i have been online offering people ridiculous amounts of money for this:
dinner at Next in Chicago while they run their El Bulli menu.
dinner at Next in Chicago while they run their El Bulli menu.
day off tomorrow. getting a massage at 3pm, and boy do i need it. upper back has been feeling it lately. i hope the rain subsides a bit so i can get out and ride my bike. i'm sure it won't though.
pre birthday pizza party with the family tomorrow.
when i lived in CO my parents would ship me a deep dish pizza for my birthday, so we are continuing the tradition. sometime next week we'll go out for a fancy dinner. i'm thinking here: acadiachicago.com/
pre birthday pizza party with the family tomorrow.
when i lived in CO my parents would ship me a deep dish pizza for my birthday, so we are continuing the tradition. sometime next week we'll go out for a fancy dinner. i'm thinking here: acadiachicago.com/
The Promise Ring was awesome last night. seeing a band you love after 8 years is a wonderful thing, especially when they kill it, and especially when they play pretty much everything you want to hear. friends from Denver and New York came into town for it, which made the show that much more special.
i drank a little less than last week, and was smart enough to not start doing whiskey shots after drinking double digit beers. still was pretty hungover today though. slept it off with a good nap this afternoon before heading over to my sister's. two years ago we were all hanging at their house almost every night when Jillian was born, and this trend is continuing with the birth of Madilene.
i sure could use another day off, but that won't happen until wednesday.
i turn 30 on saturday, and unfortunately my goal of not living with my parents when i turn 30 will not be achieved. at least now its because i'm waiting for the purchase of my condo to go through and not because i'm completely broke. it still sucks big time though. i have to work that night because we have a banquet for like 300 people and i didn't want to ask for a third saturday in a row off.
i drank a little less than last week, and was smart enough to not start doing whiskey shots after drinking double digit beers. still was pretty hungover today though. slept it off with a good nap this afternoon before heading over to my sister's. two years ago we were all hanging at their house almost every night when Jillian was born, and this trend is continuing with the birth of Madilene.
i sure could use another day off, but that won't happen until wednesday.
i turn 30 on saturday, and unfortunately my goal of not living with my parents when i turn 30 will not be achieved. at least now its because i'm waiting for the purchase of my condo to go through and not because i'm completely broke. it still sucks big time though. i have to work that night because we have a banquet for like 300 people and i didn't want to ask for a third saturday in a row off.
sweet. picking up the bike i rescued (my dad's 30 year old schwinn road bike) from the shop today and over the next day and a half five to eight inches of snow. dammit.
my sister and brother in law welcomed their second baby girl into the world just a few minutes ago.
super busy night tonight. restaurant week is bringing in some outside business to the hotel and that is a good thing. it seems as though the events we've participated in over the last few months are slowly starting to pay off. restaurant week is a pretty good deal
our menu:
artisen greens, pommegranite seeds, persimmions, spiced pepitas, pommegranite vin
or
argurla and shaved fennel, truffeled cauliflower puree, duck confit, fuji apples
MAIN
smoked new york strip steak, braised beef cheeks, black barley, green goddess, salsify puree, anise reduction
or
seared fermented black bean crusted tuna, unagi, okinawa sweet potato puree, japanese eggplant, spiced black beans, king trumpet mushroom, wasabi
Dessert
Tres Leches cake, mexican cinnamon sugar cookies, horchata cream, churro crumbs, horchata ice cream, mexican chocolate
or
Opera Cake, layered chocolate cake and almond cream with purple meriangue, almond puree, spiked egg ice cream
not bad for $33.
the a la carte menu is also available which makes things tricky when we're busy, like tonight. trying to time out a proper tasting menu while constantly having to juggle everything else going on was a challange.
also the Exec sat me down for a chat in his office bascially telling me that he is, down the line, interested in promoting me to a Lead Line Cook position and he is expecting some good input from me when we start planning the spring menu. i have some ideas already, but have yet to try them out.
our menu:
artisen greens, pommegranite seeds, persimmions, spiced pepitas, pommegranite vin
or
argurla and shaved fennel, truffeled cauliflower puree, duck confit, fuji apples
MAIN
smoked new york strip steak, braised beef cheeks, black barley, green goddess, salsify puree, anise reduction
or
seared fermented black bean crusted tuna, unagi, okinawa sweet potato puree, japanese eggplant, spiced black beans, king trumpet mushroom, wasabi
Dessert
Tres Leches cake, mexican cinnamon sugar cookies, horchata cream, churro crumbs, horchata ice cream, mexican chocolate
or
Opera Cake, layered chocolate cake and almond cream with purple meriangue, almond puree, spiked egg ice cream
not bad for $33.
the a la carte menu is also available which makes things tricky when we're busy, like tonight. trying to time out a proper tasting menu while constantly having to juggle everything else going on was a challange.
also the Exec sat me down for a chat in his office bascially telling me that he is, down the line, interested in promoting me to a Lead Line Cook position and he is expecting some good input from me when we start planning the spring menu. i have some ideas already, but have yet to try them out.
had myself a time last night at the Silverstein show. my hotel turned out to be rigth across the street from the house of blues and was very nice.
rolled to the venue about 5pm and the line was fucking massive. lucky for me my pass was up at will call which was inside the venue, but getting the pass doesn't mean you're in yet, so there was still this issue of the line.
lucky for me the pass has those two great words on it "all access" so i slapped that puppy on my shirt and politely asked the security guard "i don't want to sound lke a jerk, but does this make it so i don't have to wait in that" she smiled and said "of course", so there i was cutting in front of everyone.
the live room at the HOB is pretty cool. beautifully decorated and has two balconies with private boxes on either side of the stage. I met Billy up there and we rolled back to their backstage room where we chilled on comfy couches, caught up, and drank beer. Chris, their former tour manager who lives in chicago now was there too. hadn't seen him in about seven years.
They played a great set, mixing up a lot of old hits and new rockers. some covers from the Short Songs record and played their 11 second blast See Ya Bill three times, each changing instruments each time. pretty fun. There was even a marriage proposal on stage that had been set up before . . . a boy and girl from Missouri that drove up for the show. she said yes!
Chris and i watched fromt he side of stage and then helped them break down and load up the trailer. more beer was consumed and then bill and i watched August Burns Red from the opera box with their wives. Bill was throwing ice at them their whole set. pretty funny.
we rolled out to Angels and Kings which is the bar owned by Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy where a booth and some bottles had been arranged. Bill, Kevin(ABR guitar tech/former Silverstein tour manager), and I did some Jameson shots to celebrate the fact that we all realized that we met 9 years ago on Silverstein's 3rd show in the USA ever. Shane and Josh rolled in a little later and we all had a rip rowring good time.
it was super fun, one of the best brodowns of the last few years, and i woke up terribly hungover.
rolled to the venue about 5pm and the line was fucking massive. lucky for me my pass was up at will call which was inside the venue, but getting the pass doesn't mean you're in yet, so there was still this issue of the line.
lucky for me the pass has those two great words on it "all access" so i slapped that puppy on my shirt and politely asked the security guard "i don't want to sound lke a jerk, but does this make it so i don't have to wait in that" she smiled and said "of course", so there i was cutting in front of everyone.
the live room at the HOB is pretty cool. beautifully decorated and has two balconies with private boxes on either side of the stage. I met Billy up there and we rolled back to their backstage room where we chilled on comfy couches, caught up, and drank beer. Chris, their former tour manager who lives in chicago now was there too. hadn't seen him in about seven years.
They played a great set, mixing up a lot of old hits and new rockers. some covers from the Short Songs record and played their 11 second blast See Ya Bill three times, each changing instruments each time. pretty fun. There was even a marriage proposal on stage that had been set up before . . . a boy and girl from Missouri that drove up for the show. she said yes!
Chris and i watched fromt he side of stage and then helped them break down and load up the trailer. more beer was consumed and then bill and i watched August Burns Red from the opera box with their wives. Bill was throwing ice at them their whole set. pretty funny.
we rolled out to Angels and Kings which is the bar owned by Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy where a booth and some bottles had been arranged. Bill, Kevin(ABR guitar tech/former Silverstein tour manager), and I did some Jameson shots to celebrate the fact that we all realized that we met 9 years ago on Silverstein's 3rd show in the USA ever. Shane and Josh rolled in a little later and we all had a rip rowring good time.
it was super fun, one of the best brodowns of the last few years, and i woke up terribly hungover.
so excited for a day off tomorrow and seeing Silverstein at the house of blues. haven't seen the dudes in a year or so and its probably the first time seeing them in chicago (as opposed to iowa city or colorado) since like 2003 or 2004 when they still played at Fireside. Always good to have a quality bro-down when friends roll through town.
Last night for Valentine's Day we ran a four course prix fix for the lover's and a la carte for guests of the hotel. The PF menu was no problem and we cruised through the 10 or so couples that dined with us. The two courses that I had a part in the options were split between my station and saute, and almost every table ordered one of each. that's pretty much a layup. The a la carte was a whole different animal. They left saute alone essentially the entiere night. My station was crushed the whole time. which, lucky for me, i thrive on. I love that shit. because i've worked hard over the years to get to the point where I know how to get through it. and when i do, the feeling walking out from the 100+ degree kitchen into the crisp chicago air feels all that much better.
