Monday, June 7, 2010
Bollywood Dance Video
Over Memorial Day weekend, our friends Tejas and Sonal got married in Dublin, Ohio. A bunch of us volunteered to perform a dance at the sangeet. Sonal's good friend Sucheta coreographed this lovely number. Enjoy!
Showplace Icon
Five of my girlfriends and I had planned to see the new Sex and the City movie. We did it up in style and went to the new Showplace Icon Theater. I didn’t even know this theater existed or that there had been so much construction on Roosevelt that I somehow missed the brand new Roosevelt complex! The drive from my office to the theater was much longer than I expected and I showed up 20 minutes later than planned. Plus, it started to rain as I ran into the theater. The good news is that there’s free parking for now in the massive underground structure. The entrance of the theater is pretty normal of what you’d expect for a theater. The ticket takers and the concession stands weren’t anything to mention.
To get to the theater where our movie was playing, you had to walk up to the next level. The area was packed with women dressed to the nines anticipating the big movie. There was also some Time magazine event which drew a large crowd as well. I spotted my girlfriends right away and they already had a Pino Noir waiting in hand for me! I also caught one of my co-workers and her husband waiting for the show over by the windows, only later to see that she had texted me that my manager was also there. The city is too small!
We ordered dinner from the short menu available. I want to warn you that there’s nothing for Glutiods to order right off the menu – not even a single salad! I suppose if a meat and cheese plate could keep you full for the 2.5 hour movie, then you’d be ok. But if you’re looking for dinner, you better pack something in your purse. The menu consists of pizzas, burgers and paninis. I ordered the Royale Burger ($10) with no bun of course.
We were notified by buzzer during the opening scene of the movie that our food was ready. Three of us went to fetch the plates. My meal had three mini black angus burgers with American cheese. It sat on a bed of shaved lettuce and what they call a ‘special sauce’ which tasted quite like Thousand Island dressing or some mix of ketchup and mayo. The burgers were pretty good, but cold and a little difficult to eat since I also didn’t have a fork. It would have been too disruptive for me to get up again in the middle of the movie to get a fork from the bar. Not to mention, eating in the dark is rather difficult.
The red faux leather theater recliners were spacious with wide armrests for our food and drinks. We selected our seats upon ordering our tickets – they were an astounding $17.50 each! The screen was too small for the theater and tough to see over the row in front of us. The movie itself was entertaining! I never once checked the time nor bored watching the ladies and their curious antics. This sequel had much less sex, the ladies looked older, but the clothes were still fabulous. It was also interesting to see the Muslim/Arabic culture portrayed like it was in the movie. Having recently returned from Jordan, I could definitely relate and was embarrassed for how rudely Samantha behaved.
My review of the Showplace Icon is that it’s overpriced, with a limited food selection, and not a place to catch action films where screen size does actually matter. But, if you like to sip on your pino during the show then go for the splurge.
Showplace Icon Theater
150 W. Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60605
312-564-2104www.showplaceicon.com
150 W. Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60605
312-564-2104www.showplaceicon.com
Tiztal Cafe in Uptown
My cousin Rob and his fiancée Jennifer were in town from San Francisco for a wedding. His friend is marrying my co-worker at Architectural Artifacts in Chicago. We decided to catch up in Uptown for brunch/lunch near where he is staying. Cousin Helen and her son Noel also joined us at Tiztal Café. It was a nice time for everyone to meet each other before Rob and Jennifer’s wedding.
Tiztal Café is located on Clark Street in Uptown. Despite the torn up road and the massive construction that doesn’t seem to be progressing at a nice pace, there was some street parking nearby. I walked up to the non-descript orange awning and waited for Rob and Jennifer to arrive. We knew Helen and Noel would be a bit later since Noel was playing soccer out in the ‘burbs, and Ernie would join after his softball game. The dining area was rather small seating maybe 40 people max. I was surprised that there was no wait and the restaurant didn’t fill up the whole two hours we were there. We sat right next to the window looking over Clark Street on wooden benches with older wooden tables.
Coincidentally, Rob had eaten there the day before with some other friends. He recommended the chilaquiles which he proclaimed extremely delicious. They did actually look delicious. After everyone arrived, we all ordered. I went in for those chorizo chilaquiles and boy were they tasty! You wouldn’t know it from the looks of the place, but the food was amazing. The chilaquiles dish was enormous and I didn’t quite get through half of the serving before I was stuffed full. Chorizo was scrambled with eggs, extraordinary roasted salty potatoes to compliment. Corn tortilla chips were covered in salsa verde and Chihuahua cheese. It was a heavenly Mexican flavored brunch dish.
I didn’t know until later that there was a back patio and a famous oatmeal shake! Next time, I’ll have to try that but I may just wait until the construction dies down.
Tiztal Café
4631 N Clark Street
Chicago IL 60613
773-271-46631
Tiztal Café is located on Clark Street in Uptown. Despite the torn up road and the massive construction that doesn’t seem to be progressing at a nice pace, there was some street parking nearby. I walked up to the non-descript orange awning and waited for Rob and Jennifer to arrive. We knew Helen and Noel would be a bit later since Noel was playing soccer out in the ‘burbs, and Ernie would join after his softball game. The dining area was rather small seating maybe 40 people max. I was surprised that there was no wait and the restaurant didn’t fill up the whole two hours we were there. We sat right next to the window looking over Clark Street on wooden benches with older wooden tables.
Coincidentally, Rob had eaten there the day before with some other friends. He recommended the chilaquiles which he proclaimed extremely delicious. They did actually look delicious. After everyone arrived, we all ordered. I went in for those chorizo chilaquiles and boy were they tasty! You wouldn’t know it from the looks of the place, but the food was amazing. The chilaquiles dish was enormous and I didn’t quite get through half of the serving before I was stuffed full. Chorizo was scrambled with eggs, extraordinary roasted salty potatoes to compliment. Corn tortilla chips were covered in salsa verde and Chihuahua cheese. It was a heavenly Mexican flavored brunch dish.
I didn’t know until later that there was a back patio and a famous oatmeal shake! Next time, I’ll have to try that but I may just wait until the construction dies down.
Tiztal Café
4631 N Clark Street
Chicago IL 60613
773-271-46631
Southport Grocery
Saturday afternoon was kind of rainy and sleepy. Ernie had some early morning softball games and saw that Southport was closed down due to a street festival. We decided to walk over during the afternoon to check it out. The fest turned out to be sponsored by Cuervo and they had all kinds of games similar to what you’d see on MTV Real World/Road Rules challenges but not nearly as intense. We watched a bunch of people fall off a rock climbing wall while being sprayed by water flowing at 8 gal/seconds. What a waste of water. I guess you could sign up in teams and compete for prizes and such.
We walked down to the end of the street and stopped into Southport Grocery. I’ve heard from friends that this place has great brunches and amazing cupcakes (though no one mentioned a gluten-free variety). Ernie got a glass of white wine and after a short debate of should-I-shouldn't-I, I ended up with a vanilla gluten-free cupcake. I’m usually a chocolate girl, but the gluten-free cupcakes were only in vanilla. We sat outside at metal tables on the sidewalk and watched the activities in the street. I also ran into a co-worker who was lunching with a friend while a former intern walked by on the street. The co-worker and I yelled her name to catch her attention. We made some small talk and I wished her well in her job search.
The cupcake and wine arrived. Ernie didn’t care much for the white wine but drank it anyway. On the other hand, the cupcake was delicious! The texture was super moist and dense, almost like angel-food cake and tasted of sweet vanilla extract. The butter crème frosting on top was very sugary sweet but complimented the fresh cupcake nicely. There was no chalky or powdery aftertaste like a lot of other gluten-free substitutes.
I later checked the website where they say, “our Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes are to die for.” To die for? Maybe extreme. Extraordinarily yummy? Yes definitely. There’s no mention of the gluten-free variety but I assure you that there were several on hand Saturday afternoon.
I would say that this cupcake is better than the Swirlz cupcakes that you can buy at Whole Foods, but slightly worse than the cupcakes you can buy directly at the Swirlz bakery. Plus, Swirlz has a huge variety (I still love the banana nutella best) and they are very carefully decorated. If you can see from the picture below, Southport Grocery has some work to do on their frosting capabilities! Ernie's looking over at the hula-hooping Cuervo girls who have cottage cheese legs. The view didn't give me much inspiration to eat the cupcake as I was worried about what my legs might look like!
Southport Grocery & Café
3552 N Southport Ave
Chicago IL 60657
773-665-0100
http://www.southportgrocery.com/
We walked down to the end of the street and stopped into Southport Grocery. I’ve heard from friends that this place has great brunches and amazing cupcakes (though no one mentioned a gluten-free variety). Ernie got a glass of white wine and after a short debate of should-I-shouldn't-I, I ended up with a vanilla gluten-free cupcake. I’m usually a chocolate girl, but the gluten-free cupcakes were only in vanilla. We sat outside at metal tables on the sidewalk and watched the activities in the street. I also ran into a co-worker who was lunching with a friend while a former intern walked by on the street. The co-worker and I yelled her name to catch her attention. We made some small talk and I wished her well in her job search.
The cupcake and wine arrived. Ernie didn’t care much for the white wine but drank it anyway. On the other hand, the cupcake was delicious! The texture was super moist and dense, almost like angel-food cake and tasted of sweet vanilla extract. The butter crème frosting on top was very sugary sweet but complimented the fresh cupcake nicely. There was no chalky or powdery aftertaste like a lot of other gluten-free substitutes.
I later checked the website where they say, “our Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes are to die for.” To die for? Maybe extreme. Extraordinarily yummy? Yes definitely. There’s no mention of the gluten-free variety but I assure you that there were several on hand Saturday afternoon.
I would say that this cupcake is better than the Swirlz cupcakes that you can buy at Whole Foods, but slightly worse than the cupcakes you can buy directly at the Swirlz bakery. Plus, Swirlz has a huge variety (I still love the banana nutella best) and they are very carefully decorated. If you can see from the picture below, Southport Grocery has some work to do on their frosting capabilities! Ernie's looking over at the hula-hooping Cuervo girls who have cottage cheese legs. The view didn't give me much inspiration to eat the cupcake as I was worried about what my legs might look like!
Southport Grocery & Café
3552 N Southport Ave
Chicago IL 60657
773-665-0100
http://www.southportgrocery.com/
India House
Saturday night was a bit of a ‘last hurrah’ for the P^2 group. As two members will be moving to the Bay Area, we won’t easily get a chance to gather the group for dinner. We dined at India House where we were seated in the back corner of the restaurant. The bench along the wall vibrated from the air conditioning units propped up against the wall. The rooms were dim lit and decorated with traditional Indian colors and fabric designs. The place settings covered all the bases with appetizer plates and charger plates, multiple forks and spoons and simply folded cloth napkins.
Four of us have been friends for about two years. Chris, Tejus, Sindhu and I formed a special bond at Mansion in Miami Beach, FL. I had just joined the marketing group on the new products team. Chris and Sindhu joined the company back in January 2008 and Tejus shortly after in April 2008. We were in Miami for an offsite that took us through a Hispanic immersion and ended Wednesday evening at Mansion, one of the hot nightclubs in town. Our hosts reserved room in the VIP section where we rubbed elbows with a former “Destiny’s Child”.
Somehow, the four of us broke loose from the boondoggle and made our way to the general bar area. After several drinks, our friendship was solidified. We hopped in a cab back to the Shore Club hotel (team caught a glimpse of Spike Lee at the pool!). The best moment of the night was when Tejus yelled out to a man driving a pink corvette, “RENTAL!!!” only to find out that the driver was staying at our hotel. It was a moment that will live in infamy. We had late nite eats at the dive restaurant next door. Was it falafel? Pizza? Who knows. It was a great way to start our newfound friendship.
Back to India House… it was the four of us, plus three spouses. A group we lovingly call “wouses and spouses”. For those of you unfamiliar with Wouse, it’s a smashed word that means “work spouse.” Really, this is a serious term! Check out this article.
The three Indians at the table ordered a delicious array of foods for us:
- Chicken Tikka Masala: shredded chicken in a tomato cream sauce
- Shrimp Masala : shrimp in a spicy tomato and onion sauce
- Palak Paneer: spicy spinach and cheese cubes
- Baingan Bharta: eggplant curry
- Bindi Masala: okra cooked in spices
The food was excellent, easily the best Indian I’ve had in Chicago. While Chicken Tikka Masala is a tried and true favorite, I really enjoyed the eggplant curry and spicy spinach. Everything was served in these little round gold or copper colored dishes with tall handles on each side. We also had white rice and of course, naan. I really miss naan, it was one of my favorite things to eat when we used to go to Ambar India back in Cincinnati. The food was so delicious that I helped myself to more spinach and chicken even though I was beyond full. Good thing I wore my pants made out of stretchy jean material! Indian food is pretty easy for glutiods – except you have to pass on the naan, samosas and any desserts because there usually aren’t any options for you.
Later, we walked over to Fado Irish pub where we sipped drinks while listing to an 80’s cover band. With Tejus and Souymia moving to San Francisco, we all agreed to visit over next year’s Bay to Breakers weekend. The next hour was spent discussing the best group costume ideas for the event. Our two lead horses are: Scrabble letters (you can really do some creative things there) and PacMan. Let’s hope everyone is able to make the trek next year! T- we will really miss you!!!
India House Chicago
59 W Grand Ave
Chicago
312-645-9500
http://www.indiahousechicago.com/
Four of us have been friends for about two years. Chris, Tejus, Sindhu and I formed a special bond at Mansion in Miami Beach, FL. I had just joined the marketing group on the new products team. Chris and Sindhu joined the company back in January 2008 and Tejus shortly after in April 2008. We were in Miami for an offsite that took us through a Hispanic immersion and ended Wednesday evening at Mansion, one of the hot nightclubs in town. Our hosts reserved room in the VIP section where we rubbed elbows with a former “Destiny’s Child”.
Somehow, the four of us broke loose from the boondoggle and made our way to the general bar area. After several drinks, our friendship was solidified. We hopped in a cab back to the Shore Club hotel (team caught a glimpse of Spike Lee at the pool!). The best moment of the night was when Tejus yelled out to a man driving a pink corvette, “RENTAL!!!” only to find out that the driver was staying at our hotel. It was a moment that will live in infamy. We had late nite eats at the dive restaurant next door. Was it falafel? Pizza? Who knows. It was a great way to start our newfound friendship.
Back to India House… it was the four of us, plus three spouses. A group we lovingly call “wouses and spouses”. For those of you unfamiliar with Wouse, it’s a smashed word that means “work spouse.” Really, this is a serious term! Check out this article.
The three Indians at the table ordered a delicious array of foods for us:
- Chicken Tikka Masala: shredded chicken in a tomato cream sauce
- Shrimp Masala : shrimp in a spicy tomato and onion sauce
- Palak Paneer: spicy spinach and cheese cubes
- Baingan Bharta: eggplant curry
- Bindi Masala: okra cooked in spices
The food was excellent, easily the best Indian I’ve had in Chicago. While Chicken Tikka Masala is a tried and true favorite, I really enjoyed the eggplant curry and spicy spinach. Everything was served in these little round gold or copper colored dishes with tall handles on each side. We also had white rice and of course, naan. I really miss naan, it was one of my favorite things to eat when we used to go to Ambar India back in Cincinnati. The food was so delicious that I helped myself to more spinach and chicken even though I was beyond full. Good thing I wore my pants made out of stretchy jean material! Indian food is pretty easy for glutiods – except you have to pass on the naan, samosas and any desserts because there usually aren’t any options for you.
Later, we walked over to Fado Irish pub where we sipped drinks while listing to an 80’s cover band. With Tejus and Souymia moving to San Francisco, we all agreed to visit over next year’s Bay to Breakers weekend. The next hour was spent discussing the best group costume ideas for the event. Our two lead horses are: Scrabble letters (you can really do some creative things there) and PacMan. Let’s hope everyone is able to make the trek next year! T- we will really miss you!!!
India House Chicago
59 W Grand Ave
Chicago
312-645-9500
http://www.indiahousechicago.com/
Brats, Wings, and Custard. Oh My!
We woke up late on Sunday morning, tired from a long week. Happy that the sun was shining, we decided to bike around town. Our first stop was Maifest in Lincoln Square. True, we had also spent Friday night there, but we had some extra food tickets to spend and a taste for brats, plus Ernie’s uncles were working the food tent. I had another helping of the bratwurst dinner served with potato salad and sauerkraut. The brats are so juicy and grilled fresh (not frozen). Since Ernie had two leberkases on Friday, he also had the bratwurst dinner today. We moseyed around a bit on the square but nothing was really too interesting. The sky started to drizzle and we decided to get back on our bikes and head up to Evanston.
We zig zagged through the rain up north to the main square in Evanston where we parked our bikes under a tree in case the rain came back. There were several restaurants with outdoor seating that dotted the tree-lined streets. As we were walking around, Ernie mentioned that there was some buffalo wing place in Evanston that was so good that he had remembered them from a college party. Just as the story ended, we happened upon Buffalo Joe’s with the memorable wings. We doubled back to head in for a little taste.
The ordering is right as you walk past the double doors into the dive. It’s kind of cafeteria style where you can see all the food being made. One small order of wings ran about $7 and we walked to the back of the restaurant to find a seat. The place was grimy and smelled of bleach and mildew. The wooden slat benches had just been wiped down by an hourly-worker. This might be a late night joint for all of those Northwestern students who need a fix after a full night of drinking, but during the middle of the day, Buffalo Joe’s attracts all kinds of overweight and unhealthy looking people. There were only a few students.
Ernie assured me that I would like these wings and they were good for me because there was no bread coating on any of their wings. The small order was served in a small paper carton with a side of celery and ranch dressing on a cafeteria tray. Dripping in spicy sauce, we dug right in. I learned that Ernie liked the little drums where I like the two-boned little wing so our single split portion was easy to share. The tender meat fell right off the bone and the sauce was finger-licking good. My lips were fiery red after devouring the wings though I still had a full stomach from the bratwursts.
On the way out, I reviewed the rest of the menu and saw a full offering of burgers, fries, etc. I made a mental note to try the buffalo waffle fries another time!
We browsed a few random stores that carried an assortment of interesting things. Back in an alley, there is a framing shop where their green parrot named Jessica kept saying “hello” to us. The next 30 or so minutes were spent in the Barnes & Nobel fingering through travel guides for our upcoming trip to Paris. On a bit of a whim, Ernie decided he wanted to show me Augsburg where he was living when we first met on Aug 1, 2008. If you know me, you know you don’t have to twist my arm to travel! We decided to pair the trip with a week in Paris where Ernie had never been. I lived in the city of light back in 2002 with some girlfriends as a fashion design summer abroad and am itching to go back. It will be interesting to see how easy it will be to eat there since everything is about baguettes, crepes, pastries and all sorts of yummy-ness I won’t be able to eat.
After our bookstore visit, we walked over to Andy’s Frozen custard. I love frozen custard and there aren’t many places to get this delicious treat near my condo. We split a medium Reeses Peanut Butter Cup and Hot Fudge concrete. The treat was perfect for a warm late Sunday afternoon. As you can see, we had a terrible day of eating extremely unhealthy foods. There was no amount of bike riding today that could burn the calories we consumed. We rode back down to Wrigleyville, picking up the lakefront bike trail at the northern most point. Our entire excursion was 5 hr 30 min and a great way to enjoy a nice Sunday afternoon.
We had a light dinner of Tom Yum soup from Penny’s while we watched the Blackhawks win! Feeling fat and disgusting, I finally downloaded the Insanity Workout and vowed to study up and get started.
Buffalo Joe’s Howard Street
1849 West Howard Street
Evanston, IL 60626
773-764-7300
www.buffalojoesevanston.com
1849 West Howard Street
Evanston, IL 60626
773-764-7300
www.buffalojoesevanston.com
Neglect
It has become apparent to me that people actually do read the blog since over the course of the past few days, several readers have mentioned that I've been neglecting my blog and they want new info. One even said "your blog is old" which makes me feel like I've been letting people down. Others know that I've got a bunch of other job distractions and have not had the chance to write new posts.
In an effort to recap the past few weeks, the subsequent postings will trace backwards until I can think of no more exciting things to write about the past. Then, I will move forward into more current territory!
Until I can tell you what I've been up to on the 9-5 job front, just know that something very good is going to happen soon!
In an effort to recap the past few weeks, the subsequent postings will trace backwards until I can think of no more exciting things to write about the past. Then, I will move forward into more current territory!
Until I can tell you what I've been up to on the 9-5 job front, just know that something very good is going to happen soon!
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