Short Notes: Chicago, Orlando and Cocktails

This is one of those weeks where I’m in three cities in three days, not counting airport connector cities.  That’s okay– it’s fun to see colleagues and meet customers.  In Chicago…

• Stefani’s 437 Rush is a lot of fun with surprisingly good food.  It looks old school, the waiters have Italian accents straight out of central casting, and the maitre d’ sings, but the wine list is fantastic and the food is darn good too. The zuppa di pesce was a particular hit at my table, and I had a to-die-for monkfish dish.  It’s supposedly an old Chicago Tribune hangout, and you could totally envision newspaper types with stogies talking to contacts– or negotiating deals .

In Orlando…

• The Gaylord Palms has darn good conference food.  I’ve had it at the Gaylord National Harbor, too– high quality stuff.
• Todd English’s BlueZoo is interesting.  Lots of blue (obviously), a dead fish on a spit that they call “Flying Fish”, which looked to be a good preparation once it was at the table, and the first time I’ve seen a Ramos Gin Fizz on a cocktail menu at a restaurant.  I had some excellent (if slightly on the overcooked side) “Dirty South Swordfish”.

Cocktails…

• How did you end up with a $20 mai tai? Top quality rhum, orgeat syrup shrubb instead of Bacardi, almond syrup and curacao.  This is why craft cocktails are expensive in restaurants.  Good ingredients are much pricier than the cheap stuff! (Though I’m not impressed with the http://www.tradertiki.com/ syrup. It mostly tastes like brown syrup– Orgeat is almond, in case you’re wondering).