It's been a good week, foodie

So it's been a good week for the foodie in me, can I just tell you?  It started with my birthday earlier in the week.  The stunningly patient and mighty fine SML gave me another awesome class - another cooking class.  Five different main dishes are the focus of the class.  We'll be doing shrimp scampi, Moroccan halibut and chicken parm burgers, to name but a few.  That made me all kinds of happy.   Can't wait for next week.

Then I had to go to NYC for some job-related stuff later in the week.  NYC was all kinds of chaos with countless heads of state in town for global shenanigans at the United Nations and I figured it was going to make for a crazy time.  Traffic was ridiculous but thanks to the subway, a co-worker and I made it up to dinner at Restaurant Daniel.

To say that it was amazing, would be about the biggest understatement ever.  The food was stunning.  I am still rhapsodizing over the butternut squash soup starter.  I'm not kidding it was amazing.  And don't even get me started on the spare rib.  It literally melted in your mouth and the flavor was sublime.  It's a beautiful venue.  The night we were there, the President of Israel was in the house and it made things a little, well, interesting.  Suffice to say, the Israeli version of the Secret Service does NOT fool around.  Things got even nuttier when President Obama's motorcade descended on the place. Fortunately, they kept going.  We'd never been able to leave.  When we did leave, we had the pleasure of meeting Chef Daniel Boulud.  He could not have been nicer.  He was genuinely interested in knowing what we'd thought of the meal and how are evening had been.  It was very cool.

Thank you, Chef, for an incredible meal and for being an amazing host!

The foodapolooza kept going today as I met CAL, the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML, and our friend Nancy downtown.  Nancy is a very talented photographer who took CAL's senior portraits today.  They used downtown Chicago as a backdrop and she's taken a slew of awesome photos.  Check out Nancy's great work here.

Anyway, I met them as they wrapped up there photos as I had been downtown on the job.  We felt we deserved something awesome so we hightailed it to Xoco.  It's one of Rick Bayless's restaurants and it was incredible.  Rick and his team are serving up the most flavorful tortas  I've ever had.  I had the Choriqueso torta and the chorizo was enough to make this grown man/fatty cry.  It was smoky, spicy, and accompanied by a poblano that brought up the heat just that much more.  It was one of the best things I've ever eaten.  The churro that capped the meal was literally a sweet way to end our day.  The meal was worth the 45 minute wait for a table.  I cannot wait to go back!

This photo, from the Chicago Tribune, captures the good Chef Rick Bayless in action at Xoco.  It was an absolute delight to eat there.

So, like I said, it's been a good week for the foodie in me.  And now, I need to pay some serious attention to the runner in me.  The fatty in me may be in danger of making a comeback if I don't!