Apr
9
Chicken katsu served over rice and mac salad from Aloha Eats in Chicago
culinary exploration
Follow me through the adventures that take place in my kitchen, in restaurants or in other kitchens. Cooking and food are my passions and I want to share my experiences of cooking, baking and eating with you.
I'm a Greek self-taught cook who lives in Chicago. I learned a lot about cooking from both of my grandmothers, my mom and dad, family and friends. Passing on timeless traditions through food is one thing I strive to do in life.
These are my journeys through culinary exploration...
clraptis (at) gmail (dot) com
Culinary Exploration - Grecian Kitchen
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Posts tagged restaurants
Dec
14
My coffee and doughnuts dessert from Japonais.
The beignets were filled with chocolate and chesnuts (homemade Nutella in my opinion) and were coated with cinnamon sugar & dusted with powdered sugar. Too bad I could only manage to almost eat one of them. They were HUGE!
I did, however, manage to finish off the green tea semifreddo. It was like green tea whipped cream y’all and it was heaven in my mouth!
My favorite part of the meal… the sushi that I ordered for myself. :)
From left to right: 1 piece of Unagi nigiri (fresh water eel on rice), 2 pieces of Sake sashimi (smoked Scottish salmon) and 2 pieces of Chutoro sashimi (medium fatty tuna)
All of the sushi I ordered was fantastic. The quality of the fish gave each piece the fresh flavor it is supposed to bring to your pallet. The eel wasn’t too fishy like it can be if it’s not very fresh. The salmon was rich and succulent. And my all-time favorite, the medium fatty tuna just melted in my mouth.
Not to sound too much like a broken record when I talk about sushi - but I’m not a huge fan of rolls. If I’m eating sushi I prefer to get the full flavor of the fish itself through good quality sashimi or nigiri.
We got these rolls from Japonais for the table because they were listed under chef specialties. The roll on the left is the Spicy Mono which consists of a spicy octopus topped with tuna tartare and unagi sauce. The roll on the right is the Tuna Tuna Salmon a salmon tartare roll topped with sliced tuna and a combination of avocado and wasabi tobiko sauce.
I was happy with the flavor of both rolls, but as I often find, there was too much going on and the flavor of the fish was overpowered by the other flavors.
I was invited to a work holiday dinner at Japonais on Saturday night. Ever since we were told this was the restaurant we were eating at, I’ve been DYING! I have only heard excellent things about the food, service and the restaurant itself. I was thoroughly impressed with it all.
Since not everyone at the table were sushi eaters - our host ordered crabcakes for the table. The lump crab that they used in these cakes was so fresh, it only heightened its rich flavor. As I’m not a fan of the severely breaded and deep fried crabcakes, I was delited to see this slightly crispy and pan seared beauties in front of me.
My mouth is watering just thinking about the level of deliciousness these cakes brought to the table.
Oct
18
Pumpkin Spice Cupcake from Molly’s
Cream cheese filled pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting. DELICIOUS!
Spicy BBQ Pork Banh Mi from Del Seoul
I’ve had many banh mi before and I can easily admit that this one from Del Seoul was the BEST! I think it’s a combination of the fact that they pickle their daikon and carrot slaw, there is a red pepper aioli spread on the baguette AND their meat was marinated to flavorful perfection.
I also had a taste of their kimchi and a steamed dumpling… both of which were delicious! Try this place out if you’re in the mood for Korean street food.
Oct
12
TOPOLOBAMPO
Somehow my mom and her friend got reservations at Topolobampo this past weekend. They had dinner at Frontera Grill one night and ate at the bar. Apparently they made friends with their bartender and he was able to get them a reservation at Topolobampo for the following evening. I got lucky and was invited along to eat with them!!!
This was my first time eating at Topolo and I was very impressed. A more upscale, fine-dining Bayless restaurant and it showed in the dishes. I always settled for Frontera because I didn’t see the point in paying the price to eat on the fancy side of the restaurant, but now I understand and will claim that it’s totally worth it!
They offer either an a la carte menu or a tasting menu that can be paired with wines if you choose to. We went with the a la carte menu because the tastings offer a 5-course meal and we didn’t think we could eat that much. Although the portions are perfectly sized, our 2 course meals were just right. We were pleasantly full and just comfortable, even after becoming members of the clean plate club!
I ordered the soup for my first course because it sounded DELICIOUS!
GAZPACHO DE CEREZA Y ALMENDRA
Gazpacho of local tomatoes and sour cherries with smoked almond raspado (shaved ice), creamy goat cheese, heirloom cherry tomatoes and pickled sour cherries.
My mom was intrigued by the trio of eggplant on the menu. She let me have a taste and it was very tasty.
BERENJENA CON TRES SABORES
Crunchy, Iroquois cornmeal-coated Black Beauty eggplant with three flavors: spicy, smoky salsa negra, velvety black bean sauce, creamy Otter Creek cheddar. Tender chayote with parsley, poached Chioggia beets, sherry-pickled plums, roasted knob onions, wild arugula.
Mom’s friend ordered the fish, which is always a good choice at a Rick Bayless restaurant. I’ve had the Frontera Grill version of this dish and thoroughly enjoyed it.
PESCADO CON CREMA DE FLORES
Chamomile-poached day-boat catch in creamy sauce of squash blossoms and roasted poblano chile. Hoja santa-scented black lentils, slow-cooked quince, brown butter-roasted red Kuri squash, cilantro micros.
And the pièce de résistance - the dish I ordered. :) I’ll preface it with just one word: PORK.
CARNITAS EN GUASMOLE
Maple Creek pork (shoulder and belly), slow-cooked carnitas style with black garlic, served in gausmole (roasted tomatillos, toasted guaje seeds, herbs). Sweet corn bread pudding, Nichols Farm leeks braised with chanterelle mushrooms and avocado leaf.
The shoulder was super juicy and shredded with the touch of my fork. The belly was divine. It was so tender and flavorful. The sauce was my favorite part. It was a bit smoky from the roasted tomatillos, but didn’t over power the taste of the pork duo.
If you read my blog, you know I’m a HUGE fan of Rick Bayless - especially Frontera Grill. But if you’re in the mood for a fancy gourmet Mexican meal, try Topolobampo because you will savor every last bite you take.
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