Wyatt and I spent the weekend in Chicago. It was a weekend filled with food and visiting with our aunt and her friend who flew in for the weekend! On Friday we drove up and checked into our Air BnB. After we got settled, we walked to Thalia Hall to see a live show from the guys of the Football Ramble Daily Podcast. Though approximately 95% of the football references and information went right over my head, this was still such a fun show and I'm glad that Wyatt got to see it. After the show we ubered to avec to meet up with Tia and Martha. We shared some really delicious food there! We ordered the brussels sprouts panzanella, the charred beet salad (which I really liked and I typically DO NOT like beets), the lemon bucantini pasta, the chorizo-stuffed medjool dates, and the whole branzino. We also got the caramel cashew squares for dessert. It was all fantastic and the restaurant is this cute little space. We highly recommend stopping by if you're in the city!
On Saturday we met Tia for breakfast at the Little Goat Diner. It was an adorably modern take on an old school diner. I got the Spanish omelette and I'm still dreaming about it. It had cheese and pickled peppers in it and was topped with the most delicious masa chips and salsa. Yum! After breakfast we walked over to Millennium Park to show Tia the Bean and then made our way to the Chicago Institute of Art. It was cold but bright and sunny! We got to see the Andy Warhol special exhibit, the Impressionist exhibit (my fave) and a photography exhibit before calling it an day at the museum. We went back to our Air BnB to freshen up and change for dinner after grabbing a quick lunch at Shake Shack.
After we freshened up, we met Tia and Martha at their hotel downtown and went to Alinea, the reason for our weekend meet up! We had reservations in the Salon and what a treat it was. If you are a foodie and have Netflix, we definitely recommend watching the episode on Chef's Table about Grant Achatz, the chef and restaurateur who created Alinea. It's an amazing episode. We had so many great things, but my favorite of the night was probably either the osetra with blood orange and heart of palm foam or the ribeye. Or maybe the prawn soup that we drank from the shell dish. It was all so good that it's hard to choose a favorite. The dessert was also such a fun treat. They roll out a special cover on your table and have you all sit on one side. Then they created a work of art with various different components. The toasted jasmine ice cream was my favorite part of that course. And after they create that masterpiece on your table and leave you with spoons to eat it, they present you with an edible balloon filled with helium. You kiss the balloon and suck the helium out and then eat the taffy and apple. What an amazing experience that we are so thrilled and lucky to have been able to take in with Tia!
On Sunday, we picked Tia up and went to Owen and Engine for brunch. It was the cutest British pub. After brunch, we took Tia back to her hotel and started home very full and content after a wonderful weekend! We can't wait to be able to meet up and spend more time with Tia again!
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