A week in Evanston

So much has been going on, I haven't had time to post!  I'm sure everyone is just sitting on the edge of their seat, wondering what's happening on the mystery tour...lol

Anyway, I recently spent a week in Evanston for work.  It was actually a lovely trip, even though I didn't enjoy flying out there on September 11.  We all got to the airport really early, thinking there would be extra security on the tenth anniversary, but there wasn't.  I did have to have the new full-body-scan thing, though.  I don't know if it was because of the new anatomical features or if I was chosen randomly.  But I feel like I should send a condolence card to the poor person who had to look at that scan.  The trip went quite smoothly, but I will admit to nearly having a panic attack and starting to cry when the cab was leaving O'Hare and driving to Evanston--planes seemed to be flying right toward the cab so they could land at O'Hare.  It was freaky and my least favorite part of the trip.

The work stuff went fine--the writers were nice to work with, our teachers were generous and fun.  There were definitely a lot of laughs during the week.  I'll just focus on stuff I did during our free time.  Oh, and stuff I ate.  Who knew there were so many great restaurants in Evanston?  I sure didn't.

Our first night in town, we ate at the restaurant in our hotel, Quince.  It was a lovely, quiet restaurant, with a limited menu, which isn't a problem for me.  I had studied the menu before I left New York, so I could have an idea of which vaguely vegan thing I could get.  The menu online mentioned a vegetable pasta, so I thought that would be a good choice.

We decided to share some appetizers at the table--a lovely heirloom tomato napolean, with an amazingly delicious tomato juice reduction/sauce.  The taste was so purely tomato, just like eating summer.  Our other appetizer was a stuffed squash blossom, topped with a beautiful pistachio foam.  Both dishes were incredibly delicious, along with being gorgeously plated.

They had quite a few delicious sounding entrees, but not the English pea tortellini I had read about on the website.  As I sat there and tried to decide if I wanted to go with a fish, our server came over and told us about the specials, which included a sweet corn tortellini.  Oh my.  I'm all over that.  I ordered that, and my friends got fish dishes.  May I say that sweet corn tortellini was one of the best meals I have ever eaten?  It was amazing.  It was beautiful, delicious, with lots of textures and depths of flavor.  I seriously could've continued eating it all evening.  It had an English pea foam on top, along with some roasted cherry tomatoes and a Parmesan tuile.  Those tomatoes were incredible--every time I bit into one, it was like getting a burst of tomato-y sunshine-y candy in my mouth.  I can't really describe how good they were.  And they went beautifully with the corn tortellini--the bright burst of acidity went well with the sweet softness of the corn and pasta.  I highly recommend you try this dish if you ever make it to Quince.   Here's a photo, along with a zoom shot for emphasis:

After such a delicious meal, I figured it would be hard to do much better, food-wise, the rest of the week.  But most of the restaurants did pretty well, even with such a high bar.

Our fearless leader learned a lot from last year's trip and built some breaks into the schedule this year.  On Tuesday, we had the whole morning to ourselves, which was awesome.  I walked over to Dawes House, which is where the Evanston Historical Society is housed.  It's a lovely house, which is unfortunately closed on Tuesdays.  But it was a very pleasant walk and there's a beach nearby.  I got lots of pretty photos during my morning stroll:

Tuesday night, we had a nice group dinner at Gio restaurant, an Italian restaurant very near our hotel.  We went there last year and had such a good time, we decided to return.  After the public panel, I called the restaurant and asked if I sent a group of ten over RIGHT NOW, could we all get served?  (they were closing in about 45 minutes)  The manager said sure, come on over.  When we got there, there was a nice table set up for us, in the middle of the restaurant.  They also stayed open an extra half hour or so, so our whole group could get dinner.  We appreciated their generosity.  Our server was also lovely.  I had the penne pasta, with roasted vegetables.  It was delicious.  If you find yourself in Evanston, head over to Gio.  The people are nice and the food is tasty.  And they have a nice wine list.  Thumbs up.

Wednesday, we had the afternoon off.  I went to have a late lunch at a Thai noodle restaurant, since I was seeing a show at Steppenwolf that night (and you all know I don't eat before going to the theater--maybe I should do a post on all my stupid superstitions and quirks!!).  The udon noodle soup was quite tasty and much too much.  I saved it and finished it off after we got back from Steppenwolf.            

Thursday, we had dinner at a steakhouse, which was my most disppointing meal of the week.  I should've gone with my gut instinct and gotten the crab cakes, but I went with the scallops instead.  They were rubbery, and the accompanying butternut squash were limp and thinly filled.  I got the sauce on the side, so maybe that affected the preparation, but still.  

Friday, we went into Chicago to check out hotels for a future conference.  One of the hotels offered us lunch, so we could see what kind of food they provide.  I choose this hotel so I can have this salad repeatedly:

This was a delicious watermelon salad, with a salty sheep's milk cheese, arugula, frisee and an amazing port wine reduction.  Oh man.  I wish I had that salad RIGHT NOW.    

  

OK, so now I'm having issues with attaching photos.  Perhaps someone up there is telling me I add too many photos.  I'll just close with some photos of the beautiful churches around Evanston.  I love me a good church.

Oh, and a picture of the fire trucks from the night we had to evacuate the hotel (false alarm).  Sigh...