Penne with Haricot Verts and Bacon

I'm pretty limited in terms of ingredients here in Dominica, especially with the little free time I have while in medical school. However, my goal for this semester is to cook dinner more often, no matter how simple and unimpressive it may be. Well, I went to Roseau (the main city in Dominica) yesterday. It's an hour away, so it's not too often I can give myself the chance to go there. On Saturday mornings, they have a huge outdoor market where tons of vendors sell their fresh fruits, veggies, and fish. I believe you have to get to the market SUPER early in the morning in order to score some fish, so I haven't had any luck with that yet. Anyways, I bought some onions and haricot verts. I would've liked to buy more fruits and veggies, but food spoils SO quickly here, so I didn't want to buy much more than that. I also had heavy groceries from the grocery store with me too.

So for dinner tonight, I made penne with haricot verts and fully-cooked bacon. Yes, bacon is VERY hard to come by here, so I had to bring a Costco package of fully-cooked bacon with me from home. I cooked the haricot verts and bacon in olive oil, salt, pepper, and red chili flakes. Overall, the pasta turned out surprisingly well. It was simple and healthy, minus the bacon part...but really, everything tastes so much better with bacon.

Sepia: Gabe's Pictures

Some of Gabe's pictures were way better than mine:


The baby octopus with tomato sauce and toasted baguette.


Gabe's skate wing(s) - you can see how large the portion was.


Our pistachio dessert. It felt like we were vertically slicing meat for a gyro.

The Violet Hour

I know this blog focuses on food, but I believe The Violet Hour, a speakeasy cocktail bar in Wicker Park, deserves a review. I actually ended up writing about it in my other personal blog, so please direct yourselves here. It's an amazing cocktail spot that I hope to go back to again and again. The head mixologist there came from Milk&Honey and Pegu Club in NYC, so he has great credentials. It's the perfect spot for a date or to catch up with a friend. I'm hoping I can come back every time I'm home in Chicago.

Sepia

As the last dinner of Gabe's visit, we went to Sepia, another contemporary American restaurant in Chicago. We had so many other options for our dinner date during his visit, but apparently a ton of restaurants close for vacation in the beginning of January, which was a bit of a disappointment. We ended up having to settle with Sepia, however I am not disappointed by that choice at all. My attention was caught when I came across their beautiful website. The music and design had a certain allure about it that screamed romantic but casual and hip at the same time.

Upon entering the door at Sepia, the atmosphere felt cool, hip, and elegant all at the same time. The lighting is very warm (very "sepia"), and they have beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It's ideal for a date or even a group of friends. Our waitress was very kind, attentive but not intrusive, and extremely knowledgeable. She described the dishes so well and even knew where exactly some of the fishes came from.


It seems like most people order a flatbread as one appetizer, but since Gabe and I went to Avec right before Sepia just to eat the chorizo-stuffed bacon-wrapped dates, we were no longer starving. We decided to try the charred baby octopus with a toasted baguette and tomato sauce. The portion was quite generous for octopus, and while it wasn't as amazing as Babbo's octopus appetizer, this one was also wonderfully prepared. It was not overcooked, and I loved the charred taste.


My entree was the roasted cod with spaghetti squash, wild boar sausage, and paprika sauce. There were also carrots and cauliflower. The paprika sauce was a bechamel sauce, but it was not too thick or heavy by any means. I had never tried cobia before, which is partly why I wanted to try this entree. Cobia is quite rich in texture and body, but does not taste fishy at all. It's pretty meaty and firm, so the strong flavors of the accompaniments complimented the fish well. The portion was very generous. In fact, I could only eat half of the entree, so I think Sepia is ideal for people with big appetites. Believe it or not, I think I actually enjoyed this more as leftovers haha. Gabe ordered the skate wing with braised collard greens and a grape-pine nut sauce, which I know he really enjoyed.


Our dessert was the pistachio ice cream with pistachio financier with dark chocolate sauce. This was a good way to cap off the meal, however the dessert didn't stand out to me either. I actually really liked the very firm texture of the ice cream, but the pistachio taste didn't come out as strongly as most of the pistachio ice creams and gelatos I've had.

My drink of the night was a French 75, which I believe is Sepia's most popular cocktail, as it was one of Time Out Chicago's best 100 things they tried in 2008. It was tart and very easy to drink. Sepia is also known for it's cocktails and mixology, but I'm happy I settled with a simple classic drink.

Overall, I think Sepia is a wonderful restaurant. For contemporary American, it has not reached the refinement and creativity of Blackbird, but I would say it's pretty solid. It has a great atmosphere and generous portions, so I give it lots of points for that. The food is more simple without being too simple, and the service is very good.

Blackbird Restaurant

My family and I went to Blackbird Restaurant last summer to celebrate my 23rd birthday, but for some reason, I never got around to writing about it. We returned on New Year's Day to take Gabe out, and I think this visit was slightly better than the first. Probably the one major difference was that we had an early 6pm reservation this time, and since it was New Year's Day, hardly anyone was out. When we got there, there was only 2 other people there, which felt strange since our summer visit was bustling with a full house. I actually enjoy the loud, hip atmosphere that Blackbird normally has, but eventually the restaurant started to fill up, so Gabe got a taste of the normal atmosphere there.


Our amuse was a scallop tartare with avocado, caviar, and a lobster chip. This was probably one of the best amuse bouches I have ever had. The scallop was fresh, and the avocado complimented it well.


We got two orders of the crispy veal sweetbreads with golden raisins, red cabbage, banana, and pumpkin seeds. They change the preparation frequently, but this one certainly did not fail. Blackbird really cooks the thymus gland to perfection, making it taste and feel like a chicken McNugget.


Our other appetizer was the crispy confit of swan creek suckling pig with trumpet royale mushrooms, toasted walnut consomme, and pomegranate confit. I really wish they gave a bigger portion of this appetizer, but either way, it's also an amazing appetizer. The walnut consomme blew all of us away, as there was a perfect blend of sweet and savory in it.


My dish was the crispy swan creek farm duck breast with smoked cauliflower, salsify, fried chocolate and lovage. The duck was absolutely cooked to perfection, and the fried chocolate was a nice and interesting touch. One thing I noticed is that the portions seemed a lot larger this time around. I don't know if it's because a lot of people have complained about the small portions or if it's because it wasn't a full house that night, but my whole family did notice the larger portions for the entrees.


Even though Gabe and I ordered the pear cider doughnuts for our dessert, I'd prefer to comment on the kalamata olive cake with honeycrisp apples, toffee, and buttermilk ice cream. Out of all the desserts I've tried at Blackbird over my last two visits, the kalamata olive cake is by far my favorite, so I'm not surprised that it has stayed on the menu. It's not too olive-y and still maintains a certain sweetness that makes it perfectly appropriate for dessert.

My drink of the night was a Pisco Bravo. I decided on that one since I've been curious to taste Pisco. I know there was egg white and I believe nutmeg in it, but I honestly don't remember what else. It was a fabulous cocktail, and I loved how the egg white added a frothy texture to it without being thick or heavy.

We ordered plenty of other things, but I decided to just comment on the things I really tried during this visit. Blackbird's menu changes frequently. While some of the main ingredients stay (i.e. duck, lamb, sweetbreads, etc), the accompaniments and preparation changes every season. This is definitely a good way to maintain frequent customers. The service is exceptional, the atmosphere is hip without being pretentious or too trendy, and the food truly remarkable and innovative. This is really a place for foodies and anyone who's willing to try creative food. My favorite in Chicago!