I have been meaning to start a blog for awhile now, but I consistently push things off so I'm not surprised it took me a couple of months to finally start! Last year I had decided that I would go to every restaurant between Belmont and Grace on Southport by December 2010. I only have a couple left, but come on, there's really not that many. This should have been complete a few months ago and I should've moved onto Roscoe St. already (which, by the way, I'm obsessed with Roscoe Village! Cutest area!) Well, Roscoe is my next goal which I'll probably put an end date of December 2012 because of my procrastination history. Anyways, I have Tango Sur, Bayou Bayou and Sensational Bites left to go to on Southport. Yes, I'm including a dessert place as a restaurant because I have an insane sweet tooth which now that I'm working from home is killing me because I make all these cookies and cupcakes and eat them all! Anyways, that's just background information. My favorite restaurants on Southport are Southport Grocery (try the savory french toast!), Julius Meinl (definitely my favorite soup), and Schoolyard (go Illinois! and mini cheeseburgers with Merkts!)
I've also recently expanded into the West Randolph restaurant area. My book club had a meeting last week at Girl and The Goat. It took us about a month to get a reservation there for 6 people. Everyone has spoken very highly about the restaurant and food it offers so we were incredibly excited to try it. And, let's face it, on average only two of us out of six actually read the book chosen by book club, so it's more about the wine and food with us girls! Unfortunately, I think we had such high expectations about Girl and the Goat and really only an adequate dining experience. First, I have to comment on one of my biggest pet peeves with restaurants. I scheduled the reservation on Open Table and when Girl and The Goat called to confirm the reservation, they asked for a call back. I don't know why it bothers me so much, but I would much rather them say, "if anything changes, please let us know." Now on to the food, don't get me wrong, there were three dishes (they're almost like tapas, meant to share) that were phenomenal, but I expected EVERYTHING we ordered to be fantastic. (If you go there, definitely get the Chick Pea Fritters! Yum!) And the worst part was we actually smelled greasy afterwards. Even my Aveda shampoo, which that scent is strong, wasn't enough to overpower this smell. I definitely think it was worth a try, and I might even go back, but there were a couple girls who said they would not return.
It was at Girl and The Goat that the girls suggested I write a blog. My sister and Rachel have suggested it in the past because I try tons of restaurants, but when my girlfriend Biz suggested "The Randolph Street Book Club" as a title, it actually got me thinking and reminded me to start one. Sorry Biz, I went with the more general Groark Board (thanks Kev!).
One last thing for this post. I must discuss a restaurant that I have to give more business to, because it's never let me down. Rose Angelis (in Lincoln Park at Lakewood and Wrightwood) is the best Italian restaurant in the city. Be careful though, their portions are huge! My boyfriend, Kevin and I went last night after not having been there for over a year. I've tried many of the pastas on the menu with the Duck Ravioli and Gnocchi being my favorites. We ordered the bruschetta for an appetizer which has pesto sauce in it, as opposed to just the basil leaves or flakes. That was ok, but I'm a bigger fan of just the fresh basil, olive oil and tomato. Kevin ended up getting the gnocchi with marscapone and it was, as always, great. And, although I was nervous of eating too much pesto (I get bored quickly with pesto), I tried their special, Portabella Mushroom and Michigan Cherry Ravioli in an almond pesto sauce. The sauce didn't taste pesto-y at all! It was phenomenal, and the leftovers are just as good! This restaurant will not dissapoint, but I think Kev and I may be sharing a dish next time.
