Ruminations, Haunts, and Errors

For the masses who probably don’t check my del.icio.us links with regularity…

• Giant Telescope Will Peek at Past
  I happen to know from seeing things in grad school that DARPA and individual military branches fund research all the time with essentially no strings attached. I suppose some trepidation over the source of funding isn’t completely unjustified, but might it come from a more general public misunderstanding of the value of pure research–investigations that aren’t targeted at any particular goal other than knowledge? Yes, I firmly believe that even the DoD sometimes acts without ulterior motives.
• How to fold a fitted sheet
  This has been an issue in Bartonia for years. And people say the Web is useless!
• ‘Sleeping on it’ best for complex decisions
• Little-known feline ailments
  Surprising that these are considered ‘little-known’, since any cat owner will have seen several of them after only a short while.
• Chicago Restaurants, Chicago Menus, Ratings, Reviews, IL Restaurants Guide
• Restaurant Place: The Restaurant Menu Directory (Chicago)
  Really, unless your restaurant (1) doesn’t a website (nowadays??) and/or (2) is always changing the menu, I think there’s no excuse for not having the menu available in a format like this. Ooh, how about RSS feeds for those spots with frequently changing menus? Knowing that restaurant X just got a fresh shipment of Y for tonight’s specials would help drive business from people like us who often find themselves indecisive on a Saturday night.
• The BEAST 50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2005
• Illinoize
  Especially being an election year, this site provides some interesting reading for Illinoisans who are either political junkies or who just want a view of what’s going on that’s less parochial than the local news outlets. Posts come from all corners of the political-cultural map, which can be a bit jarring or head-scratching but is probably a good thing overall.

A visit from Liz’s brother Chris provided a good excuse to finally get reservations for Green Zebra, which we’d talked about since it opened a few months back. It’s connection (via ownership) to Spring was immediate, from the design of the menus–both in terms of graphic design and food content–to the diagonal layout of most tables to the recessed wall illumination. The selections certainly spanned a broad range of cuisine styles, and having to hunt for the few non-vegetarian dishes on the menu was a bit novel. In place of Spring’s signature sushi starter, GZ brought out a tasty dollop of bean soup in a two-ounce shotglass. The portions were adequate but didn’t exactly provide a hearty meal; no matter, it’s a destination for snazzy presentations and unusual (exotic?) flavor combinations…all topped off with yummy desserts (mmm, persimmon cake!) and a full French-press pot of coffee. It’s location–amid some run-down storefronts–makes it a cab-in, cab-out spot for its intended yuppie clientele, so I’m not sure why it’s still so hard to get a reservation.

As the taxi glided down Ashland on a snowy evening, it occurred to me that Chicagoans owe the late Michael Bliandic a great favor. His ignonimous mishandling of the 1979 snowstorm that cost him the primary to Jane Byrne is now the stuff of political legend, yet the repurcussions have essentially guaranteed ever after that only the most massive blizzard will stymie the Streets & San fleet (and even that only for a day or two–ask Bobby Rush). Swirling flakes might temporarily blind pedestrians, but the main roads are completely passable. One wonders if that would be so had one ill-timed storm not brought down the protege of the Machine.

Anyway, the taxi was necessary to get over to the Theatre Building for a performance of The Santaland Diaries. For the most part the actor did a wonderful job with the material and the audience; however, I did feel that he spent a little too much of the show intoning as if he were reading for the radio, which is unnecessary when there are costumes, props, and gestures that can be used (and perhaps to better effect). The show itself is classic David Sedaris wit, and this commentary on being a Macy’s elf resonates with two special groups of Americans: those who have worked in a department store at Christmastime and those who may have been in a department store at Christmastime. Too bad they didn’t find a way to work a Marshall Field’s-Macy’s swipe into it, but perhaps that’s just a bit of (bitter) local chauvinism on my part.

Tonight we ventured out to Spring, a place we consider one of the gems of the Chicago restaurant scene. The place definitely stands out for its adventurous menu (with a number of clearly marked vegetarian options), good wine list, and upscale but not outrageous prices (definitely not a place to go every weekend). However, it doesn’t feel too pretentious, which is probably due mostly to the staff but is also helped by the somewhat incongruous patches of enamel-painted brick wall (think elementary school) and the slight whiff of seediness that remains in its surrounding Bucktown environs.

This was our second visit, and while we were both happy with the wine (a nice Piedmnot barbera d’alba) and the dessert–sour cream ice cream goes well with chocolate cake and candied beets!–perhaps our expectations for the entrees had been set too high from our first visit, as everything was very good but wasn’t a wow moment. Yet we noticed how the little touches really made it a good experience overall: lighting behind false half-walls that make the whole room seem to glow, confirming that Liz was vegetarian to ensure her receipt of an appropriate version of the appertif sushi, hot towels and shots of chile-laced hot chocolate to finish the evening.

Trolling the streets of the North Side on a Saturday afternoon is definitely an experience, especially a few days after a heavy snowfall…

• The line of cars with spent Christmas trees lashed to their roofs easily indicated the entrance of the Revere Park recycling location, but we were somewhat surprised that said line stretched almost the full quarter-mile west to California Ave! At least that showed a healthy interest in recycling–or was it just the prospect of receiving a year’s supply of Blue Bags? All those trees and wreaths sure did make a very large, very nice-smelling pile of mulch. And of course, being Chicago, the Fighting 47th’s very own Ald. Gene Schulter couldn’t pass up the opportunity to place large signs around the park indicating just who we could all thank for arranging this nice service.
• Left-turn lanes without left-turn signals seem just plain stupid. On a major thorougfare–Irving Park and California, say–what’s the point? Okay, maybe they help ease straight-through traffic somewhat, but I don’t know of any such intersection in the city with so little traffic that a left-turn signal wouldn’t help traffic flow.
• On that note, Fullterton-Damen-Elston has to rank among the most asinine intersections. The traffic engineers who set up the lanes and signal timings should be fired (or worse, if possible). There’s heavy traffic and funky angles, but the problems are exacerbated by the consecutive left-turn lanes (hmm, again no frickin’ left-turn signals!!) and the asymmetric green-light durations (at least when heading south on Elston). There always seem to be plenty of near misses, honking horns, and angry motorists. Prohibit left turns from Elston onto Damen and even out the light timings already!!
• That our section of N Greenview is not only one-way but also extra wide is quite an advantage when dealing with heavy snowfalls. Three days after the snow stopped it still hasn’t seen a plow, but the width allows a lot of sloppiness when trying to maneuver into a parking spot, and there’s plenty of room for cars to safely pass while skidding in or digging out. I feel sorry for those souls who have to drive and park on the narrower streets in the area–they’re difficult enough when there’s no snow!
• On Clybourn, I saw a car who’s owner only saw fit to clear the bare minimum of snow from the windows, leaving an 8-inch snowpack on the entire roof. I’ll admit to being on the anal side when it comes to clearing snow off my car, but leaving that much on top seems dangerous. Some wind or a sudden stop could easily send a huge chunk of that snow down a windshield–or onto a following vehicle–and reduce someone’s visiblity to nil. Given the potential hazard, I wonder if a cop could ticket a driver for leaving too much snow on the car. (Or, rather, would such a ticket hold up in court?)

As we sat down at The Outpost last night, the owner dropped off a little treat created by the new chef: a little container of popcorn drizzled with truffle oil, thyme, lavender, and some pepper. We were a bit incredulous at first…but wow, it was quite tasty! Even Liz thought it was yummy, and she’s not very big on popcorn.

Gotta love places that experiment like that…

To celebrate her birthday, the lovely Liz and I took a lakefront dinner cruise aboard the Odyssey. Trying to park in the Navy Pier garage was a big hassle, but overall the night was an enjoyable:

• Food: The appetizers were tasty and well-presened (although only one of the three was Liz-friendly). While my salad was adequate but uninspiring, Liz had a wonderful roasted-pepper-tomato bisque. My lobster ravioli was tasty but needed a little kick, and the vegetarian plate brough out for Liz seemed satisfying.
• Beverage: The cocktails were well-made (if a little smallish). Several good wines were on the menu.
• Ambience: Having a live band is always a plus, and while I’ve heard better they were in tune and knew what sort of tempo to hit for a dinner seating. I didn’t shell out the extra $50 to guarantee a window table, but it really didn’t matter since the dining area is small enough that no table is too far from a window–besides, the boat stays about a mile offshore so the window tables don’t really provide much of an advantage in viewing. And, oh, what a view! The Chicago skyline is fantastic at night–I think the variation in shape, height, and style of the buildings is part of what makes it so fascinating to look at–and the boat parked with a wondeful view of the Navy Pier fireworks.

Mmm, dinner at Feast tonight, another one of our faves. Definitely a recommended spot when in Bucktown. They always have some dishes with wonderfully eclectic combinations of styles and flavors; while these don’t always work out well, when they do it’s quite a treat. It’s also a restaurant that remembers nice presentation…even Liz’s plate of black bean ravioli had some swirls and drizzles to jazz it up a bit!

I was too full to try the garlic ice cream when I was at the Stinking Rose in San Francisco in May, but when offered basil ice cream at Three Degrees in Portland I felt I had to try it. Very interesting, and surprisingly tasty! Imaging eating vanilla ice cream with a large bag of fresh basil on the table next to you. The strong, gourmet vanilla flavor likely helped a lot, I think the basil aroma would have overwhelmed soft-serve. An entertaining twist on dessert if you’re feeling adventurous.

Mmm, dinner last night at Rose Angelis. Fantastic! If you’re in Chicago and haven’t eaten there yet, you simply must try. The bruschetta and bread pudding are absolutely wonderful…a meal could be made from them alone! Gotta love a place where even the dessert results in leftovers.