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Category: Restaurants

Sketch Lecture Room & Library: Funky Vibes, French Culinary Excellence

Sketch Lecture Room & Library: Funky Vibes, French Culinary Excellence

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I love exposing the kids to the world outside of Chicago, and part of doing that is exposing them to some of the world’s best food. After our amazingly epic experience at Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona on our last trip to Europe with the kiddos, I was confident that they could handle just about anything at a Three-Michelin-Starred restaurant. It was really difficult to choose just one in London, as the city chock full of fancy eateries, but I…

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The Vault: A Secret, Sexy, Speakeasy at Bellagio, Las Vegas

The Vault: A Secret, Sexy, Speakeasy at Bellagio, Las Vegas

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It was tough to resist checking out the allure of a secret bar in the middle of the bustling Bellagio resort in Las Vegas on a girls trip in June of 2024. The Vault opened in August of 2023, and is still pretty new and still a bit unknown to casual travelers to Las Vegas. Barely noticeable and unmarked, the door to get into this uber-upscale speakeasy is just behind the cages in the middle of the main casino area….

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Rosetta Restaurant, A Garden of Delight

Rosetta Restaurant, A Garden of Delight

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Rosetta was our last stop in Mexico City in late February of 2024, and we were pretty exhausted and stuffed from all of the eating we had been doing all around the city by this point. No worries here, though, the menu is generally made up of many small, sharable plates, so we were able to eat as little, or as much as we wanted. Rosetta recently received a Michelin star accolade in the first year of stars for Mexico!…

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Quintonil Restaurant, A Grand and Memorable Dining Experience

Quintonil Restaurant, A Grand and Memorable Dining Experience

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We travelled to Mexico City this winter for the primary purpose of diving into its food and cocktail culture. I chose several dining and drinking spots based on recommendations from friends, travel books, World’s Best lists, and my own research. I chose Quintonil for our eighth anniversary dinner on February 23, 2024. Quintonil is located in the chic Polanco neighborhood of sprawling Mexico City, an area full of gorgeous restaurants, bars, shopping, and architecture. The space here is modern, minimalist,…

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A Love Letter to Jose Andres from Chicago

A Love Letter to Jose Andres from Chicago

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Dear Jose (can I call you Jose?): Thank you so much for opening such brilliant restaurants in our fair city. Bazaar Meat and Bar Mar are delightfully fresh, and a much needed addition to not only pre-theater and pre-opera dining, but to the loop neighborhood in general. A while ago, I wrote a short little article singing the praises of Bar Mar after a nice three course lunch I enjoyed there. Since then, I’ve been back to Bar Mar for…

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The Ramova Grill – Feels Like Home

The Ramova Grill – Feels Like Home

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We’ve been living in Bridgeport, Chicago, for almost nine years, not a long time according to Bridgeport standards. This neighborhood in Chicago has a ton of history, and for me, as a Lithuanian-American, is an important place for my own personal, ethnic, and family history, which are some of the reasons I decided to move here. Since we’ve been living here, and long before that, the Ramova Theater, and its adjacent Grill, have been empty, vacant, and an eyesore on…

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Indienne Restaurant – Gorgeous Elevated Indian Cuisine

Indienne Restaurant – Gorgeous Elevated Indian Cuisine

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Indienne is one of Chicago’s newest one-star Michelin Restaurants, and they focus on vegetarian and vegan preparations, although they have a non-vegetarian tasting as well. We came here on a Thursday evening in February, and we tried all three tasting menus on offer here, since we came with one of our vegan friends. I opted for vegetarian, and Brian got the non-vegetarian. The space is beautiful with soft hues of pink, taupe and gray. Everything is modern, clean, and fresh,…

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Girl and the Goat Restaurant, Still Popular, Still Average

Girl and the Goat Restaurant, Still Popular, Still Average

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The Girl and the Goat has been one of the most popular restaurants in Chicago for almost 15 years, and I had always thought it was pretty average, and not super impressive, so I hadn’t been in a very, very long time. I thought I’d give this restaurant that continues its extreme popularity another shot during restaurant week, and I still think this place is pretty mid for the hype. The food and service are not bad, though nothing super…

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Boka Restaurant, Chicago, A Masterclass in Michelin-Starred Dining

Boka Restaurant, Chicago, A Masterclass in Michelin-Starred Dining

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Restaurant week 2024 is wrapping up here in Chicago and we were lucky enough to score a table at Boka for dinner. Boka offers a prix fixe four course menu during restaurant week for $59, and offered wine pairings for an additional $40 per person. This is a great value for Michelin-starred dining in Chicago! Boka just celebrated its 20 year anniversary last year, has maintained their one-Michelin-star status since 2011, and there are obvious reasons why they’ve been around…

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Le Tour, Evanston, Illinois, A Lovely French Bistro

Le Tour, Evanston, Illinois, A Lovely French Bistro

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My cousin Irene lives in Evanston, which is the first suburb just north of Chicago, so we find ourselves here for some holidays and hanging out relatively often. Most recently, on a frigid Saturday in January, we came to Le Tour for a delicious french meal. The service here was attentive, and they were very focused on making sure we were comfortable and well taken care of. I absolutely despise bistro chairs, so they brought me a different chair which…

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