Pumpkin

I knew it. I KNEW IT!!! I knew that Kabocha ,the city's first Japanese Brasserie, was going to be my new favorite restaurant opening this Spring. I have been tracking the restaurant for quite some time as: 1. Being Japanese, I am always looking for the next best thing and 2. Michelin-starred chef Shin Thompson's former Bonsoiree (RIP) housed one of the best tasting menus in the city.

I giddily made my reservation for Saturday as Sean and I had a few things to celebrate and despite Kabocha only being open for a little over a month, the only two slots open for two diners were at 545pm and 930pm.  We chose 545pm and the restaurant filled up extremely quickly after we sat down. I am always a little weary of non-traditional Japanese restaurants as more American-ized Fusion-ized restaurants tend to stray away from Japanese concepts of aesthetics, less is better, and attention to detail. They're just not any good.

Kabocha, however did NOT disappoint. The design of the space is upscale, but not uptight, the portions are appropriately sized (I read one review about the Lamb dish being too small, but common people-set your expectations), the service is great and the food. Oh the food! The menu is split up into four sections; raw, small, medium and large. We ordered two raw, one medium and one large each. My favorite dish was the whole fried fish, which had an almost vinegar-y tang-y taste to the sauce and was fried just right. I'm embarrassed to say that I wasn't even close to finishing it as the whole dish was bigger than my head. Next time we'll share. There's also a Kaiseki option, which essentially means tasting menu in Japanese. $110 is not cheap, by any means, but compare that with some other tasting menus in the city and you'll have some cash left in the wallet.

There were also micro-greens growing under lights in the kitchen, which really takes the farm/garden to table concept to the next level. If you take a look at the photos below you'll see some of these micro-green babies sprinkled throughout as well. I cannot wait to take some friends back!

BON APPETIT!!

Pumpkin, or Kabocha in Japanese, shaped lighting fixtures

Chicago city art behind the bar

Moscow Mandarin Mule. Mandarin Blossom Vodka

A dozen market oysters with Hot Granita and Coconut Lychee Mignonette

Rabbit and Thai basil dumplings

Wagyu Beef Tartare with Umami Paste, Quail Egg and Chili-Sesame wontons

Fried Whole fish with Red Rice Ale Tempura and Fermented Black Bean Chili Sauce. Fish is flown in daily

Kombu Cured Lamb Loin, Black Garlic Lamb Sausage, Parsnip and Cherry Jus

Micro-greens growing under lights in the kitchen

XOXO, IN LOVE WITH CHICAGO

Cobbler

I understand that blogging about a shoe repair shop is far from a sexy topic, but I was very pleased to come across a great one in the city. I am now fully "staffed", so to say, with my local service peeps from shoe repair, alterations, salon, florist dentist, primary care doctor etc. At this point I guess you could say I'm officially a resident =)

I found that after trolling around the city in my Louboutins that I was in need of resoling them, for longevity and non-slip purposes. I've been bringing in regular leather shoes to get resoled and fixed to Your Shoe Repair in Wicker Park since I moved to the city, but making sure they were able to handle a pair of my babies made me just a tid nervous. I called ahead of time to get the deets and they told me that they would use Vibram rubber non-skid half soles, would paint the sides of the 1mm soles black to match the shoe, and would cost $25. Vibram is an Italian based company that's been around forever, so I made the decision to move forward and was happy with my choice. There was a little black residue left over on the sole from the paint (which you can see in the pic below), but it rubbed out fairly easily, so I would definitely recommend this shop and bring back another pair of my babies.

Mother's Day

After calling my own lovely mama on Mother's Day, I spent the day with Sean’s mother for some Dose Market and dinner time fun. The Dose market is a year-round food, fashion and tsoktske-filled good time at the River East Art Center, just east of Navy Pier. I went once last year, but this time around the vendors were all new, which made for a completely different experience. And the people are always good looking at these things, so that makes it real easy to enjoy yourself. I preordered our tickets for only $8 a pop and that even came with a free pickle back shot. Well you had your choice of bottled water or whiskey.  So you know.

As for dinner, this was my first time at Green Zebra, James Beard winner Shawn McClain’s vegetarian eatery in West Town. Yeah I said it, vegetarian. The word makes me shutter, but after my first bite I stopped caring that meat wasn’t incorporated in the meal.  Although I did order the Carbonara that came with Shiitake “bacon”.  Satisfied with the substitution. We also ordered an incredibly rich Hen of The Woods Mushroom Pâté with Vidalia onion marmalade, Grilled Werp Farm Baby Lettuce with a ‘perfect’ farm egg, crispy potato tot, Roasted Sweet Potato Crepes with Saigon cinnamon, seared Halloumi, parsley and brown butter and some Foraged Maitake Mushrooms, housemade kimchi .  No rabbit food here!

 XOXO, IN LOVE WITH CHICAGO

Warby Parker

I've been out of town all week for work and was so happy to come home to this package! 

New spectacles! 

Warby Parker is my new favorite company. Started by a few smarty pants Wharton graduates, Warby Parker delivers a great product at a low price and even has a "buy a pair, give a pair" program. For every pair of Warby Parker glasses that are purchased, a pair is distributed to someone in need. They skip over the middlemen that typically make glasses so expensive and are able to pass on the savings to their customers. The glasses even are made from an Italian supplier and made in the Chinese factories where most other glasses are made. I do have to say that there isn't much anti-glare in the lenses, but in my 20 years of wearing glasses, I would say that's par for the course.

And $95!! Ok, I actually bought mine for $120, because I had to get special super-blind person lenses, but was able to redeem a $5 coupon that I got from Apartment Number 9, where I was able to physically try on all the styles in one of ten showrooms across the country. 

Another reason to love the Chicago shopping experience. Check out the screen shots from their website for a little more info about the company.

 XOXO, IN LOVE WITH CHICAGO

Antique-ing Part 1: Lincoln Antique Mall

I 'm a sucker for a good deal.

  

And the greater Chicago area is home to many of the best and largest antique markets; so I continue to luck out in my quests for unique things to do in the city. My mother heard of this fact and when she was in town made it a priority for me to take her to each of the top places in the city. So we started at the Lincoln Antique Mall. 

The Lincoln Antique Mall is nestled into a pretty random neighborhood in Irving Park, pretty standard Chicago practice, and also is Chicago native, Nate Berkus', fave antique spot in the city. Chicago Home Magazine and Architectural Digest have also given their stamps of approval. I'll take that. They house their goodies in a 7000 square foot store, so if you're into this kind of thing, I would be shocked if you left empty handed. And they proclaim their prices are the best in the city, so what more can you really ask for?

If you're not in the neighborhood or looking for something specific, check out their website, which actually has a huge variety of items listed for sale. French-style furniture, yes! WWII Gas mask, why not? 

XOXO, IN LOVE WITH CHICAGO