Hungry Hound @ Autre Monde

We are on at 2:18! Cool!

Playing at the Park

One Sister Underground

One Sister Underground

 

Quesadilla
bubble tea

Salad Sponge

Honeys, goat milk, homegrown

Tomatoes

manchego-edamame, nasturtium, spice cubes

blueberry tomato...what!!!

Hanging

Smoked watermelon, roe

Pierogi

Potato, truffle, homemade cheese

Shrimp Carpaccio

almonds, peaches, herbs

Your Hand

Oyster Centerpiece

Foraged items

Corn Chowder

encapsulated, clam, pork belly

Farm and Garden

Pork, veggies

1 Pill Makes You Larger and 1 Pill Makes You Small

Shrimp Scampi

noodle

Oatmeal Dashi

chia seeds

Hand-cut Pasta

duck, raspberry

Ice Cream Cone
bacon

Lamb Prosciutto

fennel, lemon, corned leg

Veal Cheeks

hot mustard, granola, cherries

Custard

zucchini, honey dew, banana pepper

Chocolate Balls

blueberries, eggs, gruyere

Our wonderful friends

Random Shots of the Night

 

A++ for being prepared

A little statement like—“the best dinner I’ve ever had!” That’s all it took for Mel to assemble a dinner date with some lucky friends (me!) and check out the place brought out that statement. It was like none other. This was an underground dinner. Not at a restaurant, but out of a chef’s own Chicago condo using an ordinary tiny Chicago kitchen. The chef is Iliana Regan, a 30 something year old farmer, forager and self taught chef. Sustainability is a huge part of her business and every bite displays her passion beautifully. Her food is bold unlike the quiet and reserved person that she appears to be. Somehow she is able to uniquely combine sweet and savory in a way that is simply perfection. I was impressed to say the least.

There were many surprises of the night—tiny blueberry tomatoes, hanging food, using our fists as plates, eating foraged mushrooms and berries from the Chicago woods…. For me, though, the biggest surprise of the Night was CORN HAIRS. Who knew that these hairs were so darn delicious!

Another best dinner with friends (how is this possible!)

Unforgettable!



Taste of Melrose Park

Wow, what a beautiful day!!  

We had perfect weather and decided to check out Taste of Melrose Park.  You probably can't read this sign....here are the last names of the officials sponsoring this event--Serpico, Abruzzo, Italia, Anquiano, Taconi, Mato and Prignano.  Yep, you guessed it.  This is the Italian-American annual festival.  It's only a few miles from us so I can't believe we haven't been yet.  (What kind of an Italian-American is Chris, huh!).  This was so much fun.  The most fun was the people watching.  At risk of offending, I won't go into the details.  Soprano-like...I'm just sayin'!  We watched some bocce with tempers flaring....this is serious people:-) Ate a fried bologna sandwich, braciole, lupinis, rootbeer float, clams and cannoli.  Then, the girls got to ride the carnival rides.  So fun!!! 

  

Mussels, Clams and a Baby

We finally had our new neighbors over for dinner (forgot to take a picture!). The basement sort of put us a bit behind. We had mussels and clams. ARose showed off again by trying to out eat the rest of us in the mussels department. The kids had a blast being silly and the aduts had a nice time with some cocktails and some adult talk. Really nice. And the girls could not get enough of the baby. He definitely had lots of kisses!!

A Berwyn Gem

Autre Monde - Café and Spirits

A few weeks ago Chris and I were taking a nice summer stroll after dinner with the kids to Gina’s Italian Ice (a little cup of Americana and gem!) when we stumbled upon a new restaurant.   A really cool looking restaurant with a really cool looking menu outside for us to peruse. How had we missed the buzz of a new restaurant opening so close by?! Diners sitting at the window tables had huge grins on their faces, beverages in the air saluting us and giving the place a big thumbs up. Awesome, and to be so close to us…in Berwyn of all places. Could this be the cultural shift we’ve waited for on Roosevelt?? Fingers crossed!

They describe themselves as a Mediterranean influenced restaurant similar to tapas type dining where the dishes are meant to be shared. They have a “farm to table” philosophy with its very own greenhouse to back the philosophy.

A couple of weeks ago we finally checked this place out with our good friends Rob and Kara.  My overall impression---Love the place and will definitely go back; great potential.

It had a casual feel, a mix of rustic/simple décor, the staff was eager and super friendly, the cocktails were excellent and the food was really, really good. Understandably, being a brand spanking new restaurant, they have a few little kinks to work out. For starters, they HAVE to lower the volume level with some panels or something to ease the sound. That’s my only true complaint. My voice was shot after leaving because I had to shout so much during the dinner. It was our waiter's 2nd day on the job so I will cut her a lot of slack. So what if we didn’t get our wine until close to the end of the meal! As for the food, the stars of the night were the grilled octopus and sardines. They were simply perfect. The other dishes were good but I think they need a little tweaking of the menu and the flavors…which will come with time no doubt.

This restaurant has only been open a couple of months and has gotten a ton of press. The night we were there the Hungry Hound was taping for a show (that guy has the best job e.v.e.r!!!). I’m keeping an eye out to see if our table made the cut! Given all of this press, a reservation is a must.

A Berwyn gem!!!