Archive for the '‘Burbs, Cities, Towns, Villages' Category
Several months ago, Sassymonkey Yammered that she and the fake husband were taking an impromptu road trip. This annoyed me because we never get to take impromptu road trips anymore. I stewed over this all morning and decided we WOULD take a road trip, a tiny road trip but still a road trip. So, we headed off toward the commissary and rather than continuing down Waukegan Rd, I hooked a right onto Deerpath (completely confusing TW) and we stopped at the gorgeous Lake Forest Public Library.
Our Glenview library was closed for more than a month and we were running out of books, so this seemed like a good mini road trip stop – and boy was it. The Lake Forest library is gorgeous. It’s exactly the kind of library we could fall in love with. A beautiful old building with gorgeous murals, amazing reading rooms, and old fashioned 70s metal shelving. Not to mention amazing nooks and crannies where you can get lost in a good book (or 10). They have an adorable children’s section, and there were no children tearing madly through the shelves, either.The landscaping, the gardens, the sculptures – all fabulous.
After our trip to the library, we wandered over to the main shopping district, parked just across from the Southgate Café. We were slightly under-dressed and very under-prepared for this little restaurant. The food was good, though more expensive than we’re used to but exactly what you’d expect from downtown Lake Forest (one of the 10 highest money earning towns in 2008…) What we were really not prepared for was the portion sizes. In this day and age, portions are generally huge and at Southgate I think we got the smallest sandwiches we have ever seen (except for tea sandwiches of course.) I’m not complaining, it was exactly the right portion. It was just surprising.
After our lunch, we wandered around the shopping district. William Sonoma, a nice bookstore, a cute toy store, a hobby shop, all very nice. As we were finishing our tour of the shopping district, we passed The Green Teaist and peered through the window. Nobody inside. We looked at the menu. Pricey! But cool. We kept walking and ended up back at the car… carried on with our normal Saturday shopping schedule and went home.
I looked up The Green Teaist and found that there are two locations – the one in Lake Forest, IL and one in Hollywood, Ca. That’s it. Huh. Fascinating, right? I surfed the site some more and discovered some incredibly high priced teas. TW and I thought this would be a cool place to take Prince J for his birthday – without his siblings. A couple of days later, I showed the website to Joe and he was appalled at the price of the teas (having just returned from a trip to Japan… hahaha) and then he promptly forgot all about this place. But we didn’t…
We took the Prince to The Green Teaist yesterday, without actually telling him where we were going. It was awesome. The shop was still empty, though a couple did come in while we were there and they bought tea from the little store part of the shop. Prince J selected two teas that he wanted to try and we ordered food as well – the finger sandwiches for me and TW and the green tea waffles for the Prince.
The first tea, the Kukicha, was served with a little bar of dark chocolate. Excellent combination.
Then, our server brought us a tiny shot of an iced tea (I’ve forgotten which one) as a palate cleanser… this tea is brewed with ice, in a special pot. It takes about three hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator. The tea is placed in the top part of the jar with ice over top. As the ice melts, it drips through the tea into the bottom of the pot. It was awesome. I want one of those teapots!
The next tea was The Green Teaist blend and it was served with a tiny piece of green tea pound cake. Again, excellent. Our food came out at the same time and Joseph’s tiny waffles were apparently awesome. He did not offer to share, heh. TW tried both the green tea infused whipped cream and the TGT Hojicha Gelée and liked both. The jelly was so good that we bought a jar to take home. (The prince has spirited that away to his bedroom though he swears he will share… hah.)
We wandered around the tea shop and the Prince requested some loose TGT blend to take home, I complied. While that was packed up for us, we ordered tea to go – the Matcha latte for me and Joe and TW ordered the Hojicha Latte (at least I think that’s what she ordered…) both were yummy, though TW’s needed some sugar syrup added to it. When our bag of tea and jelly were ready, we discovered our server had provided Joseph with a birthday gift – several tea pouches of various teas that they sell in the store. That was incredibly kind of him and was very much appreciated by Joseph (and by me and TW.)
We had a great time at The Green Teaist – we’ll definitely go back. And, if you’re ever in Lake Forest or Hollywood, you should visit. If you’re not, and you want to try some pricey (and incredibly yummy) green tea, they do have an online shop. Their tea pots and caddies are gorgeous.
Our newest favorite breakfast destination is Orange Brunch, just down the street from the Glenview Library. We passed it a million times, neither of us mentioning it but both of us apparently wondering about it. The parking lot was often full, which is probably why I never stopped there. (Nothing worse than having to wait in line to be seated for breakfast when you’ve got a busy day ahead of you – and we always have a busy day ahead of us.)
But one morning in June, I decided to stop and give it a try and we’ve been there many, many times since then. Sometimes just me and TW – sometimes we take TW’s mom, or the little kids. And we’ve taken my mom and Michelle, too. The food is pretty terrific, though there have been times when some of the dishes have arrived a little on the not hot side. Elly is a fan of the steak benedict. I’m a fan of everything on their breakfast menu (except the meat, I don’t do breakfast meat.) I think my favorite breakfast is still the first dish I ordered – the Orange Rosemary French Toast.
They have “pancake flights” that are new every week. Tiny silver dollar pancakes, four different flavors, usually created around some type of theme. The pancake flights are always a hit.
We’ve tried a couple of their lunch selections and those were excellent, too. But really, our favorites are the breakfasts. And the best part is the frushi (fruit sushi!) and the fresh juices (you choose your own ingredients and I always choose watermelon, lime, ginger.)
As a side note, Melissa Ferrick has visited the Orange on N. Clark St and Twitter/Facebook raved about their benedicts, so I’m guessing that branch is as good as ours.
UBAA Old Crawford Inn
While the decor was interesting and it seemed like just the kind of place we’d like – it wasn’t. The food wasn’t great. The restaurant was kind of smelly. It’s rare for us to find a restaurant that we don’t like enough to go back to. This is one of them.
Right next to the Trader Joe’s, in Glenview, is a tiny little Thai restaurant. We’ve peeked at it as we walked from the parking lot into TJ’s but neither of us has ever suggested we try it.
The last couple of times we’ve gone to TJ’s, I’ve noticed there were actual people inside. Eating. All of the other times I’ve glanced in, there was nobody there – possibly because we usually go to TJ’s early in the morning? Heh.
So yesterday, as we went into TJ’s, I said “Someday we’re going to try that place.” And on the way out of TJ’s, TW ran in and got a menu.
Tonight, we ordered takeout from Your Choice.
First, I don’t think I’d call this “cheap” as some of the reviewers on Yelp did. But maybe it is cheap for Chicagoland standards? I don’t know, we haven’t eaten any Thai since we’ve been here. It’s not cheap for Gainesville standards – just average priced.
Next, it was fast. When I ordered, she said “15 minutes” – sure enough, it was ready when we arrived twenty minutes after I ordered it.
All of the food was good. The pineapple fried rice, spicy veggie fried rice, the Phad Thai, the thai iced tea and most important – the Beef Salad.
I’ve been looking for a Thai Beef Salad since I left the Philippines. Actually, I’ve been looking for a Thai Beef Salad like the one I used to eat at The Thai House in Angeles City, Philippines. Until tonight, I’ve never found one that even comes close. This one was THAT salad, or would have been if it had been a wee bit spicier. That’s ok, next time I order, I’ll tell her hot – not medium hot.
Tiffany’s is one of those restaurants that we’ve passed a million times and only briefly considered stopping to try. On the way home from the airport on Thursday, Michelle was starving so we stopped.
When we walked in it smelled like old fashioned food – turkey dinners, roast beef, you know the smell I’m talking about. (We have begun calling that smell the Seven Brothers smell because that’s what Seven Brothers smells like.) It was also very, very empty. Just a couple of tables seated with older groups of people. We weren’t sure we were going to have a good food experience.
The menu was extensive – and sure enough, the turkey dinner was on the menu. We ordered – all of us chose some sort of croissant sandwich meal and we ordered a ham dinner to go, to bring home for TW’s mom.
The food came quickly and it was good. Not great, but solid. Well worth stopping for and significantly better than the Seven Brothers.
One of the things that we were really looking forward to when we moved here was visiting the Renegade Craft Fair. Unfortunately, last year’s fair was held during a huge huge storm – Hurricane Ike to be specific. There was no way we were going to drag the little kids to Wicker Park in a hurricane… and then our basement flooded and so we missed it.
We did go to the Winter Holiday version at Pulaski Field House and some of us enjoyed it quite a bit (one guess as to which little kid did not enjoy it at all…)
So this year, I have been pretty anal about making sure we did not miss it. Unfortunately I forgot to mention it to TW and I sort of sprung it on her yesterday morning. Oops. After she recovered from the shock of hearing that we were going, she got her mother ready and into the car and we headed into town.
No traffic on the freeway but it took forever to find a place to park. And that place to park was blocks and blocks from the fair. TW pushed her mother’s wheelchair a very very long way but it was worth it.
Honestly, we’re a little sick of most craft fairs. They always seem to have the same things over and over again. The Renegade Craft Fair is totally different. Or maybe it’s just that the vendors sell really cool stuff. Really cool stuff that all of our kids would like.
We came home with presents for a bunch of the kids and I even found a Christmas gift for my father.
When TW said she wanted to go to the Valley Lodge in Glenview for her birthday dinner, I was a little confused.
It’s just down the street from us and it looks like a bar/steakhouse combo. It’s often crowded, from the looks of the parking lot, and it just didn’t seem like her thing.
Apparently it was her thing primarily because it is celebrating it’s 40th birthday this year, too.
So, TW and the kids and I went to the Valley Lodge shortly before 7pm on the 29th. When we arrived we discovered it is not wheelchair accessible (good thing TW’s mom decided not to go with us) and that it was jam packed with people. And also loud. The children would also say that it was full of old people, which is relatively true.
The server said 20 minute wait, so we stood on the stairs and waited. And waited. And waited. And even when a table for five opened, still we waited because maybe that one was reserved? Or something. We waited for more than a half hour, closer to 40 minutes. By the time we were seated, we were starving and also a little grouchy.
The bread they brought to the table was fabulous, which went a long way toward making us not grouchy. (The dark bread in particular I highly recommend.)
We ordered two flaming cheeses and those also went a long way toward making us not grouchy.
The real food arrived just as we had finished the flaming cheeses and I believe we all agreed that the food was pretty darn good. Everything from Liz’s mac & cheese to my sloppy joe to RJ’s gyro sub. Excellent.
It was a pricey meal but we were stuffed and happy by the time we left. All in all, excellent birthday choice – except for that whole 40 minute wait thing.
We’ve visited a lot of Farmers Markets since moving to Chicagoland and our favorite is still the Skokie Farmers Market.
It isn’t as big as Evanston’s. And it’s not as good for people watching as Deerfield’s. It isn’t as close as Glenview’s or even Northbrook’s. It’s not as ‘interesting’ as Wilmette’s French Market.
It’s just a basic, small, Farmers Market. Open on Sundays (which might be part of why we like it…)
Last Sunday, it was a little disconcerting though. Some of the vendors were set up in the “wrong” spots! That totally threw us off. Vendors should set up in the same place every time, darn it.
We’ve been looking at the Sugar Bowl, in Des Plaines for ages. Wishing it was open, wishing we had been able to visit it back in its hey day. And then, it happened. We saw signs appear in the window indicating it was going to re-open. And it did.
We went to the Sugar Bowl today, for a brunch.
I ordered a California Omelet that was HUGE. It came with home fries and pancakes. Home fries were fine, not bad – not good, just fine. The rest of the meal was excellent. (And the waitress kept refilling our coffee, which I appreciated.
TW’s mom ordered the mixed berry french toast. Huge serving and she said it was good. It looked good.
TW ordered the Reuben Club and again, talk about serving size. Monster. I nicked a fry and it wasn’t bad, wasn’t bad at all. With a little more salt and pepper it might have been excellent. TW says the Reuben club was fabulous. And it looked good. I am tempted to order a Reuben on my next trip (not the club because I don’t do bacon.)
Loved the Sugar Bowl. Enjoyed every second of our visit. We’ll go back, definitely.