Letizia's Fiore

2456 N. California Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
Menu Creativity:  Good (especially considering the small size of the menu)
Ambiance:  Casual and plenty of seating
Overall Experience:  Quick, easy, and filling
Rating:  Good for vegetarians and OK for vegans
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On a warmish Sunday morning I pulled my non-daylight savings adjusted butt outta bed then bribed Caroline to drag her even more tired self out of bed to join me.  Originally the plan was to go to Bite on Western, but upon arriving we found the windows papered over and a renovation permit on the door.  After a bit of grrr...arguh'ing on my part we decided to head over to Letizia's Fiore, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  Letizia's is more coffee shop/bakery than cafe, but they have a nice unique selection of lunch choices that you won't find at any of the unmentionable chain coffee shops.  It's a small menu, but here were our choices:

• Roasted Tomato & Pesto Piadina (Piadina is flatbread with melted smoked mozzarella)
• Soups:  (all soups are vegetarian and one is always vegan)

• Cream of Tomato
• Tuscan White Bean (V) 
• Veggie Chili with Barley (V)
• Garlic Bomb (V) (fresh baked bread with garlic, rosemary, olive oil, and sea salt) 
• Arancini Bar (a stuffed and fried risotto ball)...unfortunately they did not have any vegetarian choices that day
• Rustic Pizza:  varying choices
• And Coffee...marvelous tasty coffee!

For the full menu go to http://www.wix.com/fsorano/fiore_new

What I ate (and Caroline copied):  Veggie Chili and the Garlic Bomb, which thoughtfully comes with an after lunch breath freshener.  I went with the mocha latte, whereas Caroline went with the vanilla...lattes here are very good; the espresso is not overwhelmed by the flavoring and the foam is toasty and creamy.  The flavor of the veggie chili was yummy, fresh ingredients and fully developed flavors.  The only minus is that it really is more of a hearty bean soup rather than a chili, but as I said the flavors don't disappoint as long as your heart not set on traditional chili.  The garlic bomb is...well, the bomb!  You cannot go wrong with bread fresh out of a wood burning oven.  The only point of contention, and it is a small one, is that the toppings were very inconsistent.  There was only one piece of Rosemary found (it was a bit like trying to find the baby in a Mardi Gras cake) and only a smattering of sea salt, but garlic and oil were in abundance.  This seemed to be such a small light meal, but both of us found that we were significantly satisfied for most of the remainder of the day.  Overall a great experience and one I would be more than happy to repeat!

(V)=Vegan Friendly

(RV)=Can Request to be Made Vegan

Let me know where you think I should eat next?  If you've eaten at Letizia's Fire what was your experience?  Post your responses in the comments below.


Check out my other blog at: http://thininvisiblesteel.blogspot.com/

Tweet

5020 N. Sheridan Road
Chicago , IL 60640-3118
Menu Creativity:  Some
Ambiance:  "Howdy neighbor, can you pass the salt"
Overall Experience:  Long wait, good options, OK food
Rating:  Good, but not great.  They make a pretty plate of food, but once you dig in it just doesn't live up to it's appearance.  

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Lazy Sunday afternoons were made for brunch. So I grabbed a friend, Caroline, and headed to one of the gazillion brunch places in the city.  Not surprisingly we found ourselves waiting for about 45 minutes to be seated.  The wait was alleviated by flipping through books,magazines, and games  supplied for just that purpose.   The decor is fun...bold colors, art covering every inch of wall space, just be prepared for the naked artwork; in other words, not the place for your prudish friends or family.  Stay away if you're looking to have an intimate brunch with your loved one as you'll be nearly touching elbows with the other customers.  The place is loud and boisterous, but well within acceptable levels as you are able to hear your dining companion.  

When you get to your table you're greeted by a couple bite-sized pieces of cornbread.  I always appreciate free food, but I found these little bites to be cloyingly sweet and a bit too dense; I found myself hoping this was not a sign of things to come.  They do have quite a few vegetarian/vegan options on the menu, here's a look at just a few of them:

• Bib Im Bop (RV)
• Vegetarian Biscuits & Gravy
• Veggie Country Benedict
• Veggie Burger (not sure if Vegan)
• Tofu Scramble and they have vegan cheese! (V)
• and more...

For the full brunch menu go to http://www.tweet.biz/brunch.html

What I ate:  Croissant Sandwich Platter

I was really excited when I ordered this since they had veggie sausage.  Though I was disappointed when my meal arrived as the eggs where overcooked...I'm talking brown bottom and slightly grayish appearance, gurk...yuck.   The croissant was flaky and yummy as was the veggie sausage.  I found out later that  the sausage is Morningstar, it's disappointing that they don't make their own.  On the plus side the hash browns were cooked beautifully, golden brown with a light butter flavor.  The teeny bowl of fruit was great, I just wish it was larger, a fabulous assortment of great fruit...not a melon in sight.

What Caroline ate (and was forced to share with me):  Vegetarian Biscuits & Gravy

Overall an OK dish, it's just disappointing because it could have easily been better. The gravy and sausage was cooked separately, not allowing the gravy to fully develop that rich and spicy depth that we're used to getting from a good plate of veggie biscuits & gravy.  The biscuits were one of the highlights of the dish; light, flaky and buttery delicious.    

(V)=Vegan Friendly

(RV)=Can Request to be Made Vegan

Let me know where you think I should eat next?  If you've eaten at Tweet  what was your experience?  Post your thoughts in the comments section below. 

Check out my daily blog at: http://thininvisiblesteel.blogspot.com/

Jameson's Original Charhouse

5016 Northwest Highway
Crystal Lake , IL 60014
Menu Creativity:  None
Ambiance:  "What, I can't hear you...it's too noisy in here"!
Overall Experience:  Long wait, sad food, but nice staff

Rating:  Poor for vegetarians and worse for vegans
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You might be thinking, what in the world does a vegetarian expect going to a steakhouse, well let me tell you when one's Mother tells you how much she's been wanting to go there and tugs on your heartstrings you go and hope for the best!  What I certainly wasn't expecting was the utter lack of veggie options!  After waiting over an hour to be seated my menu choices were as follows:

• Fettuccine Alfredo 
• Linguine Marinara (RV)
• Greek Salad and does have vegan dressing options(RV)
• Potato Skins
• Onion Rings

For the full menu go to http://www.jamesons-charhouse.com/bloom_dinner_menu.html

Yes, they do have pasta options but they are uncreative and almost seem like an afterthought just slapped on there to give Catholics another option on Fridays.  Since I saw that the dinner options came with a choice to have fresh veggies with their meal I asked the waiter if they could do a fresh veggie dish for me and was told apologetically "Ummm...No, but we have salad."  

What I ate:  Embarrassingly I had the potato skins without the bacon.  I have an overall weakness for all things potato and a special place in my heart for amazing potato skins.  Unfortunately these were not amazing skins.  They were overly greasy with burnt edges.   

(V)=Vegan Friendly

(RV)=Can Request to be Made Vegan

Let me know where you think I should eat next?  If you've eaten at Jameson's Original Charhouse what was your experience?  Post your responses in the comments below.


Check out my daily blog at: http://thininvisiblesteel.blogspot.com/