For dinner tonight Dallas and I were just going to meet up at Belly Shack, on our way home. We had planned to go out for dinner on Friday and so we thought we just wanted to do something quick tonight. But then I got off at Damen and was going to walk to Western. .. except then we just decided to eat in Wicker Park and I chose Bin 36 Wine Cafe, since I’d always wanted to try it and never have. I’ve been to its sister restaurant Bin 36 and also A Mano, before it closed.
Bin 36 Wine Cafe was pretty good. I had a flight of white wines and Dallas had a couple beers. Yes, they do have a small beer menu, if that’s what you prefer. We split a trio of build-your-own bruschetti. It came with toasts on the side and then you got to spread on 3 toppings: chicken with apples and blue cheese, white bean with tomatoes, or some smokey squash and veggies. We also split the hearts of romaine caesar salad. For entrees, Dallas had the seared flat iron steak with fried green tomatoes, corn on the cob and crispy prosciutto-herb butter. I had the sauteed Atlantic skate with summer ratatouille and tempura squash blossom. Shockingly, Dallas ate his tomatoes (he hates tomatoes), but I tasted a bite and they didn’t even taste like tomatoes. More tangy and firm. I don’t know if I’ve even had fried green tomatoes before, but these were really good. I liked my skate and my ratatouille was nice and light.
We passed on dessert at Bin 36 Wine Cafe because we remembered that I had a Groupon for iCream, which was just a few storefronts down the street. This is not your typical ice cream shop. At iCream you choose a base – regular ice cream, reduced-fat, soymilk, non-fat yogurt, low-fat yogurt, or sorbet – then choose from 30 flavors and 30 toppings. You can even choose a color for your concoction. You then watch them use their commercial-grade KitchenAid mixers to whip everything together and using liquid nitrogen they instantly make your ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbet.
I got white chocolate and Irish cream flavors with Oreos mixed in. Dallas got green tea colored green. I liked it. I liked how the Oreos were still really crunchy and fresh.. not like sometimes when they’ve been sitting out, or in the ice cream, forever and there’s no crunch. Dallas said his green tea ice cream was good too. It looked and tasted just like regular ice cream, even though they used their fancy science to make it in front of us. Still, I don’t know if I’ll be back often. It’s pretty gimicky and not cheap if you don’t have a coupon. Still, a great birthday dessert!
