Restaurant Thursday: Osteria Via Stato

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Back in May, Neal's aunt & uncle were in Chicago for a few days for business. We were happy to meet them for dinner, and since they had never been to Chicago, we picked the restaurant. There weren't any near their hotel, so we all took a little walk - okay it was a mile away - to Osteria Via Stato. Neal & I had never been there before, but Italian seemed like a safe bet. Osteria is actually attached to the Embassy Suites. And normally, I wouldn't choose a hotel restaurant. However, I'm glad I didn't know it was right next to Embassy's lobby, because it was scrumptious.

Osteria is known for their 'Italian Dinner Party' where the table shares anitpasti and pasta, and everyone gets an entree. It's a set price and the first two courses are family style. While that option seemed tempting, we chose the ala carte menu.

Neal's uncle picked out a nice red that we all enjoyed. I had the seasonal greens with walnut vinaigrette and the warm, crusty bread. For my main course, the braised beef short rib ravioli. One of my top 10 meals of all time. The short rib filling was flavorful, tender and topped with a perfect sauce. I wanted to lick my plate.

The atmosphere was warm and homey. Our waitress was pleasant and knowledgeable. We could have a conversation easily without shouting or worrying that we were disturbing other patrons. In a word: divine.

I would definitely go back. In fact, the bride from last Sunday's wedding is coming to Chicago next week. We're going to grab dinner after work one evening. And I might just take her here. I've been dreaming about that ravioli ever since May.

Dream come true

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Now I really can Eat Mor Chikin. Chick-fil-a opened its first Chicago location today at the corner of Chicago & Wabash. (Remember when I got a little worked up a few months ago?) It just so happens it's right on Loyola's Water Tower Campus. And steps away from the Chicago Red Line stop. I'm just a little bit excited.

I plan on going this weekend. I also plan on bringing my elbows and a little sass as I'm sure it's going to be cri-zay-zy up in there. Don't worry, it'll be worth it. I can almost taste those waffle fries. Mmmm.

Check out all the people who lined up to win Chick-fil-a for a year.

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I don't think my mom will know what to do when I come home now since the first stop I request is always Chick-fil-a.

Happy Easter

 (Photo courtesy of Neal Dugre)

Neal & I had a lovely Easter. Our church plays special music on Easter Sunday before the service starts, so we arrived at 10:00 am to get a good seat. As I mentioned before, the music minister is retiring, so I was expecting the music to be over-the-top. Jerry did not disappoint. He had an eight-person brass section with trumpets, trombones and french horns. The choir sung two songs and used handbells - all before the service started.

The service was great, with some of my favorite hymns: Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Thine Be the Glory, Up From the Grave He Arose and Now the Green Blade Rises, (which, little known fact, is also the same tune to Sing We Now of Christmas, a popular Christmas song). And we got to visit with some friends afterwards. We also stopped by the fellowship hall to snack on some delicious bread that a church member makes every year for the Easter Vigil service. It was great to tide us over before our Easter lunch.

Master chef Neal prepared a honey baked ham with a bourbon glaze, peas sauteed with scallions, butternut squash puree, apple sauce (from last fall. Thanks, freezer!) and homemade oatmeal bread. We had our friends Jenn & Dan over and it was a lovely meal. Unfortunately, we wanted to dig in when it was ready, so I don't have any pictures of the feast. But trust me, it was delicious. We also have enough ham left over to last us awhile. So we'll be enjoying this meal for some time!

I hope your Easter was just as wonderful!

M. Henrietta

On Friday, Neal & I had a date night. I had purchased a Groupon a while ago for Pops for Champagne, an adorable champagne bar in the River North neighborhood of Chicago. I've been to Pops a few times with girlfriends, but Neal has never been. So I was excited for him to try it. We didn't want to eat at Pops, so we decided to try a new restaurant: M. Henrietta.

Some friends of ours had given a good recommendation for M. Henry, a brunch place in Andersonville, the next neighborhood south of ours. We hadn't had a chance to go there yet* and thought it was the perfect time to try it. Then we found out that M. Henry is strictly a brunch place and isn't open for dinner. But we also found they have a sister restaurant that does serve dinner.

M. Henrietta is cute and rustic with simply delicious food. Their menu is brief, but they have wonderful selections; it's BYOB, so I recommend grabbing a bottle of wine, beer or hard cider before you stop in for dinner. Neal decided on the shiraz glazed salmon served w/cous cous & sautéed herbed vegetables. I had the lovely spice crusted pork tenderloin (actual name, so cute!) with balsamic braised baby onions, brussel sprouts, leeks, pancetta and golden raisins, with rosemary and salt roasted baby yukon golds (pictured below).

We decided to skip dessert at M. Henrietta (a very hard thing to do) and head to Pops. At Pops we had a bottle of Vigneau-Chevreau Vouvray Pétillant Demi-Sec from Loire Valley, France - a sparkling wine. I don't know a lot about sparkling wines or how to choose them, so we went with a price range we were comfortable with and picked something French, instead of going with an Italian Prosecco, which I've had before. I liked it, but I didn't love it. The next time we go, we'll try something else! We also split the seasonal cobbler, which was cherry & apple that night. Scrumptious! But small. (We included the cork in the picture for size comparison.)

It was a terrific date night. And we look forward to frequenting M. Henrietta more often. And Pops occasionally!

*Neal & I actually went to M. Henry for brunch on Sunday. Look for a future post about this visit!