Our second team dinner was at Ditka’s Restaurant. Yes, that Ditka.
It’s primarily a steak spot. Also, there’s lots of drinking. And plenty of TV’s for sports watching.
We ordered a bunch of oysters to start. These suckers were huge, like they were on steroids!
The angus prime rib. It is heavy aged and slow roasted, served with burgundy mushrooms, horseradish cream, and au jus.


The tomahawk! It was a special that night and beyond expensive. Look how caveman this thing is!
The filet, 8 oz. of center cut prime.
The Filet Medallions – 3 Ways. We have horseradish, blue cheese, and oscar styles.
I was the lone weirdo who did not get a steak. Yeah, at a steak house. Whatever. I got the Blackened Mahi Mahi. There were two healthy sized hunks of grilled fish with two different sauces – cilantro pesto and smoked tomato. Oh, and a bunch of mixed rice. I loved this! I liked both sauces but definitely preferred the smoked tomato. The rice was also a winner.
We also got a few sides to share. The truffle fries were kind of amazing! The sweet corn dish with cheese was even better. It was sweet, it was sour, it was awesome.
The smashed sweet potatoes with bacon was also good. I am a huge fan of all their sides!
Last but not least, we all ended up sharing this giant piece of chocolate cake. Oh, it was delicious, and there was still some left over.
Also, earlier in the trip, I went and had some pierogi at Pierogi Heaven. These were, by far, the best pierogi I’ve ever had. I tried potato with cheese and sauerkraut. They’re served with bacon and lovely sweet caramelized onions. I imagine they’re just like your polish grandmother would make!

I had just gone to Little Fish not too long ago, but I loved it so much I wanted to try their sunday night 5-course tasting. Here is the menu for that night on the adorable chalkboard. I like this handwriting. It’s slightly unsure what to do with itself. As usual, this place was packed. While waiting for our courses, they came around with complimentary bread. Some of the bread was a bit burnt, surprisingly. I still ate it anyway, just ignoring the burnt crust.

We started with raw tuna with thinly sliced jalapeno, jicama, and watermelon. This tuna was crazy fresh and just melted in my mouth. All the other ingredients worked really well with the tuna, especially the watermelon! Have you ever had jicama? Don’t be afraid. It’s so light!
Next up was a salad with burrata, thick bacon, lettuce, and tomato. Burrata is a fresh soft cheese made from mozzarella and cream. It actually ends up with a slightly sticky texture. I really like mild cheeses like this, so I quite enjoyed this dish.
Next up was the halibut with roasted eggplant, shredded carrot, cucumber, mint, and peanuts. This was a healthy heaping of halibut, perfectly pan-fried. It was so light, flaky, and perfect.
Then we completely switched it up and moved to the gumbo! It was a traditional louisiana style gumbo, with shrimp, andouille, and even okra. This was some good gumbo!
Lastly, dessert was a plum tart with basil sorbet. The tart was crispity with not overly sweet plums. The sorbet was obviously homemade and delicious. It was another fantastic meal here. Every dish worked. Because it was a set meal, everything came out fairly quickly and the service was fast and efficient. I love this place! And the sunday tasting is definitely worth it. Be sure to get a reservation!

For various reasons, Valerie Safran and Marcie Turney decided to close Bindi, their indian restaurant. I’d never had a chance to go, so we stopped by on their last day in business. I’m happy to say that it was full and hopping. It was a beautiful space! And all of the food was delicious. It’s a shame to see it go!
E’s mango lassi. Who doesn’t like mango lassi?
Papadum with chutney for dipping. You know, it’s like the chips and salsa of indian food. I love this stuff.
We both ended up getting their prix-fixe, which has a limited menu, but pretty much covers most things from their regular menu. It’s not necessarily a better deal or anything, but I’ve just been into prix fixes lately. Here’s E’s spring pea and potato samosas, served with mango-date chutney and raita. These are adorably hot, flaky, and not greasy.
I got the salt roasted beet and mixed radish chaat. It’s a salad of local beets, watermelon, jicama, chutneys, sprouted moong, and yogurt. This thing was awesome. There are so many different flavors in this, it’s hard to describe.
E’s indian bbq braised shortrib with masala roasted potatos, grilled corn-cabbage slaw, and watermelon rind chutney. Bindi’s food is interesting because it doesn’t always look typically indian, and then you taste the intense indian flavors.
I got the seafood goozoo which comes with shrimp, scallops, and mussels in a spicy tomato-tamarind curry, with ginger, garlic, green mango, and lime rice. When I first tasted this, I wondered why this dish was being served at an indian restaurant. Then I moved onto the bottom of the bowl and then all the indian flavors hit me. This had tons of fresh seafood. I really enjoyed this.
The bread we got was a potato paratha. It was a slightly spicy potato griddle bread with ghee, sea salt, and a house raita. I love me some indian breads. They should be part of my daily life.
E gushed about the cardamom cake, so that’s what we both went with. It’s an individual sized warm cardamom cake topped with indian spiced chocolate pot de creme, salted caramel, cacao nib crumble, whipped cream, and a giant shard of sugar glass. Man alive, was this thing amazing! If the salted caramel budino is the must-have at barbuzzo, then this is the must-have at bindi. I hope that they end up still serving this at one of their other restaurants. This entire meal was lovely, and so was the service. I’m just happy that I got a chance to check it out! Bindi, we’ll miss you!