Dinner At Blackbird

Had dinner at Blackbird last nite with some friends from a past life in Florida. This was the second time I have eaten at the restaurant at this time I was not disappointed by the food.
OK, as always, there were things that could have been improved on but besides the elitist attitude it was a enjoyable evening. We started with a nice round of apps including: sucking pig with a gastric-like puree of fresh forest berries, some kind of lack luster cheese plate, but the winner plate of the table was a crispy Veal Sweetbreads. Gotta love organ meat. These we crispy..most places say crispy but its usually only a thin brown layer or they go the other way and are over cooked and rubbery (nothing can be worse...rubbery guts). These had a thick crispy layer but the inside was just creamy goodness.
The majority of the table ate fish for dinner ( go figure, Floridians) each plate did looked tasty. I ordered the duck breast and daffy never tasted so good. Desserts were great, I had a milk choclate something or other, with a delicious ice cream flavored with curry and coconut. It was Awesome.
All and all, the food is good but the tight space, volume and elitist attidute of the servers will not get me back anytime soon.....also too much use of "foams" on everything!!.
There are far too many great restaurants out there. GO FIND THEM!!

The Red Baron

I ride a Red Catrike Expedition #70.
What a machine! I am the kind of geek that does TONS of background research on potential purchases. So based on a few hours (too many) of research I narrowed it down to Catrike Expedition and HP Scorpion. Being a former bike machanic, I had a short lists of must haves: awesome breaks, rims, crank, basically all the bells and whistles. Also little things like the frame design, etc.

When I seriously started to look for an Expedition to purchase the first bike shop to return my call was Amlings Cycles in Niles, IL. I searched all the bike shops in a 6 hour radis of Chicago. It was a long wait..long. But I could not be happier with Amlings Cycle and the quality and level of service.
www.amlingscycle.com or in Niles, IL

The trike got its namesake from the pedals I purchased the for my chopper bike, but after a winter ride gone bad and breaking my Sidi riding shoes I had to made some changes. At one time in my life I was into chrome and all things shinny!! But lately I am starting to dig more and more all things powder coated or just plain black. The "Rat Fink" chopper from Electra is to blame here.

www.electra.com

Wet Ride thru FermiLab

When for a wet ride today with steve thru FermiLab. Steve rode my Giant mountain bike and I was on the "Baron". This was steve's first ride thru FermiLab and even though the sky cried a little it was a good rain training ride. The buffalo were no where to be found, but we did come across a few walkers and a roadie. If you ever get out near the fox river valley, FermiLab is a great spot for fishing, biking, walking, nature photography, and to take the dogs for a run. Check it out but don't tell too many people its a great little secret.