Memorial Day Sunday Funday! Part 1 @ Chicago Q

Soundtrack of the day: Summer by Calvin Harris

I still can't believe it! It's Memorial Day weekend! It's the unofficial start of summer! After the rough winter Chicago has had, it's only right for Mother Nature to give us the best weather possible for this weekend.  In the spirit of red, white, and blue, and honoring the troops, it's only fitting that we commemorate this holiday with a good old American barbeque... with Chicago Q as the grill master.  

Not wanting to waste precious sunlight, we started early, as in early enough benefit from Q's bottomless mimosa brunch. When my friends arrived at Q, it seemed as though a lot of people had the same barbeque idea, and was told that it would be 1.5 hr wait for outdoor seating. Somehow, Buddy Jesus was on my side because when I arrived to meet my friends, the hostess sat us outside without waiting 1.5 hrs. My tapeworm thanks you (Brittney/Bridget)!

 This little bowl of pickles arrived along with a bowl of sweet potato chips ( I was too busy eating them to remember to take a pic! Whoops!) I am not a fan of pickles. I would gladly give you my pickle anytime ( uh huh. I set that up just for you.) For the sake of my reading noshers, I figured I would eat at least one, so you know, I can tell you that the pickle tasted like a pickle. Pow right in the kisser! What kind of heaven is this pickle pickled with?! These are sweet pickles, and by sweet, I mean that it tasted like they were bathing in some honey/maple syrup. It was AMAZING! It also had the most subtle, but just right peek of spice. I was starting to think that the chips and pickles were bottomless too. They kept bringing more!  And once again I polished off the bowl of chips before remembering to take a pic.

Que up the grill Q. I'm ready for some meat! I could not decide as to what meat would go with my mimosa, so I opted for the Benedict Flight. This fulfilled all my wishes. You get 3 different kinds of Benedicts:

Southern Eggs Benedict : You get a fried green tomato instead of an english muffin. I never thought I would ever be enjoying a fried green tomato, but I did! The breading around it still had a nice crunch despite the juicy piece of meat resting atop it. 

Smoked Chicken Eggs Benedict: This was my favorite out of the three. The chicken was juicy and tender, and to my taste buds' surprise, the chicken was nestled on corn bread! I typically think cornbreads are gritty and tasteless, but not this one. It had a cake-like consistency, and was perfectly sweet. 

Kobe Brisket Eggs Benedict: Do I need to say anymore? Kobe is all I need to say. 

As if their meat was not well sauced enough, they serve you with different sauces so you can drench to your hearts desire. You have the choice of some mustard based sauce, traditional bbq, spicy, and vinegar. I tried them all, and ended up just leaving my meat as it was served. It was already perfect! If I had to pick my fave out of the sauces,it would be the spicy bbq. I commend Q for giving their diners the option to sauce their meat so no one can EVER complain that it's not "wet enough" (here we go...)

 Now what proper Southern dweller would want to curtsey around with sticky bbq glazed fingers? The Q ends your meal with a nice moist warm towel, so the people who absolutely cannot thoroughly enjoy their piece of barbequed meat without using their fingers can clean them like a proper gent.

Chicago Q's atmosphere transported me to a picturesque southern town lined with plantation houses. The added visual of the horse drawn carriage passing by was a great prop to my fantasy. Wait, what? I'm in Old Town?

No. I did not forget about my mandatory dessert. Stay tuned for Memorial Day Sunday Funday! Part 2 to find out where I got my sugar high. Now go back to work!

Sky...Don't you Dare Cry! @ IO Urban Roofscape

For your anti-rain dance:

We've all heard the saying "if you don't like the weather just wait..." Chicago held oh so true to that. Saturday was a high of 80 degrees and it looked like this...

Monday looked like...never mind we know what 30 degrees and snow looks and feels like.

Ok now Chicago! Unravel thy self from that fetal position and pick yourself off the floor. We are bound to have another summer-like day! For those who missed out on that one day in April when it was summer, and have now forgotten what the sun feels like,  I invite you to live vicariously through my Summer Saturday.

Upon hearing Tom Skilling (Chicago's beloved meteorologist) put the words 70 degrees and Saturday together, this text was quickly composed "Let's roof @ Gregory Godfrey." The Godfrey is a new  luxury boutique hotel located in Chicago's River North, whose fourth floor houses this indoor and outdoor roof-ish lounge I/O Urban Roofscape . Ha I just got it...indoor/outdoor, hence the name I/O. Clever! 

With plans set, my inner ray of sunlight was quickly extinguished by the sight of gray skies and the sounds of thunder. My friends and I are not quitters darnit! We did our anti-rain dance all the way up to the 4th floor of the Godfrey. 

Let's get brunchin'

 Mimosa is an obvious choice, but the Margarita was amazing! The glass arrived to our table topped with habanero foam. If I wasn't told, I wouldn't have picked habanero out of a line up. It had a nice refreshing zing to it. I would've mistaken it for carbonated mint and lemon....it was the habanero zing!

My friend and I shared 6 of the small plates.

The Steak Benedict: The free range steak is a nice upgrade from the sometimes chewy, and less substantial canadian bacon. I did not feel like I was gnawing on a chew toy. Staying true to the steak theme, it was topped with bernaise instead of hollandaise. 

Adult Smoked Salmon: It's supposed to be smoked with bourbon and gin. My pedestrian palate really did not taste that. It just tasted like fresh salmon. No Negative Nelly face here. I'm usually not a fan of capers, but this actually complemented the salmon nicely. 

Huevos Rancheros: Where's the guacamole?! I actually did not realize that guacamole was supposed to come with it. Wait was it there? The perfectly poached egg, the salsa, and the crunchies had the perfect texture combo that I'm still not sure if the guac was there...and nobody puts guacamole in the corner!






I/O Prime Beef Sliders: "Oh that has a nice kick!" It's not an overwhelming spice where you would tell your kids not to eat it. It is a welcomed flavor, that I wish I was fed as a child. I hate to admit it, but spicey mayo is a condiment I can no longer dismiss.

Let's get to the good stuff!

Lemon Donuts: The periwinkle glaze is from the violet liquor and lavender honey. I put the fluffy lemon donuts through the spin cycle inside the bowl, just so I could enrobe it with the periwinkle goodness. The donuts were surprisingly light and not greasy at all!

Brioche Sticks (French Toast): Who doesn't like caramelized bananas?! The crowning glory of this breakfast dessert is the foam flowing underneath the brioche Jenga. It appears as the now trendy culinary foam, but when you dig into it, it has a gelatinous consistency. It hit my mouth with a nice limey sensation. Forget the maple syrup...bring me more foam!!!

Our meal ended with us contemplating ordering another margarita pitcher, but we intelligently decided to go work it off at Bloomingdales, with plans of coming back for that second pitcher. Let's just say that the breakables in Bloomies looked more breakable than ever. I felt like a kid obediently keeping their  hands to themselves.

We did not end up going back for that second margarita, bust instead ended up at 25 degrees for some Boozey Milkshakes. We will definitely be back for a second helping of everything at I/O. The vibe was so Miami/Vegas Fake-cation! We might make this roof-ish our summer home.

Well, well...It looks like our hopeful determination (and awesome dance moves) bent mother nature into holding back the sky's tears and giving us some sun....and getting a farmer's tan Ha! Us 1(sortah). Mother nature 0... I guess she was busy turning her tears to ice. Well played MoNa!

*This just in...70F degrees on Easter Sunday!