Entries Tagged as 'andrew'

Roundarch Team Dinner at Prosecco

August 29th, 2011 · No Comments

Last week we had a Roundarch team dinner at Prosecco, an Italian restaurant on the Near North Side. Prosecco has a huge selection of wine and one of the largest selections of Italian sparkling wine in Chicago.

I’d never been to Prosecco before and the menu online looked good, so I was excited to try this place. Upstairs the dining room was really pretty and brightly lit. Our private party was taking place downstairs in the private room/wine cellar.


Claire, Mark, Stella, Tony, Ryan, Adam, Marlena, Anjum


Wa-Jiw, Garrett, Bill, Ed, Doug


Ed, Doug

Before dinner we enjoyed some Italian wines, prosecco (of course), and Italian beer.


Claire, Bill, Tony, Adam, Anjum, Marlena

For dinner we were all seated at four tables. There were menus at the table and each course had several things listed.

Primi

  • Mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, carrots, red wine vinaigrette

Secondi

  • Rigatoni, pancetta, italian sausage, light tomato cream sauce
  • Risotto, sauteed beef tenderloin, diced tomatoes, fresh herbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • Orecchiette, wild mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, asparagus, black truffle cream, shaved Grana Padano, white truffle oil

Terzi

  • Sauteed monk fish medallions, sauteed spinach, lobster sauce drizzle
  • Scaloppine of pork, cremini mushrooms, Prosciutto di Parma, Marsala wine reduction
  • Balsamic-marinated chicken breast, basil-bread crumbs, portabello mushrooms, fresh mozarella, Dolcetto d’Alba reduction, asparagus
  • Grilled egplant, fresh and smoked mozarella, tomato sauce

Quarti

  • Baked apple tart, caramel drizzle
  • Chocolate flourless cake, crema inglese, mixed berry sauce
  • Peach gelato and lemon-basil sorbet

I thought we would be choosing what we wanted from each course, but it ended up that they served everything family style.


Josh, David


Andrew, David


Wa-Jiw


Ben, Andrew


David, Ed

At my table was Josh, David, Wa-Jiw, Ben, Andrew and another David.


Stella, Charlie, Mark, Kelly, Doug, Garrett


Adam, Tony, Bill, Claire, Marlena, Anjum


Adam, Sean, Ryan, Eric, Scott, Ashanth, Teal

At one point I went and took a photo of the other tables.

Back at our table, our candles were really melting down! I guess we’d been there a while.


Josh


Josh


Josh

For some reason people at our table were discussing the things that should never be discussed at work outings: Politics and Religion.


Mark, Tony, Teal

The big bosses said a few words of thanks and appreciation.

Oh, and a few behind the scenes photos from a secret team project taken earlier in the evening:

Shhhhhhh!

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The Art Institute’s Modern Wing & The Gage

May 24th, 2011 · No Comments

Last week Jess and I attended a Gapers Block meet up in the Modern Wing of the Art Institute. I’d never been to the Modern Wing, though it’s been open for about 2 years now. We all met at the Modern Wing’s Caffe Moderno for drinks and mingling. Jess and I hadn’t seen each other for a while, so we caught up over our first beer – Metropolitan Brewing’s Krankshaft – and then mingled for the second beer. Mingling is always easier on your second beer. .. even then, I’m awkward! At 6:45 we got a special tour of the Hyperlinks: Architecture and Design exhibit. Pretty interesting. It was only after we were getting the tour that Jess realized she’d already seen it! Oh well. Oh, also? It was one of the very last free Thursdays.

After visiting the museum, Jess and I went to get dinner at The Gage just across the street. I’d only been to The Gage once and it was just for an hour-long cocktail reception, so I was excited to give it a try. We split Vindaloo Mussels with toast, long toast, and Chips (Fries) with Curry Gravy. Oh, and we also got Duck Fat Nuts for an appetizer. I don’t know exactly what this means. They just tasted like nuts. I liked the vindaloo mussels, but with the curry gravy, it was too much curry. We ended up getting ketchup for the fries.

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Chicagoist Goose Island Meetup

July 24th, 2010 · No Comments


Goose Island


Matt, Scott, Andrew, Cinnamon


Kevin & Killian


Marcus & Rachelle


Goose Island Sai-Shan-Tea


Goose Island Sai-Shan-Tea


Chuck & Rachelle


Chuck

My friend Chuck is the Food and Drink Editor at Chicagoist. He had this awesome opportunity (follow along here: 1, 2, 3) to work on a beer with Jared Rouben of Goose Island Clybourn and Rod Markus of Rare Tea Cellar. They created a new beer and called it “Sai-Shan-Tea.” It’s a saison beer spiced with Rare Tea Cellar’s Emperor’s Lemon Meritage tea. On Thursday night it made its debut at Goose Island Clybourn and Chicagoist had a meet up to celebrate.

Dallas and I and a few of our other friends went to the event. It was so great to see all of the Chicagoist alum there. Some I hadn’t seen for years and it was so nice catch up and see what everyone’s been up to. Others I see a bit more frequently, but it was still great to see everyone. What a walk down memory lane. At one time in my life, a few years ago, I was in daily, heck, hourly, constant contact with these folks. I hope it’s not another few years before I see everyone again!

I also got to meet Nick, who is the editor at Grub Street Chicago. He and his wife live in our neighborhood and we spent some time talking about all the restaurants in Logan Square – what’s good, what’s bad, what’s opening, what’s closing. Hope to bump into them around the neighborhood.

Chuck’s beer (that’s what I’m calling it now) was really good. Very citrusy. I’m not all that familiar with saison beers, but I thought this was tasty. Dallas drank about 6 of them, so I’d say he liked it a little bit ;) . Sai-Shan-Tea is being sent to the Great American Beer Fest in Denver for award consideration and I sure do hope they win!

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Everything Cast Iron

July 16th, 2009 · 2 Comments

cinnamon_andrew
Cinnamon and Andrew :: Rogers Park, Chicago

Cinnamon is writing a cookbook about cooking with cast-iron cookware called “Everything Cast Iron.” The book is to include 300 recipes and is on a tight deadline. What does this mean for all of Cinnamon’s friends? Lots of food to eat! Cinnamon made menus, posted them on a schedule, and all we had to do was sign up for a day to go over, share drinks with friends, and sample her experiments.

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Sweet Potato Sticks

jamaican_grilled_okra
Jamaican Grilled Okra

friends
Friends :: Rogers Park, Chicago

Last Sunday I headed over to Cinnamon and Andrew’s condo up in Rogers Park. Cinnamon was manning the kitchen and Andrew was manning a grill (with a cast iron grill plate). Since it was so beautiful outside and since the condo doesn’t have air conditioning, all of the friends gathered in their cute little lawn. We were not allowed to bring food, but were instructed to bring drinks of choice.

asian_potato_with_chile_and_shallots
Asian Potatoes with Chile and Shallots

spicy_west_african_yassa_chicken
Spicy West African Yassa Chicken

yassa_tibs_ethiopian_sauteed_fish
Yassa Tibs Ethiopian Sauteed Fish

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Chuck, Rachelle, Marcus :: Rogers Park, Chicago

I met a lot of new people and visited with other friends I hadn’t seen in a while. Marcus was all salty since I left Roscoe Village behind, a neighborhood we shared, and moved on to Logan Square. Chuck was our odd uncle trying not to fall asleep between courses while he sat drinking his beer in a comfortable chair. And of course the food! These are all photos of all the food we ate. Now, we didn’t eat full servings, but everyone got to at least try a taste of every dish that was made. Then we had a comment card to write what we thought about the dishes.

cornbread
Cornbread

james_rose
James and Rose

truly_blackened_catfish
Truly Blackened Catfish

cajun_shrimp_and_rice
Cajun Shrimp (with Rice, not shown)

I know we were helping Cinnamon out, but thanks so much to her and Andrew for having us all over and making this all a party at the same time! I had a fun, delicious time! It still boggles my mind a bit that Cinnamon and Andrew were able to turn out this much food in one evening. I can’t imagine how much they’re cooking to make a 300-recipe cookbook. And it’s exciting to be a part of the process. I can’t wait for “Everything Cast Iron” to come out. I’m for sure buying a copy… or two!

fried_ravioli
Fried Ravioli

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Anne and Marcus :: Rogers Park, Chicago

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Cinnamon and Andrew’s friends’ baby was only 3 weeks old :: Rogers Park, Chicago

fig_balsamic_vinegar_dessert_sauce
My favorite of the night: Fig Balsamic Vinegar Dessert Sauce. Served with vanilla ice cream and freshly picked in Rogers Park June berries.

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Summer of Rachelle Concludes and Happy Birthday To Me

September 7th, 2008 · 3 Comments


Roscoe Village, Chicago

This is the third year in a row at this apartment that I’ve hosted a barbecue for my birthday (2007, 2006). I like to have everyone over. It’s a bit of work, especially since we always have a Labor Day weekend barbecue the weekend before too, but sometimes I like not being out on my day and not having to figure out how to go home.

Since I started a job at Roundarch this past Tuesday, this barbecue was also the last Summer of Rachelle event. Sometimes it feels like we just had the Summer of Rachelle kickoff, but I think I spent the summer well with the right amounts of relaxing and traveling and spending time with friends and family.

Aside from Scott and Erin, who had just left; Ed, Cinnamon and Andrew, who hadn’t arrived yet; and Jill who, was manning the camera, the following two photos show everyone who was at the party.


Chris, Lisa, Kate, Alden, Amanda, Jessica, Jessica, Paul, Quinn, Rachelle, Chris, Dallas, Limey, Jen, Brian, Caroline, Chad


Richard, Stephanie, Danny

We grilled a ton of sausages and some turkey burgers Dallas made earlier. I had special requested the turkey burgers. Also, last year when we made wontons, we had a bunch of leftover filling. It has been in our freezer all this time because Dallas and I never made wontons ourselves. Dallas’ mom gave us the idea to saute the filling up and serve it with lettuce, and make lettuce wraps. We forgot to put it out for the barbecue, but it was a delicious snack, along with hot mustard, later on in the night. I have been making this pasta salad with fresh basil all summer and people seemed to like it a lot yesterday. I also made some cookies and will post the recipe at another time.


Dallas as the lead Rock Band singer.


Alden, Jessica, Paul

We spent a lot of time last night outside, but also spent a lot of time inside playing Rock Band. I bought another guitar so now two people can play guitar at the same time, one on lead and one on bass. Everyone was taking turns on the different instruments. It was a lot of fun. I was psyched because we were getting the old band back together, too. Paul, Alden, Jessica and I used to play Rock Band all the time when we worked together at Google. It was fun to play with them again.

I had a really great time last night and was thankful to everyone who came over. I have great friends and family! Thanks to Jess for the flowers and to everyone who brought wine and beer and delicious food, too. Happy birthday to me… and welcome to the working world!

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