The best thing I ate today - 9/18

The best thing I ate today was the linguine with clam sauce that I made for dinner.  I don't think that I have ever made this dish before and it was simply delicious.  The clams were fresh and perfectly cooked, and the sauce was light and flavorful.  The prep work and cooking time for this were minimal.  Definitely need to bring this into our pasta repertoire.

The best thing I ate today - 9/17

The best thing I ate today was the lobster roll consumed at the 2nd wedding anniversary celebration dinner with my husband.  We dined at GT Fish & Oyster and enjoyed a degustation of delicious small plates from the sea.  The standout was their signature lobster roll:  meaty chunks of lobster, celery and lemon - lightly (that is right, just very lightly) dressed in mayo.  All served on a buttery browned roll.  I may be a NY gal living in the Midwest, but there is clearly something very New England about me at heart, as evidenced by my love of lobster rolls.

The best thing I ate today - 9/16

The best thing I ate today was a condiment.  Not because my menus for the day were so inadequate or mundane, but because this ketchup really was that good.  I was lunching with my dear friends and old bosses, Ben & Sam.  Being true Midwesterners, they insisted on ordering the fried cheese curds (which are new to this East coast gal).  They were good, but they ketchup that accompanied them was divine.  The flavor was an exact replica of a really good bloody mary.  Tomato, savory spices and a kick.  This redefines ketchup.  Let the condiment wars begin.

The best thing I ate today - 9/9

The best thing I ate today is an old favorite - the vanilla cinnamon caramel ice cream at Belly Shack.  This spot is known for their tasty sandwiches - and don't get me wrong, they are great (especially the Korean BBQ Beef).  However, the best kept secret at this place is their ice cream.  Creamy, smooth soft serve topped with a very generous ribbon of real, buttery caramel and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  The flavor combination is divine, and it was a delicious kickoff to celebrating my birthday weekend.  Dare I say this is the best ice cream in Chicago?

The best thing I ate today - Special Travel Edition: Eatily

Welcome to my first ever special edition post.  Through this post I hope to take you on a journey of some of the best things my husband and I ate on our trip to Italy.

Hiking From Enoteco to Trattoria

Mussels at Ciak

Tableside Presentation at Ciak

Our first stop was the Cinque Terre.  We stayed in Monterosso, but heavily explored each of the 5 towns from both culinary and sight-seeing standpoints. Now for the best thing I ate on the trip.... if I could be transported back to Cinque Terre for just one meal it would be the Mussels and Spaghetti & Ristorante Ciak.  The dish is cooked right on the stovetop in a large ceramic bowl, and the bowl is brought directly to the table while still piping hot.  I am a sucker for presentation and foodtainment so naturally my heart leapt when the waiter made a big deal of bringing the bowl to our table and filling up our dishes with mussels & pasta.  The mussels were divine, not a trace of fishiness or being overcooked (Chicago has to be about the worst town for mussels and I have been burned many, many times).  The sauce was a light red sauce that gently clung to the al dente pasta.  It had a unique flavor...I am guessing a touch of saffron?  Anyway, this was my best meal of the trip.

Cannoli at Il Pirata

Other noteworthy dishes included the Pesto Trofie.  This is a unique pasta shape indigenous to the CT region.  They resemble small, thin twists and do a nice job of clinging to the sauce while staying firm.  The Ligurian region is know for pesto, for good reason.  It is fresh, green and herbaceous - and contains far less oil than the pestos I have been served here at home. We also had a delicious arugula and prosciutto pizza from a place called Pizzeria Smorfia, which we nicknamed the Smurf Pizzeria.  Lastly, I had a tasty cannoli filled with silky, smooth ricotta cheese at a place called Il Pirata in Vernazza.  This restaurant is run by two very entertaining Sicilian brothers that I honestly thought were the same person until the end of the meal.  One of the brothers promised me that this would be "the-besta-desserta-of-your-lifa".  Not sure that it delivered on that, but it did open my eyes to a whole new way that ricotta cheese could/should be used in desserts instead of that crumbly, gritty stuff you get at home.

Before we leave the Cinque Terre, I would like to give a special shout-out to the B&B where we stayed, Locanda Il Mastrale.  This is a beautiful little inn that had recently been completely renovated and restored to authentic, rustic-chic Italian elegance.  The fresco on our bedroom ceiling was a nice touch, as was the delightful terrace where we enjoyed our breakfasts every morning.  They served a wonderful focaccia bread here, which is a specialty of the region.

Ferries & Formaggio
Our next stop was Lake Como where general eating falls a notch from Cinque Terra.  The options are largely tourist traps or very fine dining with little in between.  However, we managed to eek out a few blog-worthy spots.  There were two noteworthy meals.  The first was at a place called Barchetta.  This is a lovely little spot in downtown Bellagio that is perched up on a terrace overlooking the street.  It is filled with greenery and was really a little gem for ambiance.  The winning dish there was a special appetizer -  thick sliced ripe tomatoes paired with the creamiest bufala mozzarella you have ever tasted - basically a liquid version of mozzarella.  A little drizzle of olive oil made this perfecto.  The second noteworthy meal was at the restaurant at our hotel, the Albergo Silvio.  This was lakeside dining at it's finest and the tastiest dish award goes to the tiramisu we had for dessert.  It was a classically prepared tiramisu that was creamy in texture and complex in flavor.  This restaurant also gets extra points because of the cool handheld computer device the waiter used to take our order.

Homemade in Milan

Buongusto

Our last stop was Milan.  This was a bit of an audible for us, since we thought we would be taking in one meal there at best.  Since our itinerary was flexible, we were able to spend a full day there which meant TWO full meals for us.  They were some of the most delightful meals of the trip.  The culinary scene in Milan felt similar to NYC, lots of adorable little postage stamp-sized places with creative cookery.  Our first such stop was lunch at a place which we literally stumbled upon, Buongusto.  They make all of their pastas and sauces from scratch.  This was probably the best pasta (and when I say pasta I mean the pasta itself and not the sauce) of the trip.  They prepared a delicate yet firm homemade orecchiette for us with a bolognese sauce. You know, the kind of pasta you want to sink your teeth into, without it being too chewy. Here is a link to their site, http://www.buongusto.eu/   The second stop was a layup from the New York Times.  I am a sucker for the 36 hours in (insert location here) and the 36 hours in Milan article did not disappoint.  We stuck to the writers recos here and she knew her stuff. As we dined amongst our fellow NYT readers, and started with what can only be described as a strudel of caramelized onions with a cream sauce and balsamic drizzle.  We then went onto a pumpkin tortellini in a butter & sage sauce.  It was all out of this world, and by far the richest meal of the trip.  Here is the link:http://ristorantezuccaemelone.it/

Gelato Pops in Bellagio

Saving Room For Dessert
Know I know that some of your readers are saying to your selves, "Italy, but what about the gelato?" Have no fear, we did indeed save some room for dessert.  The gelato award goes to a little shop near the top of Bellagio that served us a dark chocolate-covered stracciatella gelato pop.  It was devine.  The dark chocolate was rich yet simple, and perfectly complemented by the creamy unassuming stracciatella. Other noteworthy frozen dessert degustations included a stop at a stand in Corniglia called Mar di Gelato.  The pastry chef recommended the yogurt to me, topped with honey and fresh lemon.  It was divine.  Over the course of the trip we also sampled excellent fig gelato, a new flavor for me.  Not to mention some excellent local lemon sorbet that was ridiculously creamy (how do they do this without dairy?).  On the last gelatation of the trip we stopped at a shop called San Bart's in Milan.  I went simple - the chocolate- and it was so rich and memorable that I still have the taste pleasantly lingering in my mouth as I write this.

The best thing I ate today - 9/6

The best thing I ate today was the Ensalada Azteca Salad that I had for lunch at the new Native Foods Cafe in Wicker Park.  They are trying to branch out of their vegan-loving stomping grounds and break into the overly carnivorous market of Chicago.  To do this profitably, they are going to need to source from outside their Vegan roots and attract those customers living on the second ring of this bullseye - people who enjoy health, fresh food and don't always need to eat meat when they go out.   I LOVED my salad.  It was interesting, fresh and delicious with little gems like avocado, jicama, pumpkin seeds, quinoa and a mango vinaigrette.  Challenge accepted and conquered.  Maybe next time I will try the seitan or native chicken...or not.

The best thing I ate today - 9/5

The win today goes to the dinner we made last night - pesto crusted tilapia.  Upon the return of our trip to Italy, I was inspired by all of the pesto in the Liguria region (stay tuned for my special edition culinary recap posting).  My husband previously was not a pesto lover and became a convert on this trip (Thank you G-d).  So, I had not made pesto in at least 5 years and was totally psyched to take out my Cuisinart and get started.  Not to mention the fact that my neighbors gave us free reign over their flourishing basil herb garden.  The result was delicious.  Perfectly broiled tilapia topped with fresh, herbaceous pesto.  I included a side garnish of roasted tomatoes for good measure and we enjoyed the dish with roasted potatoes and fresh herbs. Perfecto!