Chicago, maybe better known as “The Windy City,” is an amazing combination of business and tourism. The city is known for many attractions such the Navy Pier, it’s beautiful parks, sports teams, and popular cuisine. An incredible city to live or to visit, the JP girls considered their recent and brief time in Chicago, a once-in-a-lifetime experience sharing it with their mothers! Below are some of their highlights and recommendations!
The first night, the dynamic foursome dined like Queens at famed Chef, Art Smiths’ amazing restaurant, Table Fifty-Two. Chef de Cuisine, Rey Villalobos, pulled out every stop! Some of their favorites were the goat cheese biscuits (recipe included at the end of article), grits with shrimp, short rib, and decadent desserts. Just when they thought there was possibly no more room for anything else…it was all topped off with Chef Smith’s famed Hummingbird Cake for Jodi’s birthday!!
The next day was filled with even more adventures. Attending an Oprah taping which will air this Friday, April 15th was a true crowning moment! The show highlights the Oprah Show’s biggest bloopers; you can tune in on Friday to check out to see what the audience voted as the show’s funniest laugh out loud (LOL) moment. Want to go to an Oprah taping? Check out her website for details on how to be entered in the lottery.
http://www.oprah.com/oprah_tickets.html
**With over 10,000 ticket inquiries per week, and only 300 seats in the audience per show, the JP gang was thrilled to be a part of show number 30 as the countdown begins for the last 30 shows for forever!
After the show, the JP girls and their moms grabbed drinks at RLs- Ralph Lauren’s ONLY domestic restaurant and bar. Lucky enough to score a table in the cozy bar, their bartender Russell was truly memorable as he shared his 2 past appearances on the Oprah show! Having drinks at the bar was Loretta Divine, “Adele” from Grey’s Anatomy and another male actor, which nobody could name him for the life of them! This ‘hotspot’ is definitely one you are not going to want to miss next time you visit Chicago.
And if you thought the girls getaway trip couldn’t get any better you were wrong! That night the JP group dined at Alinea, which was a truly insane experience. Alinea opened in May of 2005 and is owned by Chef Grant Achatz (who just opened ‘Next’ the night before they dined at Alinea). Alinea, ranked No. 7 on the list of the 50 best restaurants in the world last year, is 25 places ahead of the French Laundry, whose chef, Thomas Keller, served as Achatz's mentor for years. Achatz has won four James Beard Foundation Awards, the latest in 2008 for the country's outstanding chef. Alinea is a three star Michelin restaurant, a very prestigious honor. Three star ratings are extremely rare; there are only 81 in the entire world with 26 in France alone. What makes this restaurant stand above the rest is its emphasis on molecular gastronomy, or progressive cuisine.
With a reservation list over three months, and a team of people to turn away reservation seekers, the JP girls got in due to a last minute cancellation and seized the opportunity for the magnificent twenty-two course dinner. All their food was prepared with such delicacy, imagination, and innovation, some of which was masterminded in front of each diner. One of the many highlights was the DIY ravioli, which was filled by the waiter spooning piping hot short rib pieces as each gal added their own interesting accouterments creating a delish pocket of heaven!
Who doesn’t love a good dessert?
Sarah claimed the dessert was the most memorable part of the entire dinner. At the conclusion of the meal, the wait staff rolled out a rubbery tabletop to cover their entire table as two dessert chefs proceeded to design the dessert in front of their eyes. The spectacle was gorgeous and awe inspiring.
A component was the chefs pouring a liquid into glass cylinders that sat atop the tabletop—the table served as the bottom of the cylinders. After finishing the dessert presentation, the chefs/artists lifted the glasses to reveal that the liquid had hardened into little crème brulee pillows (pictured below), which the tops were finished by a blowtorch. The ladies dove into the dessert, scooping each and every delectable bite off the rubbery mat!
The restaurant explained that it would be a 3-hour dining experience which in actuality was a 5+ hour extravaganza. A profoundly, memorable, 5 star dining experience which has been accounted and defined as a culinary musical, topped off the once-in-a-lifetime Chicago trip the JP girls will always cherish, sharing the special few days with their always supportive mothers.
Want to make the famous Art Smith’s biscuits? Here’s the recipe!
Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) cold butter
4 tablespoons (2 ounces) goat cheese
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk
Extra butter to grease pan and top biscuits
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 425°. Place one 10-inch cast iron pan into the oven while it is preheating. Place flour and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Cut in the butter and goat cheese. Make a well in the middle of the ingredients and pour in the milk. Stir until the mix is moistened, adding an extra tablespoon of milk if needed.
Remove the hot skillet from the oven and place a tablespoon of butter into it. When the butter has melted, drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter into the pan, (use a muffin scoop to drop the batter if you have one). Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter. Bake from 14–16 minutes until browned on the top and bottom. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Enjoy warm!
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 12:25PM 
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