Tag Archives: date night

GT Fish & Oyster {Date Night}

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Yesterday was my last day at my old job. It was sad but exciting at the same time. I’m eager to see what my new job is like. To celebrate the closing of one chapter and the opening of another, Ian offered to take me out to dinner and we decided on GT Fish & Oyster.

We actually went to this restaurant on my birthday with my dad and step-mom and loved everything about it. The service, food, and ambiance were all top quality. The restaurant had also presented me with a $20 gift card for my birthday and we’ve been itching to use it ever since.

We didn’t make a reservation and arrived a little on the late side. We were told there was a 30 minute wait for seating but we could enjoy a drink and our meals at the bar if we would like to. I have no problem eating at a bar but given the shorter wait, we opted to put our name in and then have a drink at the bar. I enjoyed a glass of chardonnay and Ian had a Robert the Bruce (Three Floyds beer) and after about 45 minutes we let someone else take our seats and went over to the hostess to ask about our table. I mean it couldn’t be that much longer right?

Well turns out the hostess now didn’t foresee a table opening up any time soon and we had lost our seats at the bar. I was frustrated and ready to leave, why couldn’t she just tell us that the wait was an hour and a half? But Ian asked that we stay. One of the managers must have sensed we were upset and he came over to talk with us. In about 5 minutes he had us sitting at the communal table. I’m not sure why we weren’t offered that in the first place.

I’m not trying to complain because I love the restaurant but if last night had been my first time there, I’m not sure I’d go back. Lesson learned –> make a reservation if you want a table!

When we were seated we were offered both the regular menu and the oyster menu. We wasted no time in ordering 6 oysters: 2 Kumamoto, 2 Blackberry Point, and 2 Pemaquid.

The Blackberry Point was by far my favorite. The description was perfect, it was both sweet and salty!

Rather than share a bunch of plates, Ian and I opted to keep things simple and each order one main. I had the seared tuna salad without egg. It had red potato, nicoise olives, and green beans and was served with a cider vinaigrette.

I loved it.

Ian ordered the fish and chips which was beer battered cod served with steak fries, malt vinegar, and a dill pickle roumelade.

He also really like his dish. We both agreed that our fish tasted very fresh and everything went well together.

We both were still hungry after finishing out dinners, so we decided to order more oysters. When in Rome right?

We tried two Saltworks Seaside and two Stingray and couldn’t help but order two more Blackberry Point. They were definitely our favorite!

We were almost in the area so after dinner we caught the bus over to Black Dog Gelato. If you’re in Chicago and love gelato or sorbet you absolutely must try Black Dog. The flavor combinations are incredibly creative and tasty. It can’t be beat.

I had a small with cantaloupe and pineapple basil sorbets. I really liked it but it was hard not to order my all time favorite flavor, goat cheese cashew caramel. Stupid food allergies.

Ian ordered a large and tried the blueberry french toast (I was sooo jealous), malt vanilla, and coconut thyme (his favorite).  We were both happy campers!

This Morning
I got up early to fit in a brick workout. I was actually hungry when I woke up (where were my carbs last night?) so I had a larger than usual pre-workout snack.

Dried, smashed banana topped with almond butter and KIND granola (I also had my usual protein shake). I didn’t love the dried banana at first but I’m learned to like it. It just needs it’s fair share of nut butter ;) .

I biked the usual 17 miles and then ran 3. My legs were sore this morning so both my run and bike paces were slower than usual. It happens and I DEFINITELY enjoyed being out in the cooler temps.

Breakfast was chia pudding topped with granola, sunflower seeds, and maple syrup. I am hoping this will hold me over for a long time because I have a busy day ahead of me!

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Date Night {Mista & Scooters}

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1. My lovely date for the night. Not only was it warm out last night but there was also barely a breeze. It was a perfect night to eat on Mista‘s outdoor patio.

2. House salad. Even though we split this, I pretty much dominated it. Whoops.

3. Gluten-free, vegan heart smart pizza. The crust was made with brown rice flour, the “cheese” was daiya, and the toppings included sauce, roasted vegetables (zucchini, eggplant), baby spinach, sea salt, and EVOO. It was awesome. I could have eaten the entire thing but I wanted leftovers so I ate half and saved the rest. I can’t wait for dinner tonight!

4. Ian’s prosciutto pizza. It was topped with sauce, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, organic argula, roasted plum tomatoes, roasted organic garlic, and EVOO. He loved it.

5. Dessert came a la Scooter’s. I had the strawberry lemonade Italian ice. I’m so glad my favorite custard place can still accomodate me :)

6. Ian’s Boston Shake. It’s basically a shake (he had vanilla malt) with a scoop of vanilla custard on top, with hot fudge and whipped cream. It’s what Scooter’s is best known for ;) .

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Date Night {Arami}

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This past week was incredibly busy. It was so busy that Ian and I didn’t have much time to spend together. In fact, we hadn’t had a meal together since Wednesday night. We had to fix that and we did it in the best way possible, a date night!

We went to Arami Sushi, a smaller sushi restaurant in Ukranian Village. Arami is known for their innovation and their fresh fish and everytime Ian and I’ve eaten there the food has been delicous and the service wonderful.

Things were a little tricky given my elimination diet but a quick e-mail to my doctor assured me that fish, rice, and seaweed would be okay but that I should be mindful of fried rolls, sauces with mayo, and soy products. It seemed like a great excuse to order nigiri! (I also asked for fresh wasabi as some of the other varieties contain gluten).

We ordered two salmon and two yellowtail nigiri (my doctor also suggested I avoid tuna due to the higher mercury content) and Ian and I had one of each.

The salmon was phenomenal and I’m not usually a salmon sashimi fan (love it in rolls though). It was incredibly fresh and full of flavor, even without soy sauce or ginger.

I also had two pieces of grilled avocado nigiri.

At first I was nervous because the avocado was drizzled with a spicy mayo sauce but I found out that it was a vegan mayo and even though I’m not sure the ingredient list would have stood up to the elimination diet I’m doing right now, it didn’t contain any of my allergens so I went for it. They were really good and I feel okay so far today so my fingers are crossed it continues!

I also ordered one of the special nigiri of the night, Korean red snapper.

This was also really tasty and had more flavor than the yellowtail but was not as good as the salmon.

Ian also ordered kani nigiri and a roll to fill him up.

After dinner we plopped ourselves down on the couch where I had a pumpkin smoothie and some veggies in hummus (I was still a liitttle bit hungry) and watched some Mad Men. We need to pick up the pace a bit, we’re only in season 3!

This Morning
This morning I woke up early to beat the heat AND the runners with a brick workout (I don’t think I beat either ;) ). I got out my bike and headed to the lakeshore path where I rode 6 miles in one direction, turned around, and rode the 6 miles home. It ended up taking me about 50 minutes on the path and an hour counting biking to and from the path. Considering all of the bikers, runners, and walkers, I’m happy with the pace.

When I got back to my apartment, I locked my bike up front and headed out for a two mile run. I arrived back around 7:30 a.m. and it was already really warm. Yikes! I’m going to have to wake up even earlier to fit in my run tomorrow morning :-/.

I ran a mile out and then turned around and ran home. My first mile clocked in at 7:36 and my second at 7:14. I was actually quite impressed with my legs but I don’t know that I could have kept that up for another mile, at least not in the heat after biking for an hour.

All I wanted for breakfast was something cold so I had a big bowl of cereal that included 1/2 cup brown rice cereal, 1/2 cup puffed millet, 1/2 T walnuts, 1/2 T pumpkin seeds, a sliced banana, almond butter, and then a drizzle of honey on top of everything. I also used rice milk. It was so good!

I’m off to relax. I’m debating going a nap because we have another busy weekend ahead of us (are they ever not busy?). Plans for today include a trip to the Printers Row Lit Fest, errands, and a Sox game (I’ve never been!). Have a wonderful day!

What do you have going on today? Anything exciting?

Date Night {Belly Shack}

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I wanted to give you guys a more content-heavy post this morning but an impromptu date night last night & a Mad Men marathon was not conducive to me writing a post. The post will come tomorrow and until then I’ll recap date night.

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you know that Ian and I love ethnic food. We eat Indian, Thai, Korean, Mexican, etc so when we found out about Belly Shack, a Latin American, Korean, Asian Fusion spot we knew we had to check it out.

Belly Shack is not a fast food restaurant but it’s also not a formal place. They specialize in street food and while there is waitstaff, you order at a counter and they bring the food to you. It is also BYOB but last night we didn’t partake.

We decided to split an order of Togarashi Spiced Fries. They came with a curry mayo that was really amazing.

 Ian ordered the Korean BBQ Beef (unpictured) and I had the Boricua with marinated tofu.

The sandwich was stuffed between two tostones and was filled wth marinated tofu, mushrooms, bok choy, and brown rice. There was a Hoisin BBQ sauce on the side. Yum!

Not wanting the night to end, we indulged in two of their highly recommended soft serve dishes.

I had the Vietnamese Cinnamon Caramel which despite not being a huge caramel fan, I loved!

And Ian ordered the Bacon Chocolate Chip. He was a big fan.

Overall, I really enjoyed Belly Shack and I appreciated that they had a couple vegan and gluten-free options. I know we’ll be returning soon :)

After dessert, on our trek back to the ‘l’, we stumbled across a Family Dollar. Being city dwellers, we rarely see dollar stores or anything similar, so we decided to check it out. Ian also needed to break a $20 for trainfare and as we were out of paper towels, we figured we’d pick up a roll or two and kill two birds with one stone.

Well about a half an hour later we emerged from the Family Dollar with a huge bag full of necessary items. I mean, everything was cheaper than the Target near our apartment, we couldn’t help ourselves!

It is obviously unsafe to send Chicagoans into suburban stores unattended.

So excited about our purchases!

When we got home, we started watching Mad Men. I think we might be on episode 6 now, I’m not sure. While I’m loving it, Ian can’t seem to stay awake for more than an episode and a half and Sonic… well he has no interest at all.

It’s a tough life.

This morning I woke up and knocked out 6 miles. They weren’t super fast but they weren’t slow either. I got a cramp in the ball of my foot and had to stop and stretch it out but besides that I have no complaints. I plan on biking to and from work today also (total of about 5 miles).

Breakfast was something special.

Oatmeal minus the oats in a jar. I followed the recipe almost exactly, the only change being that I used 1/2 a banana instead of a whole one. I topped the oatless oats with blackberries and strawberries.

It was really good and protein packed, hopefully it keeps me full for awhile. I’ve really missed having breakfast at home since I’ve started going straight to work after the gym a few mornings a week.

Time to head to work, have a great Thursday!

Where do you eat breakfast? At home, at your desk, or in transit?