A Night Out!

Friday night was a gourmet grilled cheese from a GrilledCheese Academy Recipe (The Sergeant Pepper), but we were so hungry we forgot pictures until we were done eating…sorry folks.  We also made some apple chips but the recipe needs a little tweaking, or maybe I just need to follow the recipe and put them on parchment paper instead of foil, more on that later. 

However, last night we stepped out of our kitchen and into the big wide world!  We went to see “Aftermath” a production based on The Rolling Stones (Signal Ensemble in Chicago), it is an excellent production.  I am a little biased since I worked on it but Wookiee liked it too so there you go!

Before the show we went to grab dinner at a place the stage manager recommended, Cafe 28, a Cuban restaurant near Irving Park and Lincoln.  The atmosphere was cozy with rich colors and just a touch of holiday flare already with simple paper snowflakes on the walls.  Immediately after we were seated we received a bread basket with sliced baguette and a seasoned, whipped butter that had a sweet/smoky flavor.  I ordered a Havana Punch, a rum based, fruity and delicious drink, though dangerous since I am told that it’s more alcohol than mixer but it did not taste like it, it was garnished with some crisp apple pieces.   Wookiee had a Pisco Sour, which hopefully he will explain in more detail in his next post, it was mostly a grape based South American liquor similar to brandy.

We ordered the Calamar a la Parrilla, a calamari starter, this was not a typical calamari fritti but lightly grilled (perhaps a little over done), the rings were very thick sliced and meaty and the baby squids (as I like to call them) were just a little crispy at the end of the tentacles.  It was served over a sweet roasted red pepper sauce with some sort of pesto, roasted vegetables and a smooth goat cheese topping the dish.  The goat cheese complimented the rest of the dish perfectly and really made it wonderful, the smooth texture with the chewy calamari was really nice.  The sauce was understated and allowed the flavor of the squid to come out more.

For dinner I ordered the Ropa Vieja, slow cooked flank steak with white rice, black beans and sweet plantains.  The plantains were easily my favorite part of this dish, not remotely starchy but sweet and tart with a slightly crisp exterior, they were PERFECT and I wanted more (there were 4 on the plate so that’s not a complaint about the dish, just me being greedy).  The beans and rice were also cooked perfectly, I have little else to say about them except that they were a great compliment to the steak and the plantains.  Finally, the steak, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  There was nothing wrong with it, it was moist and tender and cooked well but there was also nothing exceptional about it.  I should preface this with saying that I had never had Ropa Vieja and do not know what it SHOULD taste like but I was not excited by this dish.  Wookiee and I agreed that it would be better with a little more of a kick to it.  I also felt that it would have been perfect on a toasted roll instead of on the plate.  I am going to emphasize again, I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SOUTH AMERICAN COOKING and I liked everything I ate there and would recommend Café 28 without reservations to anyone in the area.  It was reasonably priced, the staff were helpful, chatty, pleasant, and the experience was everything I had hoped for, but I am instinctively critical of food and those were my thoughts.  Our server recommended a wine which I can’t remember the name of for the life of me but it was really tasty: deep, earthy, and spicy, really great for South American comfort food.

That's the lamb in the foreground, the Ropa Veija in the background, that orange bit you see is the plantain, behind the plate is me!  Obviously we again were really hungry and didn't get great pictures of everything until after we started. 

Wookiee ordered the special entrée of the evening, a grilled lamb chop with potatoes and steamed tomatoes.  I'll let him describe it in more detail when he gets home from work.  We did not end up having dessert there since we were getting close to show time but after the show we went to a jazz bar in the area called, I think, Katarina’s.  I was not thrilled with this particular place, the live jazz was nice but it just wasn't really my first choice.  I had a cosmo, it was okay, a little bitter but good.  We ordered a pear custard cake that was exactly what I was thinking for dessert.  It had a warm, melty interior with soft pears and a light cinnamon flavor, nothing outstanding but more comfort food.  One disappointing thing was a $10 cover for each of us and a $30 bill for 2 drinks and one dessert, just seemed a little steep for mediocre service, food, and music.  Again, nothing BAD here but not a $50 evening. 

Those are my thoughts, tonight Wookiee has thoughts about what he wants to make and I was asked to make sure we have lettuce, I have NO idea what he is thinking but I guess I'll find out soon!