October 23, 2010

What's Your Sign?

I'm a Gemini. That basically means that I have two personalities. It's true. I like sports and I like Kate Spade jewelery, pastel pencil skirts, knitting and OPI nail polish. However, there was nothing ambiguous or two sided about my love for Gemini Bistro in Lincoln Park. Every time I go there, it just gets better and better.

The decor is fresh and simple, yet elegant. Hardly visible that this space was previously an old pharmacy with long aisles of drug store products (as opposed to the black, white and gray walls and overly sized white fabric lamps suspending over the booths in the center of the venue). The menu compliments the overall look and feel of the interior. It doesn't have items that are unable to be pronounced, or things that you wonder if your stomach will feel strange 2 hours later. Their are small plates, medium and large. Pick your size appetite, pick your size dish. Or, mix and match. I realized how conducive this restaurant is to any time of day, any day of week. I have been there on a Tuesday for a big meal, and like this week, I made my way over (after a quick stop at J Crew to purchase a shirt that I had them cut the tag off in the dressing room so I could wear it to eat--yes, I do that) to Gemini on a Friday afternoon for happy hour with a good co-worker of mine. She thankfully shares my taste in foods and wine. We went straight to the red wine bottles menu and ate at the bar. The Mendoza Malbec is my favorite. The bottle label has an off white label with an ocean scene drawn on it. We ordered two salads ("small plates") and split scallops (a "big plate"). Everything was fantastic, per usual.

Our Order:
The Autumn Salad was a collection of dried cherries, nuts, fresh greens, and a light dressing with a vinaigrette base. The beet salad is something I always order, since it's the fresh produce they use and perfectly executed white truffle vinaigrette that I find to be the main reason that I order this dish each time I visit. Our meal finished with the scallops (which were HUGE and juicy--I refuse to make a "that's what she said" joke about that phrase) and we split them, which was perfect for a lighter meal prior to heading out for the night. I won't write about where we went after this--it was a sketchy bar that we visited basically as a dare. The bartender, Emilio, was awesome. I restrained myself from yelling "hey Emilio" like in the "Night at the Roxbury" movie. We loved sitting at the bar. We didn't have any wait when we walked in around 6:30pm.

Trust me! Try it out. They take open table reservations, too.

Look at the Menu. Click here.


October 17, 2010

Knit Stitch, Knit Stitch, Knit Stitch, and PURL.



Yes. In knitting there is actually a word titled "PURL." It's a specific stitch where you loop the yarn the opposite way around your needle as done in a knit stitch. I know this because I'm learning how to knit. Well actually, I learned this past weekend in a class at a local...I'm sure the word is not "knittery" but I'll call it that. I took a class with two other trendy ladies (I imagined 70+ years old in my head when walking down the street to Nina to learn how to get started with this new craft on Sunday) which was an incredible relief. I hadn't become aware that knitting is actually a relatively reborn art and a good amount of younger people do this activity, not just grandmothers. I was making up song throughout the class. The teacher thought I was hilarious. Phew. She also called me a "Type A knitter." I'm not surprised at ALL by this since I'm highly type A in life.

Now, moving on to Nina, the knitting store. What an adorable slice of heaven. If I could live in a store (minus Anthropologie, J Crew, and a couple of high ranking Mecca's) this would probably make one of my top 15 places. It's absolutely a charming haven of colored yarn organized my thickness and style. The walls are clean white, the windows in the front of the store are wide and add character to the smaller size of the shop. A combination of slightly frumpy, slightly crunchy, yet extremely welcoming women work the front desk and teach the courses. Despite their unique looks and mannerisms, one thing unites them--they know their knitting!

I found out about a course through my co-worker, and decided it was time to try new things. From Dailey Method on Damen, and the shops on Division, I decided that I should continue on my quest to really soak up all that my immediate neighborhood has to offer. I took a two hour class on Sunday. It was the basics of how to start. It felt very foreign to me at first, then my little hands picked it up very quickly (we always joke about how my hands and chest are not proportional to each other because one is abnormally small and the other larger than my frame should really allow...). It's basically following a pattern, knowing your yarn size, and your needle size (and how many stitches per inch you should be aiming for in order to successfully complete a specific pattern). I'm now working on my first scarf. It's in a rich glossy sheenfull (my made up word) navy yarn that's pretty thick. I find it extremely therapeutic. I actually wanted to learn to make Christmas stockings. Not sure how that will work out, but I'll try to get to those as well after I finish this scarf.

I highly recommend taking a quick class. Time flies when you are having fun knitting!

This is how you sign up.
This is the home page of the Nina Website.




Too Old School for Me.

Rosebud. 445 Dearborn. Mark this moment in history, I won't be back. Sorry Rosebud, I'm just not a fan. I guess it was standard Italian fare, and I don't mean to offend those Italian friends of mine out there (or those that just love their pasta) but I am not someone who likes the type of venue with old school red patent leather booths, a strange bar that pretends to be upscale and isn't, and then a smell in the air that reminds me of a fast food restaurant. My parents got me a gift card to Rosebud (seemed random, but I guess they are super popular in the suburbs) so I decided to head over with two close friends of mine. The three of us ladies split a pasta dish, a chicken and prosciutto dish, and then had bread and wine (in excess--that was the one good thing about the meal, I guess, the Malbec was delicious).

Maybe there is a slight possibility that I've been tainted by the numerous hip, hot and adventurous venues offering eclectic menus and beverages, and coming to a simple classic Italian restaurant bores me. That reminds me of the movie van Wilder when the jerk fraternity boy dating Tara Reid says "I don't want our children to be tainted from one night when mommy went 'slumming' in college." I guess I had just expected for a meal that was satisfying and comforting, as opposed to the feeling that I just consumed a pound of butter melted over everything that I put into my mouth and was therefore in turn feeling the waist band of my pink pencil skirt digging into my lower abdomen.

I do have one nice thing to say, so listen up. They do have an option to substitute the original pasta with whole wheat pasta. So there! They are TRYING desperately to "keep up with the times" but I guess that is their only attempt. Nothing else had changed since it had opened decades ago, I swear. Maybe that's what you are going for. Good for you. Plus there are so many locations in the loop, I guess I can't completely give them no credit for not having a good business model. It's just too old school and not for me.

Mazel Tov, Rosebud. Best wishes.

Sincerely,
Mish