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.

This video makes me smile.

I Love Street Art.

Graffiti from Humanwire on Vimeo.

I know I know. I'm completely obsessed with graffiti and when I see videos of these artists doing their thing – I just love love love it.

The artist Hense via Hula Seventy.

New Drawing. New Year. New Post.

Well hello to you. Happy New Year three weeks late. Merry Christmas! I thought I would kick off my long hiatus with some shots of a drawing I did over the holidays for one of my favorite people.

He lives in Boulder and it's based very loosely off of the bridge by a library on campus we walked over on one of my last visits. There's a stream in there if you can see it, that is filled with those stacked stones.

It's 18x24" on Canson paper, drawn with a Pilot Precise V5 Extra Fine black pen. This is maybe around the 7th or 8th of these I've done.

They take around 24 hours to complete. Click on an image to enlarge.

No.'s 3, 4 & 5

No. 3: Heavenly Onions & Jarlsberg on Tuscan white bread.

No. 4: Turkey, Green Bean Casserole, Mashed Potatoes & Mozzarella on Tuscan white bread.

No. 5: Ham, Spicy Mustard, Swiss and Gruyére on French roll.

Francine Turk: BADASS

Inspiration Board

Shine Until Tomorrow – Detail.

God is a Concept by Which We Measure Our Pain.

You Right Me When I'm Wrong.

You are Made of Gold & Can't Be Sold – Detail.

You are Made of Gold & Can't Be Sold – Detail.

You are Made of Gold & Can't Be Sold.

A couple weeks ago, I went to the opening for Francine Turk's BADASS at Gallery KH. It was fantastic. These new portraits were unlike any of her work I'd previously seen. They remind me a bit of Francesco Clemente's from the movie Great Expectations. The show is on display until January. Go look.

North Mississippi Allstars.

Saw a great show at House of Blues last night with Tony. Our friend hooked us up with box seats just over the stage, and all access passes. The North Mississippi Allstars were great. Two encores. Ended the night at Country Cup. I can't remember the last time I said that.

No. 2

Pesto, tomato and mozzarella on crusty Italian bread. Tomato from Steve & Katy's garden.

These Trees.

There's a stretch of road on Hwy 23 that runs past a small pasture that looks like a tree burial ground. These are not just trees that lost their leaves this autumn. They look like this all the time.

It's Back.

The Panini Press is officially back on the counter. First up: Gruyére & Balsamic Onion Marmalade on Buttered Tuscan Bread. Don't even.

Hiking on Buff Pass.