Joel Robuchon at the Mansion is a high end restaurant located at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Winner of many five-star awards and notable mention on forbes, Joel Robuchon delivers some of the best food Las Vegas has to offer. I brought Robin here to finish up 2009 in style. We were the first to arrive and our stay spanned five hours. They say it is formal and that a jacket is required, but I did notice several patrons simply wearing collared shirts. The decor is largely done up in a purple theme with cathedral ceilings, ginormous chandeliers, and lots of artwork. Each table has a handful of small pieces of silver metal pieces. The candles are fake due to some restriction to have real candles in Vegas restaurants. Water is served only from a bottle and is left at the table. We began with wine and bread. Robin had Riesling and I had port–a good size glass I might add for port. The bread selection featured more bread than I had ever seen in a restaurant! They keep bringing it all day long until you ask them to take your plate away. Robin did the six course menu and I did the Menu Degustation. They started us off with caviar and crab; I was a bit scared at first having never tried caviar but it was awesome. I enjoyed the black truffles which are most abundant around January in France. Robin had a side of mashed potatoes that were almost soft as a thick cheesy soup–incredible. The veal chop was extremely tender. After dinner, they rolled out a cheese trolley. There was a very strong odor emanating from the various cheeses, most of which cannot be bought in this country. One of our cheese picks had rosemary and various herbs around the edges of it. My favorite was a toss up between the fuji apple confit dessert and the yuzu macarons. Should you decide to dine here, I say bon appetit!

Wines

Robin had 2001 Reisling and I had 1995 Colheita Port. The port was a very tasty and generous portion!

Bread Selection

A vast selection of complimentary bread

Part I: Menu Degustation

Le Caviar

en fine gelée de corail anisée, servie en surprise
Caviar on a fennel cream served as a surprise

La Truffe Noire

en duo mêlé de pomme ratte comme un carpaccio aux copeaux de foie gras
Shaved black truffles and potatoes, topped with foie gras carpaccio

La Symphonie de Truffe

une tarte friande aux oignons confits, champignon en macaron mitonné dans un bouillon au jarret de veau, une gelée chaude de poule tremblotante
Crispy truffle tart with onion confit, paris mushroom broth with veal ravioli, trembling chicken royale

La Saint-Jacques

la noix poêlée, lait de coco épicé et un condiment de coriandre fraîche
Seared scallops, spiced coconut’s milk and fresh coriander condiment

Les Crustacés

L’Oursin, zéphyr lacté et fleuri d’un nuage tout moka, le homard rôti au curry et fines graines de chou-fleur, langoustine croustillante à la menthe poivrée
Delicate flan of sea urchin with mocha foam, crispy peppermint flavored langoustine, roasted lobster with green curry

I almost ate the starfish and then found out it was decorative.

Le Riz

pilaf à la saveur d’une "Paëlla" avec une fricassee de grenouille et une rapée de tartuffi di Alba
Paella style pilaf rice, fricassee of frog legs and shaved tartuffi di Alba

La Châtaigne

un fin velouté soyeux sur un voile virtuel de lard fumé
Delicate chestnut cream with smoked lardons foam

Le Bar

poêlé à la citronnelle avec une étuvée de jeunes poireaux
Pan-fried sea bass with a lemon grass and stewed baby leeks

Le Veau

en côte cuit au plat avec un gel d’herbes fraîches et une mêlée de courgette aux pistaches
Sauteed veal chop with herb gelee, zucchini and fresh pistachios

I mistook the herb gelee for a green bean.  It was supposed to complement the veal chop.  The pistachios were rolled up in very thinly sliced and baked zucchini; a very nice touch.

Le Soja

les pousses cuites comme un risotto aux zestes de citron vert et ciboulette
Risotto of soybeans sprouts, lime zest and chives

Les Fruits Exotiques

en cocktail aux parfums des îles, sorbet au yogourt
Exotic fruit cocktail, yogurt sorbet

La Fuji

pomme confite au granité Calvados, crème à la confiture de lait
Fuji apple confit with Calvados granite, dulce de leche

Part II: Six Course Menu

The Six Course also began with Le Caviar surprise as shown earlier.  It also had a vegetarian version of the aforementioned La Châtaigne, but since it looked the same, I omitted the picture.

Le King Crabe

Le King Crabe en duo d’avocat dans un cæur de romaine relevé à l’huile d’olive coraillée
King Crab, avocado in a heart of romaine and olive oil with coral

La Sole

La Sole, cuite au beurre salé, petites capucines et girolles
Sole, cooked in salted butter, capers and roasted chanterelles

Le Turbot

Le Turbot et poulpe aux fins aromates avec un jus de citronnelle, jeunes poireaux et artichaut
Turbot filet, octopus with lemon grass, baby leek and artichoke

Mashed Potatoes Side

purée de pommes de terre
Mashed Potatoes

Cheese Selection

A vast selection of cheeses

Les Fromages/Cheeses

The picks from the cheese trolly.

Le Chocolat

Le Chocolat, Grand cru, rafraîchi à la glace Arabica aux grains de café torréfiés
Coffee ice cream, melting chocolate cake, roasted Arabica crunch

Notice the decorated the dessert with coffee beans painted purple and a veil-like surrounding.

Mignardise Selection

A whole galaxy of mignardises!

Mignardises

We took all the Yuzu Macarons!

Yuzu Macaron

An intimate encounter with Joel Robuchon’s yuzu macaron

Le Moka - Le Thé

escortés de mignardises
accompanied by affectation

The Bill

If there’s anything worth doing, its worth doing right.

Tasting menus start at $89 and work their way up to $215. Then they have the degustation for $385 which many might assume to be overboard; don’t kid yourself, it’s a lot of food! So unless you have a football player size appetite like me, you’d do just fine with the four course or the six course tasting. Joel Robuchon is a once in a lifetime experience and I wouldn’t take it back for anything in the world. I highly recommend dining here. Five Stars! Bravo!

Joel Robuchon at the Mansion
3799 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109-4319
(702) 891-7777
Google Map
 

Figure 1. An Honest Digg Article

An article that really explains how to make your PC run as fast as the day you bought it. 15 diggs

Figure 2. A Digg Advertisement

An ad that tells you Registry Errors are the most common problem and attempts to sell you Advanced Registry Optimizer. 542 diggs

Can someone tell me what is wrong with this picture?

Slice is a short film by Mark Asato. I helped film it with the trusty DVX100a. It’s really just a practice run so please post all your comments, insults, threats below. Special thanks to Mike Howard and Brittany Wymer. No, this shit isn’t going to sundance or anything, its like 3 minutes.

La Belle Vie is an upscale French Mediterranean restaurant in Minneapolis.  It is rated a "2008 America’s Top Restaurant" by Zagat survey and is winner of the 2009 "Best Chef Midwest" James Beard Award.  Dining here was a wonderful experience.  Though valet parking is available, we were easily able to find free street parking nearby.  We arrived a half hour early for our reservation, yet we were seated shortly after arrival.  Most people dressed in suits, but dress code here is not enforced.  I told them that I drove all the way from Chicago and with a bit of luck, the let me in with jeans and a collared shirt.  The dining room felt like something from a 19th century mansion ballroom.  Complete with marvelous chandeliers, cathedral ceilings, art sculptures, and dim lighting, this was a romantic dream.  The atmosphere was relaxed and subdued.  Our dinner spanned two hours.

They usually have a tasting for the table where everyone orders the tasting menu, but they made an exception by allowing me to do the 8-course tasting, while Robin ordered a’la carte.  We began our dinner with drinks, bread, and gougeres.  I had a cocktail while Robin had salad and wine.  The tasting began with some of the tastiest tomatoes ever.  Many of the dishes were garnished with frothed sauces.  Normally I would not eat mussels as I do not like their fishy taste, but this was masked very well by the pasta it was wrapped in.  The sea bass crumbled like high-end salmon and the sweet sweet corn puree surrounding it was phenomenal.  I remember thinking how how awesome it would be to dip broccoli in this corn puree.  A tender small chicken (poussin) was served in a middle eastern sauce (Ras el hanout) that tasted similar to pumpkin.  A lamb ribeye was served with a Moroccan twist that had a hint of spicy flavor;  the meat was severely tender.  The cheese tasting consisted of Abbaye De Belloc with jelly.  This is some fine cheese!  And for dessert… make that two desserts… grape sorbet followed by Armagnac ice cream and honey spice cake!  As a thank you, they brought out a tray of pastries compliments of the house.  I wondered if perhaps I should have gotten the wine flight?  Alas, I opted not to because I had to drive and was ill prepared for this fine dining experience.

At one point, I spilled a little on the table.  One of the waiters quickly came out and put a white cloth over the stain in a joking way of hiding it.  Robin told him that I am clumsy.  He looked at me and said something like, "she said it.  I didn’t tell anyone!"  It was pretty funny.

Complimentary Bread

 

Complimentary Gougeres

choux pastry with cheese in the center

White Lotus

Citrus Vodka, Gin, St. Germain, Lavendar, Cava sparkling wine

Warm Goat Cheese Tart with Tomato Confit and Tapenade Vinaigrette

 

King Crab and Artichoke Fazzoletti with Saffron and Dried Tomato

 

Tasting of Tomatoes with Compressed Watermelon, Burrata, Basil and Radish

 

Tomato and Black Olive Tortellini with Shellfish Emulsion and Mussels

 

Sauteed Sea Bass with Sweet Corn, Slow Poached Artichokes and Lemon Agrumato

corn puree was superb!

Roasted Poussin with Baby Turnips, Ras El Hanout and Medjool Dates

ras el hanout tasted like pumpkin

Grilled Lamb Ribeye with Toasted Garlic, Charmoula and Yogurt

very tender lamb with a spicy Moroccan twist

Abbaye De Belloc with Black Mission Figs and Brioche

cheese tasting

Concord Grape Sorbet with Orange Gelee

 

Honey Spice Cake with Italian Prune Plums and Armagnac Ice Cream

 

Compliments

 

Check

We stumbled upon La Belle Vie in a 2006 issue of Bon Appetit magazine while driving through Wisconsin.  We decided to make it our dinner destination upon arriving in Minneapolis later that day.  We were very satisfied with the service we received and the quality of food exceeded our expectations.  Aside from seeing Mall of America, Spoonbridge and cherry, and various other artworks, La Belle Vie was the highlight of our Labor Day weekend stay in Minneapolis. 

La Belle Vie
510 Groveland Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55403
(612) 874-6440
Google Map

I get asked a lot, "how do you replace Vista with XP?"  I’ve done this hundreds of times since Windows Vista’s inception.  The party for Windows XP may soon be over, but before it is, I’ll quickly walk through the problems I went though early on and the steps I took to fix them.  Eventually this will not work efficiently anymore much like installing Windows 98 on a new laptop does not work efficiently due to lack of driver support.  (Note that for this post I am referring to the 32-bit version of XP that can’t handle more than 4GB of ram, or 3.x GB of ram… whatever.)

Problem: XP setup doesn’t recognize SATA drives on laptops
What I did: At first, I panicked and bought a USB floppy drive because most computers as of late do not have floppy drives.  Then at boot up of the XP CD, I could load the SATA drivers from a floppy disk.  This didn’t work out nicely for me.  Eventually I chose to slipstream the SATA drivers into my XP CD with nlite.  Once I had an XP CD with all the SATA and AHCI drivers on it, I could install XP on any Vista laptop’s hard drive.  The only hard part was locating the drivers.  I think I got them from intel’s website or driverpacks website. If you fail to do this, you may experience an unmountable boot volume blue screen of death; Fun.

Problem: High Definition Audio Driver does not work!
What I did: I noticed that a lot of laptops had modems integrated with the high definition audio.  No matter what I tried, I could not get the driver to install or work.  I later found this issue discussed in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 888111.  However the fix was not available for download.  Someone sent me a Universal Audio Architecture Fix that was only valid for XP SP2 and earlier: WindowsXP-KB888111-x86-ENU.exe.  It came with the following instructions for SP3 users:
————————-
Open Regedit and go to :
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows

Change it from 300 to 200 and restart
Install WindowsXP-KB888111-x86-ENU.exe (Microsoft UAA Patch)
Install drivers
Change CSDVersion back to 300.
Restart
————————-
After installing this patch, I was able to install the sound and modem.  So first find the patch, do the registry thing, and then install your drivers.

Problem: Where do I find XP drivers???
What I did: Most vendors pushing these Vista laptops do not offer support or drivers for XP.  That leaves the task up to you to find the drivers.  The first thing I did was go to Windows Update and hope that Microsoft would find some of the drivers for me.  In most cases, it found one or two, but not many.  Still, this is an easy start.

The second thing I did was I went to driverpacks website and I downloaded every driver pack available for XP.  They are packages compressed in 7zip format.  I used WinRAR to uncompress them into folders.  Then I burned these folders on a DVD-R:

 Volume in drive D is DriverPacks
 Volume Serial Number is XXXX-XXXX

DriverPack-BASE-v8-05
DriverPack-Chipset-v8-03
DriverPack-CPU-v8-04
DriverPack-Graphics-A-v8-04
DriverPack-Graphics-B-v8-04
DriverPack-Graphics-C-v8-04
DriverPack-LAN-v8-05-3
DriverPack-MassStorage-v8-05
DriverPack-Modem-v8-06
DriverPack-Sound-A-v8-05
DriverPack-Sound-B-v8-05
DriverPack-WLAN-v8-06
8-8-igp_xp32_dd_ccc_wdm_sb_gart_enu_67975
aiw-hd_xp32_dd_ccc_avivo_66164
DPInst
DP_Broadband_wnt5_x86-32_70416
DP_BT_wnt5_x86-32_080819
DP_Input_wnt5_x86-32_070923
DP_Misc_wnt5_x86-32_71216
DP_Monitor_wnt5_x86-32_07111
DP_Phone_wnt5_x86-32_80207
DP_PrintersCanonInkjet_wnt5_x86-32_61105
DP_PrintersCanonLaserjet_wnt5_x86-32_61020
DP_PrintersHP_wnt5_x86-32_71126
DP_Scanner_wnt5_x86-32_60831
DP_SmartCardReader_wnt5_x86-32_80228
DP_TCR_wnt5_x86-32_1
DP_TModem_wnt5_x86-32_1
DP_TouchScreen_wnt5_x86-32_708
DP_TV_wnt5_x86-32_80908
DP_USB_wnt5_x86-32_80224
DP_Virtual_wnt5_x86-32_708
DP_WebCam_wnt5_x86-32_80210
readme.txt
               1 File(s)            283 bytes
              33 Dir(s)               0 bytes free

I went into device manager, right clicked an unknown device and did update driver.  The hardware update wizard came up and I chose to install the software automatically.  I inserted my trusty driverpacks DVD-R that I made and let it search that bad boy.  This usually took awhile. Most of the time, it would find a driver for the unknown device.  I repeated this routine over and over until there were no more unknown devices.  I like to start with the most important things such as display adapters and network adapters, because it’s not easy to setup a computer in 640×480 with no internet.  Then I work on sound drivers and work my way down to the least important stuff such as Modems or Bluetooth. 

If there are still any unknown devices after checking windows update and driver packs, I check Driver Magician for updates.  I also used DriverGuide Toolkit before.  If that doesn’t work, then I guess you’re left with hunting search engines the manual way.

I don’t expect this process to be useful for much longer if Windows 7 makes the comeback that is needed.

A huge fire burned up a bunch of recycled junk at Homewood Disposal in East Hazel Crest yesterday.  The smoke was seen for miles and some say they had ashes land in their yard.  No one seems to know what caused the blaze.

…sometime later…

(2:06:09 PM) seanh420: shit is whack, I keep getting these checks for 200-300 every month from this one company and I can't figure out wtf ad is generating it
(2:06:17 PM) seanh420: on someshit i posted mad long ago somewhere
(2:06:20 PM) seanh420: and don't even know
(2:06:22 PM) seanh420: pissing me off
(2:06:28 PM) thatdud3: more than anything, fuck http://www.experts-exchange.com/ :-@
(2:06:32 PM) thatdud3: that site needs to fucking die
(2:06:33 PM) seanh420: yeah
(2:06:40 PM) seanh420: you find something that describes what you need
(2:06:49 PM) seanh420: then its like "must sign up and pay money" for an answer that might not even work
(2:07:06 PM) thatdud3: google should just expunge their shit
(2:07:08 PM) thatdud3: from the index
(2:07:13 PM) seanh420: I agree
(2:07:18 PM) thatdud3: it’s really useless
(2:07:20 PM) thatdud3: no value
(2:07:27 PM) seanh420: just a teaser
(2:07:48 PM) seanh420: its like calling 411 and getting 7 of the 8 digits you need for the place you want to contact
(2:07:57 PM) thatdud3: yeh
(2:08:38 PM) thatdud3: if I had skills, I'd take that shit down
(2:08:41 PM) thatdud3: ddos style
(2:08:46 PM) seanh420: dddos style
(2:08:52 PM) seanh420: squared
(2:09:07 PM) seanh420: I should blog this
(2:09:11 PM) seanh420: everyone will probably agree
(2:09:24 PM) thatdud3: yeah
(2:09:57 PM) thatdud3: it’s one of those things that bugs everyone, but no one really talks about it
(2:10:21 PM) seanh420: phone…
(2:10:29 PM) thatdud3: fuck phone games
(2:13:01 PM) seanh420: ok back, so yeah anyways, I concur. Fuck experts exchange, they should be expunged from google listings
(2:14:57 PM) thatdud3: arby’s

…sometime later…

(3:58:08 PM) thatdud3: nachos
(4:00:35 PM) seanh420: cloaking ass motherfuckers
(4:00:37 PM) seanh420: http://www.rustyrazorblade.com/2007/07/30/experts-exchange-should-be-removed-from-google-search-results/
(4:00:54 PM) seanh420: i guess people been saying this for awhile
(4:00:59 PM) thatdud3: shit
(4:01:23 PM) thatdud3: with elaborate explanation
(4:01:27 PM) seanh420: yeah
(4:02:18 PM) thatdud3: fuck the experts man
 

NoMI is one of the finest upscale contemporary French dining experiences to grace the Magnificent Mile.  Located on the seventh floor of Park Hyatt Chicago,  NoMI overlooks the Old Chicago Water Tower and provides a stunning view at night.  I took Robin here after her graduation from Dominican University.  I informed the staff in advance of the occasion and they did an outstanding job of accommodating our needs and exceeding our expectations.  Valet Parking is available for $14 for four hours.  After entering, you ride an elevator up to the seventh floor and enter through the lounge to the dining area.  The lounge area is more casual place to sit and enjoy cocktails or choose from an extensive wine list.  We were seated in the lounge briefly before the dining area opened at 6pm.  I must stress the importance of making a 6pm dinner reservation if you want a table by the window.  We were the first to arrive, but the dining area filled up quickly and window seating is limited.  The dining area is a bit more formal than the lounge; most people wear suits.  Above our table were a series of blown-glass Chihuly chandeliers.  I was delighted by how soft the seats were, they felt like velvet.  Each table had a spice holder in the shape of a six petal flower holding three salts and three spices.  We put butter on bread and dipped it in each of the black, pink, and white salts to taste them.  My most memorable experience here was the Creme Brulee;  I am fascinated by this idea of caramelizing the top with a blowtorch.  I liked the newly added absinthe section of the lounge menu.  They make tasty drinks with Lucid that even those who don’t like absinthe would enjoy.  The pastries and desserts were incredible. 

The Lounge

A View From Above

view of the Old Chicago Water Tower from our table

River Seine

Lucid, St. Germain Elderflower liqueur, Mint, Pineapple Juice, Yuzu, Lemon Lime soda
 

Acai Margarita

VeeV Acai Spirit, Patron Silver, Pomegranate Juice, Grand Marnier, Lime Juice, Lavender Salt Rim

Spices

 

Complimentary Bread & Scallop

Choice of two breads & complimentary Scallop with watermelon radish

The scallop sampler changes daily.  Tomorrow it could be something completely different.

Choice between raisin bread and sourdough. The raisin bread pairs well with the fresh butter they bring out and the sourdough is great with the three different salts they have for you to try on the table. Each salt parts an extremely different flavor and each of them should be tasted!
     -Robin

Burgundy Truffle and Foie Gras Creme Brulee

Caramelized Hazelnuts, Petite Herbs

This appetizer was sweet and had the consistency of peanut butter almost or a spread like butter.  The top was crispy and the under part was gooey.  I was surprised that this was a meat dish because it tasted nothing like meat.  The waiter recommended this delicacy and for a good reason. 

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Baby Arugula, Parmigiano, Mushroom Gastrique

I ordered the petite pea and mushroom risotto (they made the dish vegetarian for me) which was creamy and delicious and not overpowering with a high-fat content. Around the edges of the risotto was a light petite green pea sauce. Four thick slices of parmigiano covered the top and tasted as smooth as butter. The presentation was beautiful with a red design on the plate which complemented the green pea sauce and peas throughout the risotto.
     -Robin

Pan Roasted Brittany Turbot

Cockles, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Black Trumpets

Rhubarb Creme Brulee

Vanilla, Spice Sable, Mirabell Lavender Ice Cream, Cassis

St. Lucia

White Chocolate, Caramelized Puff, Passion Fruit, Banana, Ginger

thin White chocolate cake base with a caramelized puff on top. The puff was thin and flaky which complemented the soft cake very well. Next to the puff was a scoop of fresh banana ice cream which had a perfect flavor not overpowering. On top of all of that was a passion fruit layer of thin gel. the white chocolate paired well with these light fruit flavors to make a perfect ending at  a wonderful restaurant.
     -Robin

Congratulations Surprise

NoMI’s gift to Robin

Macaroons

assorted French macaroons as seen on TV

You can order macaroons to go and they are $12 for 6 of them and so worth it! The pastry chef makes a very large selection of flavors everyday including grape, strawberry, olive oil, and chocolate, to name a few. They have a thin, crunchy outside with a creamy and soft inside. It all just melts into your mouth! Although the olive oil may sound scary, it is light and delicious and well worth the courage.
     -Robin

The Bill

$210 with tip.

A three course dinner for two at NoMI should run between $200 and $300 unless you add on exotic wines and champagnes, in which case it would be more.  We felt very relaxed as they did not rush us in any way.  Our dinner concluded at 9pm, three hours after our arrival.  When we left, we took with us some awesome French Macaroons. 

The staff was extremely helpful and knew how to explain everything very well. They sent me away with a congratulations gift of sweets. A sweet fruit jelly (this is what all jelly candies should taste like!), two lavender marshmallows, two small brownies, one caramel, and a white chocolate disc that read "congratulations." NoMI truly cares about every single customer and they made my night extremely special.
     -Robin Grutzius

NoMI
800 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 335-1234
Google Map

The Red Avocado is an outstanding vegetarian restaurant in Iowa City featuring locally grown, organic ingredients.  Robin and I dined here Friday night before going on the Iowa Wine Trail.  The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating.  The interior reminded me of a cozy stone basement with unique decorations and Himalayan salt candles on each table.  We shared the Appetizer Deluxe which consisted of three spreads, freshly baked pita triangles, and veggies to dip.  The yellow hummus was a little runny but had excellent flavor of middle-eastern paste of chick-peas, tahini, and other seasonings.  The orange carrot-chipotle pate had a perfect balance of sweetness and spicy flavor; this was our favorite.  The green white bean pate had smooth flavors of cilantro, lime juice, beans and spices.  Robin had the Vegetable Peanut Satay entree.  It was served with quinoa, the grain of the day. The waitress recommended that Robin order Tempeh because it pairs well with peanut sauce.  The peanut sauce had a nice consistency; not too heavy.  The Tempeh was extremely good.  I had the College Green Sunset entree.  The polenta was very smooth and creamy. Flavors inside filo purse blended perfectly with a light and delicate flavor.  I especially enjoyed the red pepper sauce and red pepper mix.  This dish was beautiful and tasteful; I could eat it every day!  We split a slice of gluten free chocolate cake for dessert.

Appetizer Deluxe

All three delicious spreads with homemade pita & fresh crisp vegetables. 

Vegetable Peanut Satay

Seasonal vegetables steamed in a peanut sauce flavored with onion, garlic, spices & sorghum. Sweet & delicious! Served with whole oats & the grain of the day. With your choice of tofu, tempeh, chickpeas or black beans.

College Green Sunset

Layered herbed white bean pate, tempeh sausage, tofu ricotta, and caramelized onions wrapped in a flaky filo pastry purse on spinach polenta with horseradish-root vegetable-sweet-corn relish, roasted red pepper sauce & a fine drizzle of sweet balsamic reduction.

Dessert

gluten free chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Moist and perfect sweetness.

As a meat eater, I was pleasantly surprised at how well prepared, artistic, and tasty this food was.  I only wished that the portions were a tad more filling.  The prices are fair; most entrees are $10-20.  The food is so healthy, fresh, and full of flavor!  The atmosphere is relaxed and casual.  I am likely to dine here again if I am in Iowa City.

The Red Avocado
521 E Washington St
Iowa City, IA 52240
(319) 351-6088
Google Map

Naha is an upscale Mediterranean-American restaurant in Chicago with a hint of California and French. Chris Ohara and I ate here the night before New Years Eve. We were the last to enter.  One of the waiters told us we had VIP access to an empty room.  The interior was very simply decorated with a series of tree branches, neutral colored walls, and a few pieces of vibrant artwork.  Large windows gave a nice view of the city outside.  Everything was very clean and professional. A waiter neatly ironed the crisp white table cloth to perfection. I couldn’t help but notice a respectable bar upon entering the venue. I felt inspired and refreshed as our waiter Phil introduced to us the St-Germain Cocktail. St-Germain is a French liqueur made from fresh handpicked elderflower blossoms. It was mixed with equal parts of brut champagne and Fever-Tree Club Soda served with ice and spoon straw bearing a logo of a man riding a bicycle. He brought the bottle to the table so I could get a good look. Chris had a drink made from Citrus Vodka, Rose Champagne and housemade cranberry with pomegranate seeds. Phil made both drinks at our table. Dinner started with complimentary bread. The darker of the two breads was made from cumin and had a distinct Mediterranean taste; it was incredible! Chris had a Yellowfin Tuna appetizer. It had an interesting French “mosaic of Nicoise Garnishes” in the shape of a right triangle on a square plate. I started with an Egg Benedict appetizer and I have to say it had the best English muffin and egg I’ve ever had—a five-star mini breakfast reincarnated as an appetizer. Entrees were priced around $35 and modest in size. Chris had a duck entree. I had Braised Short ribs. This was the first time I had ever tried duck and the short ribs were exceptionally tender. I especially liked the cauliflower and the sauce for the braised ribs. Chris had The Naha desert. He felt that the caramel was a little too rich and over powering. I ordered a Grand Marnier ice cream dessert. I was intrigued by the idea of orange flavor ice cream made from Grand Marnier. The chef assured me that Grand Marnier doesn’t actually make ice cream but rather the ice cream was made with Grand Marnier in it with the alcohol cooked off of course. A series of hair-like thin strands of sugar garnished the Grand Marnier ice cream.

Naha Bar

St-Germain Cocktail

St-Germain, Fever-Tree Club Soda, Brut Champagne with lemon peel garnish and stainless steel spoon straw

Ket/Citro

Housemade Cranberry with Pomegranate Seeds, Citrus Vodka, Rose Champagne

Complimentary Bread

Tartare of Hawaiian Yellowfin Tuna Appetizer

Tartare of Hawaiian "Yellowfin" Tuna, Cured Tasmanian Red Trout and Hard-Cooked Quail Egg with a Mosaic of Nicoise Garnishes, Aigrelette Sauce and Toasted Brioche

Coddled Organic Farm Egg Benedict Appetizer

"Coddled" Organic Farm Egg "Benedict", "Kurobuta" Pork Belly and Housemade English Muffin with Smoked Homegrown Wisconsin "Red Thumb" Potatoes, Itailian Frisee, "Green Tipped" Radish and Herbs

Duck Entree

Blossom Honey "Laquered" Aged Moulard Duck Breast and a Cannelloni of Delicata Squash with Caramelized Quince, Huckleberries and Port

Braised Short Ribs Entree

Braised Short Ribs of Beef, Roasted Root Vegetables, Winter Cauliflower and Wild Boar Bacon, Celery Root Puree, Cremini Mushrooms and Smoked Brittany "Fleur de Sel"

The Naha Turtle Sundae

The Naha "Turtle" Sundae of Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream, Candied Pecans and Rich Caramel

Mont Blanc Chestnut Meringue Torte

"Mont Blanc" Chestnut Meringue "Torte" with Grand Marnier Ice Cream, Chestnut Creme, Vanilla and Orange

The Bill

Dining at Naha was a great experience.  Dinner can cost as low as $25 a person to around $100 a person for a full experience.  The menu was a bit meaty with lots of meats and fishes, but they assured me that they cater to the vegetarian crowd as well.  Most ingredients are locally farmed.  I am likely to dine here again and I recommend Naha to anyone looking for an upscale spot to dine in River North.

Naha
500 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 321-6242
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