the story behind my discovery of this wicker park sandwich/brunch gem: i was looking up jam on yelp and found birchwood kitchen at the right panel of "you might also like" places. man, what a lucky find cos i've never heard of this place before then. i am not a very huge brunch person..i'd prefer a lunch over brunch but i was quite drawn to their menu which sounded delicious.

true to its neighborhood's culture, it's a cozy place with an artistic flair adorned with art works on the brick wall inside the dining area. in the summers/falls, there is the patio dining out back if you fancy enjoying the weather outside. the decor of the place reflected the simple, classic yet deliciously yummy food with bk's personal spin.

since it promises seasonal ingredients, birchwood kitchen also has weekly specials and there are various sides offered, so remember to check them out before you have your heart set on an item on their regular menu.

oh, before i forget. the way this place works is that you will be given a table number but you will have to place your order at the counter once you've decided what to eat. xy and i were sitting at the table for several minutes, wondering where was the person who would take our orders but finally realizing that we were supposed to go up to the counter. you get your drinks at the counter but they would bring the food to you.
 

i had several things in mind that i wanted to try at the place but i finally decided on one after much contemplation. to start, we both ordered a huge cup of lemonade which had a good amount of lemon flavor that was refreshing and cooling, perfect for a hot sunday afternoon.

weekend brunch:: gblt | house-cured salmon gravlax . bacon . lettuce . tomato .  citrus aioli . sunny egg . open-faced on sourdough  toast . petite salad. ($9.50)

the first thing i noticed was the generous amount of bacon and salmon. i like blt and adding salmon to it would only make it better, right? the cured salmon had that salty goodness that melt in your mouth and paired well with both the salad and the sourdough bread. the bacon, on the other hand, presented itself as textural balance with its crispiness with a hint of smokiness. the slice of sourdough was toasted well and smeared with the creamy citrus aoili which mellowed the saltiness from the combination of both the gravlax and bacon. the aoili could have used a bit more citrus, i thought. all these were topped with a sunny side up egg which gave it an extra richness to the dish as well as making it more breakfast-y.


the lightly dressed salad which had slices of carrots and pickled beets among the greens was a fitting accompaniment to the dish so you can alternate the rich gblt with the citrus-y salad while at the same time it balances out the saltiness. i loved this dish and would order it again.

i ordered a side of the green apple coleslaw ($ 2.50) although i was also torn on getting the cafe chips but decided not to. i love the touch of the apple tartness in the coleslaw but i thought it was slightly overdressed with mayo. 

weekend brunch :: croque madame | country ham . gruyere . dijon mustard . grilled sourdough . sunny eggs . petite salad . ($9.50)

it looked enticing cos i do love melted cheese in between toasted bread. here you have the gruyere cheese melting gloriously with a great amount of country ham. i had a bite and thought the ham gave the slightly mild and bitter gruyere cheese a good salty, meaty aspect. i would have preferred a bit more cheese but i am a sucker for cheese heheh. xy loved it and his clean plate at the end of the meal affirmed how good it was.

birchwood kitchen has made its mark as one of my favorite brunch places to go to in chicago (the only other one that i like is m.henry's so far). the price is a lil high but you are paying for the quality of fresh ingredients which are combined in a harmonious way topped with their promise of freshly baked bread and seasonal ingredients. the reason why i love this place: great and friendly staff serving simple tasty classics made right. i hope to be returning soon to have the other sandwich that i didn't get to try :)

disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others

p.s. working on getting a new skin/template for the blog and possibly a change of name but that's a work in progress. also, it's my excuse for lack of updates but i promise i have much to write about!

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so i've been waiting/anticipating my first visit to avec for almost two years now and it has finally happened a couple of weeks ago. i was introduced to avec when ryan and i went for dinner with our ex-boss from college but the wait was so ridiculously long hence we headed to the publican instead. and since then, i've been meaning to try this restaurant located just next to blackbird. (yeah, i am somewhat slow..)

i went there with two of my co-workers/friends for a weekday dinner - also partly to avoid the huge crowd and the wait time. we assumed that it wouldn't be busy because it was a weekday but surprisingly when we got there at about 6pm, there was a crowd of hungry people waiting. thank goodness for us, we didn't really have to wait and got a table at front end of the room by the main entrance.

so.. i am not so sure what is the deal with communal tables. i don't fancy them but it's  becoming a trend now in various restaurants. avec has them too, the communal tables concept but i just don't get it. i really don't need to have strangers staring at my food nor share my conversations about how my day went with them. and sometimes we'd have to get up from the bench to let any patrons in or out, mid-bite even. (/end rant) 

anywho, avec is a narrow room, fully clad in wood panels with the back wall lined with wine bottles which i thought was apt since they have a good, extensive wine list. their food concept is rustic tapas with influence from southern france, portugal, italy and the coast of spain. the dining room was noisy with everyone trying to talk over each other and the music playing in the background. we almost had to yell at each other in order to carry out a conversation.

now, the most important aspect - the food. we decided on sharing two items from the small plates menu, two from large plates and possibly finish up with dessert.

small plates | chorizo-stuffed medjool dates . smoked bacon . piquillo pepper - tomato sauce . ($10)

you could say the chorizo stuffed dates is the star of their menu. i've read it on reviews, heard raves about it from friends and even chris cosentino concluded that it was the best thing he ever ate 'in a bowl' . 

i mean c'mon, what is there not to like? 

sweet, soft dates - check.

spicy and savory chorizo - check.

crispy, smoky, salty bacon - check.

and then you tie it all together with the tangy and sweet sauce.

the combination of flavors is amazing. probably one of the best bites i've ever had. it's like a symphony in your mouth. first, the sweetness hits your tongue then you get that spicy flavorfulness of chorizo in the back of your throat which is then mellowed by the sauce and i mean how can you ever go wrong with bacon? hugeeee love! a huge burst of flavor in a tiny mouthful of uber yummyliciousness. oh and don't forget the fresh soft bread you can use to sop up all the tomato sauce so that it doesn't go to waste. honestly, i'd been happy with just two orders these for myself. again, chris constentino, you have not disappointed me with your recommendation.

small plates | charred octopus salad . marinated limas . roasted brussels sprout leaves ($13)

i am a sucker for seafood anything and since the rest of our dishes are mostly meat, salad was probably a good way to go. let's start with the good. the octopus was cooked through but not overdone and love the charred flavor on it. the bad: the vinaigrette had too much vinegar that it overpowered all the the other ingredients in the dish. the sourness made my lips pucker but even though the vinegar goes well with the octopus, they went a tad heavy handed on the vinegar.

it came with a side of biscotti. i didn't have any but i liked the heart shape on the foam. :)

dessert | almond tart . honey ice cream . ($6)

i imagined this to be like a key lime pie except with a almond pudding filling instead of key lime but it ended up being like a mini pecan pie with almond instead. the crust was hard to cut through with a spoon and the filling ended up being too sweet. and this was paired with a sweet honey ice cream which tasted like..well.. honey which made it overwhelmingly sweet. the sweet honey ice cream was great on its own though. the pie.. not so much. 

dessert | dessert of the day ($6)

i can't remember what this dessert was called but i know it's made out of goat's milk. it's like a goat's milk creme brulee but it tasted like a lighter and sweeter version of greek yoghurt with the slight tart notes in the silky texture. the slices of strawberry which were tart but was slightly sweetened with balsamic vinegar which was a great topping to garnish the light dessert. 

i really wanted to love avec but i came out from the experience just liking it. i'd say it's mostly my fault for building such high expectations over the past two years before finally trying the place. we were pretty disgruntled with the service cos it took a long time before our food was served in comparison to the group next to us who were finished with dessert while we were just finishing up our entree. and they were seated at the same time we were.

but again, i have to say that chorizo stuffed dates wrapped in bacon is exceptional and i would return just for two plates of those yummy bites. i would be willing to wait for a table even only for this one dish. :)

disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others

i was thrilled when i was given a choice of choosing a restaurant in san francisco for my birthday. but i didn't want to go somewhere too expensive but i wanted to cross off a restaurant from my sf wishlist. the two places i narrowed down were between sotto mare and the slanted door but you've figured out who won that battle.

located within the ferry building (also one of the reasons why i chose this place), i figured this restaurant would be a great choice for a light lunch so we could do other snacking since there are other little food places within the marketplace. also, it houses one of 7x7 magazine's the big eats: 100 things to try before you die in sf - cellophane noodles with dungeness crab. well, at least i know what i am gonna order at the restaurant.

it took us a while to find where the slanted door was. the restaurant itself has both indoor and outdoor seating. fully clad in floor to ceiling glass windows, the decor itself was modern contemporary with an asian flair and the beautiful backdrop of the pier. it also allowed the warm sunny rays to stream through and brighten up the whole room. similarly, the decor reflected the style of food they offer which is their modern interpretation of vietnamese cuisines.



we managed to get seats at a booth that has the view of the bridge and the pier which was really lovely.

salad :: green papaya | pickled carrot . tofu . rau ram . roasted peanuts ($11)

this was one of the few things i wanted to try besides the cellophane noodle. i love, love this salad - it was so delicious and i thought it was probably my favorite dish of the day. it was awesome - it was refreshing from the crisp unripened papaya that absorbed the sweet, tangy and savory notes (think partially from fish sauce) of the vinaigrette. then you get the surprise of the nuttiness from the peanuts for another textural crunch and the soft tofu which was also coated by the vinaigrette. on top of that, there was the fresh crunch of the celery, carrot and the cucumber.  

seafood :: cellophane noodles | green onion . fresh dungeness crab meat . ($19)

i was so eager to try the cellophane noodles that i've been talking about trying it since i chose the slanted door. how did it fare? my vote is... not bad. while the dish was good and seasoned well, it wasn't as outstanding as i was expecting it to be. there was a decent amount of crab meat where some of it retained their natural sweetness but others were borderline salty which somewhat masked the freshness of the crab. the flavors gradually became monotone and i was left hoping for some kind of textural difference. perhaps if there were more crab meat, the sweetness of it might have elevated the flavors of the dish. as i said, good but did not have a wow factor i was hoping for.

noodles :: grilled organic chicken | over rice noodles . imperial roll . cucumber . mint . ($14)

i had a few small bites of this noodle dish just to try the flavors. surprisingly, it reminded me of a deconstructed vietnamese spring roll except with chicken. the accompanying sauce was sweet and tangy with a dash of fish sauce which is a must with the dish because it would be bland without it.  the sauce really does bring all the flavors and ingredients together. oh and the chicken itself was moist and tender. overall, a pretty tasty dish.

the slanted door displayed their modern and delicious takes on vietnamese classic dishes. i really liked the ambiance of the restaurant and i enjoyed the food :) however, it was a bit pricey for the serving size but the view of the bay was fantastic and the use of fresh ingredients was a plus. is this enough to earn a return visit? i'm still on the fence about that but i am tempted to have a second visit just for the green papaya salad.

disclaimer this is written based on my personal experience and opinion. experiences and taste buds may vary for others