great deals, good eats, old friends

An old friend of mine from pre-college summer camp at Amherst contacted me via Facebook (what an amazing and scary thing that site is!) that she was going to be in Chicago for residency program interviews. I hadn't seen her in over 8 years so I wondered what would be the best way to break the ice? A delicious dinner and lots of wine. One of my favorite places in Chicago is Sweets and Savories - the food is always at its best and the atmosphere is comfortable and casual making it the perfect place for a Sunday night dinner between two girls on a mission to fit in 8 years of conversation.

I was surprised at the menu - the prices had dropped significantly! My feeling is Chef David has taken cues from the current economic climate that people aren't as willing to drop 25-40 dollars on an entree anymore. All of his appetizers are priced below $10 and his entrees range from $17 - $19! I wondered if this meant a drop in the quality also, but that is never the case at S&S. I had the tomato bread soup and lobster risotto. The soup was so filling by the time I got my risotto I had to keep pawing big spoonfuls over to my friend who was really into her food also.
We shared the blueberry cobbler with white pepper ice cream - what a great dessert! The white pepper ice cream was a nice touch and added a kick to the dense cobbler.

After all was said and done we each paid $42 dollars for a glass of wine, two courses, a shared dessert and coffee. I'd say pretty good for the quality of food.

The next day we met at Blackbird to try out their $15 dollar lunch special. What another great deal! You get a salad, choice of white fish sandwich or short rib burger, and a cute little box with two warm donuts to go. The salad was a simple mixed green with vinaigrette dressing. The white fish sandwich was the best sandwich I had ever had. It came with homemade veggie chips. The highlight was the delectable donuts. They were like fried dough topped with chocolate - they went perfect with the intelligentsia coffee which is the house coffee. $15 + $2.50 for coffee and tip put us at $22/person. I plan on coming back once a week!

My friend also decided to put both U of Chicago and Northwestern as her #1 and 2 choices for residency programs. I like to think I had a part of that =)