Spring has Sprung!!

It has finally started to feel like Spring around Chicago!! This weekend was amazingly beautiful!! However, I don't think March got the memo that it's not April, and a beautiful, bright weekend has made way for a rainy Monday morning. 

In addition to the weather, the weekend itself was lovely! Friday night Neil and I continued to work through the bib gourmand list and had dinner at Ceres' Table (http://www.cerestable.com) in Uptown. The ambiance is adorable!! Everything is painted robin's egg blue with brown accents, which is so cute! We started off the dinner with fried risotto balls which had braised goat, saffron and taleggio cheese in it. AMAZING (obviously, it was fried, of course it's amazing)!! We also had gnocchi al Gorgonzola  dolce e tartufo, which is potato dumplings with creamy Gorgonzola and truffle sauce. This was so rich and good! The gnocchi melted in your mouth!! 

For our main course, Neil had  the braised pork belly. It was maple syrup braised pork belly, cauliflower puree, brussel sprout leaves and baby turnips. I had the braise wagyu beef cheek, which had eggplant parmigiana, ricotta cheese and tomato sauce basil. It was unreal! We also had brussel sprouts wrapped in kale and balsamic vinaigrette. This was the best meal I've had lately!! Everything was cooked to perfection, the staff was helpful and friendly, and the environment was great! We intended to go listen to some jazz afterwards, but I entered a food coma fast and almost fell asleep at the table!  

Saturday was beautiful outside!! Since Neil had to work, I went to get a pedicure and did a little shopping before meeting up with his family for dinner! We ventured down to Bridgeport and met Neil's parents, his sister and her boyfriend, Kevin, at Han 202 (http://han202.com). Han 202 is a prix-fixe Chinese restaurant. We had a bunch of choices and everything was very good. Post dinner Neil and I said everything was very good, but we were a little surprised it was on the bib gourmand list. Good food, but I always expect these places to be so unique and have a menu full of food I've never even heard of! That was not the case here, but the meal was excellent!

Sunday, Neil and I took a long walk through the neighborhoods! We started at my apartment and worked out way to his neighborhood, where we stopped for a rooftop drink and to watch the Rome No Reservations episode! I wish every weekend could be this nice and relaxing!!