hamachi with pickled ramps.

evo pizza.

North Charleston.
Left Hand Brewing Ginger Beer.
Carrot Ginger soup.
'Pork Trifecta' pizza.

Dessert: house made chocolates.
White truffles with dark chocolate.
Cardamom and bay leaf bonbon.
Lavender chocolate.
Vanilla bean chocolate.

high cotton.

To eat: charcuterie plate.

Duck liver mousse, pork rillettes, genoa, pancetta.

Yes, it was good.

on the go.

I'm blogging on the Tarmac in Charlotte. Feels good.

cherry heering.

Found some at Old Town last night. Look out for a Blood & Sand on the cocktail list soon. More to come later.

more from the windy city.

Took a tour of Plitt Seafood Company. As we were getting on the bus, Gerard Craft, F&W Best New Chef 08 was coming off the bus. Kinda cool.

Plitt was cool - the most intense smell of the sea; the place was packed with whole fish. It looked like they had it displayed for the purpose of our tour.
More whole fish. 
And a picture of our ham platter from The Publican. Served with goat butter and peasant bread.

the publican.

The Publican in Chicago. 

Ordered: La Quercia Prosciutto Rosso, Serrano Ham, Italian Prosciutto.

To drink: Allagash White and an Angry Kings from Avery Brewing Co. in Indiana.

nachbar.

Live jazz on Wednesday at the Nachbar in Germantown. Great spot - kind of like Louisville's own Spotted Pig. They've got an amazing beer selection that rotates with an impressive degree of regularity, a mean jukebox, and a fascinating sign over the beer cooler that reads, "no smiling."

Yes, please.

blackbird.

Went to dinner at Blackbird in Chicago last night. This is under the same umbrella as avec., and the newly opened Publican, where we had some beers and some hams before heading to Blackbird to finish up.

Decided to check out Blackbird because the food was such a departure from the kind of stuff Proof cooks, and the kind of stuff I'm accustomed to eating. It's certainly not a full fledged nosedive into the realm of 'molecular gastronomy,' but the chef, Mike Sheerin, came from wd-50 in New York, and obviously has a great skill at combining some very intriguing flavors and textures.

To start I had grilled octopus confit with coconut-horseradish, fingerling potatoes, granny smith apples and candied black olives. This was one of the best octopus dishes I've had in a long time.

We had a mid course of grilled sturgeon with celery root puree, anjou pears and sauerkraut gnocchi - again, an exploration of some really interesting flavors.

My entree was a seared duck breast with confit of thigh, with smoked cauliflower, salsify, fried chocolate and celery. Can't explain it, but it was damn good.

cocktail testing.

Sorry for the delay in my posting. I've been basking in the glow of fatherhood and readjusting to life in a cooler climate - battling snow storms, trying to stay fit and trying to keep Proof busy and energized in what could be a slower season for some. We've had a fortunate January and are looking forward to a great February, despite some of the 'doom + gloom' you may have been privy to in the media.

Today we had another cocktail tasting at the restaurant for some cocktails we are putting together for a consulting job in Virginia. Most of the cocktails were classics, but several were some new joints pieced together for the tasting. Of course we had to give some love to the coupe glasses, as the client is a classic bar with an old school vibe.

Some maraschino liquer, Aperol, Yellow Chartreuse, eggs, elderflower - just a couple of the tools of destruction.

A bevy of different cocktails. Who says work isn't fun?