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Review votes:
87 Useful, 40 Funny, and 50 Cool
IL
Yelping SinceJanuary 2007
Find Me InHumboldt Park
My HometownMansfield, MA
When I'm Not Yelping...I'm librarianating
Why You Should Read My ReviewsTen years in the restaurant business
My Second Favorite Website The Last Great Book I ReadBrighton Rock
My Favorite MovieMiller's Crossing
Current CrushJosh
Chicago, IL 60639
(773) 862-1774
Old Navy
Category: Sports Wear
Neighborhood: Austin
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 624-8000
Hotel Vintage Park
Category: Hotels
Neighborhood: Downtown
Beyond this minor wonderfulness, the hotel is actually quite nice and well appointed. Aveda products in the bathroom, an impressively stocked minibar, complimentary plush animal-print bathrobes and purchasable animal print undies (which is a little weird). I wasn't keen on the feather pillows which collapsed like souffles with any sort of cranial impact, but otherwise, the bed was nice.
And let's not forget the nightly complimentary wine tastings in the lobby, featuring Washington winemakers and their wares. Amazingly, we only made it to one tasting (it really was a beer-fueled trip), but I enjoyed the generous pours in the small front room of the hotel. The tasters on a Thursday night were few, but apparently Friday night the room was just packed.
Locationwise, the hotel was a bit removed from restaurants and the convention center, but Seattle is so walkable, I didn't feel isolated or lacking for nearby coffee or beer options. From the backside of the 11th floor we had a crappy view of the tops of shorter buildings and the exit ramp of the highway, but the front of the hotel overlooks the Seattle Public Library, so that's fun for librarians.
All in all, I recommend the hotel for wine fans, folks who don't mind walking a bit, and bookish types.
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 728-1937
Virginia Inn
Categories: Restaurants, Bars
Neighborhood: Downtown
The menu is uncomplicated, but every blessed thing on there looked fantastic. We started with a meze platter-- hummus, herbed goat cheese, and pickled peppers with toasty pita. Josh had a goat cheese & roasted pepper baguette and I had the salmon cakes-- excellent both. The Virginia Inn has a great drinks menu and full bar with a solid range of beers on tap.
We got in just before the place started filling up for lunch, but even as it got busier, the service stayed spot on. There were only two waitresses and a bartender, with the manager/owner? running plates and helping people find tables as needed. The waitresses were fantastically attentive, never letting our drinks run low, never looking harried or rushed. The entrees followed the appetizer at a well-timed pace and we never felt neglected.
The space was really charming-- wood paneled walls, tall-backed booths, little tables with bistro chairs, and a great round cozy round booth in the front window. The art work, big bold and bright, helped define the space as playful and fun.
I'm really glad that we stumbled on the Virginia Inn and wish that we had the time to revisit it for dinner. And like every place in Seattle, they had a very tempting happy hour menu.
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 622-2036
Lowell's Restaurant
Categories: American (Traditional), Breakfast & Brunch, Seafood
Neighborhood: Downtown
The breakfast menu is extensive and features the items you expect (french toast, pancakes, egg/toast/meat combos) and plenty of unique and regional options (egg dishes featuring salmon, shrimp and even oysters). My California Omelet special may have been the single priciest dish I ate in Seattle at $14.95, but I couldn't resist (even though it said California and not Washington)-- pepper jack cheese, avocado, salsa, bay shrimp & cilantro with surprisingly good toast and spot-on hash browns. Josh couldn't resist the corned beef hash and was amazed at how good it was.
The festival seating area on the first floor was chilly but despite the business they were doing, we easily found a couple stools by the window where we could peer out over the water.
We cleaned our plates and were filled up sufficiently for the long flight back to Chicago.
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 224-7000
The Brooklyn Seafood, Steak & Oyster House
Categories: Seafood, Steakhouses, American (Traditional), Bars
Neighborhood: Downtown
Oysters. By the end of our weekend, we had renamed ourselves the Walrus and the Carpenter after ordering a total of 67 oysters (20 of which were shared with friends). It was awesome to have a full selection of West Coast oysters and took advantage of the Baker's Dozen special on two visits. The platter was accompanied by very thorough tasting & origin notes-- I can't understand why Shaw's in Chicago doesn't do this. Our bartender on Thursday afternoon was our ideal-- super friendly and outgoing, willing to chat with us about oysters, Seattle in general and basketball and gave us suggestions on other places to check out while we were in town.
Beer. Great local beers that we can't get or don't see in Chicago. The Brooklyn features several drink & oyster samplers which looked really, really tempting including the 4 beer/4 oyster sampler. Also alluring: the vodka, oyster, caviar sampler. If we lived nearby, we probably would have been regular enjoyers of the bourbon sampler, too (not matched with oysters, BTW).
Non-oyster food. After our initial 13 oysters on Thursday, we had lunch-- a bowl of super-rich clam chowder for me and a salmon sandwich for Josh. Both were very tasty and *extremely* filling. Although we only took advantage of the 99cent oysters at the happy hour, the other specials looked great, including dungeness crab wontons and some crazy sounding spicy lamb nachos.
Setting. The bar is a great space-- copper bar top, plenty of seats around the four sides with high-tops and counters by the window. Table-clothed tables line the front of the bar. The dining room was interesting-- a mix of intimate booths with very high backs and SS Enterprise-style captains chairs along a long curvy bar allowing diners to watch the open kitchen.
We loved The Brooklyn and will miss it greatly.
Chicago, IL 60639
(773) 622-6300
Midtown Toyota
Categories: Car Dealers, Auto Repair
Neighborhood: Cragin
My Midtown salesperson (who was on his way to joining the police academy when we got the car) was about as low-pressure a salesperson as you can get in a car dealership, I think, and the experience was about as good a one as you can have. Not slimy or creepy or uncomfortable.
I recently had to bring the Yaris back for a recall issue. They assured me I wouldn't need an appointment and told me how much time it would take. I also had them reset my Maintenance Required light and look at my CD player which had stopped working. The recall repair took exactly the amount of time as they had estimated and although they couldn't repair the stereo, they ordered the part at no charge since it's covered under warranty. The part came in within their estimated time of arrival and I'll be getting that work done at my convenience. Tom, the service manager that I dealt with was friendly, professional and easy to work with. I'm not especially knowledgeable about cars but never felt talked down to or patronized. Most of the customers in the waiting room were women and all seemed to be dealt with by staff in a very professional manner.
Once the car is out of warranty, I'll probably shop around if I need any repairs. I'm lucky to have an auto savvy husband who can do the minor stuff. But I have to say that for warranty work, I was very satisfied and will continue to go back to Midtown. And if I buy another Toyota in the future, I will go back, too.
Chicago, IL 60686
(312) 523-0200
Custom House
Category: American (New)
Neighborhoods: South Loop, Printer's Row
The food, however is quite good and the menu, with its local products and flavors makes narrowing your choices difficult. I began with a house cocktail, the delicious Pear Shrub-- champagne, fresh pear and pear shrub (a sweet, tart concentrated syrup that dates back to colonial times). Josh had a Lagunitas. We did try to undermine fancy restaurant convention by requesting oysters before putting in our dinner order, but the waiter said it wouldn't be a problem since it was a fairly slow evening and oysters are oysters. Our plan failed though-- either the waiter forgot to put in that order or the chef decided to spite us-- as our first courses appeared before the oysters. The waiter was awfully apologetic, but it hardly mattered to us-- I'll eat oysters for dessert.
So, 1st course-- sweetbreads with soft polenta in a cute Staub roasting dish and the white anchovies with capers and oven-dried tomato. Both were lovely and the anchovies reminded me of boquerones, but smaller and more delicate (and more plentiful than a tapas serving).
Oysters, 3 Long Cove and 3 Kumamoto were served on a bed of rock salt garnished with juniper berries and red peppercorns and accompanied by house cocktail sauce and a fennel relish that reminded us of unseasoned ratatouille.
Main course: Duck breast with beet tartare for Josh and rabbit two-ways for me-- there was the rabbit loin wrapped in house-made bacon (sliced, it looked like sausage) with braised rabbit leg topped with shaved fennel. I couldn't taste the fennel much, but the rabbit leg was so fantastic I could have eaten it all day. The waiter told us that the main courses were served with "seasonal accompaniments"-- a euphemism for "without vegetables". The beet tartare was a scant tablespoon of color on the duck plate and the shaved fennel was garnish. We split a side dish of the wonderful baby turnips with sunchoke puree, but rather wish we had gone for a green vegetables (they were out of Brussels sprouts) or had had a salad starter. The sunchoke puree was put on bread and enjoyed as a dip for both the duck and the rabbit. The turnips were tasty and tender but several were rather blackened on a side and suffered in flavor for it. We paired the course with an Utiel-Requena.
Although I read great things about Custom House's coffee and enjoyed seeing the shiny French Presses go to tables near us, we took a pass on coffee and dessert and went for the cheese plate paired with the loveliest apple ice wine from Quebec. The cheese (a goats milk with ash, a blue and an almost pecorino-ish cow's milk cheese) were served with fruit & nut crisps, macerated figs, a spicy mango chutney and the most amazing honey I've had in awhile.
Now, the bathroom review (very important)-- it's a hotel bathroom. You actually have to leave the restaurant, pass through the entry (chilly in January...) and use the restrooms in the hotel. Not a far walk, but you feel odd walking by the host stand and out of the restaurant.
The host was very nice and pleasant, the GM said hi and welcomed us while we waited at the stand and the waiter was competent if not over-apologetic. We did pour our own wine a couple times, but made sure he wasn't looking when we did. I've been scolded for this before...
All in all, a very good meal, but I'm much more likely to revisit Spring and Green Zebra before returning.
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 252-5886
Gillman Ace Hardware
Category: Hardware Stores
Neighborhood: Logan Square
All I needed was some canning supplies. I called before I left the house to make sure they had the right size jars. They did, and the man on the phone assured me that they had several dozen.
At the store, I found that he had set aside the jars for me. We had a great conversation about canning, how he noticed it seemed to have become more popular lately. I told him about an article I had read in the Trib to the same effect and he seemed genuinely interested.
The entire experience left me feeling so *good*-- when was the last time a trip to the hardware store actually made you happy? I'll go through the trouble of finding on-street parking for the superior service I get at Gillman Ace.
Like I said in an earlier review, Home Depot can bite me.
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 486-9200
Home Depot
Categories: Hardware Stores, Building Supplies
Neighborhood: Noble Square
Dude comes in, late apparently from his lunch break, with a giant sack of food from Church's. There's one guy at the counter already helping someone with a complex paint issue (?!). Dude says he'll be right back-- he needs to use the bathroom. The guy at the counter tells him, um, no, there's folks needing help. Dude is sullen and proceeds to assist the waiting customers using as little vocalization as possible. There's some muttering, a lot of hand gestures (ie. instead of "follow me, the product that you need is in this aisle, I'll show you where it is" he points at a customer and waves him on as if he's directing an airplane").
I'm no paint expert. I'll admit that. I assume that my job is to have a paint swatch in hand and a brand of paint in mind. I usually grab a can that I think is appropriate and don't have a real sense of which base number or whatever. I know brand and I know matte or eggshell or what have you. Dude, after indicating with a vague gesture that he'd help me, seemed actually annoyed that I had the wrong can of base for the color I picked. The loudest most understandable thing he said at the counter was "You got the wrong kind of paint"-- practically announced it to the store over the intercom. Thanks, Dude.
The whole experience was crappy. The store was busy, there were only three registers open and each line had at least 7 customers in it. The folks at the register where cranky. I actually saw a staff member sass a customer that she more or less deliberately walked into.
Not everyone was a jerk, I have to say-- there was a nice staff member, an older man, who offered me a cart and the security guard who checked my receipt at the door was very polite.
From now on it's Gillman Ace Hardware on Milwaukee for me (http://tinyurl.com/8wa49h). The place was a cluttery mess, but the guy at the counter was so helpful and nice and we had a great conversation about canning.
Home Depot can bite me.
Chicago, IL 60622
(608) 875-6026
Sweet Earth Organic Farm
Category: Farmers Market
Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village
http://www.flickr.com/...
1 Previous Review: Hide »
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9/22/2008
I echo Todd's sentiments completely. I feel utterly lousy giving Farmer Renee and Sweet Earth Organic a crap review, but subscribing to a CSA is an real investment and I wish I had had more information from subscribers before I invested in Sweet Earth. In the course of a few months, I've gone from very excited to CSAs, to disappointed with Sweet Earth, to never wanting to do a CSA again.
I think the biggest problem facing Sweet Earth right now is communication. The first deliveries made to Chicago were in *mid-July* (my own backyard garden was producing at full-tilt by this time...). Prior to this communication between the farm and subscribers was spotty and inconsistent (see the Chowhound discussion board: http://chowhound....). Subscribers had no sense of when deliveries would start (the website was not routinely updated until mid-July) or where deliveries would be made (the location list was out-of-date and not updated until *after* initial deliveries).
The website is now being updated (unfortunately, with notices of a temporary suspension of deliveries because of a broken truck...) and the farm has gotten better about sending emails. And despite Farmer Renee's mad-dash to contact anyone and everyone who had contacted her during her incommunicado period during the crucial first months of the growing season, all this effort is too little and far, far too late.
Finally, I have to agree with Todd's description of produce. I have yet to receive a single tomato that is both ripe *and* whole. Early vegetables were overgrown-- outsized kohlrabi, cabbages and eggplant-- that maybe should have been harvested earlier. A single head of fresh garlic here or half a dozen leaves of kale suggest that the farm is spreading itself thin to give all subscribers a portion of all crops. Yet produce bags full of lemon basil or week after week of parsley perhaps indicate a need to stuff boxes to make up for lacks elsewhere.
I've talked with former subscribers and apparently this is not just a bad year for Sweet Earth. The farm has a history of starting their CSA late and I've heard that farmers at Green City Market more or less say "oh dear" when you tell them you've subscribed to Sweet Farm's CSA.
As much as I would like to support an organic family farm, I regret choosing Sweet Earth as my first CSA experience. The entire season has been a stressful, frustrating and expensive disaster and discovering new and inventive recipes for cabbage don't nearly compensate for the aggravation.
This year I've learned a bit about what is in season when, how to do the best with peculiar surpluses and where to turn for community input (Yelp and Chowhound really came through). Next year, I'll go back to weekly bike rides to Green City market.
I don't want to turn anyone off of CSAs (Angelic Organics and Genesis Growers get great reviews), but I do want to share my less-than-spectacula r experience with this particular CSA.
Date
Old Navys seem to be cut all from the same cloth, vast warehouses of cheap fashion manned by the standard semi-disinterested retail employees of malls across America, each differing only in minutely in its layout. The Austin employees, though, have made their Old Navy stand out and if it makes any difference at all, I'll shop there over their otherwise identical-seeming counterparts.