Dining at Next (and our 100th post!)

We had much to celebrate:  a successful completion of Aimee’s first Grand Rounds presentation, our upcoming 5th anniversary, successful acquisition of tickets for Next back in May, and having secured a festive opportunity worthy of a 100th blog post!  Grant Achatz’s “Next” seemed like a good choice!  Their current theme:  Sicily.  Let’s begin.

We took the pink line up to the Fulton Market neighborhood where I blew right by the understated entrance to the restaurant. Our table was ready, they took our ticket and informed us that a taxi would be ready for us after our meal.  This would be fortuitous.

The meal was served in 13 tasting courses, through 8 presentations, and 5 wine pairings.  Below is a picture of the menu, which we didn’t receive until after the meal, sealed in an envelope.  The idea that "the best Sicilian meals are found in homes" is the principle behind much of this current theme.

During the course of dinner, we received simply fantastic service.  The team of wait staff all appeared to be equals, each playing a different role at a different time throughout the night, one to introduce each course and its cultural background in Sicilian cuisine, another to act as sommelier, another to reset the table, etc.  Our dinner started with an antipasti of Panelle (fried chickpea flour crisps), Caponata (ragu of eggplant, celery, and spices), Carciofi Alle Brace (artichoke pieces grilled in ash for an hour) and Arancine (fried spheres of risotto stuffed with with lamb’s tongue).  I forgot to take a picture of this course but I was better with the remaining courses!  Up next…

Bucatini con Bottarga – the first of two pasta dishes, emphasizing seafood and served with a white Regaleali wine.  Homemade pasta with basil and bottarga which is fish roe that is pressed, aged, and cured for about 4 months. The beautiful hallow pasta was prepared in a butter sauce, also utilizing the dried bottarga.

Gemelli con le Sarde – a traditional Sicilian dish with homemade twisted gemelli pasta, bread crumbs, black currants, and a delicately fried sardine on top.  Our favorite of the pastas

Pesce Spada con di Ceci – the first of the mains, more seafood and served with a 2010 Tenuta Rapitala white, a bit bigger than the preceding selection.  This was swordfish, in an amazing preparation.  Abundant fresh mint and roasted garlic cloves accompanied the rather large, incredibly tender fish.  It’s lightly crisped exterior was a nice link to its companion dish, chick peas (both fried crisp and not) served with romanesco (Italian cauliflower). 

Spalla di Maiale Brasato – the second main and the most memorable, I believe, from the night.  This one came with a Planeta Cerasuolo di Vittoria red.  It was a very healthy portion of pork shoulder, braised for 10 hours with tomato sauce, citrus, fresh oregano, and Meyer lemons (which we were advised not to neglect).  The side dish for this one was ribbons of raw zucchini, blanched asparagus and fried zucchini blossoms, touched with a saffron-tomato-chili vinaigrette.

Cassata – a rich, yet delicate ricotta cheese cake served with Cusumano Moscato Dello Zucco.  I could have easily eaten this whole cake, it was amazing.  They finished dessert with various homemade treats of fried sweet ravioli, cannoli with cherries, and sesame cookies. 

A very happy Aimee wondering.. what’s next at Next, and when do I get to return?

Lake Geneva Lake

Aimee and I enjoyed a mini-vacation last weekend with Megan (whose vacation was less mini, more of the long weekend variety).  We joined her just north of here at a resort in a small town called Fontana-on-Geneva-Lake, which is on the west end of Geneva Lake, opposite from the city of Lake Geneva.  Genius!

We stayed at the Abbey Resort and enjoyed dinner as the sun set behind us over the lake at the Fontana Grill, followed by drinks at The Helm.  We talked and imbibed to the broadway tunes played by the hotel’s excellent pianist (who had this uncanny ability to left-handedly accompany himself whilst playing a flugelhorn in the right hand). 

We swam in the chilly outdoor pool at the resort, whose temperature was clearly affected by the recent and welcome cooler weather.  From there it was off to the big city of Lake Geneva for some shopping and eating. First was lunch at Popeye’s for amazing roasted meats, and then dessert at Kilwin’s (a good old Michigan strong hold in enemy territory!), where it’s always fun to watch the staff scramble at the order of an “ice cream soda”.  They delivered most admirably. 

This was my first time in a Wisconsin vacation zone.  With all of the blatant copying of the Pure Michigan campaign, I had been wanting to make a visit.  There are certainly differences, the demographic feels just a bit different.  And while I wouldn’t recommend they call it “Pure Wisconsin”, it sure is nice to know that there is a decent vacation spot this close to Chicago.

It’s always a good and mentally healthy thing to have something to look forward to after vacation.  This softens the vacation hangover as you enter the real world (even with the small vacations).  For Aimee, she was “looking forward” to her first Grand Rounds presentation in front of the neurology department, which included faculty, staff, residents and medical students.  She gave a 45 minute lecture on Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension which included background, physiology, great clinical relevance, and a summary of treatment options. 

     

After that, we had an impromptu dinner with Matt to look forward to.  He was in Chicago for training and came early in time to catch up for a while and eat some Greek at Parthenon.

Next was Next.  More on that soon..  all in all a great time away with Megan and a fun week ahead…

Mass Recording and Visit from Home

This past weekend we were honored to be surrounded by my parents and by great friends.

On Friday night we held the second session to record the my setting of the mass that I’ve composed over the past two years.  The Mass of St. Edward is based on a Lamb of God setting that I wrote while at Notre Dame, after spending hours in the St. Edward’s Hall chapel. While getting it published is a tall order (a tall, very humble request, perhaps), it has been a great experience to write and work under the guidance of noted composers and liturgists, and especially with Aimee (my live-in guinea piglet) and our talented friends who helped record it.

Below is a complete recording of the mass.  Special thanks to our wonderful friends for their help:  Megan, Emily, Katie, Laura, Tim, Michael, John, and Brad. 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, my parents came to Chicago to stay at Hotel Scozzafave for two nights.  It was a relaxing time together but we managed to get a lot in.  We went to India House in River North for what was essentially my parent’s first experience with Indian food.  Aimee and I love it there.  They “could see how someone would get to like it”.  They were good sports and really did genuinely enjoy it.  Both that night, and a little bit the next day.

Other food stops included two trips to Intelligensia coffee for their amazing lattes and breakfast sandwiches at Hannah’s Bretzel on Adams.

Sunday was the third installment of our “Sing Sh*t” night – a relaxing opportunity to cook and share amazing food, and get practice singing a wide variety of music.  For me, I get to drink wine and work on my sight reading.  For my parents, they got to eat, drink, and be quite entertained!