Dodds Family Visit to Chicago - Dick's 80th Bday

We celebrated Dick's 80th birthday in Chicago with Jean, Margaret and Graham.  It was a long weekend filled with fun, laughter and great food!

Keith's parents and sister arrived on Thursday early afternoon and his brother arrived early evening, shortly before dinner.  We had a late lunch at the house of cheese and smoked fishes and then Jean, Dick and Margaret went for a walk around the neighborhood.  That evening, we had a gin and tonic at the house and then had a lovely dinner at Dear Margaret, a relatively new restaurant in Lincoln Park that had been getting really good reviews.  The restaurant is small and quaint and the food was very tasty.  We shared a wild mushroom appetizer and Shawna had the warm duck confit salad for an entree while Keith had the steak.  

Lunch at the house

On Friday, we spent the day exploring downtown.  We first went to the top of Willis Tower to see the views of the city and stand on the clear glass ledge where you can see the street below.  It was a beautiful clear day so the views were amazing.  We had a bit of time to kill before lunch so we walked over to Millennium Park to see the Bean.  Lunch was at Ema, a large, well decorated Mediterranean restaurant.  Since dinner was going to be early, we only got a few appetizers to share - hummus and roasted veggies.  After lunch, we walked along the river front and then did an architecture river boat tour - it was chilly outside so we sat inside.  It was hard to hear the tour guide as the speakers inside were not the best so Shawna went out a few times to take some photos and listen to the tour guide.  After the tour, we quickly went back to the house and got ready for dinner.

Willis Tower

The best meal of the trip and likely top five favorite meals of all time was at Oriole, a Michelin two star restaurant in West Loop.  The restaurant is located in a warehouse so it was a bit tricky to find but once inside, it was magical.  The host greeted us with a taste of tea while she hung our coats.  We stood in a large cargo elevator, thinking we would go up but then she pulled open the door on the other side so that we could enter into the restaurant.  Our first course was sitting at the bar where we had three small appetizers and a cocktail.  Our second course was standing at a table overlooking the kitchen where we had another appetizer and a glass of sparkling wine.  We were then seated at our table where we had at least eight more tastings along with the wine pairing.  Every dish was so tasty and creatively presented. It was a great evening!!

Oriole

On Saturday, we had planned on doing a walking tour but it rained so we changed plans.  We relaxed at the house in the morning and went for a walk on the 606.  For lunch, we had cheese and smoked fishes again, this time Patrick (Graham's friend who lives in Chicago) joined us.  We then went to the Garfield Conservatory to see the spring flower show - the flowers were beautiful and colorful.  

Garfield Conservatory

Back at the house, we rested a bit and then had gin and tonics before heading out to dinner at Elske, our third time at this restaurant (the prior two times with Graham).  We were however a bit disappointed this time - the food was still good but the service was lacking. We had called in advance to let them know that it was Dick's 80th birthday so they said they would print a message on his menu.  When we arrived, they had forgotten so quickly printed it - only to have his name misspelled to Vick!  Well, we called him Vick all evening!!  We got a few appetizers to share for the table, including the famous duck tart which they normally only serve for the multi-course menu but we convinced them to serve it to us.  We then shared the black bass for an entree.  We topped off the evening with one of each dessert!

Elske

On Sunday, Graham left in the morning to fly back to New Mexico.   We booked a last minute walking tour downtown - the Gangster and Ghost tour.  The tour was surprisingly good - the guide was quite funny and had some interesting stories to share.  We returned to the house to have more cheese for lunch and then Keith and Margaret went for a walk along the lake while Shawna cooked for dinner.  That evening, upon Dick's request, we had Indian - lamb, fish curry, chickpeas with spinach, basmati rice and raita.  Shawna made quite a lot so we had this for lunch for a few days during the week.

Indian dinner at our house

Dick, Jean and Market left early Monday morning to fly back to TX.  It was a great weekend to celebrate this momentous birthday!