Chicago - Millenium Park II

Another lovely spot where we rested our weary feet. Particularly after a wee spot of shopping! I tried to climb up the back of the columns like lots of other people were, but I was too short L.

Eyes are closed...ooops. Thanks a lot photographer! :) 

Art exhibition. 

Then the face changed! 

Interesting architecture. 

Side of the stage/sound shell. 

Sculpture, but Will is cut in half. 

These two photos are testament to why I hate getting other people to take pictures of us. THIS is the risk you take. Particularly as this lady asked us first then decided she was in a hurry when it was our turn to have our picture taken. Grr. 

We are whole, but no sculpture??

Chicago - Millenium Park 'Cloudgate'

Dominated by the giant ‘Cloudgate,’ which is affectionately named the ‘Bean,’ Millenium Park is a lovely place to soak up some rays and have a snack. So that’s what we did, followed by taking numerous fun photos of us reflected in the bean itself. Lots of tourists stop to do this and it’s definitely not something you want to miss when in Chicago! It weighs one hundred and ten tons and looks awesome! More pics of the rest of the park in my next post :).

Needs a clean! I meant the mirrored surface...

Chicago - Deep Dish Pizza

One my favorite bloggers at Cup of Jo just blogged about her week in Chicago and my reaction was ‘I’VE been there!’ So I will be putting up some photos and posts from our trip to the Windy City in April.

Chicago style pizza is a deep-dish pizza. We visited Pizzeria Uno, one of a list in Lonely Planet as well a recommendation on websites and ads. They have been making pizza since 1943, so they must be okay! And it was easy to find and in the center of the city. We were expecting a wait of about 40 minutes as we’d been warned that they take a while to make and are so popular. We joined a queue and were told we would have a table in 10 minutes. The family in front of us were seated and then we were; it actually only took about 5 minutes. We’d barely had a chance to look at the menu. Will was one step ahead of the crowd and spotted the sizes on the counter just as he was going to ask how big the pizzas were.

Once seated our server recommended a small to share rather than a medium. Sounds crazy, but these pizzas are seriously deep. Makes me understand why Americans call pizzas a ‘pie’ because that is what this was! It was a good recommendation by the server – we may not have been able to pack in any more after our two pieces each. I liked to think I could have, but who knows the reality! Unlike the table of burly guys next to us, who looked to have polished off about 6 mediums. The other table next to us looked like businessmen ordering individual pizzas.

We were right near the kitchen door so we were able to peek at the preparations as well as the pizzas coming out. It only took about 30 minutes for our pizza to arrive (quicker than I thought), though I think it was about 2 o’clock so we’d probably missed the lunch rush. It. Was. Delicious. Thick crust, filled with toppings, rather than just topped with them, and an absolute pain to serve! I don’t remember the type of pizza we had – Numero Uno? It was their house special, a bit like a supreme. Tomatoes, herbs, capsicum, mushrooms, cheese, sausage and ham. That’s two posts about food in a row. Ooops. Yum. 

Beckta - dining experience

As a treat (and because it has been on our bucket list for months AND because it’s in Lonely Planet) we decided to go to Beckta for dinner. It’s one of the best restaurants in Ottawa if not Ontario.

I apologise in advance - I don't remember everything that was on the dishes we ordered/were given, so I did my best with the captions, but you can see that many parts I couldn't remember! Especially the appetizers that are on the tasting menu and not on the online menu! 

Beckta is tucked away on Nepean Street in downtown Ottawa. A charming brick house, it’s beautifully decorated inside and the décor and ambiance is instantly calming. I was so excited! Despite being ten minutes early, it was a Sunday night so we were shown straight to our table, a cosy booth in a corner (one of the best ones we were later told). Our friends, Pip and Isaac (featured in several of our pics from earlier posts) arrived after checking that some guy with a broken leg who had fallen off his bike was ok. Nice people do still exist.

Our neighbour is a sommelier at Beckta’s sister restaurant, Play, and he knew we were coming so the first round of drinks – bubbly! – was on him. Made me feel a little bit like a rockstar J. We sipped and perused the menu and finally decided what we wanted. Canapés were served which was unexpected. Isaac works in the kitchen at Beckta so he explained to us how the canapés cleanse the palate so that the actual courses don’t taste funny due to smoking or drinking coffee or something beforehand. Fancy, but a brilliant idea! We ate those before I could take a picture.

Amazing bread and butters! 

Then we ordered our entrees. Our server returned shortly with several plates and told us that ‘the chef apologises for hijacking your menu.’ That was fine with us! We had four separate, unique appetizers which we shared. Loved them all! So much flavour and they were so carefully and delicately arranged. We also were served bread and delicious whipped burnt butter. The bread was amazing; fennel and date. We later asked for more bread. And then some more. Mmm.

Asparagus and radish salad. 

Pork belly with an amazing salad and shredded coconut. 

Tagliatelli with house-made ricotta and fried olives. 

Salmon, lobster knuckle and scallop. 

We ordered wine, but instead of choosing ourselves, we asked them to pair it with our entrees. Pip and I had ordered the duck and Will and Isaac ordered the steak and salad. Still so excited! When the entrees arrived I quickly snapped some pics before we tasted the beautiful creations. Divine. There were lots of ‘omigoodness, I don’t know what that is but it’s soo good!’

Quebec Magret Duck -  Pan roasted breast, sundried cherry gnocchi, arugula, early summer succotash, Chanterelle mushrooms,  fresh cherry cumberland sauce.

My duck was delicious, several slices with crunchy fresh vegetables (even the baby corn!), sweet gnocchi (best I’ve EVER had as I don’t usually like gnocchi!), mushrooms and even something that we suspected was porkbelly. Will’s steak was melt-in-the-mouth tender and was accompanied with a lot of mushrooms, like King Eryngii, which I have been wondering how to pronounce for a while!

Steak and salad - pan seared striploin, grilled romaine, rosti potato, mushroom saute, grilled radish, fava beans and blue cheese fondue.

It was amazing. And then it was time to order dessert. In true unoriginal style, Pip and I were both drawn to the ‘cookies and cream’ and the boys immediately decided on the raspberry cheesecake with exploded raspberries. Will: ‘if there’s cheesecake on the menu, that’s what I’m ordering’ haha. The desserts looked so delicious and they did not disappoint! With fresh raspberries and caramel fennel sauce, our brownie was made with oatmeal and was rich and dark. We even had sugared tarragon and a cup of raspberry milkshake! Will’s cheesecake was light and fluffy and its base was graham cracker and basil. His exploded raspberries are apparently made by doing something crazy with nitrogen oxide (I think). Red currants were also stacked on his cheesecake.

Cookies and cream - Oatmeal cookie brownie, raspberry milkshake, fennel butterscotch, sugared tarragon and raspberry tuile. 

Raspberry cheesecake - cinnamon basil graham crumb, exploded raspberries, spice box fudge, huckleberry molasses and fresh currants. 

Petit fours! 

Then after we’d scraped our plates clean they brought us petit fours to finish up. Apple fritters and thyme shortbread. Did I say amazing? I’m running out of adjectives to describe this wonderful foodie experience! Not the cheapest but worth every cent! I will definitely be thinking of these dishes for many months to come. It’s Tuesday and I’m still dreaming of those tasty delights! 

Snippets of Ottawa - squirrels!

We are currently working on fixing up the blog and making it look pretty, so apologies if you are checking it out and it keeps changing!! I'm still a beginner so there are still plenty of kinks to work out!

This post is about squirrels! I know most people will not be impressed, but for an Aussie these kind of creatures are pretty incredible. Just like koalas, kangaroos and wombats (etc., blah, blah boring haha) are to non-Aussies. Some people say squirrels are rats with fluffy tails, but so what? I think they are cute! We have a family of them living in the eaves of the house nextdoor. I like saying hello, though they aren't particularly chatty. The other day I busted a few of the babies playing in the backyard. Sooo adorable!!

Here in Ottawa there are grey ones, black ones and reddish ones. And as you can see, they are everywhere! It's not unusual to walk through a park and see twenty of them running around, chasing each other up trees and so on. A couple of weeks ago I saw a lady feeding them in a park and there were about a dozen near her, then they all ran up a tree. It was crazy! I realised that in Australia we don't really have an urban animal like squirrels. The closest would probably be a possum, but you don't really see them in inner city parks!