Kitchenette

Kitchenette in Lakeview, sounds like a brunch place, right? Wrong, sushi and Thai. Had a serious sushi craving tonight and was in the area and stopped in with a friend. Once you get past the surly greeter, its all good. We walked in and there was an entire room of tables open with only 1-2 guests and I wondered what kind of experience this was going to be. We were asked if we had a reservation, I was confused why we would even need one being the place was mostly empty but once we passed "inspection" we were taken to another room where there was only 1 table open. The place was packed-a much better sign of things to come. There are 2 menus, the sushi menu and then the Thai menu. The food was cheap and GOOD. The next time I'll try a Thai dish but had sushi tonight. The service was good, our water glasses were constantly being filled, we didn't wait long for our food. It was cute-nothing that would really stand out but still cute. One warning, if you pay by card they leave your card number on the ticket, a pet peeve of mine.

Days 2 and 3

The remainder of my Valentine's weekend with Mom was great. It was a near perfect weekend-it all went smooth and we did nearly everything we planned. Yesterday we hit Old Orchard mall, ate at Portillos (Mom's favorite restaurant), ate at Spacca Napoli, then headed downtown for Confessions with Kerry and Jenn. Today we had breakfast at Icosium, the crepe place in Andersonville, then we shopped at Lincoln Square (Urban General Store, Timeless Toys for Payton, the Chopping Block) and last of all ate again at Five Guys. The hamburgers were excellent (no fillers people) and made me miss summertime and outdoor grilling. The fries are actually made there from potatoes and there is a sign indicating where the potatoes that day had come from-thanks Idaho. The place was packed tho and a little disorganized, the bags of peanuts or potatoes were suppose to mark the path to the counter but didn't work out so well. Simple menu; big hamburger, little hamburger, small or large fries, or hotdog and drink. Makes me think of the In and Out Burger in Las Vegas. Definitely going back.

Valentine's Day

So, who needs a boyfriend on Valentine's Day when your mother spoils you?? She came in last night for a long weekend and we had a really nice day today. We got up and went to Flower Flat in Boystown for breakfast. Its a cute tiny cafe in the basement of a flat that is also a flower shop with gifts. We walked in and the cook's husband greeted us and made us feel welcome-he was a down-to-earth type of guy who was helping out his wife b/c their 21 y/o da was out celebrating her 21st birthday last night and had half the day off. There were all of 5 tables and fortunately no wait. They had an armoire where they stored their coffee cups, they had interesting dishes (some of which were hanging on the ceiling), coffee served in a French press, and a tiny kitchen with one cook. It was the closest thing in Chicago that I have found to a tearoom. A Parisian tearoom maybe. The food was good, the service was good, and b/c it was Valentine's Day they gave us a long stem rose.
A

The 2nd restaurant we hit was Gibson's in the Gold Coast. Mom said that when she was here she wanted to get a big fat steak so I made a reservation. I've heard so much about this place. Having been there now, I'm not sure what the fuss is all about. I've been in much cooler decorated places and had better food experiences. It was just sort of plain, browns and golds, a few pics here and there and not much more. The service was good but the steak I ordered well done was more like a medium, too much pink for my taste. It was ok, nothing spectacular and I won't have the need to go back.

The other places we went to were pretty much the usual for us. We got chocolate covered strawberries and hot chocolate from Ethel's. Tried to get in on the no sales tax day at the 900 Stores but no luck. We did, however, catch the Hello Kitty model at Bloomingdale's w/o his shirt and lovely abs, which was just the icing on a really good day. We hit Water Tower mall, Anthropology, ordered in Sarpino's, and had great luck with public transportation. :))))