Tag: food

It’s Still Just The Beginning Of The Year

Spending the first day of the year sitting at home and crossing off overdue tasks from my list was not the most exciting thing, though it did bring some satisfaction. But I had lots of hopes for January 2. It was the first workday of the year, and the weather was supposed to be great (and it was). I went to the office not because I had to, but because I had ambitious plans.

My plan was to go skating after lunch, then, after work, to go to the Chicago Architectural Center to finally see two already-not-so-new exhibits, and then go to the Siskel Center to see Mistress Disspeller. All of the above activities belonged to the category “I want to do this, but I chronically have no time for it.”

Skating became problematic since last season, when Millennium Park cut the skating season short. Instead of having the skating rink operating until mid-March, they close it on February 9, and this year, the last day will be February 1. Since I will be out of the country from January 16 to 29th, I have only two weeks left! And you can’t go skating when it’s raining or when it’s really cold, which limits the options even further. All of the above was a long explanation of why I headed to the skating rink on Friday. I knew it could be a mistake, because it would still be a winter break day, which would mean a big crowd, but the reality surpassed my wildest expectations.

When I arrived four minutes before the start of the session, expecting to show my pass on my phone and put on the skates, I saw a line circling half the rink, and I was told it was for those who had already purchased tickets online! I wanted to turn around and go back to the office, but the sun was shining, the weather was perfect, and I had already paid for a session, so I decided to stay. It took me ten minutes to check in, and when I finally put the skates on, there was barely any space left on the rink. I think there were actually these hypothetical one hundred people there! And at least a third of them couldn’t or almost couldn’t skate.

I made an effort :). I navigated around the people who were moving rather erratically, but after twenty minutes, I gave up.

While this portion of my plan could be considered at least a partial success, the other two failed completely.

I checked the CAC schedule on their website the day before, and the schedule said they are open until 7 PM both Friday and Saturday. I thought that finally, I would go there not to purchase a gift, but to see exhibits. When I arrived at five minutes to five, I saw several people standing puzzled by the CAC door, and when I came closed, I saw a sign, which said that there are “winter hours” in effect, and the Center will be only open until 4 PM on the days it will be open (and it will be closed Tue-Wed, but that was not important at the moment). I felt crushed and decided that I could comfort myself by having dinner at Lea’s Cafe instead of eating a vegan sandwich from work, which was in my backpack.

Lea’s Cafe didn’t fail me :). It was a perfect comfort food, and I even took half a baguette home, because it was a lot.

But after that, there was a huge disappointment at the Siskel Center. I read about this documentary, and it looked interesting, so I was looking forward to seeing it, but it was nothing like what I thought. I honestly could not figure out what the idea behind it was, and how people could act the way they did. It is possible that, at least in part, it was a language and cultural problem combined. The documentary was in Mandarin with English subtitles, and the melody of the language is very different from any other languages I know or know how they sound. I was reading the subtitles, and could not map the words to the emotions projected on the screen. It felt rushed; maybe Mandarin words are too short for translation, I don’t know. Or maybe, it was something wrong with me. At some point, I thought of leaving, but then decided to stay to the end and see whether something would change my mind.

I hope that this day of disappointment won’t represent the rest of 2026, and that my delights won’t be solely culinary!

More Snow, More Mountains, And Armenian Cuisine

When we left the monastery, we walked around a bit to take in some amazing views.

The last ray of the sun over the mountain
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Communal Fridge

We have a communal fridge near Rogers Park Metra station. Actually, it’s a little pantry with two blocks of shelves and a fridge in the middle (I believe, I posted the pictures earlier). Local stores sometimes drop off some produce there, but mostly it’s people who have some extras, or leftovers, or just want to share. Anyone can drop stuff on the shelves or in the fridge (labeling containers, if they are not industrially packaged). And anyone who passes by, can take anything out.

Yesterday, although I didn’t need to take a train, I walked there to drop off several unused cans of vegetables, a bag of green beans which we decided not to cook after all, and plastic box with roasted vegetables (we had a lot left, and I forgot to give a box to Anna & Family when they were leaving).

There were several people around when I approached to drop these items off, and the pantry was far from being empty, but the way they reacted at my offering made me regret I didn’t bring all of our leftovers there: oh, they are already cooked? Just warm them up? God bless you!

I recently read about one behavioral experiment: theology students where asked to deliver a talk on Good Samaritan, and half of them were notified right before they were ready to leave, that the talk time was changed and they were late. Then, in the way to their talk all of them were presented with a situation when a stranger was in a distress and needed help. While a substantial part of not-in-a-rush students stopped and tried to help, none of the those who thought they were late, stopped.

Unfortunately, being in a hurry is a major reason for not helping those in need. So many times I would plant to bring my leftovers to the communal fridge, but was in a hurry to catch a train, and knew that I would walk a bit slower with the leftovers, and all these minutes would accumulate, and I can always freeze what I didn’t eat, and in any case, what difference a pint of soup can make? I am nit saying “never more,” but ai will try very hard. I won’t forget the faces of those with whom I talked yesterday by the communal fridge, with their gray wrinkled skin and missing teeth.

We all are Rogers Park. Please forgive me. I will try to be better.

Monadnock Bistro

I have a list of Chicago’s new restaurants which I want to check out, but I am increasingly rarely have opportunities to do so. One of these places was Bistro Monadnock. I love the building and it’s story, so I was excited to see this new restaurant. Their web side says:

This project is a homecoming for the bistro’s owners – John, Karl & Graeme Fehr. The three brothers previously operated a boutique law firm in the Monadnock Building from 2011 – 2017. Ditching the courtroom for the dining room, this is their third hospitality concept in 6 years. They considered no other building for this restaurant.

Since Boris is in town (he arrived on Sunday), but I still needed to work from the office (not like I absolutely needed to, but it was easier to organize everything that way, and I had other things to do in the Loop. One of these to-do things was near DePaul campus, so I suggested we go there for dinner.

The menu is all in French, and I knew only a couple of dishes. so I had to Google them to get an idea. After googling, the pictures on the website started to make sense :).

That was Jacques Rose, very nice fruitie and tart cocktail
Frisée aux Lardons salad: “potatoes” in this salad are these very thin laced chips:). I was trying to imagine, how warm bacon could pair with greens, but it was really great.
Bouillabaisse was one of the few dishes I didn’t need to google:)
Beef Bourguignon – I didn’t know that the meet was boneless ribs (it was Boris’ choice after we got instructions from the waiter)
They ran out of a dessert I wanted, so we both got profiteroles with pistachio gelato

Weekend With Lena

Lena finally made it to Chicago – in September instead of July, and it turned sharply cold, and we could not go to the beach. Still, our interests are so much aligned that we made it an absolutely perfect weekend.

Lena arrived on Friday evening and met with her Chicago-based coworkers. We chatted for a bit before and drafted the plan of activities.

Saturday was chilly, and since Lena uses each of her Chicago visits as an occasion to dress nicely, and I am happy to join her, we ended up being dressed not precisely to the weather, and were moderately cold most of the time :).

We started the day in the Field Museum, and I was able to properly see all the exhibits (and the recent updates to the “Evolving Planet,” which Lena didn’t see yet).

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The Rest Of Vacation

The rest of my time in Helsinki was spent biking with Boris and supporting the Finnish economy by shopping for chocolate, marmalade, and both kids’ and adults’ clothes. Also, I was still doing tons of conference-related things, and I also had to dial in to work several times. One might argue that I should have disconnected entirely, but I was afraid that if I left things as they were, there would be too many things to fix when I returned, and it would take way longer.

Unfortunately, it was raining almost every day, and between the rains and the necessity to do some community work, the bike rides were less frequent and shorter than they would be otherwise. Also, I didn’t have a chance to go to Soumenlinna. The good thing is that I finally broke Boris’s resistance to going to the Regatta, and in addition to my going there alone on the first day, we went there twice together, including today.

They called it a reindeer pie, but I would say it was a reindeer quiche. In any case, delicious!

Also, we witnessed something really special: two Asian ladies trying a cinnamon bun and a blueberry pie with vanilla sauce for the first time! They asked to sit at our table, since it started raining again, and it was pretty crowded inside the Regatta. And when I saw (and head :)) their reaction at the first bite, I asked them whether it was their first time, and they confirmed. I told them that Regatta was the perfect place to do it for the first time!

Charcuterie Board Class

We often have interesting office events after work, and I try to attend when I do not have a conflict. These events often conveniently fit between the end of my workday and some later evening activity.

On Thursday, we had a charcuterie board class. I missed the original sign-up, but signed for the waitlist, and once in a lifetime, I was lucky to be the only person moved from the waitlist to the actual event participant.

If nothing else, all of us could take our delicious boards home (I still have a little bit left in the fridge), but I also learned something new (and that’s me thinking I have these skills). One of the revelations: never do cubes! Cubes are boring 😂! I also learned why you want to cut in wedges – the cheese tastes differently close to the rind, so you get the full palate if you cut in wedges. I also learned how to make salami flowers, and why breaking cheese into pieces “naturally” is good. And – all these goodes were for me to enjoy!

Ryo Sushi

I do not know why there are no crowds at Ryo Sushi: they are at the premium location, they are open on evenings and weekends, their prices are very modest, and the food is above and beyond! I really want them to stay open, although I also hope that I will never have to wait in line to get in!

The Seafood Udon is my favorite!
The Ramen lovers were also happy!

A Post Of Food Complaints

As it turned out, American Airlines does not serve food or even have food for purchase on the flight to LA. I was in the lounge before the flight, but it didn’t even occur to me to take an apple on board – I was absolutely sure I could purchase something during the flight. It turned out that the only thing I could purchase was alcohol, chips and almonds!

With the flight delay, and the time it takes to get from LAX to Pasadena, it was 8-30 PM local time when i got to the hotel, so it was already 10-30 PM CT, and I didn’t want to go to the restaurant, all I wanted was to go to bed.

I woke up at 3 AM (5 AM CT), and forced myself to sleep for a little bit more. I didn’t want to switch to PT time because it was for three days only, and Sunday is Daylight Saving Time switch, and my flight is very early, so it didn’t make much sense. However, breakfast at hotel started at 6-30AM, and I needed to survive until that. I grabbed some snacks in the 24 -hour self-service shop on the hotel;s first floor, and there was coffee in the room, but still…

On top of that, the hotel breakfast was mediocre at most. When I see “breakfast included” I assume there will be breakfast buffet, but instead, I was given vouchers for each of the days, and the only thing you could get on this voucher was your choice of eggs (sramble, fried, sunny side) with your choice of toast and coffee or tea. That’t it. I asked for cappuccino, and they said “it was not included.” I said that I could pay for it, they said:OK, and in ten minutes, they brought me regular coffee. 🤷🏻‍♀️

There is no food served at the Expo; the talks start at 10 AM local time, which meant noon for mw, and a lunch break (when you needed to go and find your lunch) was from 1-30 to 2-30 PM! The Starbucks in the building helped,but overall, I don’t know what to say! Let’s just say that the first day, and the whole stay was very food-challening!

Tallinn: Afternoon Activities

We went to the Estonian National Opera to hear an unlikely “My Fair Lady” in Estonian. The alternative would be to go there on another day, but it was way better to go on the actual birthday. Also, since today is a US holiday, I didn’t have to work, so we could plan a no-rush return to Helsinki.

There are several photos and videos on the Opera website, but almost all of them are with different artists than the ones we heard yesterday (the ones below look like the right ones :))

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