Entries Tagged as 'google'

What $38 Mac & Cheese Looks Like

April 14th, 2011 · 8 Comments


$38 Mac & Cheese


Alden, Jon, Paul


Rachelle & Steve

A couple weeks ago I met up with a few of my old FeedBurner coworkers for lunch at Public House. Steve was the last of our FeedBurner founders to still be working at Google and it was his last day.

On the Public House menu (PDF) they have mac & cheese with many options. Here are all of the things you can add to your mac & cheese:

  • house smoked bacon – $1
  • pulled bbq chicken – $2
  • burnt end brisket – $2
  • chicken chili – $4
  • lobster – $9
  • caramelized onion – $1
  • wild mushroom – $2
  • roasted jalapeno – $1
  • shaved french black truffle – Market Price
  • all the above – $30

Paul was very intrigued by this. We were talking to the waitress and she said no one has ever ordered “all of the above” that she’s ever seen. Paul went for it! The base price for the mac & cheese is $8 plus “all of the above” makes this $38 mac & cheese! When it came out our server said he never saw anyone order “all of the above” before either. We started to wonder if anyone had ever ordered it. The restaurant had only been open for a few months. Was it possible?

As for the taste, everyone who wanted to had a bite. I thought it was good. I think Paul thought it was really good, but not worth almost $40. Next time I think he’ll just pick a few fillings to add and cut the price in half.

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Last Meal at Singha

August 27th, 2010 · 1 Comment

I met up with Paul Baker and Jess today to have lunch at Singha. They are closing in a few days, and I’m sure this will be my last lunch there. Paul Baker loves Singha so much that he went to dinner there last night, lunch today and has plans to have at least one more lunch before they close.

I have mixed feelings. When I worked at FeedBurner we used to always have Singha ordered in for all of our “important” meetings. After we moved into the Google offices, Singha was just a block away. Even though we famously got free lunch at Google, we’d sometimes go out for lunch at Singha for old times sakes. Mostly just the old FeedBurner crew working at Google. Even now, Singha is still just a block from me so I get together with the old FeedBurners for lunch there. I’ve had so many countless crab rangoon and lunches from Singha. It’s very nostalgic for me.

On the otherhand…. who is moving into the Singha space? Sola. I love Sola, have met Chef Wallack, and have kept in occasional contact with her online. I love dinner and brunch at Sola. The cuisine is delicious, with the Asian and Hawaiian influences. Now that we’re not living nearby the Sola, it would be nice to have it nearby work so I could at least lunch there.

On the otherhand… Singhaaaaaaaa… oh such mixed feelings :) .

I guess we’re just going to have to try out Star of Siam after Singha closes and see if it’s as good. It could be the best Thai food in the world, though, and it still wouldn’t be Singha. One more note: The old Sola space will become Ohana, which means “family” in Hawaiian.

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The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek

February 27th, 2010 · 1 Comment


finished 02.26.10

I got this book back in 2008 when Stuart Dybek spoke at the Google Chicago office and I worked there. The video below is the talk he gave. I think I actually remember missing his presentation, but still getting the book somehow. I finished 90% of the short stories that year or maybe last year but for some reason never finished the book. Last night I pulled it out and finished the rest. I enjoyed these short stories about everyday life in Chicago while the author was growing up.

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Catching Up With Old Friends at Simone’s

February 8th, 2010 · 2 Comments

Matt was back in town last week so on Wednesday he got a bunch of people together at Simone’s in Pilsen. Matt and I used to work together at FeedBurner and Google and has since moved to Seattle, so it was good to see him again. A few of my other coworkers from those places that I hadn’t seen for some time also came and it was fun to catch up.


Eric, Jessie, Alden, Rachelle, Joe, Jessica, Matt

I also got to see Blagica, who I still keep in touch with online, but don’t get to see in person much any more.

Simone’s has a great beer list, which we sampled heavily. Matt also ordered up an assortment of food like empanadas, pizzas, fries and mozzarella sticks. Later on after a lot of people had left, Sam, who was taking care of us that night, appeared like this: Flaming.

And Matt looked something like this: Day-am!

He blew the fire out and we drank the shots and they were delicious. Sam’s own creation, they tasted like black forest cake. I can’t remember all of the ingredients, but there was Bailey’s and Grand Marnier on the top (which is the part that was lit on fire). Sam would then sprinkle cinnamon over them. Can you see it?

It looks like the shots aren’t on fire because of the flash, but they are. Look again.

We had a couple round of these shots. They were so good. Alden wanted to drink a pint glass of them. But he didn’t.

After a few rounds Matt started to look like this. (He had just flown in that day on a 6 a.m. flight!)

And the bar started to look alien.

Fun night. Nice catching up with friends. And I liked Simone’s, too. It’s somewhat hard to get to, but if you live down by Pilsen or the neighboring hoods you should definitely check it out. The owners of Simone’s are the ones opening Nice Slice Pizza Bar at the end of my block, so I’m very hopeful now.

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Allison’s Visit

November 10th, 2008 · 2 Comments


Allison, Rachelle :: Village Tap, Roscoe Village, Chicago


Allison, Rachelle, Herm :: Village Tap, Roscoe Village, Chicago


Chad, Kristin, Rachelle, Dallas, Trent, Allison, Herm


Irish Car Bombs :: Village Tap, Roscoe Village, Chicago


Allison & Herm Victorious


Ed, Allison, Herm :: Village Tap, Roscoe Village, Chicago

In June 2007 John and Susan moved to San Francisco. We went to their going away party and it was a great time. Shortly after that – like a week later – Allison moved to San Francisco. I was stuck in New York for work and couldn’t make it to her going away party. I think John and Susan’s party was the last time I saw Allison in Chicago. In all the times I traveled to California when I worked at Google I was only able to meet up with Allison one time, back in August 2007. I think she’s been to Chicago since, but I was out of town. Anyway, what I’m trying to get it is that we haven’t seen Allison much since she moved so we were really excited that she was in town this weekend.. and that she was bringing her boyfriend, Herm, with whom she just celebrated their 1 year dating anniversary.

For dinner we went to Piazza Bella, which I thought was fabulous. Up til a week ago we lived not even a block away from this restaurant, but we hardly ever went. Afterward we went to The Village Tap, which of course I’ve been to billion times. For some reason there was an Irish Car Bomb throw down between Trent and Herm. Everyone did 3 of them each and in the end, with the aid of video, it was determined that Trent drank them the fastest. It was fantastic to see Allison again and she was a great sport. When you get together old friends with a new boyfriend…. let’s just say that there was a lot of story telling going on. Herm was great. Dishing it, taking it, fitting right in. Allison is doing really well for herself out in San Francisco but I must admit selfishly that we miss having her around.

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