No longer blogging here- go to Vox instead. My photos remain on Picasa.

http://pechluck.vox.com/

I've always been a fan of Bin 36, not so much for their food (in the cellar), but for wine flights, cheese, and appetizers. Recently they opened up another place right below them A Mano which aspires to an Italian trattoria and focus on the meats and authentic Italian rather then the wines + cheeses- I guess it's the younger brother. Besides the good selection of cured meats, A Mano's food are light bites of pasta, pizzas, and panini, and they do more substantial entrees for dinner. A Mano has wine by the glass and bottle, not flights, and the menu doesn't describe them as enthusiastically as the sister restaurant.

I went to both recently, and I still prefer Bin 36 for a more casual spot if I'm looking for a place to chat and have a drink and a bite, not a whole dinner because I think you can do better for a real meal, despite the more impressive entrees at A Mano. The salumi at A Mano are indeed excellent, but I was not that impressed by the pastas that everyone else has been raving about. When I had the Pumpkin Ravioli with brown butter, black walnuts, brussels sprout leaves, and Pecorino Gran Cru, I found it only so so. I expected the filling to have had more flavor, they needed to season it for punch- otherwise this dish admittedly was otherwise prepared well. The Risotto Valpolicella with wild mushrooms and Taleggio cheese was a tad salty, and although the mushrooms were good, I didn't like that they were so large. If it had been some sort of meat, I would have been fine with the size, but if there are veggies in the risotto, I want them a size that doesn't require a knife. The Gnocchetti with sweet butter and Parmigiano Reggiano was light and fluffy and melt in your mouth, but were not the best gnocchi I've ever had (A Tavola still has that honor). It was subtle and sweet, yet missing something to take it to the next level.

At A Mano, the antipasto of salumi I selected was Culatello – “Little Rump” Ham. I was disappointed they didn't have the one I wanted to try the first time I was there, the Mole Salami which would have been spiced- they were sold out! However, they did have it on a Sunday evening, and both meats were smooth and super tasty. The other antipasto was Baby Dandelion Greens, Roasted Peppers, Capra Honey Goat Cheese, Lemon Vinaigrette, was a mix: the goat cheese was really good. The greens however, had too much vinaigrette and it soured the mini-salad. Also, I tried the gelato/sorbetto offerings. I was able to select from half a dozen different flavors, and I chose the orange prosecco (which was disappointing), mascarpone (just for balance), and hazelnut chocolate (which was the best of the bunch). Surprising, the best dish of the night was the entree (only available at dinner- everything else you can get at lunch as well) of “Black Pig”- or at least that's how it rang up on the check! This is the entree of Slow Roasted "Black Pig Chop," Braised Apples & Endive. This chop is HUGE- you can see it is more than an inch think, width wise it is probably 5 inches and length wise 7 inches. Burstingly juicy with a good balance of meat and a hint of fat (even if not full of flavor, look at all that juice it waits so soak up at the bottom of the platter), I could taste the complexity and traces of bacon. I was sorry I could only eat 1/4 of this monster. Some old lady even came up to hug me because she saw me facing this thing on my own, and later came up to check on me to see how I progressed. This is the best pork chop I have ever had, and at $24 it is priced right, assuming you are willing to spend $24 on just an entree (hey, it is like 3 meals, cuz you will take some of this baby home). Service the first time I went (for lunch) was painfully slow for no reason. The second time I was waited by the person at the bar (despite being at a table just on the other side where the two waitresses were working) and she was wonderful after I was left waiting a while for water and a menu at first. I should note that I went on two off times (Mon lunch, Sun dinner) so I could see them chatting with each other as they worked in the open kitchen. To sum it up, the highlights of A Mano was... an appetizer of meat and an entree of meat for $8 + $24. HA ha, see it is the brother restaurant!!

On the other hand, despite the poor service at Bin 36 for lunch (one guy seemed to be waiting on the whole section and I sadly ate all the breadsticks on the table while waiting, and the breadsticks aren't even that good!), I really felt it met my expecations better. The cheese plate below was incredible. My self-selected cheese flight consisted of for sheep a Brin D'Amour, Chantal Plasse, Corsica, France (”Smothered with herbs, this cheese is a chef's favorite. Maybe it's the rich, pizza-like flavor?“ It totally was my favorite cheese too, it had so much complex flavor!), a goat cheese which was ok but not memorable, and for cow the Burrata, Puglia, Italy (“This one is only delivered twice a month, so when we have it, get it! Mozzarella-like on the outside with plenty of sweet cream curds on the inside”. Out of 3 visits to the place, this is only the first time I was able to get it, which probably built my expectations too high- it got the mozz down but I thought it would be sweeter.) To compliment my Chardonnay flight, I ordered Duo of Crepes, mixed greens, sherry vinaigrette . The brown one is the porcini with wood grilled mushrooms, gruyere and lemon creme fraiche , very earthy, while the yellow crepe is the chive with truffled potato confit, marissa cheese, white truffle butter. It was light and delicious, I wish I could have had more of it.

Steven was hungry, and I could eat, so this past Sunday I agreed to go with him to the Bolingbrook area (near the Ikea) to have lunch at Johnny Rocket's. As we turned down the street and drove past Meier though, and I was looking at the new buildings and stores amazed how they had popped up so quickly, Steven's voice pierced the car. "Is that a Famous Dave's???" followed by my excited squeaky female voice of "Is it open?" Steven sees a banner which says "We Are Open!" and quickly pulls in. I worry why the parking lot hardly has any cars, and why there is a car parked near the front door with 2 people hugging a 3rd right outside the car like they are never going to see each other again. He pulls in and I read the door: "Take out entrance. Ooo, it opens 11am on Sunday". The clock says 11:07. He pulls around and parks by the front door.

I think we are the only people in the restaurant who are eating. There's like, 20 waitstaff walking around, and 5 just to greet us by the door. Famous Dave's: at first, Steven wanted to order the “All-American BBQ Feast" (serves 4-5) which consists of a full slab of spareribs, a whole chicken, ½ pound of either Texas beef brisket or Georgia chopped pork, coleslaw, Famous Fries, Wilbur Beans, four corn bread muffins and four corn-on-the-cob. When I said no way!, Steven said “?? why??“ and I said “it's for 4-5 people! There's 2 of us!“ and Steven said “... why?“. We finally negotiated down to the ”Feast for Two" (serves 2-3) which is a half portion of the All-American BBQ Feast, and we went for the chopped pork instead of beef brisket.

I think we impressed our waiter because yes, we did finish it. Feast for Two is a large platter, as you can see using Steven's head as a comparison. My favorites of the feast for two was the fries, corn (I hadn't had corn on the cob for 2 years or more!!), the top of the cornbread muffins, and the chicken. I had better pork recently in NC, and the ribs had too much sauce so I couldn't taste the meat, though it was easily parted from the bone. I guess we'll have to go to Johnny Rocket's for fries another day. That concludes a Thanksgiving weekend with Steven which also included two servings of turkey on Thursday, eating Honeybaked Ham sandwiches on Friday, a $5 pizza buffet on Saturday. Pongcheds are champion overeaters.

Last weekend I enjoyed North Carolina for the foliage and had some amazing barbecue meat. Three of us tried Jimmy's Barbecue in Lexington, and that meat was delicious. I thought it was interesting how the fork was silverware but the knife was plastic. Then I realized when the meat came that there was no need for the knife- it was a testament to the tenderness of the meat.

Dan had explained in the car that the style of NC barbecue here was pork shoulders smoked over hickory, chopped or sliced, and either topped (or in this case on the side) a mild slaw dressed in thin sauce of vinegar, ketchup, sugar, and pepper.The slaw was surprisinglyred, very mushy/watery compared to slaws I've had before and obviously vinegary. We probably could have used a veggie instead of fries on the side but the crispness contrasted well with the softness of the other two parts of the dish. Specifically the dish is Jimmy's BBQ chopped pork, including the "outside brown" Dan instructed us to order so we also had those darkened portions that have been closest to the smoke. The sauce is kept warm in a coffee pot and served on the side. I cannot explain to you much of this fatty smokey meat was moist and tender. I ate 98% of it without sauce.