WARNING: this will be a long post...
Last night I had my first of an annual Valentine's event with one of my best friends, Libby. We are two poor art college graduates that decided to save up money and pretend, just for one night, that we could afford anything. It all started with us checking into the Waldorf Astoria in Chicago.
No, I did not pay the $600 to stay there that night. My mother is a travel agent that sells high end hotel stays. She scheduled a tour and a night's stay so we could join her. Here we are exploring the things we would never be able to afford... like a television built into your bathroom mirror so you can still enjoy watching your show in every room, but you can still make it disappear when you want.
And seeing what the hotel offers (including really comfortable beds
)
When we had finished getting ready for the night and we had our fill of searching the pretty things in the hotel, we decided to go check out something else pretty down the street. Our next stop was Bentley Gold Coast where our friend happens to work. We were allowed to search around the private area upstairs and see some amazing cars.
We said hi and hung out for a little while before when went back to the hotel to start the next part of the adventure. My parents had just come back from sightseeing in Chicago (which is always fun, even though we've lived here forever...) to say hi and send us of to the restaurant.
The hotel called us a cab and we went to the other side of town to spend the rest of the evening eating dinner. Yes, Moto has fifteen courses for a dinner lasting five hours. When we first looked down at course number one, we thought we were going to be starving the entire time. We were very mistaken. I guess the ten glasses of wine helped fill us up! If you've never heard of Moto, you should check it out. They are featured in the Museum of Science and Industry for their innovative ways to use science in the kitchen. The owner of the restaurant was on Iron Chef and two of his employees were on Top Chef. I'm not going to explain all the dishes partly because I think I would bore you, and partly because I don't have a good enough memory to recount it correctly... but here are some fun pictures!
First course: Spring roll menu
This fun little number had an edible roll laid out with the menu printed on it. You just filled it with the ingredients, wrapped it up, and dipped it in the sauce.
Second course: Crudite (vegetables)
Third course: Blackout (fish)
Fourth course: Nose to tail
It featured the different sections of a pig and how they could be prepared. Nicely set up so you could eat it, literally, from nose to tail. The long object in the middle of the plate was a shot of a pineapple mixed drink to add to the flavors. You just had to squirt it into your mouth!
Fifth course: Gazpacho
This was by far my favorite. I usually am only able to eat white meat at home because some of my family are partial vegetarians. So the rabbit was something I was just dying for. Also, one of my favorite combinations is paring grapes with meats and cheeses, and that is exactly what they did. The grapes were all prepared differently and it was in a soup. Party in my mouth!!
Sixth course: Kentucky Fried Pasta (play on KFC)
Seventh course: Cigar Tasting
The presentation was very fun at this course. There were three plays on classic sandwiches. They presented them in a dish made to look like an ash tray. And brought over something freeze dried that they got to smoke and scooped some out into the middle of our dishes. It really look like smoke and ashes. But it tasted ohhhh so much better!
Eighth course: Forest Foraging (quail egg and mushrooms)
Nineth course: Cassoulet
I don't even remember much about this one. It was my Libby's least favorite. The salt was overpowering the other flavors and the only way I could eat it was if I took enough of the rosemary leaves off to add to the bites. I did think it was very cute though. I suppose it was meant to look like a newly bought tree before you plant it in the ground.
Tenth course: Tongue and Cheek
Here is where Libby found her favorite dish of the night. She said she's always been afraid of trying cheek because of how fatty it is, but now she is ready to go home and make it herself. I simply melted in your mouth... I apologize for the late picture taking. We had already ate the tongue at this point, but it wasn't much worth mentioning anyway.
Eleventh course: Egg Drop Soup (first dessert)
Twelfth course: Marshmallow and Apple
This is a play on s'mores. The brought out the marshmallows covered with what looked like a fish bowl and smoke filling the insides. It was there to let the smokey flavor sink in. Really reminded me of a campfire, which I love.
Thirteenth course: Elvis Circa 1974
Here was my least favorite of the night. Really, I would have liked this much more if it had an apposing flavor. But the dish was so strong of nuts and peanut butter, that it was hard to eat something so heavy toward the end of the meal... It was an ice cream dish with a picture of Elvis printed on top.
Fourteenth course: Chocolate and Truffle (caramel filled chocolate cake)
Fifteenth course: Acme Bombs
This course came along with the previous course, probably because it was just one bite and the final bite we would take. They took a small lighter blow torch and lit the edilbe fuse. Sadly, it did not explode, but it was a little ice cream filled chocolate shell. Think dubs, but amazing.
Throughout the night we had a full progression of paring wines to share with our food. Some worked very well, and some were, shall we say, interesting. I don't drink alcohol ever, so this special occasion was a lot for me. The glasses on my side started filling up the table because I wasn't finishing them. Especially the red wines. But I still loved being able to sample them. And when the dessert wine and sherry came out, I was very happy to consume.
This is the list that they gave to us:
-dalamotte, les mesnil sur oger, brut
-malvira, treuve, langhe 2004
-riesling spatlese, rudesheim berg rottland, balthasar ress, rheingau 1996
-robert sinskey vineyards, pinot gris, los carneros 2010
-brick house, gamay noir, ribbon ridge 2010
-bodega nqn, malma, malbec, patagonia 2007
-beaune 1er cru, clos des mouches, dom. berthelemot 2007
-turner pageot, le rouge, languedoc 2010
-grammercy cellars, cabernet sauvignon, colmbia valley 2008
-la spinetta, biancospino, moscato d'asti 2011
-lustau, san emilio solera reserva, pedro ximenez, jerez
Over all I was extremely happy with the night, my company, the experience of flavors, the beautiful visuals, and the theatrics of it all. If any of you don't know this about me, you may be surprised to hear. I don't much like food. I don't like having to eat. I don't like preparing it (except maybe to make it look pretty). I don't know much about the intricacies. But I love experience. I love high quality and experiencing different tastes all the time, even if I don't much like the taste. So I guess I'm a bit different than most people. I don't much enjoy low quality food simply because it's not really worth tasting. I tend to forget to eat all the time. Especially if I'm into a project. And I almost always eat to live and not live to eat. It is a rare moment when I'm full, and last night was one of those nights. My tummy was very happy...
The one thing I was sad about was that Libby was planning on pretending to propose to me, but she forgot the ring...
Oh well, maybe next year!!
After they allowed us to tour the kitchen and meet the chefs, we traveled back to the hotel. Our five hours were up, but we were content (and very sleepy). We met back up with my mom and enjoyed our stay for the evening.
I must say, overall a fantastic experience. But one that I would only be able to handle on very special occasions. It's nice to pretend to have money for a night, but I would never like to live that life. I like my simple things, my camping, my broken things that I creatively fix instead of buying something new, my small parties with close friends, my laid back adventures to the beach, my car that keeps trying to die and I keep bringing it back to life, my phone that lasts for very many years past the two year package... But I certainly can't turn down one night of a $700 dinner. Libby paid, but no worries, I bought her a very nice gps in exchage.
Last night I had my first of an annual Valentine's event with one of my best friends, Libby. We are two poor art college graduates that decided to save up money and pretend, just for one night, that we could afford anything. It all started with us checking into the Waldorf Astoria in Chicago.
No, I did not pay the $600 to stay there that night. My mother is a travel agent that sells high end hotel stays. She scheduled a tour and a night's stay so we could join her. Here we are exploring the things we would never be able to afford... like a television built into your bathroom mirror so you can still enjoy watching your show in every room, but you can still make it disappear when you want.
And seeing what the hotel offers (including really comfortable beds
) When we had finished getting ready for the night and we had our fill of searching the pretty things in the hotel, we decided to go check out something else pretty down the street. Our next stop was Bentley Gold Coast where our friend happens to work. We were allowed to search around the private area upstairs and see some amazing cars.
We said hi and hung out for a little while before when went back to the hotel to start the next part of the adventure. My parents had just come back from sightseeing in Chicago (which is always fun, even though we've lived here forever...) to say hi and send us of to the restaurant.
The hotel called us a cab and we went to the other side of town to spend the rest of the evening eating dinner. Yes, Moto has fifteen courses for a dinner lasting five hours. When we first looked down at course number one, we thought we were going to be starving the entire time. We were very mistaken. I guess the ten glasses of wine helped fill us up! If you've never heard of Moto, you should check it out. They are featured in the Museum of Science and Industry for their innovative ways to use science in the kitchen. The owner of the restaurant was on Iron Chef and two of his employees were on Top Chef. I'm not going to explain all the dishes partly because I think I would bore you, and partly because I don't have a good enough memory to recount it correctly... but here are some fun pictures!
First course: Spring roll menu
This fun little number had an edible roll laid out with the menu printed on it. You just filled it with the ingredients, wrapped it up, and dipped it in the sauce.
Second course: Crudite (vegetables)
Third course: Blackout (fish)
Fourth course: Nose to tail
It featured the different sections of a pig and how they could be prepared. Nicely set up so you could eat it, literally, from nose to tail. The long object in the middle of the plate was a shot of a pineapple mixed drink to add to the flavors. You just had to squirt it into your mouth!
Fifth course: Gazpacho
This was by far my favorite. I usually am only able to eat white meat at home because some of my family are partial vegetarians. So the rabbit was something I was just dying for. Also, one of my favorite combinations is paring grapes with meats and cheeses, and that is exactly what they did. The grapes were all prepared differently and it was in a soup. Party in my mouth!!
Sixth course: Kentucky Fried Pasta (play on KFC)
Seventh course: Cigar Tasting
The presentation was very fun at this course. There were three plays on classic sandwiches. They presented them in a dish made to look like an ash tray. And brought over something freeze dried that they got to smoke and scooped some out into the middle of our dishes. It really look like smoke and ashes. But it tasted ohhhh so much better!
Eighth course: Forest Foraging (quail egg and mushrooms)
Nineth course: Cassoulet
I don't even remember much about this one. It was my Libby's least favorite. The salt was overpowering the other flavors and the only way I could eat it was if I took enough of the rosemary leaves off to add to the bites. I did think it was very cute though. I suppose it was meant to look like a newly bought tree before you plant it in the ground.
Tenth course: Tongue and Cheek
Here is where Libby found her favorite dish of the night. She said she's always been afraid of trying cheek because of how fatty it is, but now she is ready to go home and make it herself. I simply melted in your mouth... I apologize for the late picture taking. We had already ate the tongue at this point, but it wasn't much worth mentioning anyway.
Eleventh course: Egg Drop Soup (first dessert)
Twelfth course: Marshmallow and Apple
This is a play on s'mores. The brought out the marshmallows covered with what looked like a fish bowl and smoke filling the insides. It was there to let the smokey flavor sink in. Really reminded me of a campfire, which I love.
Thirteenth course: Elvis Circa 1974
Here was my least favorite of the night. Really, I would have liked this much more if it had an apposing flavor. But the dish was so strong of nuts and peanut butter, that it was hard to eat something so heavy toward the end of the meal... It was an ice cream dish with a picture of Elvis printed on top.
Fourteenth course: Chocolate and Truffle (caramel filled chocolate cake)
Fifteenth course: Acme Bombs
This course came along with the previous course, probably because it was just one bite and the final bite we would take. They took a small lighter blow torch and lit the edilbe fuse. Sadly, it did not explode, but it was a little ice cream filled chocolate shell. Think dubs, but amazing.
Throughout the night we had a full progression of paring wines to share with our food. Some worked very well, and some were, shall we say, interesting. I don't drink alcohol ever, so this special occasion was a lot for me. The glasses on my side started filling up the table because I wasn't finishing them. Especially the red wines. But I still loved being able to sample them. And when the dessert wine and sherry came out, I was very happy to consume.
This is the list that they gave to us:
-dalamotte, les mesnil sur oger, brut
-malvira, treuve, langhe 2004
-riesling spatlese, rudesheim berg rottland, balthasar ress, rheingau 1996
-robert sinskey vineyards, pinot gris, los carneros 2010
-brick house, gamay noir, ribbon ridge 2010
-bodega nqn, malma, malbec, patagonia 2007
-beaune 1er cru, clos des mouches, dom. berthelemot 2007
-turner pageot, le rouge, languedoc 2010
-grammercy cellars, cabernet sauvignon, colmbia valley 2008
-la spinetta, biancospino, moscato d'asti 2011
-lustau, san emilio solera reserva, pedro ximenez, jerez
Over all I was extremely happy with the night, my company, the experience of flavors, the beautiful visuals, and the theatrics of it all. If any of you don't know this about me, you may be surprised to hear. I don't much like food. I don't like having to eat. I don't like preparing it (except maybe to make it look pretty). I don't know much about the intricacies. But I love experience. I love high quality and experiencing different tastes all the time, even if I don't much like the taste. So I guess I'm a bit different than most people. I don't much enjoy low quality food simply because it's not really worth tasting. I tend to forget to eat all the time. Especially if I'm into a project. And I almost always eat to live and not live to eat. It is a rare moment when I'm full, and last night was one of those nights. My tummy was very happy...
The one thing I was sad about was that Libby was planning on pretending to propose to me, but she forgot the ring...
Oh well, maybe next year!! After they allowed us to tour the kitchen and meet the chefs, we traveled back to the hotel. Our five hours were up, but we were content (and very sleepy). We met back up with my mom and enjoyed our stay for the evening.
I must say, overall a fantastic experience. But one that I would only be able to handle on very special occasions. It's nice to pretend to have money for a night, but I would never like to live that life. I like my simple things, my camping, my broken things that I creatively fix instead of buying something new, my small parties with close friends, my laid back adventures to the beach, my car that keeps trying to die and I keep bringing it back to life, my phone that lasts for very many years past the two year package... But I certainly can't turn down one night of a $700 dinner. Libby paid, but no worries, I bought her a very nice gps in exchage.
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But ya never know.