Being on a 6pm flight makes it difficult to get a decent dinner in, especially at O’Hare. I met Mike at the airport before security and we were able to head to the lounge for a few minutes before we needed to be at the gate. It isn’t the most beautiful lounge but they do at least have some somewhat healthy options for snacks. I had a small cup of dried fruit, a few nuts, I grabbed a cookie but never actually ate it, a V8, crackers and mini cheeses and some carrots with hummus. The humus came in a little tube and actually only had a few ingredients, there were small bags of mini carrots out as well. I got situated and noticed that the carrots had expired two weeks ago. Ewww! Come on Northwest/Delta check those things. The carrots and hummus were abandoned, I had such good intentions.
Our flight was a bit late leaving but we did manage to arrive on time, yeah! Since we had no fruits or veggies in the fridge we did an emergency Sam’s run and got peppers, carrots, cucumbers, snap peas, apples, and grapes. All stocked up for the week. I had a much needed Green Monster for dinner and made extra to have in the morning as well, my body was seriously craving veggies!
Off to bed for some much needed zzzzz’s!
After the blending 6 of us headed to Avec for dinner, this is our 2nd year in a row going to Avec for dinner after the blending and it was just as good as last year. We even had the same waitress! We ordered a ton of small plates to share – dates, turkey meatballs, swordfish, cheese, olives and a large flatbread to share. Their food is beyond amazing, and it was PACKED on a Sunday night! They have a pretty small space and do not take reservations so we waited about an hour for a table. Oh well, it was worth it.
Wood-fired flatbread with Spanish bonito tuna, celery root, pickled Melrose peppers, egg and market apples
House marinated olives
Chorizo-stuffed Medjool dates with smoked bacon and piquillo pepper-tomato sauce
Housemade turkey and guanciale meatballs with amatricana sauce, swiss chard and orzo
Wood-roasted swordfish with smoked ham hock, braised chana dal and crispy salad. For dessert we split Grape Sorbet, Homemade Candy Bars and a tart, the grape sorbet tasted like grape jelly. It was thick and very fruity! The homemade candy bars were also very good, they were thin like toffee or bark but had lots of flavor and were milk and dark chocolate. All were good but not as good as the small plates we shared. Our service was great, the food was awesome but the company was even better, it was so nice to see friends in Chicago!
We were back at Chris and Ivy’s by about 9 and headed straight to bed! The 6am alarm came early, I was heading out to the burbs to work in our office in Lincolnshire.
