina, 2009.

Course Two: Tortilla Soup | Laughing Bird Farms shrimp, avocado salsa, smoked tomatillos. El Albar Lurton, Tempranillo Rosé, Castilla y León, Spain, 2011. (image sans soup)

Course Three: Alaskan Cod | fingerling hash, piquillo romesco. Hermanos Sastre, Tempranillo, Roble, Ribera del Duero, Spain, 2008.

Course Four: Becker Lane Pork "Cubano" | Nichols Farm black beans, rice, orange mojo. Cedro do Noval, Syrah/Touriga Nacional, Vinho Regional Duriense, Portugal, 2007.

Course Five: Chocolate and Orange Flans | orange-dulce de leche ice cream, orange salsa. Casa de la Ermita, Late Harvest Viognier, Jumilla, Spain, NV.

In looking up the Province website again now, I noticed they have a Spring Menu Dinner tasting event this Thursday.  It's $75 and totally worth it in my opinion – there's so much to try complete with great service and atmosphere. Unfortunately, I'll have to miss this one – I'll be enjoying a steak at Ruth's Chris.

One more thing. I think my favorite of the meal was the Tortilla Soup. I just happen to have the recipe!

Chicken Tortilla Soup by Randy Zweiban. (Serves 8)

3 chicken legs
3 chicken thighs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 cups canola oil, divided
6 white corn tortillas, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 cup diced red onion
6 tomatillos, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced
3 medium red peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
2 quarts vegetable broth or stock

For the avocado relish:
1 ripe Haas avocado, peeled, pitted, and finely diced
1 tablespoon minced red onion
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Saute chicken until nicely browned, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from pan, set aside.

Add remaining oil to the pan and heat to 175°F, checking the temperature with a thermometer. Return chicken to pan and cover with lid or heavy-duty foil.

Roast in oven for 35-40 minutes or until meat is fork-tender. Remove chicken from pan, reserving the oil. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred, discarding skin and bones.

Heat the oil back up to 325°F. Fry the tortilla strips until crispy, about 1-2 minutes. Drain the strips on paper towels. Pour off all but one-quarter of the oil.

Heat the remaining oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion, tomatillos, garlic, and chile until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the peppers, broth, and all but 1 cup of the crispy tortillas.

YUM!

Pastoral Artisan Cheese – Producer Festival.

This weekend I went to the 2nd Annual Artisan Producer Festival at the French Market. The event was free, open to the public, and hosted 70 wine/cheese and beer vendors, all offering their free samples.

It was super crowded, which for me is a turn-off. But I did get to sample a lot of delicious things. Like coffee with blueberry mousse (to bring out the coffee flavor), plenty of cheese, some excellent penne marinara, and delicious Illinois-grown strawberries (I took some of these home too).

My favorite cheese though, was the Challerhocker, an Appenseller-style cheese from Zurich, Switzerland. I even went back and waited in line again with Ruth, behind the second most cheese-inquisitive person on the planet, for a second little square. Then I waited in line AGAIN, at the Artisan counter, to pay $33/lb. for just a wedge to take home for myself... behind the MOST inquisitive (and sampling everything in the case) cheese lover. I held all of my impatience together to get this cheese. It was that good.

This event is worth keeping on your radar. It's indoors, so the weather isn't a factor, and you really do get to try a lot of interesting things if you can stand standing in the lines.

Tullis Brothers Encore.

Happy St. Patrick's Day courtesy of the Tullis boys. I look forward to this card every year. They are awesome.