Dave Page

Up in Minneapolis to visit Sam and Karin and cheer them on at the Lifetime fitness triathlon. We arrived Friday from a series of thunderstorms thru Wisconsin, and the weather in Minneapolis was gorgeous, but real hot and humid.

We checked into the Casa, and visited with Sam for a while. Karin was out getting groceries. Sara was competing in the sprint distance event, but was out with her BFF Amy from Whitewater for dinner. We would see her tomorrow.

We sat around and chatted awhile and headed off to Al Vento, a local Italian place for carbo-loading. It was busy, with outside seating, we chose to be inside to stay cool. Sam was preparing for a race, of course – we have to be serious.

We started out with Truffled pecorino packets with Swiss chard and brown butter, fried pillows of Pecorino cheese with an oil sauce. Yum! Sam, Karin and I split a bottle of the house Solapaca Rosso red. Bette had a Sauvignon Blanc and Karin had some Col Vetoraz Prosecco sparkling.

Bette and I split the beet salad (Roasted beet with frisee balsamic vinaigrette and hazelnuts), excellent. Sam and Karin split the Mista with balsamic blood orange and local Donnay goat cheese salad, a collection of greens. The choices for dinner were excellent. I never heard of Radiatore, but it is a pasta resembling radiators in meat sauce. Sam had that, and I had the bucattinni, with noodles with a more spicy meat sauce. Mmm. Karin had spaghetti (Spaghetti with mother sauce and veal meatballs) with meat sauce and Bette had the halibut.

We topped off the meal with dessert. Bette & I split a pistachio Semi Fredo …..which was spectacular, but I can’t remember a thing about — I think a ganache type thing. Karin had a Chocolate Oblivion cake, and Sam had a scoop of gelato.

A great meal – Sam said the next day the meat sauce was probably more that he should have had before a triathlon, but, what the heck. This was a nice place, fun atmosphere with a young crowd, and great food. Recommended.

Al Vento, 5001 34th Ave. S., Minneapolis MN

At the Green Zebra we got a little of everything. Yes, it is loud and expensive, and yes, you may hit White Castle on the way home, but it was all good…

We had some beignets. We had two orders of potstickers (Curried Potato Potstickers, cilantro tamarind sauce, fresh coconut) for appetizers. We had roasted beets (Roasted Beets, wasabi gelee, cocoa nib foam, chippys) yum!

Good but small pricey plates. I had the chef’s selection which are all the items on hand in small quantities, each individually explained to me.

I had a rare Vos Amber Belgian-style ale — should have done wine, bottle was huge but good… Lots of wine all around. We had a Sha Na Nas, a Sundance and a Drunken Peach — sounds like Sara’s drinks! Should have gotten the wine flight, but I was smashed as it was.

Bette had a good halibut. (Vegetarian???) They have a great Tater Tot facsimile (Potato Tots, sunny-side up egg, nicoise olives, heirloom tomatoes).

I had the Thai spiced soup (Thai Spiced Carrot Soup, crispy rice noodles) and loved it. It had a cilantro foamy sauce on the surface. Actually, Brad had it too - was good to see him outside of his zone. Someone had Heart of Palm (Hawaiian Heart of Palm, blueberries, passion fruit cream, szechuan peppercorn). We had the tofu (Crispy Tofu, Thai basil, baby bok, Jasmine rice). Someone had the popover (Foraged Mushroom Popover, smoked cippolinis, Michigan cherries, manchego), a kind of pastry thing. We had artichokes (Marinated Artichokes and Feta cheese, arugula, preserved lemon). We had cucumbers (Cucumber and Radish Salad, sea beans, kohlrabi, greek yogurt panna cotta).

Desserts: French press coffee, I had ti kuan yin tea (no big deal), Alberto had a good looking cheescake, Bette and I split a chocolate cake. Someone had the Napoleon. One had poppy cake. None was poisonous.

We caught Gemma taking pictures of the food for Pro Bono Baker. She looked a little embarrassed, but I wondered how she got all those great food pictures for her blog. Now we know.

After dinner, Sara left to visit sister Liz and Alberto and Chellie invited us to their new condo on Franklin in the River North area. We cabbed back to the condo and went up the elevator to 11. What a nice place. They had nice art, a view of the buildings on the river. The club across the street was loud they said, but that what happens in the city.

Alberto talked me into some Lambrusco, a slightly fizzy wine. Good, but on top of the other wine I was flying. Good thing we were cabbing back to the Hyatt. Bad thing was I had to get up the next day for a train back to work.

They had art from Alberto’s trip to Guatemala, and also a 4-image panel from a local artist, who makes cartoony images in the style of Roy Lichtenstein. Their panels were of Chellie’s various pet sayings, but a lot of thought went into the characters and the placement. Amazing.

Chellie gave Bette her birthday presents, a small red book of Italian cooking, and a succulent e.g. cactus in a lovely pot. Very nice. We wobbled back to the hotel.

Green Zebra Chicago 1460 west chicago ave. • chicago illinois 60622

Sara and Ryan gave us a gift certificate for $25 for the Rosebud Cinema Drafthouse last year. We finally got around to using it at the 4PM show of “Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull“. (The certificate had expired but Bette had called to confirm we could still use it). It looks like a small neighborhood theater, but in the lobby is a snack bar that sells *GASP* beer and wine. I ordered a Spotted Cow, Bette got some wine, Sara had some Mike’s concoction. We ordered the appetizer sampler plate with garlic cheese bread, fried mozz, onion rings and chicken fingers, took a plastic number ala Culver’s and headed into the theater.

We saw rows and rows of black velour loveseats, with nice side tables between each one to perch drinks and eats. We sat, set our number on the back of the sofa and waited. In 15 mins, our food came, delivered to the sofa. Way cool.

The movie was OK, typical Indiana Jones, he and Marion Ravenwood a bit older from when I first saw them, but with lots of crashing and smashing about. Bette liked the romantic angle. The ending was a bit bizarre, but on the whole it was fun. Especially on the sofa. With beer. I can deal with a much lower quality of movie in this environment.

We then headed out to find dinner. We started to head back to the expressway, but Sara mentioned the Chancery in Wauwatosa (or Tosa as those in the know call it), and we were driving right by. We parked, and walked across the street to check out the other restaurants along State Street. There was a brick oven pizza joint that looked good, but we walked to the corner and looked into Ristorante Bartolotta. Italian, nice bar, white linen tablecloths. Bette was all about this place. We went in, and found they were booked for dinner at a table, but we could get full service at the bar. I hesitated but Bette did not, and we joined up with Tim at the bar.

Tim set us up with white linen napkins (baby tablecloths) and knew good points and bad points of all the dishes. Bette and I got wine, me a Barbera “Le Orme” and Bette a Sauvignon Blanc. Sara wanted Riesling, but in Italy? Nein. Tim set her up with a rose colored “Bigaro”, a more dessert wine. She seemed to like it. Tim brought around the tongs and dug hunks of bread out of the bread bucket, and dished out the olive oil.

I had the Beef Filetto ($35) with nice garlic mashed and veges. Done medium rare, pricey, but good. Bette got the Pomodoro tomato/cheese salad (which we split, and Tim brought it out on two plates - nice touch) and the small order of Gnocchetti di Semola al Ragu di Crostacei ($16) for the main course. Mmm. Sara had Braciola di Maiale ($23), a huge pork chop on the bone. Nice. She had a heck of a doggy bag (for her dad). Tim answered some questions about Grappa I had from San Francisco, and let me sample one.

For dessert we had coffees and a Sundae di Gelato ($7), which was vanilla bean gelato and caramel sauce. Simple but wonderful.

Tim got a great tip, sitting at the bar was more fun than a table, and I could not think of one thing wrong. Great place, and worth the trip. Highly recommended.

Rosebud Drafthouse 6823 W. North Ave Wauwatosa, WI 414.607.9446
Wauwatosa Chancery 7615 West State Street Wauwatosa, WI 414.453.2300
Bartolotta Ristorante 7616 West State Street Wauwatosa, WI 53213 414.771.7910

Friday 21 March

Barely beat the snow closings out of MKE airport. Arrived on time in Ft Myers. Karin and Sam were at the Twins game. We stopped at the “used food store” (Dixie’s Discounted Wine) on Bonita Beach Rd just east of US 41 for some wine and discount food. Then we had to stop at Publix. The detour is not worth it. Checked in at West Wind. Got a drink at the pool bar and waited for Karin and Sam.

Dixie’s Discounted Wine • 9080 Bonita Beach Rd, Bonita Springs,FL 34135

Saturday 22 March

I rented a 24 speed recumbent bike on the Internet the previous week from Billy’s Rentals. They delivered it to the West Wind to keep it from disappearing like the rest of their bikes — thanks guys! It has chopper style handlebars, which is a whole new trick. I finally got it to go straight, but turns were a problem. Fast hard turns would put me on the ground. With my hip acting up, it was torture.

Rode around the island to the lighthouse. Overcast but warmish; good riding. 15 mins into the ride, it started to rain. We kept going to the lighthouse, looked around, and headed back up Periwinkle for lunch at the Lighthouse Cafe, the “hippie” cafe next to Sporty Seahorse. Great food, great atmosphere. And busy — prepare to wait. We ate lunch, but split a banana pancake just to try it — it was warm and gooey in the middle. Sam wanted to come back the next day for breakfast. So we did.

Karin bolted back on her bike. Sam followed her, and Bette and I stopped at a few shops on the way back. It started to clear up a bit and we got back in time

Dinner with Sam and Karin at Sanibel Steakhouse. We had the Crab Cake appetizer, yum. I had the 16oz NY Strip, I think my favorite cut, with baked potato. Mmmm. Karin and Bette had the 12oz NY Strips. Sam and I started a bottle of Dynamite Zinfandel. Bette and Karin had a glass of Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc. Sam had the blackened Ahi tuna. Yum, but when in a good steakhouse, I get a good steak. Dessert was Chocolate Lava and a Keylime Pie slice to go around. Recommended. $80/ea for 4 people w/o gratuity w/wine. Pricey but good.

Billy’s Bike Rentals - 1470 Periwinkle Way
Lighthouse Cafe - 362 Periwinkle Way
Chip’s Sanibel Steakhouse - 1473 Periwinkle Way

Sunday 23 March

Decided not to do church. The sun was out. Time to build a sand sculpture. Sam had borrowed the book on Sand Castle building from Sons of the Beach and was raring to go.

Started with some simple columns and structures. I played with the dump method of sand. Working out of the bucket was a good way to do it. Then figured out the Padre Island snow balls. Cool. Taught Sam.

Then started the octopus. Started out as a pile, but soon saw that a sea creature terrorizing the village would be very nice. Karin built up some tentacles and buildings and upholstered everything. Sam and I moved the sand into position and Sam and Bette lugged water.

Took a break from the TDI Dance Competition in which the Woodstock High Poms — sorry, Dance Team, old habits die hard — did great (to our eyes) in AAA Pom. While in Geneva, we hopped over to pick up Bette’s mom, and headed over to Honey, a new nouveau diner in the Glen Ellyn downtown area.

You walk in the corner door from the -5 wind chill and it feels like a bakery. Case with food in the front, welcoming people behind the counter. A hostess seated us. Ceiling old school tin, very sparse decorating, track lighting. Lots of wait staff in crisp white t-shirts.

We quickly got coffees - bottomless, strong and good. The menu had lots of good looking things. One was a special oatmeal, cooked then fried in a pan. Lots of good salads, sandwiches. Had to pick one.

I ordered the breakfast burrito with sausage ($8.95). Bette had the veggie burger (8.95) with fries on the side ($2.95). Grace had the steak sandwich ($12.95).

After 20 mins and another cup of coffee, the waitress brought out the two orders of fries, explaining the steak was taking a long time. We nibbled on them, they were wonderful, with some crusty salt thing and a hint of rosemary. They were, however, trending toward cold, but not cold enough to complain. They must have been sitting there waiting for the sandwiches. The table next to us spilled a huge hot chocolate and moved over and we watched them clean it up.

In all, a nice place with a good breakfast. A welcome change from the usual.

Honey 499 N Main St, Glen Ellyn, IL‎

For the Eve, we made reservations at Adelle’s near the train station in Wheaton, IL. Hard to get, even at 5PM. Plus it was snowing like heck.

They had a $75 prix fixe menu, which made me a little hesitant. We had seen the restaurant reviewed on
the local PBS show “Check Please” and everyone raved. So what the heck.

Good stuff. Nice place, big fireplace. Outdoor seating when not 15 below zero. Recommended.

Adelle’s - 1060 College Ave - Wheaton, IL