Dallas’s cousin Danny cooks at two of Executive Chef Shawn McClain’s Chicago restaurants, Green Zebra and Spring. Dallas and I have been to Spring and we’ve been to Custom House, which used to be under McClain’s umbrella, but we’d never been to Green Zebra. Danny invited us to come and eat brunch so we went on Sunday with his sister Cory and her husband Chris.
Dallas, Cory, Chris and I ordered a few things for the table and then the kitchen hooked us up with the rest. Everything was so delicious. Green Zebra is a vegetarian restaurant, but the way that these dishes came out, you never really even think about the meat being missing. My favorites were the chilaquiles, the blt, and the popover. This is everything we had:
- Cornbread Madelines
- Sticky Buns
- Coffee Cake
- Parmesan truffle frites
- Gingerbread hotcakes with kumquats
- Stuffed popover
- BLT (I think the “B” was brioche!)
- Chilaquiles
- Eggs Benedict
- Candied Kumquats
For a fine dining restaurant, I thought the prices were pretty good. I think an average entree was about $8 – $10. Cory and I had $8 bloody marys and Dallas and Cory had Domaine Dupage French Country Ale for $5 each. We’re gonna have to remember Green Zebra next time we’re thinking about where to go for brunch. I’d like to also someday go for dinner and see what that’s like.
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Tags:brunch·Chicago·chris·cory·dallas·danny·Noble Square
October 29th, 2009 · 2 Comments
Oak Park, IL
Earlier this year, maybe in the spring?, Danny and Caroline bought a house out in Oak Park. It was a run-down foreclosure and there was a lot of remodeling that had to be done. With the help of Uncle BB and his crew, they spent the entire summer fixing up the place. At the end of September they moved in and in the beginning of October, invited us over for dinner.
Unlike Dallas, I never saw the house pre-remodeling or during the process, but the results are gorgeous. It’s such a nice space for them now. There are a couple porches, a yard, a garage, a big kitchen for Danny to cook, even a space for Caroline to set up her piano.
Danny and Caroline went the complete opposite route that Dallas and I did. Dallas and I bought a condo in the city because we wanted to move in and not spend all of our time fixing things up or wondering if something might break. Danny and Caroline went and got this amazing deal on a whole 2-story house in Oak Park, a suburb that is probably the most trendy and acceptable suburb to Chicagoans, and then put their blood, sweat and tears into customizing and redoing it. Neither way is better than the other, it’s just different strokes, but it is interesting to see how everything turned out for each of us. And I must admit that I am a little jealous of their cute little yard!
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Tags:caroline·cooking and baking·danny·oak park
September 21st, 2009 · 1 Comment
On Friday, Danny called and invited us over to John’s house* for a dinner party. Danny wanted some guinea pigs to test cook on and we’re always game for that. Jess and I had plans to hang out, so we went to the Whistler for a few pre-party cocktails and then headed over to John’s. Danny made truffled deviled eggs, cold corn soup, bacon saffron risotto with chorizo-stuffed dates, sour cream and chive potatoes, and steak. It was all so delicious. And John.. maybe it was the years he spent in San Francisco, so close to wine country, but he’s become quite the wine connoisseur. He poured us bottle after bottle and before we knew it, it was 3 am and there were about a dozen empty bottles on the table. So much fun. I’ll show up any time these guys want to serve us!
* John recently moved back to Chicago from San Francisco. It’s so nice to have him back. I didn’t really see him that much in California, even when I was traveling there often for work. In an awesome turn of luck, his tenants were ready to move out, so he’s right back in his old apartment. Just like the olden days!
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Tags:caroline·Chicago·cody·cooking and baking·dallas·danny·dianca·jessica·john·wrigleyville
