Because of the feet of snow predicted in the lake effect snow belt between SB and Chicago, Jack opted to come and visit me in my Chicagoland home. While we had a couple parties to attend in SB, I was glad to stay in Chi. For one, I keep finding restaurants I want to visit with Jack.So on Friday night, we met at a cozy Italian pub on the south side of Chicago, Popolano's. They're known for thin crust pizza, so we gave it a whirl. It was excellent; sweet sauce and flaky pastry dough made for a great pizza. Italian sausage is never sub-par in the south side, either! We've had a couple deep dish pies along our "pizza journey" in Chicagoland, but you have to be in the mood for deep dish.
On Saturday, after awakening naturally and to glorious sunlight streaming in the windows, we lingered over coffee and relaxed. It felt a bit like vacation (and I may start considering my Chi house a vacation home and re-arranging it as such). Anyway, the day was ours so after hitting the gym, we visited Cooper's Hawk Winery in Orland Park. I visited Cooper's Hawk for two physician lunches in previous weeks, but wanted to go back with Jack and actually try some of the wine. This place was *so* popular; we went at 3:30 p.m., the bar was packed, the restaurant had an hour wait, and we had to wait in line to do some wine tasting! So much for going early!
On Saturday, after awakening naturally and to glorious sunlight streaming in the windows, we lingered over coffee and relaxed. It felt a bit like vacation (and I may start considering my Chi house a vacation home and re-arranging it as such). Anyway, the day was ours so after hitting the gym, we visited Cooper's Hawk Winery in Orland Park. I visited Cooper's Hawk for two physician lunches in previous weeks, but wanted to go back with Jack and actually try some of the wine. This place was *so* popular; we went at 3:30 p.m., the bar was packed, the restaurant had an hour wait, and we had to wait in line to do some wine tasting! So much for going early!
We tried nine different wines, ranging from a sparkling peach to a heavy Cabernet to a fruity blueberry wine to a wonderful riesling gewurztraminer. We bought a bottle of the Cooper's Hawk red and it'll be a good wine to age and open on a special occasion. We had so much fun and spent almost 2 hours tasting these wines.
Since the restaurant wait was still over an hour, we got in the car and drove through Tinley Park. There are a few restaurants down there I want to visit, but we didn't feel like paying $30-45 for an entree. Hopping back on the expressway, we ended up at Gino's. It's a great place to sit and linger; we knew we wouldn't be rushed out. Instead of pizza, we ordered Italian beef and sausage. Notice a pattern here?
We eat an awful lot of Italian out here in southern Chicago! Mob roots usually equate to phenomenal food.
Most people have a bit of Italian in there, including Nurse Jackie, the CNO at Fozzie's. Everyone knows I'm heavily involved in process improvement projects around the hospital. Nurse Jackie, somewhat familiar with process improvement mapping, is always commenting that we need a "spaghetti diagram." Likely suggestion from an Italian woman, of course she wants spaghetti anything!
Since the restaurant wait was still over an hour, we got in the car and drove through Tinley Park. There are a few restaurants down there I want to visit, but we didn't feel like paying $30-45 for an entree. Hopping back on the expressway, we ended up at Gino's. It's a great place to sit and linger; we knew we wouldn't be rushed out. Instead of pizza, we ordered Italian beef and sausage. Notice a pattern here?
We eat an awful lot of Italian out here in southern Chicago! Mob roots usually equate to phenomenal food.
Most people have a bit of Italian in there, including Nurse Jackie, the CNO at Fozzie's. Everyone knows I'm heavily involved in process improvement projects around the hospital. Nurse Jackie, somewhat familiar with process improvement mapping, is always commenting that we need a "spaghetti diagram." Likely suggestion from an Italian woman, of course she wants spaghetti anything!
That winery looks neat, it's a fancy webpage. I wish I had more wine-tasting experience, it seems like a neat way to impress my inlaws. Glad you had a good weekend and hope you got to Wii it up a bit.
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