Krik's Picks

April was a busy month, with a lot of travel for work as well as personal. There was one week when I had meetings in DC through noon on Friday and then had to be back in DC the following Monday. So my wife and I made arrangements to meet in Chicago and visit our daughter, son-in-law, and baby grandson. Our grandson was born on December 31. At the time of our visit, our daughter had just returned to work after her maternity leave. She and her husband requested a special dinner for multiple reasons - to 'celebrate' her return to work, to sooth the emotional distress of returning to work, and this would be the first 'nice' dinner out with the baby. The venue they picked was Miramar Bistro . For all the years that our daughter has lived in Chicago, most of the restaurants we've been to have been in the city, very few suburban spots. But since they moved to the suburbs about a year ago, we've gradually gotten acquainted with some restaurants north of the city. With ...

My wife and I didn’t plan to have dinner on New Years Eve at Players Grill . In fact, we thought we'd be celebrating New Years with friends at their home in Wayzata, MN. But circumstances conspired to change our plans. Our daughter, who was due to deliver her first child on Jan. 5, called us on Wednesday evening, Dec. 30, to tell us that she was in labor and ... it was time to come! We were ready for bed, but being compulsive planners, we were already packed. So we threw our bags in the car and hit the road. It was 10:45 p.m. Our goal was to arrive in Chicago in time for the birth of our grandchild. Well, we didn't quite make it. Trey David was born at 4:58 a.m. on Dec. 31. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. So we found ourselves in Chicago (actually north Chicago suburbs) on New Years Eve. Our son-in-law's parents live there. We connected later in the day at the hospital and decided to have dinner together for New Years Eve. After driving all night, and with only a co...

We were in Chicago for Thanksgiving. My daughter and son-in-law requested dinner at Topolobampo . I've heard a lot about Rick Bayless and was curious about Topolo and his other restaurants, so we said 'Sure.' Ratings are on a scale of 1-5. Click here for my criteria for each rating. Food: 4 Service: 3 Ambiance: 4 Value: 3 First of all, to go there, you can't think of it as just Mexican food. This ain't your ordinary taqueria . The items on the menu are creative combinations of flavors intended to surprise and delight you. And the dining room where you enjoy these culinary creations is somewhat formal. You can dine in an informal setting at the Frontera Grill, located in the same space. But we were celebrating a special occasion, so we chose the more dressy, formal setting. So let me explain my ratings. which may seem unimpressive. Start with the food. Most of it was fabulous! We started with a trio of different ceviches (I'm not sure if the plural of ceviche is...

My son-in-law is working for a new restaurant in Chicago. It's called BenjYehuda Urban Street Food. The owner, who's name is Benji, was inspired by street food that's prepared in cities around the world, featuring fresh, locally grown ingredients prepared according to authentic local styles. BenjYehuda is modeled after the food stands on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem. So in the spirit of street food, the offerings at BenjYehuda are simple and straightforward. You can have falafel, chicken, or steak (shawarma). You can have it in a pita, wrapped in flat bread (laffa), or in a box - on lettuce as a salad or on rice as an entree. Then you can add any combination of toppings or side items. These include hummus, baba ganoush, tahini sauce, hot sauce, pickles, Jerusalem salad, corn salad, red cabbage salad, and carrot salad. You also can get a sampler consisting of three mini pitas, one of each entree with the toppings of your choice. My wife and daughter both had steak, in a b...

By Tovah Domenick When Peter and I decided to spend part of our holiday money on going out to a nice dinner, the possibilities were endless. Chicago is definitely a foodie's world and since it's rare that we treat ourselves to a nice dinner, we wanted it to be a memorable one. After much debate, we decided on Graham Elliot . Graham Elliot is a celebrity chef in Chicago and is known for being at the forefront of the molecular gastronomy trend at Avenues, the restaurant in The Peninsula hotel. Creating dishes such as fois gras coated in Pop Rocks, Elliot took fine dining to a whole new level – though the prix-fixe menus were out of reach for everyday people like us. In June Elliot opened his own restaurant, coining the term "bistronomic" for his new approach, blending everyday bistro ambiance with modern haute-cuisine. As we entered the restaurant we were greeted by friendly staff and an amazing smell, which turned out to be a bowl of juniper and rosem...

Our daughter ran the Chicago Marathon in October. This was the second time she ran it. She beat her first time, but she doesn’t run competitively. She’s one of the charity runners. She ran for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society . After she completed the run, she went back to her apartment to rest. Then we met her for a dinner to celebrate her accomplishment. Gibson’s Steakhouse is less than two blocks from her apartment, and she commented that she’d always wanted to eat there. So as my wife and I walked over to her place, and as we passed Gibson’s, we stopped in to see if we could get a table. “Sorry,” we were told. “No tables are available until after 9 p.m.” We didn’t think that would work for Tovah. After all, she’d just finished running 26.2 miles. We figured she’d want to eat early and go to bed. As we turned to leave, my wife thought to ask about the outdoor tables. “You’ll have to check outside,” was the answer. Well, we did check outside, and much to our delight, we d...

An overnight trip to Chicago provided me with an opportunity to have dinner with my daughter . It actually was the day after her one-year wedding anniversary. Regrettably, her husband had to work that evening, so he could not join us. As I considered where to eat, I thought about picking a place that I know my wife wouldn’t like. So I suggested sushi. A quick check in Open Table revealed that Tsunami is located less than a block from Tovah’s apartment. She likes sushi and was eager to try it, so I made the reservation. We had a 7 p.m. reservation on a Wednesday night. It wasn’t very busy when we arrived. Maybe it was because if was just after the Labor Day weekend. We were seated in the upstairs dining area near the bar. We liked the ambiance upstairs better than downstairs, although the dining area in the front of the restaurant leading out to the patio also had a nice atmosphere. Since I don’t eat sushi very often, I knew I’d need help, and our server was very ...

This is another guest post written by my daughter who lives in Chicago . Wednesday night Peter and I celebrated my birthday and we went to Il Mulino , that's an Italian place right down the street from our apartment and it was SO SO good! One of the best meals I have ever had! Right away when we sat down they had a plate of fried zucchini drizzled with chili oil. Then they brought out this huge chuck of super fresh and very tasty parmesan cheese and shaved off a piece for each of us. Then they brought a small plate with a couple pieces of Italian salami. Then they brought a bread basket with a variety of sliced breads, and another bread basket with two pieces of warm garlic toast. And THEN they brought us each a piece of bruchetta, which I didn't eat of course because too many tomatoes but Peter said they were great. And this was ALL before we even got our menus! The basic menu looked great but we both ordered from the specials menu, which had a ton ...

My sweet daughter sent me the following e-mail about a restaurant she and her husband went to in Chicago . I asked her if it was ok to put it on Krik’s Picks as a guest post. So here it is: Hi Dad! As a fellow foodie, I wanted to share with you the delicious meal Peter and I had last night! This week is Restaurant Week in Chicago and basically what that means is about 25 high end restaurants offer a special tasting menu this week and all menus are $31.95. It's really a great deal because I would say at every single one of these restaurants the average entree is $31 (or more) and with this deal you get 3-4 courses. So it was very hard to decide on a restaurant but we went with Café des Architects in the Hotel Sofitel. To start they brought out a basket of fresh breads with butter and a delicious tapenade. Our appetizers: I got a lobster-mango salad that was so nummy! It was a piece of lobster on a piece of mango and topped with some kind of creamy cheese. (The menu online says it...

On our recent trip to Chicago , we had lunch with our daughter at Heaven on 7 which boasts “Best Louisiana Cookin’ Outside of New Orleans .” That’s a pretty big boast, but it is a pretty good restaurant. We ate at the Rush Street restaurant on a Saturday afternoon while shopping. It’s a fairly large restaurant. Their web site says they have seating for 170. The room where we were lead had a wall filled with different brands of beer. On the table was a selection of 15-18 different kinds of hot sauce. Right next to us was a keyboard player singing solo blues music. I had a cheese omelet. It was very served with what they call breakfast potatoes. They were diced potatoes sautéed in oil with onions and peppers. The omelet was good, but not as good as the omelets served at Al’s Breakfast in Dinkytown (where my son works). In fact, there wasn’t anything really Louisiana about my meal but I had fun trying a couple of the different hot sauces on my egg and on the potatoes. ...

I’ve mentioned before that my daughter’s fiancée works for foodlife in Watertower Place in Chicago . When someone first describes it to you, your likely reaction will be: “Oh, it’s a fancy food court.” They’re actually a little sensitive about that. And to the extent that the term “food court” implies over-salted greasy fast food, they’re probably right to be sensitive. It’s actually a pretty interesting concept. foodlife consists of 13 stations, i.e. kitchens that prepare different kinds of food. When you enter foodlife, you’re taken to a table and you’re given a credit card. Then you wander around, see what’s being prepared at the different stations, and then select what looks good to you. After you’ve made your selection, the cook at the station swipes your credit card. After you’re all done with your meal, you exit past a cashier who swipes the card one more time and tells you now much you owe. I think the thing that makes foodlife work is the freshness of the food, the training ...