Everyday Gourmet

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Manly ass slap – ½ star
Fone and fone – 0 stars



Restaurant: Everyday Gourmet
Location: 1216 Waukegan Road, Glenview, IL


When I knew I was going to have a kid I thought, “No sweat. It won’t change my life that much. I’ll still have plenty of time to do the things I want to do.” Any father (or parent) out there is giggling like a schoolgirl right now. That’s because they knew having a kid does change your life. Completely. (Some would say it doesn’t change your life – it ends it. But we’re splitting hairs here.) So my free time has been more limited than I thought it would be. Sure, I still have time to eat. A lot. But now I just don’t find as much time to write about it. I apologize. To all four of you reading this.

Anyway, my friends Denny and Megan got married a couple of weeks ago, and the wedding and reception were at A New Leaf on Wells in Olde Towne (or is it Old Town? I feel like I always see it as “Old Town”, but if it were really old then wouldn’t it have the bizarre spelling with the “e” at the end of each word? Should I even care?). Here are my quick-hit thoughts on the event:

- A New Leaf is a great venue for an event. It’s small enough to feel cool and intimate, but big enough with a cool floor plan to allow everyone to spread out so you’re not on top of each other. Plus they have an outdoor area that wasn’t even open, which looked really cool as well. If you’re having an event for 150 people or less, it’s worth checking out.
- When you’re wife is wearing a dress and heels, making her walk five blocks in the cold and extreme wind is not a good idea. Unless you don’t want to have sex. Then it’s a great idea.
- Denny and Megan only had hors d’oeuvres for the reception, which terrified me. Especially since I didn’t have time to eat before the wedding. No way it would be enough food for me, let alone the other people at the event, right?
- A New Leaf doesn’t serve food, so you have to bring in an outside caterer. Denny and Megan went with Everyday Gourmet.
- I love open bars. They involve the words “booze” and “free” (not necessarily in that order). All-you-can-drink free drinks combined with hors d’oeuvres leads to, well, you can guess. Mostly bad things.
- The Chicken Chipotle on Tortilla Chip with Avocado and Crème was great. I had at least three of these. Not my favorite HD (hors d’oeuvres, which is an extremely hard word to type) of the night, but it was a nice change of pace. Felt like chips and dip, except someone did all the work of dipping for you, so all you had to do was take the chip and eat it.
- Bowties are making a comeback. Take my word for it.
- The other problem with being a dad and not getting a chance to write as often as I want is that sometimes I forget things that I ate. So some of this recap is my best guess.
- I loved the Virginia Crab Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Lime Aioli. They were really easy to eat, kind of filling, but light enough that you could quickly down two or three before the HD lady tried to walk away so other guests could get a taste. I had somewhere between 8 and 14 of these. And that’s only because they stopped bringing them out.
- I was on the treadmill the other day (no joke) watching TV and listening to my iPod (which is this cool little device that stores all your music in “digital” form. That’s right, no more Walkman strapped to your arm and 12 cassette tapes stored in your fanny pack while you workout. They’re really convenient, these iPods. You should think about getting one.) when an iPod commercial came on. I really couldn’t believe my eyes. How the hell did Victoria Beckham (a.k.a. Posh Spice) get her own iPod commercial? Was it because the Spice Girls were getting ready to tour again? Did she have a new solo album out I didn’t know about? I really was amazed. And a little bit impressed. Maybe she did have some talent I wasn’t aware of. Then the end of the commercial comes on and it says, “Mary J Blige Work That”. My jaw dropped. Um, what? What happened to Mary J Blige? She used to be the Queen of Hip Hop Soul. And now she’s ripping off Posh Spice’s look so bad that when you silhouette the two of them you can’t tell ‘em apart. I had to watch the commercial again (on youtube.com, which is a website filled with tons and tons of videos. Again, if you haven’t checked it out, you should) just to see if my eyes failed me. They hadn’t. Not only that but Blige was just about as skinny as Posh. I’m not sure what to make of Mary J anymore. Do I give her a mulligan? Was it a coincidence? Or did Mary J try to make herself look like a white pop chick from England? I can’t talk about it anymore. Every time the commercial comes on I get sick.
- If someone sends you a video called “2 Girls, 1 Cup”, don’t watch it. Even if your life depends on it. You’ll never eat again.
- The first thing I ate that night were the Phyllo Purses filled with Spinach and Feta Cheese (or was it the Artichoke Hearts on Toasted Bread Round with Parmesan & Onion? I can’t be sure. I just know that it tasted a lot like spinach and artichoke dip, which is a good thing.). I loved ‘em. I think I had five on the first two passes. Then I started going out of my way to find them. Luckily there were plenty. Either people feel bad eating a lot of free food (though they don’t feel bad drinking a lot of free booze) or I’m extremely fat. It’s one or the other. Or both. Either way I got my fill. If I ate less than 14 I’d be shocked.
- Thank god the Bears god rid of their Defensive Coordinator and their #1 running back. All Ced Benson had proved in his (brief) time as a Bear was that he wasn’t that durable, wasn’t that quick, wasn’t that fast, and didn’t hit holes that well. Why not make him the #1 back? Oh, and I was really pumped up about Adam Archuleta. A safety that can’t cover anyone but is known for being a big hitter. Except that he’s missed about every tackle he’s attempted this year. They are almost unwatchable right now.
- And the Bulls. Yikes. I still think they’ll be OK (they never play well in November), but I’m concerned. I was thinking a #3 seed in the East. Now I’m hoping for a #7 or #8 seed.
- The Seared Scallops on Cucumber Round were also enjoyable. Scallops are a lot like pork chops in my opinion. 90% of the time they’re good, fine, enjoyable, etc… 8% of the time they are holy-crap good. And the other 2% they’re terrible. These fell in the 90% range. Nothing special, but good enough that I enjoyed about five of them.
- I think there was another HD that I can’t remember. Maybe a tuna something? Maybe served on a radish slice? I can’t remember. Probably says a lot about whether or not it was any good.
- I’ve never seen anyone dance like Denny’s brother, Tim. His legs did things I’ve never seen before. From now on he’ll be known as Licorice Legs, whether he likes it or not.
- I think he gets it from his mom, who was tearing up the dance floor at will.
- And Marty’s enthusiasm on the dance floor can’t be matched. Moves pretty good for a big man.
- I hate Joakim Noah. Can’t explain it. No reason other than looking at him makes me want to punch him in the face. I feel the same way about Brian Cardinal.
- The last HDs of the night were the “sliders”. I feel like every place calls mini cheeseburgers/hamburgers “sliders” now. Let’s get one thing clear, the only “sliders” are from White Castle, and their called “Slyders”. Now that we’ve cleared that up, lets get back to the mini burgers at the reception. Were they good? Were they great? Were they terrible? Well, I was somewhere between 8 and 52 drinks into the night, so as far as I’m concerned they were the best things I’d ever eaten. All five of them.
- There is nothing more fun than doing the Soulja Boy to Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You’ve Been Gone”. It just works.
- The dessert buffet was done by Bittersweet. There was a lot of chocolate. It was good. I was happy. And they had mint Whoppers (well, probably Whopper impersonators, but still good. And I mean the candy, not the burger), which I’ve never had. And I couldn’t stop eating them. We even got a little parting gift which was a small box filled with them.
- I was terrified that the HDs weren’t going to be enough. And they weren’t. They were more than enough.


Everyday Gourmet gets a solid Chest Tap. A New Leaf gets a Chest Bump. Alcohol gets a half handshake, half chest bump hug.



Got a question? Send it to josh@borntofork.com.

Chew Chew Cafe

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Manly ass slap – ½ star
Fone and fone – 0 stars


Restaurant: Chew Chew Cafe
Location: 1 Riverside Drive


This past Sunday was Easter Sunday, so my wife and I had planned on having brunch with my folks. My mom told me she made reservations at Chew Chew Café. She’s mentioned it a bunch of times in the past and claimed that the food was really good. All I knew was that it was a train place and located right next to some train tracks. My dad is a HUGE train geek (he does model trains and actually has a train that runs though the backyard) so I wasn’t surprised that my parents liked it. And when I say HUGE geek, I mean in a good way. Model trains don’t sound sexy, but that’s because they aren’t. But, they do look pretty tight when done right. My parents’ backyard is a good example. Back in the day they used to call my dad LL Cool T (Ladies Love Cool Trains). My mom never had a chance.

When I asked my mom the name of it so I could get directions online she said, “Chew Chew Café, but it’s spelled C-H-E-W.” Oh boy. I assumed it was spelled the traditional train way (as in Choo Choo). Now, as a writer I love a good pun, a sweet play on words, and all the geeky stuff. But Chew Chew? Seemed a little much (but I was also secretly amused). I could only imagine what this place was like. “Witty” name. In the ‘burbs. My parents liked it (remember, these are the same people who eat at Lalo’s every Friday night). Here’s the best way I can explain it. When I went back to St. Louis to visit after I had moved we were trying to find a place to have breakfast, and someone said First Watch. So we headed there. The wait was really, really long, like it was the best (or only) breakfast place in all of St. Louis. And when I was done I felt like I had just eaten at a cleaner Denny’s (except not as good) but paid twice as much. I realized that it was one of those places that people talk themselves into being better than they really are because if they can’t convince themselves (and other people) that it’s good, then it means they have nothing. The same way people in suburbs like Naperville try to convince you that they have all this great stuff going on out there because they don’t want to believe that they are missing out by not living in the city. So that’s what I figured Chew Chew Café would be. A place that suburbanites try to convince you is great so that you feel like you’re missing out on something. Guess what? They’re right.

Believe me, I’m as shocked as you are. The day before I went I mentioned my plans to Geoff, and he said, “Chew Chew? That place is good. For real.” Even this didn’t convince me. But you know what did convince me? The chocolate chip pancakes.

Allow me a quick aside. I was just killing time and channel surfing and I stopped to watch “Thank God You’re Here.” The show is an improv type of show featuring different comedians each week competing against each other. Here’s the part I don’t understand – Dave Foley (who has aged horribly, and that’s an understatement. New Radio was about 10 years ago, but judging by Foley it might have been closer to 30.) is the “judge”? He gets to decide what’s good and what’s bad and picks a winner at the end of the show. What qualifies him to be the one and only judge? And don’t say “Kids in the Hall” because he’s a long way from those days. I don’t get it? Was he like the all-time greatest “Thank God You’re Here” improv guy? I have no idea why this bothers me, but it does. It also doesn’t help that David Alan Grier is the host. He’s a long way from In Living Color.

OK, sorry about that. Back to the pancakes. See, a lot of places try to do the special pancake thing. Whether it’s some kind of fruit pancake (like seasonal fruit, or apple and cinnamon) or something sweet (like chocolate pancakes) or something “kooky” and “over-the-top” (like pumpkin pancakes with chocolate syrup and bananas and gummy bears). The problem is not many places do it well. Most places try too hard and end up with a mess that has no taste, or too much taste, or it’s thrown together with no thought. Rarely do you find a place that does it really well (like Bongo Room). So as I was checking the menu and deciding what to get, I really wanted to put Chew Chew to the test. Eggs are easy. Omelets are easy. Even pancakes are pretty easy. But, chocolate chip pancakes? Not easy. There are a lot of places where they can go wrong. Too much chocolate. Not enough chocolate. Too much sauce. Or syrup doesn’t go well with it. It’s just really risky. But Chew Chew did ‘em right.

Each pancake had a perfect balance of chocolate chips baked in. Then the stack was topped with the perfect portion as well. Not too much. Just enough that if I wanted to add a little extra chocolate to a bite I could. And on top of that there were sliced bananas on top. And on top of THAT there was caramel sauce drizzled over the whole thing. But again, not too much. It was the perfect balance in every bite. And you didn’t have to add any syrup. The caramel sauce and chocolate chips were just enough to keep it moist and sweet without needing sauce or anything. It was amazing. I loved them. Now, I don’t think they were as good as what the Bongo Room produces, but these were definitely worth the trip.

Luckily my wife never finishes what she orders, so I got a couple of bites of the eggs benedict. Another great order. The key was the English muffin it was served on. Just a big ol’ piece of bread, toasted and buttered perfectly. Then top it with all the good stuff. Delicious. Not too much taste, not too little taste. Special, but not too special. Good stuff. Chew Chew was two for two.

And according to Geoff, and my parents, the dinner here is really good as well. For now, I’ll have to take their word for it. But I might just have to check it out sometime.

Chew Chew Café gets a surprising chest bump.


Got a question? Send it to born2fork@yahoo.com.

Sushi Wabi

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star


Restaurant: Sushi Wabi
Location: 842 W. Randolph St.


I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. Two years ago you couldn’t pay me to eat sushi, and I’ll do pretty much anything for money. Slowly, over time, I’ve grown to be OK with sushi. It’s not the kind of thing I’m gonna seek out, but if others are going there, then I’d be OK eating with everyone else. Well, the other night, I was absolutely craving sushi. I’m not kidding. It’s all I wanted to eat. It’s never happened before. I guess I’m all growsed up.

To satisfy my craving my wife suggested we go to Sushi Wabi, which I had never been to before. I was craving the House Crunch at Bob San, or the White Dragon at Coast, but I thought trying someplace new was a good idea.

I love going out to eat, and that’s one of the reasons I love Chicago, because there are so many places to go in so many different parts of the city. That doesn’t mean I get to them all, but I still like having the option. Now, I only need a few things to make me happy when I go out to eat. First, I like a decent atmosphere. Whether it’s the design of the restaurant or just the people eating there, atmosphere is important. Second, I need good service. And really, good service is almost more important than the food itself. I’m happy going to a place where the service is great and the food just so-so. If eating out is about the experience, good service is the most important part of the experience. For example, the one time I went to Mas, the service was so bad I’m not sure I ever want to go back, even though their food was really good. That’s how important service is to me. And lastly, the food is important. That’s it. That is the triangle of happiness for me.

I liked the atmosphere at Sushi Wabi. It’s in the West Loop on Randolph, and I like that area to begin with. Plus, the place is pretty small, giving it this really intimate, exclusive feel. When you’re sitting in there you kind of feel like you’re someone important, or that the paparazzi is waiting to snap your photo outside. My one complaint is that the DJ is spinning the music a little loud, so you end up shouting across the table to talk to someone.

The service was great. Really, almost every place I go has good service. And good service is easy to achieve. Just be friendly, stop by often enough to take my order when I’m ready, and bring my food sooner rather than later. And if you do simple things like fill up my water before it’s empty or bring me another drink (when it’s free refills) without me asking, then I love you. It’s really not hard. Our server was friendly, gave recommendations, and stopped by often. Of course some people hate when a server is always at your table asking if everything is OK, but to me, that’s better than never coming by and me having to flag him or her down. Unless your server takes a seat and starts eating with you, the more you see him, the better.

And lastly, the food at Sushi Wabi was good. We started with the gyu-negima, which were scallions rolled with thin slices of meat cooked in a sweet soy garlic sauce. It was amazing. But then again, it had everything I like – onions (scallions), meat, and garlic. I recommend you order it if you go.

For the main eats, we got the Spicy Tuna, the Godzilla, and the Dragon. The spicy tuna was pretty good. It had a nice kick to it at the end. I think the most popular sushi at the place had to be the Godzilla. It looked like every table had an order of it. The thing was pretty huge, which is where I’m assuming the name comes from. And I can see why it’s popular. It was pretty tasty. It was kind of sweet, with a hint of spiciness to it. But, to me, it wasn’t the best of the bunch. I’d have to say the Dragon was my favorite. It had a lot more flavor than the Godzilla (which in comparison was just a little bland), and had a little more kick to it. It was a good balance between spice and sweet. My only complaint is that it was smaller than the Godzilla. I wanted more.

I will say that this was the first time in my life that I actually got full off of sushi. It was just two of us, and the three rolls and the appetizer were more than enough to fill you up. The Dragon and the Godzilla were pretty generous in size, and enough to satisfy even me. If I went back, I’m pretty sure I’d order the exact same thing. That’s gotta be a good sign.

Oh, and just so you don’t have sticker shock, Sushi Wabi is a little on the pricey side. An appetizer, three rolls, and two glasses of wine cost us more than seventy dollars. You may think that’s a lot, you may not, but I thought it was a tad high. Even without the wine it would have been over fifty bucks, which to me, for sushi, seems just a little much.

But, Sushi Wabi did a good job of satisfying my sushi craving, though I’ll still take Bob San or Coast over it. Final rating - fist bump.