Mercat a la planxa

Another great Chicago restaurant find is Mercat a la planxa. The chef, Jose Garces won the second season of The Next Iron Chef competition. Let's just say I envy the eating Jeffrey Steingarten is about to undertake.

First up was the Paella Negra with calamari, octopus and chipirones with black rice and octopus tomato salad. Pesky Pescatarian was quite fond of the grilled octopus, and the waiter recommended a grilled octopus special that she would have considered ordering if it weren't for space constraint concerns. I was obsessed with the black rice. I haven't had sepia pasta or rice often, and I'm starting to believe that this makes my life not so complete.


Arguably the best dish of the night, the Sopa de Pesols, which was fresh English pea soup with Goat's Cheese, Pea Ice Cream and shaved black truffle, this was a wonderful hot-cold soup. Alinea has their famous hot potato, cold potato concoction, but there aren't that many versions of this concept out there. I really loved tasting the freshness of spring, coupled with the hot and cold elements mingling together, all mixed in with the earthy seductiveness of the truffle.

If the soup was the best dish, the Albondigas de Venera was the worst dish of the night. The scallop & shrimp meatballs with marinated grapes and shaved Idizabal were boring. The sauce was almost cloyingly sweet and there was nothing exciting either on a flavor or textural front that saved the meatballs. Only the marinated grapes were fun.

The revuelto de Temporada with roasted seasonal mushrooms with soft scrambled eggs, green pea tendrils and fava bean toast was delicious. Ever since that Bayona omelette experience I keep talking about, I've been seeking perfectly cooked eggs, and these finally fit the bill.

The Gratin de Coliflor came out last, and it was too rich for our taste buds at this point. I really like this dish, but it very heavy on hte cream and cheese flavor, which can overwhelm the flavor of the cauliflower itself. Still, on a cold winter's night this would be a great choice to include.

The Croquetas de Xocolata, which were milk chocolate croquettes with banana marshamallow (that's banana-flavored marshmallow for ya), rosemary caramel, and Arbequina olive oil was fantastic. Amazing. At $10 an order a total steal considering the thought, skill, and execution of the dish. The flavor of every element was perceptible to the Pesky Pescatarian, though I had some difficulty with the rosemary and the olive oil. The marshmallow was lightly bruleed and each little dessert "pod" could be enjoyed in a single bite. Mmm mmm good.

Mercat a la planxa, 638 Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL

Purple Pig

Spring Peas with Farro, Feta & Mint

I am quickly becoming obsessed with Purple Pig. It's really close to my apartment, and the food is so good.

Continuing on the food tour with the hometown gang: Bastard Consultant, Dr. Consultant, and Pesky Pescatarian, we hit up Purple Pig with an intention to try more of its spring-themed and seafood offerings.

Shaved Green Asparagus with Pecorino Noce & Parmigiano Reggiano

Shaved asparagus that had a touch of acidity. I prefer my asparagus more when its been steamed or roasted, but there was nothing wrong with this and PP who lives tart foods enjoyed this a lot.

Braised Baby Artichokes with Fingerling Potatoes, Asiago & Salami Toscana


Mussels with Treviso, Serrano Chiles, Citrus Fruit & Gaeta Olives

I really love this mussels dish. I've never had a salad with fried mussels and citrus before, and I wouldn't mind so much if a small craze took on and it popped up in more restaurants.

Halibut Cheeks with Gaeta Olive Aioli

Fried halibut cheeks. We were really excited about this dish, but it turned out to be fine but certainly not extraordinary.

Mixed Greens with Feta, Watermelon Radishes & Fed Wine Mint Vinaigrette

Watermelon radish is an unappreciated root vegetable.

Deviled Egg with Arugula & Caper Berries

Bastard Consultant doesn't like hard boiled egg as it reminds him of foot. BC also can't go to bed if he hasn't showered first. I love sleep, and that seems highly inconvenient.


We drank Rocca "Copertino" with our meal.

Roasted Bone Marrow with Herbs

Seeing BC's longing looks, I acquiesced to the Roasted Bone Marrow Order. I didn't approve of the salt choice. It looked like kosher, when clearly sea salt or Maldon salt was called for, and it really made a difference. Of course, the marrow was still good, but I think you need a salt with more texture for a dish like this. I'm not sure why, but I've noticed with other salts, it can really help bring out the unctuousness of the warm marrow.

Sepia with Snap Peas & Toasted Almonds

This was an amazing dish. It's no longer on the menu, so your life sort of sucks until spring rolls back around, but the combination of snow peas and squid was perfect.

Wagyu Sirloin Tip with Charred Green & White Asparagus, Spring Onions & Piquillo Peppers

I don't normally think of ordering Wagyu at small plates joints, but I'm really glad my classmate convinced me to order it at the last visit because I knew Dr. Consultant would really enjoy it. It's meltingly rich and a fine fine plate of meat.

Pig's Tails Braised in Balsamic

Bastard Consultant and I forgot about ordering this dish, but we are happy that we didn't think to cancel it, as the pork tails braised in balsamic topped with some chopped hard boiled egg was really a delicious surprise. The acidity of the balsamic helped cut the fattiness of the tail and the sweetness of the vinegar augmented the flavor of the pork.

Eating this dish made me understand why Laura Ingalls of Little House in the Big Woods so looked forward to eating the pig's tail during butchering time. I have had pig's tail once before at Au Pied de Cochon, where it was deep fried and didn't much like it. I think that restaurant is sort of tacky.

Charred Ramps & Scallions with Romesco Sauce

More grilled ramps. I've decided that I need to order ramps whenever I can because last year I thought they weren't so exciting before and didn't get my season's fill. Never again will I neglect you my beloved ramps.

The Sicilian Iris. As a reminder, it's ricotta and chocolate chip in a fried brioche.

Sinful.

A new devilishly delicious find is the Butterscotch Budino. I wish they would have taken a torch over the pudding after they pulled it out of the fridge because the sight of condensation on the dessert was unappetizing. That aside, however, this was a rich, satisfying, salty-sweet conclusion to a meal filled with a lot of laughter and general feelings of happiness.

Purple Pig, 500 North Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL

The Purple Pig

I've been dancing around this Purple Pig post for awhile now. Just thinking about the meal makes me tired. Aside from the Alinea fluke, I hadn't done any epic gourmet meals since I dragged my parents to Avec and Publican. Actually, maybe I should just end this train of thought because clearly I'm a lucky bastard.

Okay, deep breath. First up: Shaved Brussel Sprouts with Pecorino Noce & Parmigiano Reggiano. Yes, it as good as they say.

Salt-roasted Beets with Whipped Goat Cheese & Pistachio Vinaigrette. The whipped goat cheese is also smeared into the inside of the ramekin so the beets have a good shot at picking up some of the goat cheese.

Pork Fried Almonds with Rosemary & Garlic. This I got to try at home. So easy! So indulgent! Oh wait, I'm trying to eat healthier. Crap. Crap. I tell you, I seriously need to rent two teenage boys, so they can help me deal with the fallout from my cooking bursts.

Lardo Crostini. One of the things I miss most from the one month I lived in the center of Florence was the ability to walk two blocks to the local corner store and buy pre-sliced lardo and balls of mozzarella (only a euro each!). Oh lardo, how I love thee.

P.S. Confession. After having tried the whipped lardo at Del Posto, dealing with the sliced lardo is significantly more technically complicated.

Calabro Ricotta with Pork Neck Bone Gravy. I had high hopes for this once, but it actually turned out to be less satisfying and exciting than some of our other dishes. The pork neck gravy in the tomato base was good, but it almost seemed like rustic home cooking in comparison to the decadence flavors in the other dishes.

Okay that's it. I officially loved fried pig's ear salad. This Pig’s Ear with Crispy Kale, Marinated Cherry Peppers & Fried Egg was crazy crazy good.

And when you crack open the yolk and let it run over the crispy ears, creating a rich dressing. Lord, I've met some people who don't like runny egg yolks. It's a dying shame I tell you.

Sardines with Lemon Vinaigrette. Did you know the last U.S. sardine cannery just closed down? I suppose I'm plenty to blame as well. I only order the suckers at restaurants, though I'm nearly always happy when I do. The fennel and caper salad is a great complement to the oily fish.

Mussels with Treviso, Serrano Chiles, Winter Citrus & Gaeta Olives. A surprise hit. The mussels were shucked, lightly breaded and fried and then tossed with some citrus and olives that served as great bright foils to the briny pockets.

We planned in a salad to help clear our palates. Mixed Greens with Feta, Watermelon Radishes & Red Wine Mint Vinaigrette.

Octopus with acini di pepe & Swiss Chard. Tender, smokey, meaty. All one wants from grilled octopus.

Charred Scallions with Romesco Sauce. These had me dreaming of ramp season. If you are in the vicinity of any grilled ramps, do yourself a favor and order them. Make that two orders.

Wagyu Sirloin Tip with Bone Marrow Vinaigrette. I was leaning towards not ordering this dish when we were plotting our attack plan, and boy am I glad that I lost that battle. Wagyu. One remembers why it is revered.

Sicilian Iris (Ricotta & Chocolate Chip filled Fried Brioche). Yes. A light fully fried donut ball filled with goodness. I could only handle about one bite of this, it was so rich. Luckily, my dining companions had more fortitude.

Purple Pig, 500 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL

Goat Cheese Salmon Canapes

It's easy to forget that one doe not need fancy equipment to make something that is good and pretty and a gift to guests. A friend brought over these canapes. Just baguette, sliced and toasted, topped with a smear of goat cheese, sprinkled with dill and topped with a slice of smoked salmon. With a squeeze of lemon, they were a nice way to start dinner.

So if you ever need to whip something together that will impress your guests, this could be something in your arsenal of secret delights.

Resort Food

In Costa Rica, we ended up staying at this fancy spot called Paradisus Playa Conchal. We found a good deal at this all-inclusive spot that I took to calling the compound for its absurd 2,400 acres and small fleet of roving golf carts.

It's not exactly the ideal spot for getting a sense of "real" Costa Rica, but I was more looking for sunshine, beaches, pools, and comfort. It suited our needs well enough, which is to just book flight and accomodation and not deal with much else.

There are eight restaurants at the compound, and surprisingly I didn't manage to try all of them. Getting a stomach ache for two days and being exceedingly lazy will do that. I will say this for the compound though, all of the water is cleaned and filtered, so one doesn't need to get her panties in a bunch every time she brushes her teeth.

As you can see, some of the restaurants can get rather fancy, and the first night we dined in a place called the Gabi Club. I think my favorite thing about the air conditioned dining options was that I didn't have to worry about mosquitoes sniping at my ankles. I dined at a buffet for lunch, and as the sun sank, the bugs would partake of their own feast.

This is not to say that the compound was particularly buggy. If that's the sort of thing one likes, I can point you to a certain resort in Curacao that will suit you just fine. I'm just particularly delectable to the bloodsucking little buggers. The romance of Twilight notwithstanding, thank goodness vampires aren't real, or I'd be a goner for sure.

The food at Gabi Club is better than your average resort fare, but it certaintly wasn't up to the models it was trying to emulate. The flavor of this tuna tartar was passable, but the tuna itself was stringy as it had not come from an ideal cut, nor had it been properly sliced.

This chocolate mousse was fine, but who doesn't love chocolate mousse? One of our companions has a true sweet tooth, and it was funny watching her each night as she delighted over the dessert menu. It's enjoyable watching someone else's mood considerably perk up over the prospect of something delicious. I know mine often does!

Paradisus Playa Conchal, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

This is Why You're Fat

I got this in my inbox last night. From my dumb kid brother's roommate. Who may have to be anointed dumb kid roommate.

It's a bacon wrapped hot dog covered in chili and topped with cocktail shrimp. I thought my friend was sending me a picture from This is Why You're Fat.

Then I said: "I can't decide whether this is creative. Or stupid."

Then I found out dumb kid roommate made it for din din last night.

He considers my misappropriation of authorship for this hot dog mutation: one of the best cooking compliments of his life.

Lao Sze Chuan: Wiser and Better

I went back to Lao Sze Chuan with my mom, and since she can speak Mandarin, we were able to get the wonderful suggestion of getting a bowl of crushed Sichuan pepper (also known as "numbing spice") to add to our dish of ma po tofu.

As you can see, we opted for a heavy hand in sprinkling the spice. My mom kept on talking about how I was going to get a sore throat from eating a dish with so much "fire," but she didn't stop me, and for that, I am grateful.

My mom ordered a spicy sour pickle and fish soup. Mmm, now doesn't that sound appetizing? Not quite. But it's a unique flavor and oddly soothing.

Getting a table at the restaurant was quite a deal. A middle-aged, slightly pot-bellied Chinese man with Grease-style slicked black hair and accountant eyeglasses was in charge of the wait, and it was mild mayhem. The restaurant has a second level that you can only reach from an exterior stairwell, so he'd run up to check the table availability, run back out to the second level walkway, and then shout down to us standing in the courtyard below: "NUMBER FORTY-TWOOOOO, NUMBER FORTY TWO!!!!"

I was determined that my mom taste the ma po tofu, so we waited it out and eventually got a table on the ground level and would spot towards the end of our meal, the chef Tony speaking to a white couple at a table near us. I was torn between uneasy curiosity as to why Tony wasn't sweatin' it over a wok in the back, why the white folks got to chat and greedy, gluttonous me had to just eavesdrop rudely, and finally, general indifference about either because I had dinner to eat.

Lao Sze Chuan, 2172 S. Archer Ave., Chicago, IL

Queens Food Crawl: Spicy & Tasty

Towards the end of my stay in New York, I began to come to the slow realization that the eating opportunities were not limited to the island of Manhattan alone, and I suddenly had a burning desire to do a food crawl in Queens. Luckily, two of my friends were willing to accompany me on this trek.
The first thing I did upon entering Spicy & Tasty, a well known Sichuan restaurant, was plaster my face against the glass encasing this Sichuan pickle buffet. Horrifying to see all the variations of pickled vegetables that were only a subway ride away these past four years.

Fried meat. Scary bald Chinese man with giant cleaver ignoring me.

We decided to start with the spicy bamboo. It's really hard to pace oneself when the food is salty and has got a kick to it. We found ourselves repeating to each other that this was only the first stop, and we were not allowed to order everything on the menu.

Then we opted for the Dan Dan Noodles, and I sort of am torn on this decision. The noodles weren't that exciting, but we felt like it had been written up enough in reviews that we couldn't properly say we had visited the restaurant without ordering them.

These are the noodles after you mix the sauce that sits in the bottom with the noodles.

We were much happier with this squid in spicy sauce. Hello squid. I miss you. I still remember the pain of leaving this dish with squid still sitting on the plate. I felt so guilty and tried to explain to the waitress that we loved the food but we were on a mission and couldn't afford to finish the squid. I think she just thought we were weird.

Spicy & Tasty, 39-07 Prince St., Flushing, NY