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Dana at Filini Bar & Restaurant

Food & Libations

Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Chicago

June 1, 2014

Some of the best comfort food in Chicago and definitely the best steakhouse in town.  I have not a single complaint.  The food comes out hot and well-seasoned, cooked to perfection.  Everything was delicious from my cocktail to desert.  This restaurant is expensive but it is heads and tails above 99% of other restaurants, so you can taste the difference and understand what you are paying for.  This is the kind of food you daydream about.  All of the food is familiar (steak, potatoes, veggies, etc.) but it is better than any other version eaten before.  I don’t think I’ll ever get over the experience, it was that good.  I just might be addicted. 

 

Items I had:

  • Strawberry Basil Gimlet (cocktail)

  • Barbeque Shrimp (appetizer)

  • Ribeye 16oz (signature steak/entrée)

  • Lobster Mac & Chesse (side)

  • Spinach Au-Gratin (side)

  • Crème Brulee (desert)

 

I recommend all of the items I had but I would like to highlight the lobster mac & cheese.  I’ve had lobster mac & cheese so many times before that I refuse to order it anymore, it’s never been anything exciting so I gave up on it.  Luckily the person I was with ordered it.  This is the most flavorful and delicious lobster mac & cheese I have ever had.  The green chili peppers are what set this mac & cheese apart from others.  I can’t praise it enough, so just go try it for yourself.  The steak is literally sizzling in butter and juicy, my cocktail had no taste of alcohol but packed a punch (I always thought it was an urban legend…drinks that you can’t taste any alcohol so you drink it like juice and end up drunk, well now I know it’s not, thank you Ruth’s Chris), the Spinach Au-Gratin was cheesy not creamy (delicious), and the crème brulee, which is my favorite desert so I’ve had it countless times before, was perfect, absolutely perfect.  After dinner I managed to waddle home and promptly fall asleep, and as I write this I am looking forward to the leftovers, because guess what!  The portions are large enough to have leftovers, yay!  Also, the service was good, everyone was friendly and the ambience is dark and elegant (perfect for a date).

 

Sincerely,

Dana

Wine Chronicles: The Beginning

Febrauary 12, 2012

 

Over the past few years I’ve developed an intricate relationship with wine.  Before a couple of weeks ago I just drank wine, mostly red occasionally Champagne, and thought nothing of it because it was just another alcoholic beverage.  At the beginning of the year though, my mom and I got tired of drinking bad tasting wines.  We wanted to elevate to the next level, to a level where we could enjoy and savor the flavor of wine jot just its effects.  We watched the documentary Somm (on Netflix) and began researching wines.  This past weekend we went to multiple Binny’s and began our wine adventure.  The first wine we tried was a 2009 Naoussa Boutari.  This is a dry red wine from Greece made from the Xinomavro grape.  It is bottled by J. Boutari & Son Wineries S.A. in Naoussa, Imathia, Greece.  J. Boutari & Son was declared Winery of the Year in 2012 by Wine & Spirits Magazine.  They’ve won this distinction sixteen times and a plethora of other awards over the years.

 

The book I’m reading on wine, Wine by Hugh Johnson, claims that a consumer can tell the quality of the wine by the amount of information given on the bottle.  The best wines not only tell what country the wine is made in but the name of the winery, and some even go as far as to list the name of the person who made it.  According to the Boutari website (http://www.boutari.gr/en/wines/labels/123boutari_20120522123.wines.php), the Boutari Naoussa was the first Greek bottled red wine, and according to the Michelin website (http://travel.michelin.com/web/destination/Greece/news-The_fine_red_wines_of_Naoussa) the Boutari Winery continues to be one of the most reputable merchants in Naoussa.

 

As a newly donned wine enthusiast, I now swirl my wines, analyze its legs, identify the smells it exudes, and record the flavors.  Wine, like Dr. Pepper (the pop famously known for having 23 flavors), is known to have layered flavors.  Since I am not trained, I cannot yet distinguish all of the flavors, but in the 2009 Naoussa Boutari I smelled apricot, orange, and caramel.  The wine description says it has a hint of orange peel, date, green fig, dried raspberry, and medium grained tannins.  The caramel I smelled could be accurate or it could be the date and/or fig.  The taste of this wine is very sharp if it is not allowed to breath.  As the wine aerates the flavor really mellows out.  I would recommend using a decanter with this wine and letting it breath for an hour.

 

 

Sincerely,

Dana

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