if cheese is wrong, I don't want to be right

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight marked twice this year - in my life! - that I've had raclette.

Technically, it marks the third time as well since we ordered a second round after the first was so darn good.

;-)

Mark, one of my younger brothers, came in from the Vancouver suburbs to join the three of us for dinner and drinks at Au Petit Chavignol. I've been keen to try the place for some time now given how often I've peered in the windows as we shop next door at Les Amis du Fromage.

I'll keep this simple - it feels late (it's almost midnight in Chicago), and I want to be up well in time tomorrow to go swim at the club. We had a great time snacking our way through roasted vegetables, butter lettuce salad, serrano ham, bread, duck rillettes, and the raclette.









Two bottles of a BC red blend. Chocolate cookies baked to order for dessert.

Yes, we WILL be going back there, I can guarantee that!

The Vancouver trip goes well. Tomorrow I shall tie on an apron and cook for 6 of us - fun! But for now, the sleepiness is fast coming on, and I shall take my cheese-filled belly to bed....

Elvis

I never quite understand the cats and books things that so many librarians seem to cling to and revel in. But then, I'm not only allergic to cats, I also don't find them so adorable or delightful as others may. Occasional amusement describes my take on the creatures, and then I try to get the heck away from them and get out of what I'm wearing, shower, and into fresh non-catted clothing.

I'm a dog person, instead.

Conrad and I travel too much to own a dog. We're selfish people, and the reality is that dogs are very social and need their human friends regularly and often. I can't offer that. Instead, I just kind of envy my friends a little for their lovely dogs and fall a little in love with them.

Alas, there is now one fewer dog on which to lavish love and attention when next I visit my friends. Elvis has, to borrow a phrase, left the building.

We've known for several weeks that Elvis was not well. Cancer ate away at him rapidly, and I've sort of been holding my breath awaiting the news. It came yesterday, and Elvis is gone, leaving Dion and Minna and little one year-old Erika without a family member. Elvis was a big, friendly dog (and if you've read my posts on Coney and Buster, you will know how very much I love big dogs), Fluffy Bum by nickname as I recall. I wish I'd been able to visit and see how well Elvis and little Erika got along, but at least I did get to pat and play with Elvis a few times on past visits.

Sad news, especially for his family. When next I get to Auckland, I'll pause a moment wondering where he is before I remember that Elvis is no more.

movie and dinner

Conrad, I must disclose, is not a movie person.

It's fine. I used to go to movies a lot, and see things outside of the mainstream. Now? Not so much. I probably watch more films on airplanes than anything else. No worries.

When he's out of town for work, though (he's back in Honolulu at this moment), I do sometimes venture to the cinema. And so I found myself at movie #2 for the calendar year: Robin Hood.

No, no photos. Of course not. How was it? Popcorn-y. Entertainment, little thinking. A lot of fight scenes. Big names stars kind of slumming it for a paycheque/fun. In short, I enjoyed it.

My date was the lovely CG. Good to catch up with her and debrief afterward - we've done similar over other movie dates. A wander back to her place, and then dinner.

CG is a good cook and a superb hostess. We took glasses, a bottle of Champagne, and some snacks up to her rooftop deck and settled down to toast good things and a fine evening. Sunny still, warm even. Not a bad wine. Friends.

Meanwhile, salmon was cooking. She had put filets with vegetables and herbs in parchment and baked it. Yum! The dill shone through nicely, and we sat at the kitchen table, gossiping further.

It was still easily light out when we finished dinner, and CG proposed a neighbourhood stroll. Her neighbourhood is lovely, indeed. On a commercial strip we stopped to admire this beautiful girl. On the residential streets we ooooohed and aaaaahed over the blooms out or soon to come.






Once home, it was some red wine and a DIY dessert of Greek yogurt, fresh berries, honey, chopped pecans, and some dark chocolate on the side. More conversation. A yawn from CG. A taxi ride home for me.

I've had a super day, through and through. Up late-ish after a good sleep. Scones made. Super swim. Chat with Conrad. Chat with TK. Chat with Conrad. Movie and dinner and walk with CG. More chat with Conrad.

Maybe I should have titled this post "contentment" ....

transition

7:24.

That's what time the clock read when I woke up this morning. Are you kidding? It may as well be dinner time - half the day is done by that point!

I guess I needed the sleep.

We're due for some very warm - nay, hot - temperatures tomorrow. Today, it seems was the transition to that heat. At 7:24 this morning, before I started work on this weeks Scones for Smelts, I took some quick photos off the balcony.






In the distance? Lake Michigan. What, you can't see it? No worries, I couldn't see it either until after 1:00 this afternoon. Quite a fog/mist out there. Signaling the transition to the heat?

Perhaps.

In any case, though, it really did look pretty cool!

Istanbul Restaurant

There are times I go to restaurants and really really really want to like them, but they're not quite there. One day maybe. Maybe not. In those cases, I try to focus on the things I like and hope the rest can improve.

A few nights ago I went with Rachel to the new-ish place that took over the space in the neighbourhood long occupied by North Coast. I never really "got" North Coast. Good sized breakfasts, but nothing special. Sort of Greek, mostly not. No one went there for dinner, and the one time years ago I went, I didn't think it bad so much as rather uninteresting.

I guess it was a year ago (I think) that Istanbul went in. Funnily, Conrad and I never seem to be walking along that stretch of Broadway, so Istanbul Restaurant was probably there a little while without us knowing. A BYO place. The menu posted looked suspiciously Greek in parts. We didn't feel compelled to drop in.

Our friend Rachel, however, reported good things from her times trying the place. And so it was that this week, with Conrad back in Honolulu for work, Rachel took me under her wing and invited me to go dine there.

Downside first:

• the plating is a mess
• the service alternates between hover and neglect, though I sense it is sincere, and bonus points to the waiter for chasing us down (we hadn't got too far) when Rachel forgot her doggie bag
• suspiciously Greek things on the menu
• dead quiet (no more than 6 tables the whole time we were there)
• wrong neighbourhood

This last one was something I commented to Rachel. Boystown is, well, pretty white. Not fully, but quite a bit. And to look at the restaurants, it would seem that Boystown tolerates a limited amount of ethnicity: the "safer", better known Asian cuisines and Mexican. Or, as I also described it to Rachel, food that the gays can drink a lot with.

I do wonder if Istanbul would be better off in a different neighbourhood with a welcoming population, not necessarily Turkish. Perhaps.

Upside then:

• big portions
• great bread
• Rachel's soup - lentil in a tomato base, bright with lots of mint and zingy from the squeeze of the lemon wedge. I would order that in a minute anywhere.
• mujver. The menu described them as cakes of shredded vegetable, but I think that fritters is closer to the truth. They look kind of not good, I admit. Fairly well fried - too dark, perhaps? They look dense and heavy and awful. Nope. Very light, still moist inside without being raw. The flavour wasn't too strong, and so it paired very well with the garlicky yogurt on the plate.
• imam firinda - fried baby eggplant filled with vegetables and topped with cheese. The vegetables were nicely textured and had the crunch of almond scattered through. The rice was overkill, though.

We declined dessert. We brought our own bottle (a white blend - no corkage!!). The bill, with tip (and a generous one, all things considered) was $44 in total.





So I'm torn - there were things that I liked, and now I almost feel like if I don't go back the place will go under. Silly of me, I know. Ask me someday about how I took pity on a piece of sushi at a sushi boat place in San Francisco once. Anyway, I will get back at least once, this time with Conrad. See what he thinks.

Really, I hope it survives. I also hope it improves. Istanbul Restaurant makes a nice change from the usual in the neighbourhood, truly. And amen for that alone!

Dear Luke...

... I should have been upfront when I first wandered down to Special Collections and suggested going for lunch.

I blog.

I know, I know. But it's not that bad. Only about 4 people read this. And maybe one or two more on Facebook. And it's just lunch, a nice break from the Library.

Yes, every time I take those food/lunch photos, I am secretly planning a blog posting at some point. But just think how "famous" you'll be!

And really, the food and you look quite fine in the photos. This is a good thing.

Still on for Sunday night dinner? If you prefer, the camera phone can stay in my pocket throughout.

;-)

colours

Last night I was out on the balcony, blogging (and I'll doubtless post this tomorrow morning, so my apologies for any chronological confusion). A truly lovely evening out, hinting ever so delicately at a summer ahead and all the traffic that will liven up the evenings when Conrad and I sit out on the balcony, relaxing over a leisurely dinner with a bit of wine.

I hate the summer heat and humidity in Chicago, but now that I typed that about evenings on the balcony, I kind of can't wait.

Anyway, I actually took pictures of something other than food last night: the clouds in the western sky at sunset. Such a lovely night to be outside, and the view itself distracted me from my blogging. Hardly a loss, at least for me. Ah, the colours - and (not pictured here) the reflection in surrounding buildings serves as a terrific, lesser complement.





I am hopeful that there will be many such evenings yet to enjoy in 2010 and beyond.