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Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Restaurant Week 2020 - How I Roll


Some of my treasures.

Restaurant week is amazing. For years Brian has been putting together a heck of an event and this year he brought back the special food blogger dinner. Three courses at Bonfire in the Southside prior to the start of restaurant week: the raw deal (tuna tartare with pureed black beans) wagyu meatloaf and a fancy hazelnut chocolate crunch dessert.

Overall it was an absolutely fantastic meal, but I do not understand why you would use wagyu beef to make meatloaf. C'est la vie.

We also stopped by Or the Whale. Their prices have become more reasonable since they opened and they served up some fantastic seafood chowder along with fire roasted chicken with broccoli and potatoes.

Also pictured is Piper's Pub Sunday Supper. A generous serving of roast beef with mashed potatoes, yorkshire pudding and roasted brussels. (They actually serve this meal every Sunday and it was not part of Restaurant week.)

Finally, the Carlton has become my absolute favorite option for restaurant week. I visited for both lunch and dinner as unlike many other participating establishments they serve a different lunch and dinner menu for restaurant week. I'm talking shrimp, I'm talking short ribs, I'm talking kung pao  chicken. Pure bliss.

I also dropped by the Capital Grill, but their salmon was just OK. I simply adore those fancy uniforms the waiters wear though.




Friday, February 21, 2020

SYN Bar & Bistro

Taco Pizza and Pizza Taco

Pappa always told me, son, "You gotta chase that unicorn." Syn is a unicorn, a beautiful creature simply not destined for this world. Until I visited Syn I had absolutely no idea that Mexican-Italian fusion was a thing. According to Allrecipes there are actually a ton of Mexican-Italian fusion dishes I had never even considered such as spaghetti tacos and Italian nachos, barf.

When I walked into Syn it was nearly empty and I asked the bartender if he would prefer an hola or a buon giorno. He stated that a simple hello would suffice. I was underwhelmed by his lack of enthusiasm. The space is enormous. It used to house the old Sharp Edge Bistro. I have to say, I'm glad that the various Sharp Edge locations throughout the city are closing. They are dated and the food is gross.

I walked into Syn expecting an opportunity to write a terrible review. After all, it is difficult to master one variety of cuisine, let alone Mexican-Italian fusion. I spent about an hour trying to figure out what to order that would really fuck them up. I went with the Mexican Pizza and the Pizza Taco.

I was shocked. The pizza was fantastic. Great crust, lovely Mexican toppings. Second only to the Italian taco, just a wonderful treat filled with meat, cheese and that Sunday gravy.  They really blew me away, I was astounded by how good the food was. It is worth mentioning that their happy hour is also pretty decent:

Monday - Friday
4:30-6:30
$4 Margaritas
50% OFF ALL Craft Drafts
$5 Glasses of Wine
$5 Chips & Queso


Ghosts


This is where they hide the ghosts.








This is where they keep the donuts.