Tacos: the ultimate comfort food (next to tamales and meatloaf)

Today was Monday, but is felt like a Saturday, no doubt thanks to the flurry of pre-holiday activities which culminated with the "big one." I most certainly threw off my bio-rhythms when I did a Saturday and Sunday night marathon DVD watching. Sean gave me Season One of "Damages" and thanks to the dearth of fresh programming during Christmas and New Year's week, I not only got hooked after watching episode one but spent some late nights feeding the addiction, although it was worth it.

Monday. Back to the grind. I went out to mail a surprise TY for Texas Ghostrider, and since I was out on this crisp and chilly day, I decided to go to my favorite taqueria. Normally when I walk into the place during the lunch hours, I'm treated to hearing the chattering of Spanish by most of their customers. I'm not sure why, but family owned taquerias are my "comfort place." I've always felt safe, and almost protected hearing the sound of people talking and feeling the energy of the owners and customers, interacting, with the sounds of Spanish peppering the landscape the senses, while taking in the delectable smells of grilled beef or chicken and seasonings. I don't get the same sense when I'm in a very large restaurant that has multiple locations, but this is almost always the experience in smaller places.

When I walked in, I was surprised to hear so much English. Looking around, the demographic was different, no doubt owing to many people taking this week off. They always have a great mix of customers, from working folks, families, and neighborhood people, which also lends a nice feeling to the place.

Since I needed to return and make several phone calls, I ended up taking my tacos home. There was a new guy working the grill, and holy frijoles, these tacos were as large as they look (no trick mirrors were used in the taking of these pictures):






















On the left is Mr. Carne Asada, and to the right is Mr. Al Pastor.

Taqueria Asadero
2213 W. Montrose
773 583-5563

Another Goodie Bag Delivery

Tonight was another Goodie Bag delivery. This should keep Mr. Novio good with snacks until the end of his shift in the morning.

Perishables
Homemade chicken salad with bacon and chipotle
A Fuji Apple
Chocolate Raspberry cake with ganache
Fresh veggies with onion/garlic dip
Monster C fruit juice

Tidbits
Garlic pretzel sticks
Fannie May Mint Meltaways
Fannie May Dark Chocolate Pixies
Fannie May Milk Chocolate Raisin Clusters
Fannie May Chocolate English Toffee
Cafe Selmarie Butter Cookies

XOXO el dulce! You can work it off later...

The Perfect Christmas Gift

So here we are, it's the day after Christmas, and I began reflecting on the gifts I received and those that I gave. My marketing background requires me to look at the consumer behavior aspects of it. Often people receive gifts and think, "What was this person thinking?" or "This must have been meant for someone else." Great gifting is the art of knowing your recipient and what they would have wanted for themselves. Where great gifting can go awry is when we project our own beliefs and issues into what we think they should want, versus would want.

Of course sometimes we can luck out. One year in high school, an old friend of mine, Ron, came over and handed me a wrapped box and said, "I hope you like it.... you're gonna kill me!" The funny thing about it is that I really liked the gift, although it drove my parents nuts because of the constant colored strobes. But we all know that the tastes of 16 year olds are not the same as adults.

I was listening to a piece on the radio about a family whose gifts consist of incredibly frugal items, which include rewrapped hotel bathroom soaps. Because everyone in the family enjoys these types of surprises, they are ultimately the perfect gift within the family and they all have fun with it.

My mother and I shared very, very similar tastes in things, so much that one Christmas day we actually gave each other the same thing. We literally gave each other something we would have bought for ourselves.

I could go on at length about the lovely and perfect choices that many friends and family members have given me, but the point of this post is not about "what I got." It's about how to make the choices that add joy to the gifts we give, versus turning gift giving into a chore or a display of issues.

This year one of my gifts was a gift of my time and energy. It wasn't the most glam thing to do, but it is what the recipient really wanted, and truly appreciated. Great gifting is also from the heart, not necessarily from the wallet. My mom used to love it when I'd do Polarity Therapy (alternative healing) on her. I'd give her a handmade coupon good for any time, any day and I'd be on call.

One year my ex was really bent out of shape because his sister's husband bought him a few pairs of cotton socks (athletic wear) for Christmas when he bought his brother-in-law a very expensive sweater. The truth of this matter was that while the expensive sweater was perfect for my ex, it was not something that was at all practical for the recipient and it also came with my ex's attitude that they guy dressed like a schlub. As for the socks, they were more of what the brother-in-law would have wanted for himself. So both gift givers gave what they would have wanted to receive, not what the recipients could use and might want.

One of my other friends just does an annual dinner treat, since his attempts at buying me clothes have failed miserably. Part of that is due to having no idea how to size women's clothing despite having both a mom and a sister. His efforts have been gallant but often hilariously off, especially since the added challenge of how styles can make size requirements go up or down still remains a mystery. Hey, that's challenging for us girls! Oddly, sometimes I miss the funny choices.

Of course sometimes gifting can be a timing issue. This year I shopped early for Mr. Novio and found two items that I thought would be perfect for him, that he could use both when he works out and when he travels out of the country. By October these were both purchased, and by mid November I had these nicely wrapped and set aside, only for him to come over one day in December and watch him go head over heels over an item I bought for the bodywork table. Maybe next year I won't plan so far in advance...

In the end, great gifting means that the person giving the gift became an extension of the recipient, and in ultimately found something that the recipient themselves would have bought for themselves. Great gifting is seamless, because we take our ego out of how we chose the gift. And sometimes the greatest gift of all is knowing that you are loved by others.

A Pre-Christmas day of comfort food

Ever have one of those days when you need comfort food? Tuesday morning I started my day by going to the grocery store. Since I have little choice but to take public transportation, grocery shopping for certain foods to accommodate dietary issues means a trip to Whole Foods. There's nothing like carrying two big shopping bags of groceries and missing the bus while the snow is pelting down hard on your face. With no place to put my paper shopping bags but on a wet bench, I decided to go to the train station, where I then missed a train. Whoever wanted a White Christmas most certainly doesn't stand around waiting for public train while holding two heavy bags of food.

After sliding and trudging down yet to be shoveled sidewalks, I finally got home just in time to rest up for half a minute before walking to the bakery. Shopping when aggravated is not a good thing. Shopping when your injured right knee is screaming at you from the strain of sliding on icy sidewalks is really not a good thing. Some people just get crabby. Me, I decided that those cinnamon rolls at Cafe Selmarie looked really good.

After last week's Magical Meatloaf, I decided it was time for another, with a bit of variation. Tueday I used Stonewall Kitchen's Mesquite Grill Sauce as the main sauce component. I also used some of their Garlic and Onion dip, as well as organic bread crumbs, organic rolled oats, chopped onions and eggs.

Meat loaf is easy to make. essentially you just mix it all up and bake it for about 1 hour at 350 degrees (preheated). I used a pound of ground beef, although ground turkey also works quite well.

Nothing goes with having meat loaf as comfort food as well as organic sweet potato fries and some fresh, organic spinach. I used the same Mesquite Grill Sauce on the meatloaf and fries. The spinach was just seasoned with olive oil and garlic salt.




Oh wait, did I say comfort food? Have some pumpkin angel food cake!!



And later on, to snack on, I bought some butter cookies from Cafe Sel Marie. Does it get much better than this?

I am now ready to handle Santa Claus!!

Jessica's Jewelry in Ravenswood

If you're looking for a last minute gift of fine jewelry that won't break that bank try Jessica's Jewelry in Ravenswood. Situated near Damen on Lawrence, I first discovered the store when people from Sears sent me there for a ring resizing. I noticed they often had nice pieces, none of them vermeil like one might find in many department stores, but in 14K Gold as well as some pieces in 927 Silver. One of the things I like about the store is that it is a family owned business and the owners tend to have a good customer relationship with their regulars.

Jessica's also buys gold and silver jewelry. I had a bunch of those old chains that came with necklaces that were gifts, and things that my mom had that were not anything I'd want to wear. Since they still had value, I brought them in, and put the money toward layaway so that it would be around by December. It is a gorgeous French Amethyst ring that that Mr. Novio purchased for me for Christmas.

If you like citrine, this unusual setting is beautiful when you see it in person.

These pearl earrings with gold loops lend visual interest to what could be a plain setting.

If you like dangles, these were both pretty and cute. I'm just glad I don't have pierced ears or I'd be tempted!

I'm normally not a fan of hard bangle bracelets that are this big, but I had to admit that this is a striking piece. Imagine this and the necklaces with a high neck, black long sleeved sweater!

They also have an wide variety of pendants, in 14K Gold, or with gems, and a nice selection of rings, both with gems and in gold.

Jessica's Jewelry
1974 W. Lawrence
Spanish Spoken

(not open on Sunday)

773 / 275-8683

Firefox, template and Win7 Sony headaches!

If you thought I just changed the template AGAIN, you are correct. I had the cute "Cherries and Stars" in use, and it was darling on all browsers but MY Firefox. I say "my" Firefox because it looked fine on WinXP Firefox on a Dell and on my Toshiba ultra portable. It looked great on Chrome and Opera on my Sony, but Firefox gave me a half naked template.

Developer Sharnee has been a peach and we've been trying to think of how this could have possibly happened, and I have to say that I think it is a weirdness specific to my PC post Win7 Update. I have a test blog that I uploaded back in my Vista days, and that test blog looks perfect with "Cherries and Stars."

As any of you Blogger users know, when you change to a customized template, you lose your widgets. This is a pain in the css so I'm not a fan of updating templates (except that Sharnee's makes templates too cute to resist). So for now, I'm in Miss Retro mode and am looking forward to her 2010 designs or I'll use the same one I have for the Spanish language (oops, I haven't been posting there!) blog. Till then...

Pleasure before Homework

Saturday morning Mr Novio and I had breakfast at Cafe Selmarie. I know their prices are a lot higher than what he's used to paying for breakfast when he's on work break, so I really appreciate the nice treat for both of us. XOXO!! That man really makes me tingle (no, not tinkle!)

Mr N had the cheese burrito.




I've been wanting their Chicken Pot Pie since my Christkindl visit on a Sunday (there was none on the menu that day), and I was gastronomically happy to have this for breakfast. It was delish, with all the little fresh veggies in a rich chicken gravy.





















Mr. N and I haven't been out for breakfast in quite a while, so it was a real treat to do so. I forgot how much I enjoy his company in the morning.

Saturday's "to-do" list was filled with everything from Spanish homework, working on some new Ebay listings, and cleaning my office, which has turned into an archaeological feat of scariness with Ebay, Christmas gifts, peripherals, papers, shipping boxes and piles of materials to be shredded all contained in a small room.

So how far did I get? Not so far. My homework was all on the subjunctive. I'm not a fan of the subjunctive, and I'd be happy just to stay in the present tense of the subjunctive with all the oddities of irregular verbs. My homework left my head tired with the "imperfect subjunctive" and "conditional statements with an imperfect subjunctive," the latter would be like, "Si lloviera mas, el verano seria mas fresco."

Just when I thought I was confused enough, I was reminded of the Past Perfect Subjunctive, "Si yo hubiera vivido en San Francisco sabria donde esta los calles de Haight y Asbury." Four hours later, my head is very tired and now I have subjunctive trauma, so I called in a needed break to post my food pictures and cash in a birthday gift certificate for some winter clogs. It was either that, or I'd have gone back out for some Sticky Buns from Cafe Selmarie.

Looks like a duck, walks like a duck, it's a tip, silly!

Sometimes people put 2 + 2 together and come out with 31; the math they won't add up because of faulty assumptions. In my neighborhood, there are several UPS drivers. I have a regular guy, a regular substitute guy, and then a string of other irregular substitutes. The stringers vary from providing exceedingly great service to the 'drop and run, don't bother even ringing the bell' to "I'm not climbing up the stairs to delivery your 50 pound package."

As a result of the worst stringers, I've come to appreciate the great service from the best drivers, whether they are subs or not. My regular driver has a key to the foyer. You can imagine how great it is to come home and see a stack of boxes outside your door (not out by the sidewalk hallway door but my residence door on an upper floor), all safe and secure. I really appreciate the extra service. I also appreciate the service of the regular sub, who will bring my things up stairs even if it's a light, small little box, always with a great disposition and attitude.

So, I always remember these two guys at Christmas. Often when it gets crazy busy during Christmas they pull my regular guy off to do a smaller area, so when I saw him on Lincoln Avenue the other day, I yelled out to him. He was in the truck pulling out the boxes for delivery while his female helper steadied the huge pile on the cart. Mr. UPS stuck his head out when I called out his name, and gave me his usual, "Hi Hon" greeting. I asked him, "Do you still have the key?" since sometimes they change trucks on the drivers and the key and the truck keys stay together. The helper girl's eye's got really big when she heard that, and got even bigger when he said, "yeah."

Then I said, "Stop by later, I've got something for you." Too bad I didn't take a photo of the helper girl's face, which had quite an expression on it. It wasn't until after I had gone to Cafe Selmarie that I realized where her mind had wandered. It's a good thing my UPS guy's name is not Tiger. And sometimes a little "something something" is just a Christmas card and a tip

Wishing I was car enabled again

I don't have a car and I no longer drive, mostly because of residual issues after a bad accident some time ago. As such, as one of my Junior Achievement kids said, "I take the big, green limousine." That's the CTA, for those of you who didn't know they used to have a more heavily green colored theme. This awesome shot of one very old bus (check out the trolley device on top!) is from Zack's photostream on Flickr.
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Taking the train or bus on a nice day when you are just trying to get from Point A to Point B is no big deal. When you use it to go grocery shopping, well, then there are times where it's not exactly my idea of fun. Take for example, a rainy day. Try holding an umbrella when it is pouring rain out and carrying two shopping bags. Something has to go.
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Today I went to Whole Foods to pick up part of tomorrow's dinner, plus mostly organic produce for tomorrow's food fest. I wanted to take the Lincoln Ave bus and go directly to Julius Meinl for our dessert, but CTA tracker gave me a wait time I couldn't live with so I walked over to the Paulina Brown Line Train stop. My transit card barfed up at me and spit out error codes while a well dressed man with a lady companion proceeded to spew out a torrent of vitriol and negativity at the attendant working behind the booth. She shrugged it off and said he does this to her every day. Send that man a huge lump of coal!
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It turns out that the card was fine, the machine was having issues... and of course this delay cost me catching the next train. After announcing the next one would be an express, I finally made it home. After dropping off my groceries, I walked to Julius Meinl where I picked up two lovely pieces of chocolate cake for our dessert, and walked from Montrose to nearly Lawrence and Lincoln to pick up some naturally raised meats and a big head of cabbage at Gene's and then a couple of sticky buns at Cafe Selmarie. My hands were full.
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So there I was, like a Sherpa, walking with bags in both hands, and I'm only half way home, when hair blows across my face and gets stuck, partly, in my nose. Now there's a look every girl wants.

A Different Look, Really!

The first one shown is with Firefox, the second is using Google Chrome and the third IE.












I've been wanting to change the template look for the TCC for awhile. Eventually I'll probably return to the original, but I've been wanting to give this girl a change. It's times like this that I wished that Blogger had a way to retain the widgets when you are using a non-standard template. I hope I picked up all my favorites.

Templates, like websites, can look different on different operating platforms and on different browsers. For example, the background to the left is called, "Cherries and Stars." It shows up on the latest version of IE, Opera, and Google Chrome. It does a disappearing act using Firefox, which is of course my default browser. All of this is using Win 7.

Now if I bring up the TCC using Firefox Win XP, everything is fine. So there's an odd burp with the Win7 combo, go figure. When I try to refresh, the background briefly appears and then goes blank again.

Another annoying thing that occured is the creation of huge spaces between photos on some of my posts, when viewed with IE. Sometimes it looks perfect in IE and looks like a drunken disaster using another browser, or visa versa.

One of the other joys of changing templates is seeing the content shifted and wiggled into new places, often new spaces, and with seemingly no sense of aesthetics.

It makes me glad to not be a website developer.


UPDATE on this:
Sharnee, at Yummy Lolly Templates, sent me a screen shot of my blog page using Firefox and Win7 and hers appears the way it should. So, it sounds like there's also an issue with my Sony Vaio. Looks like I'll be spending more time on the phone with tech support.

Magical Meatloaf

Meatloaf is one of those all around comfort foods that brings me back to a different time. Two images always are evoked. One is of my mom making it. The other is being in a diner, but oddly a 50's style diner and I know that never happened.

Friday I went to Gene's for some naturally raised ground beef. Today, I mixed it with mustard, rolled oats, organic toasted bread crumbs, and Stonewall Kitchen's Maple Chipotle Marinade and organic eggs. Besides filling my place with delicious cooking smells, it tastes incredible. Too incredible. Now I remember why I don't make it too often. When you live by yourself, it's easy to keep taking "one more piece."

Next time I make this, I'll make sure I have company. And I think some sweet potato mashed potatoes and cole slaw would be perfect! And yes, I baked it in an Emile Henry dish. Perfection!

Justice for Du Doan

On September 1st of 2007, John J. Haley, 31 at the time, was charged with the murder of Du Doan, 62. Doan and others were fishing at Montrose Harbor. Haley was reported as having previous altercations with other Asian-American fisherman, including being charged for battery and assault, and police reports indicated that Haley had previously targeted Asian Americans and an Asian looking man in altercations initiated by Haley. Despite all of that, the police had not called the murder a hate-crime.

In an article by Emma Graves Fitzsimmons and a Tribune Staff Reporter on September 09, 2007 , they reported that:

"... members of the Asian-American community who gathered at a vigil on Saturday said they believe he was targeted because of his race.“There were a lot of people out at the harbor early that morning from different backgrounds. Why did the alleged perpetrator pick on those individuals?” said Ben Lumicao, an adviser on the city’s Commission on Human Relations.

Doan, a father of three, was a Vietnamese immigrant. ... Vigil organizers said they were relieved that a man was charged last week in the Sept. 1 killing of Doan, who was pushed into the water. But the fact that the suspect allegedly targeted two other men who appeared to be Asian seems more than a coincidence...

John J. Haley, 31, of Chicago was charged Wednesday (2007) with first-degreemurder in Doan’s drowning and aggravated battery for a similar incident on July 31 at Montrose Harbor that involved a man who appeared to be Asian. Authorities allege that Haley was behaving erratically last weekend when he confronted another Asian fisherman and later shoved Doan into the water. Doan could not swim and died within seconds, police said. Because the Illinois Hate Crimes Statute applies to misdemeanors, it did not apply to Haley’s felony charges, Quon said. Prosecutors use the law to upgrade a misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony if the offender acted because of race, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or physical or mental disability."

That being said, on October 23, The Chicago Sun Times Criminal Courts Reporter wrote about Haley's conviction for involuntary manslaughter in fisherman's death. I was particularly disturbed by this reporter's account which no doubt was presented by his defense attorneys:

"John Haley was a drunken “jag off” and “pea-brain” when he pushed a fisherman into Lake Michigan as a prank, his lawyers said. But Haley didn’t know Du Doan, 62, couldn’t swim. He didn’t know the Vietnamese immigrant would drown when he shoved him off the pier at Montrose Harbor, running away laughing as Doan desperately flailed his arms in the water."

What does anyone expect when they push an elderly man into the water where there is retaining wall and no ladders, so much that his body flew far enough to determine this was a homicide? One does not take these actions unless a person intends to harm another human being.

Haley, 33, may be a “fool,” but he isn’t a murderer, Haley’s attorneys, Marc Gottreich and Timothy Grace, contended at his murder trail this week. After 7 1/2 hours of deliberation, a Cook County jury apparently agreed with that assessment late Friday, convicting Haley of involuntary manslaughter but acquitting him of first-degree murder charges. “The jury got it right,” Grace said. Haley “didn’t mean to kill the guy.”

So tell me, Mr. Grace, what exactly did your client intend when he pushed this old man who was minding his own business fishing at the pier, into water that he could not have hoped to have escaped from? Even a seasoned swimmer would have had problems because there is a retaining wall there, versus a wooden pier and/or a ladder that one could climb.

Even more disturbing: "Haley will face two to five years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 19." TWO to FIVE years for taking a life? For deliberately causing harm to another human being which resulted in his death? What also disturbs me is the race issue. It isn't just that an elderly Asian American immigrant was targeted on the basis of his race. This jury did not find his life valuable enough to honor it with a verdict that fit Haley's crime. Would this same jury have found in the same manner if the victim was instead a middle class non immigrant Caucasian woman?

Or is there a class issue here, as well, or one of ageism, that dismisses the fact that his life was taken because he was an older man? What if the victim were a beautiful and wealthy Asian American woman in the prime of her life, who was a corporate executive, would this jury have found this hypothetical victim more worthy of a different outcome?

Today, Circuit Judge John P. Kirby honored Du Doan homicide by rejecting the jury's outcome:

"This was a cowardly act, pushing an elderly man who he could not even look in the eye...and this defendant though that was funny," Circuit Judge John P. Kirby said. "These actions are reprehensible and should not be allowed in civilized society."

"... defense attorneys argued Haley was drunk and seeking a thrill when he pushed Doan, who could not swim, into the harbor as his back was turned in September 2007.

Kirby rejected that excuse.

"A thrill seeker puts himself in danger," Kirby said. "A coward puts others in danger."

Involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence ranging from probation to five years in prison, but Haley's prior felony drug conviction allowed Kirby to extend the prison term to 10 years.

Doan's family members said the loss of the man left an "indescribable void."

For the story posted by Matthew Walberg of the Chicago Tribune:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/john-haley-du-doan-vietnamese-fisherman-montrose-harbor.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChicagoBreakingNews+%28Chicago+Breaking+News%29

Clear 4G Network Service in Chicago

Sunday at at the Christkindal market in Lincoln Square, Clear.com had a vendor booth. Pedro and I went to get pricing, and I ended up signing up for the service, mostly since I could just pick up the equipment right then and there. I've never done something like that before, and I won't do this again. The contract is sent to your email, so you don't see it or the charges until you get home and can open up your email. It was then that the $50 contract and the other contract for my mobile devices showed all the errors. The $50 contract was over $60 a month and it turned out that I only needed one mobile device. In a quieter setting, it would have been easier for the salesman to set up the contract and check it over, but the booth was busy and with live music and the hustle and bustle of a market, it was not the greatest for concentration. The next day, I called Clear twice. The first time the account service person said he made a variety of corrections, but apparently none of it, including his request for a label so I could return the second mobile device, went through.

I spent a very long time on the second phone call on the same day for the same problem. My account service person this time was excellent and followed through on everything. In fact, he also rebundled the three services I had so I would get a much better price than the one that was advertised in Chicago. I didn't want any lease fees, something that somehow got missed where the modem was concerned, so I purchased that and he credited the fee off of my bill. You can buy the modem for far less than if you leased it for the 2 year contract term. The second account services person said he'd put in a request that their system automatically bundle services for the lowest cost, which would be a great help for any more fest and fare signups.

I've called their billing department, tech support, and phone support departments and have had fairly good service, although at times (I've called so many times that I feel that I am in a position to say this), the help hasn't always been consistently excellent. At the low end, it's been "okay," which compared to many telecom companies is standard or even "high" but this is a new company in a new market with a new product, and as such, customers should expect high standards. At the high end, when you get good customer service from Clear, it's VERY good.

As far as phone rates go, Clear gives you unlimited local and long distance calling, and free calls to Canada, so cost wise this is solid competition for other carriers. Because you buy a device that enables phone service that is connected to your phone, you can use any cordless phone and have mobility without the cost. I know one can do this with Skype, but lugging my laptop around in order to do this is far less appealing than using my cordless phone. I was told that the default is that your phone number is unlisted, which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. I'm already paying for an unlisted number with AT&T. The Clear phone service includes Caller ID and voice mail for a very attractive price.

The downside of going with their phone service is that you need to buy their Clear Voice Adapter, which will require you to have their Clear Modem instead of the USB Modem. Due to this, the corner of my desk looks like a mass of Ethernet cables and telephone cables, ugh. I just ordered a 3' Ethernet to cut down on the spaghetti look.

Clear is a 4G network, and is supposed to be much faster than our standard Wifi networks which are 3G. The upside of what they have to offer is that for $75 I have unlimited high speed Internet, unlimited local and long distance (US) phone calls and calls to Canada, and unlimited mobile computing via their USB modem. I tested all but the voice aspect, which I could not until today.

My original post was this:
You can have upwards of 5 lights on your Clear modem. I was consistently told that you need 2 to have a good connection. I am right between two towers, neither of them overlaps the other so I needed to aim my modem further west. When I have 3 lights on, the speed is very fast so I can't imagine how zippy it would be if it was at 4 or 5 lights.

I have 7 days for my trial period. Monday and Tuesday seemed okay, although I could not get more than 2 lights on until I put the modem on the floor, which is not a permanent solution. Wednesday evening I had no connection whatsoever. Finally, at 6:00 PM I can get a signal on my Clear modem but it's only one light and I know it won't be a worth logging on with Clear based on past "one light" experience. I was assured that service would be back up by 2 PM today. I was told that the Chicago area is down because they are installing more towers. By 6:30 I'm back to no signal.

This brings home the fact that I could have been with out phone service. Fortunately I didn't bag my AT&T land line and I also have a mobile phone, but I would not have been very happy if I only had the Clear voice service and this had happened. So for now, I'm back to using my AT&T DSL service. Now I'm grateful for a 7 day trial period, since at the moment, things aren't looking so good for Clear and me.

Update:
Today my service is back, and I'm at 4 lights out of 5. The speed is very zippy. Accessing some modules that were previously painfully slow even with DSL seem fast and responsive now. The phone service seems good, although I won't be assess everything until AT&T disconnects the second line, since there is a unique issue with the current one. So right now, I'm liking Clear.

Christkindl Market in Lincoln Square and another Birthday celebration

Sunday Pedro and I went to the Christkindl Market in Lincoln Square. I've been so behind in catching up with friends that this should have been one of our get togethers from last year! We went to Cafe Selmarie. Both of us were looking forward to their Chicken Pot Pie but there was none to be had on the menu. Instead Peter had a Brioche sandwich and salad, and I had an order of Blueberry pancakes. My tums decided to not play nice that morning, but fortunately between a cup of hot organic tea and the fact that the blueberry part was a separate concoction, I did fine with just their very, very good and hearty pancakes. Peter decided that this was going to be another birthday celebration (interrupted only by Thanksgiving, since this celebration has been going on and on and on). And well, you know that when someone treats you, the meal just tastes that much better!

At Cafe Selmarie there were two of these handmade boxes with Japanese printed papers. They were quite lovely. The doors actually do close correctly -- I had left one slightly open for the photo.

On our way to the market we saw this ice sculpture.

Here you can see how the sculpturist created a beveled effect in the back of the holiday star.

Here's a closeup of the letter etching. It almost seemed as if it was snow into the carved spaces.

The Christkindl Market is indoors, inside a tent so while it was still chilly inside, it provided shelter from the outside elements and allowed for an accumulation of heat from all the people who were inside. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to bump into, or not bump into, people that you know. I found out on Tuesday that my neighbor was working the ticket booth over the weekend and his wife worked another area of the market, but on a different day than when we were there.

One of the vendors had pashminas, but none as lovely as the one good friend of mine gave me.

This exhibit was of dichroic glass pieces. The square black plate has an inset of dichroic bluish glass and was quite striking.

Maya works had many jewelry and bag items. Since I have more than enough cloth bags, I controlled the impulse to add to that collection and quickly moved on!

There was much singing, by people who, unlike me, could carry a tune.

After our visit to the market, we went back to Cafe Selmarie where Pedro treated me to cup of their rich and chocolaty hot chocolate. Except for the computer peripherals I came home with, it was a financially pain free day.

http://www.lincolnsquarechristkindl.com/

Keep your old white gold jewelry

For most of my young adult and adult years, I had never seen my mother wear her dressier wedding ring. She had always opted for a simple gold band. She had mentioned that before I was born and during my younger years, or when they would go somewhere “nice,” that she’d wear a ring my dad bought her. Imagine my surprise when I found out that this was actually an engagement ring set, circa 1940’s, in white gold.
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Engagement rings during the 1940’s had a distinctive setting, and as such they are period pieces. The photo above isn't my ring, but it a 1940's era piece. You can see the unusual setting style for the center diamond. It allows light to come in, under and surround the lower part of the stone. Back then, post war, most people didn't buy huge, ostentatious settings, but by creating a setting like this, light would dance through the stone, optimizing the stone and the setting. Despite my best attempts to clean the pieces myself, the stones remained somewhat lack luster. I brought these pieces to a trusted jeweler in the neighborhood, to be resized and cleaned up. When I picked the pieces up, they didn’t even look like the ones I dropped off: they were dazzlingly beautiful. The owner said he plated the pieces with rhodium.
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Rhodium, a member of the platinum metals group, is an expensive element that exhibits a high reflectivity. It is considered one of the few white metals that will remain bright and reflective under all atmospheric conditions at ordinary temperatures. Because it is very hard and brittle, it is not used as a primary metal for jewelry but as a finish.
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According to finishing.com, at one time, white gold rings were not rhodium plated, and that nowadays, because most jewelers recognize that rings will be plated anyway, the underlying metal often isn’t really white gold by color. Since my mother’s rings were truly white gold without plating, adding the plating not only made the diamonds pop and sparkle with brilliance, but over the years if the plating begins to wear off, it won’t be as noticeable as what often happens to plated non white gold colored “white gold.”
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One might rightly infer then that anyone who has family heirlooms of white gold that is unplated is probably looking at a much higher quality of white gold what is out there now, since plating would not require as white a gold that the older pieces of family heirlooms were done in. I've also heard that modern pieces, when the plating wears off, often reveal the a yellowish gold underneath. When the plating wears off, will I replate? I don't know; only time will, and it would be interesting to see the look of the rings just the way my dad had seen them when he bought them for my mother, which would be unplated, but with cleaned stones.
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You can read more about finishing here: http://www.finishing.com/faqs/whitegold.html

The Chopping Block in Lincoln Square

Looking for a gift for a consummate foodie and home chef, or a place to learn how to whip up a few goodies? Consider going to the Chopping Block in Lincoln Square. Last month I paid a visit to the store and besides picking up a few goodies, I took many photos. Click on the photos to see the full image. The store is attractively laid out, with a panoply of colors and textures that lend interest in this shop that has everything from cookbooks, seasonings for ethnic foods, cooking lessons, wines, serious chef supplies and the whimsical but always useful items.

Looking for some unusual spreads, like a fig spread?
















Flavored oils and vinegars abound here.


















And for those of you who spend all your time perfecting that crust and aren't up to make your own fruit filling, now you can get a gourmet prepared version.


















Do you love Emile Henry dishes? They're gorgeous and pricey, but once you buy one it'll probably last you a lifetime. The Chopping Block has a nice selection in all the bold and brilliant colors that Emile Henry is known for.















































Having problems holding onto that hot pan handle? Try the Banana Handle.



















Perfect for our fall to winter temps is this display with a pumpkin pie mix.



















Nothing heralds in the winter months like a pot of home made soup, and Le Creuset pots are the perfect complement.








































Are you ready to take the plunge and try a little Mexican cooking, but you don't have a clue how to find a local botega or make a trip down to Pilsen or Little Village for your spices? There's a nice assortment of Los Chilenos right in the store.

























If sea salt is your thing, you've come to the right place. They also have salt and pepper grinders. That's right - grinders for your sea salts.




























One of the best ways to keep your knives from dulling out is by using a natural cutting board such as these bamboo ones. Besides feeling better, they look gorgeous.























Last year the Chopping Block offered their premade cookies, which were fabulous. Using the highest quality butters and ingredients, these frozen delights baked up easily in your own oven. This seems to be the year of the pie, and there is usually a monthly featured pie that you can purchase frozen, and after some time baking in your oven, your kitchen will be filled with the lovely aroma of a baked pie, again, without the work. Shhhhh!

Chopping Block
http://www.thechoppingblock.net/
4747 N. Lincoln Avenue
773 / 293 - 8490

I'm making Thanksgiving Dinner!

Okay, this took me by surprise almost as much as it probably has anyone else that hasn't done the deed in full for a very long time. The last time I did a full Thanksgiving Dinner, I lived in the Belmont Harbor area right off of the lakefront, in a highrise that sported a nice, electric range. I like electric ranges and stoves - the heat is usually even and there's no mercaptan to fill the air and give me a headache. Most of all, what I liked about this particular place, besides the view, was that we had 3 ovens and no shortage of counter space. Cooking there was, well, fun.

I remember flying back into Chicago from Connecticut on a business trip on Wednesday night. We went to Whole Foods (talk about an insane way to finish up flying on a crazy day, anyway) and picked up a turkey. Thursday I had the stuffed bird in the lower oven, pumpkin pie I made from scratch in the upper oven and candied organic sweet potatoes in the counter top convection oven. Veggies were ready for the stove top. Dinner was amazing, and I appeared as if I had about 7 double espressos.

Since then, I haven't done a full scale dinner in ages. This year, I started shopping early. I found a lovely Calphalon non stick roaster and roasting rack combination on sale at Kitchen Kapers. Yes, on sale with free delivery. The turkey has been ordered, and Emily from Endeavor will be helping me by picking it up, with a few last minute supplies and then I can begin some early chopping for the stuffing. I'm sure Jane, who has been my Whole Foods Thanksgiving go-to gal in the past, is relieved there was no email from me and she and Jim can do their thing without a crazy shopping trip.

Since I no longer have 3 ovens to maneuver with, and hardly half of the counter space in my favorite abode of yore, I've decided to go with Wildfire's pumpkin pie. Okay, it's a departure from organic but it promises to be good. And yes, this is the Wildfire of Wildfire restaurant fame.

The stuffing will use organic sprouted manna bread and Food for Life's Ezkiel sprouted grain bread. This makes a very hearty, robust stuffing that provides much whole grain nutrition. It will either be a very small dinner gathering or a small dinner gathering. Amazingly I still don't know, but I also don't care in that there will be more leftovers with less people (and a better take home quantity). I'm also experimenting with a few sides, so with less people there is, uh, less pressure to perform that perfect meal. And I'm looking forward to some great soup later on!

One of the great things about not having made Thanksgiving dinner in a very long time is that now, I'm looking forward to it. The only thing I miss is not having some of my other loved ones here. Cooking for my loved ones has always made food preparation a special event, as I believe we put the energy of who we are into the food that we handle and that we prepare.

Y, no soy Tita de Agua de Como agua para chocolate.

Gene's Sausage Shop and Delicatessen

The long awaited Gene's Sausage Shop has opened, and it has been worth the wait. Quite frankly, never having been to their long standing store on west Belmont Avenue, and having tried to squeeze in the old Meyer's Delicatessen which was partly in the same location, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I can tell you this - from the time I walked into the store until the time I left, everything I saw and every employee that I spoke to left me with the feeling that had I had expectations, they would have been exceeded in every way. The selection of food will surprise and delight you if this is your first visit, although based on my experience, I am sure this store staffed with warm and friendly employees will continue to surprise and delight their soon to be regular customers.

One of the first things you'll see when you walk through the door is the predominantly displayed homage to Meyer's Delicatessen, which was home to Lincoln Square in this area for many, many years. For anyone who is not familiar with this institution, the owner's decision to keep this signage is nothing short of smart business, as it pays respect to a long standing institution and says in it's own inimitable way, "We want to be good neighbors and we're here to stay." As anyone knows, signage in of itself is not enough, but by the time I left Gene's, I not only knew I'd be back but I was impressed with the store, both from the consumer side and as a business development professional.

One of the reasons I feature many small businesses on The Tamale Chica Chronicles is because I just happen to love small businesses, which under the SBA definition is a business with 500 or less people. Small businesses have the ability to be for responsive, and more flexible to change, and are the cornerstone of neighborhood economies. I was so pleased with my visit that I decided to shuffle my schedule around to post this story about them, which should also make a few friends very pleased since the "When is Gene's opening?" question has been a common one.

When you first walk through the doors, the atmospherics feel light and airy, and you're also hit by a medley of delicious smells. Besides the Meyer's sign, it's hard not to notice this beautiful skylight. It's huge, and despite it being an overcast fall day, plenty of daylight came through it. In the second photo, you can see the lovely detailing of the ceiling, as well. Much of the beauty of this older building has been both restored and the design detail has created a warm, upbeat and fun shopping environment.

Before I browsed and bought on the first floor, I proceeded upstairs. To your left and directly at the top landing, there are a selection of wines and liquors. To your right you will find dry goods.

The dry goods on the second floor is where I was "stuck" for awhile, pouring over the selection of jams, preserves and honey. One of the things that I love about ethnic stores of both European and Latin American varieties is that they usually sell foodstuffs that are not laden with additives, preservatives and other "junk." Gene's was no exception, and their inventory clearly shows a commitement to unprocessed food items. The store also has some organic food items which are integrated by product type. Gene's also has an excellent selection of cooking oils and interesting mustards. I purchased a yellow smoky mustard with onions.

While I'm usually not a huge fan of boxed cookies, I succumbed and purchased these Artisan Biscuits which are made in England. I've had these before via mail order and they are top notch quality, with no preservatives and are made from whole wheat.

Finally back on the main floor, my first thoughts were how so many of the food items would make interesting gifts for the holidays.

Okay, so maybe you aren't thinking of putting pickles in someones Christmas stocking, but seeing all these got me excited since I love a good pickle with a home made sandwich.

The store has much wider butter selection than you see here, including one with extraordinarily high butterfat made in England.

Besides fresh produce, the Gene's also has a fresh meat department, deli food and freshly made desserts. The meats looked great, and I will have to look into their selection further. And yes, you can also purchase artisan sausages there. One of their employees told me that the Belmont location has facilities for smoking all their home made sausages.

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The most difficult part of visiting the deli section is deciding what you want! Fortunately for me, Miss Cindy T gave me a few tamales up on the latkes and the stuffed cabbage, so I ordered enough for today's lunch and dinner, plus two Swedish meatballs with dill. Having had the first two for lunch, I can say that I concur, the deli food is excellent.

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As a consumer who has food issues with preservatives and artificial ingredients, I've avoided deli food unless it was from Whole Foods or a smaller ethnic store where the ingredients tend to be made from scratch rather than from pre-made, mass produced sauces or the like. It's been enough time since I've had their deli food to say that I have had no odd side effects that I get when there are food additives. I am craving more, however, so I will definitely be back to this department.

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If you don't have applesauce or sour cream at home, don't forget to buy some at the store. I'm not sure if they have either since I'm still suffering from my cold so I was more than spacey and missed a few items that I even took photos of. If you don't see it, don't be afraid to ask. Everyone there is very helpful and friendly.

At the front of the store, next to the deli section are the pastries. Personally I got all jazzed just thinking that I can get some good paczki's when they are out, so I was very pleased to see the nice assortment of elegant pastries. Apparently I was more than pleased, because through my cold suffering brain and eyes, I didn't see the pies and didn't realize they had cakes there, too. Okay, I did see the tiramisu but I was transfixed by the coconut cheese cake.

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In case you are wondering why there's no cover, the man at the pastry area was nice enough to open it up for me so I wouldn't get a glare from the lighting. Everyone at Gene's was very nice, but I have to give special props to Mr. Pastry - his enthusiasm for the company and the food was genuine and a great sales point towards wanting to come back to try other items. There was a larger than life cannoli in the case. I was pondering it, since normally I don't like cannoli. He commented that the cannoli was good, and that he normally doesn't like cannoli but they use ricotta in theirs.

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I've done a little sample of both these pastries, and I do have to concur, Mr. Pastry was not overstating how good their cannoli is. I've lived in Chicago all my life, and I have to say that this was the first store bought cannoli that I actually liked!

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Now for that other little goodie that I purchased. I forgot the name of this, but it is a cheesecake type of dessert, with lemon and coconut. It's light, sweet, and if you like coconut and lemon, this is your dessert! Both of these were recommendations by Mr. Pastry. I love food stores who hire people who love good food and don't just look at their employment as a job, and he, along with other employees, certainly embodied the passion of foodies.

As I was leaving, I was chatting with the check out gal and she commented how Gene's is a neighborhood place and their selection provides fresh food in a manner where people can shop there every day, just like they would do in Europe. Indeed! I know that I will be back, only next time I won't be carrying bags from Walgreens with me. And for those of you who love beer and love outdoor gardens, by Spring they hope to have their rooftop outdoor beer garden open.
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Gene's Sausage Shop is more than a store about sausages. This is a grocery store offering fresh, prepared and dry goods for the foodie, food for those who love to cook, those who love to just eat, and anyone looking for a great food shopping experience. For those of us that live in Lincoln Square, Gene's is a much needed addition to the neighborhood, its intriguing and uncommon food offerings can give your meal planning a bit of a lift and a nice pick-up.

Gene's Sausage Shop & Delicatessen, Inc.

http://www.genessausage.com/

4750 N. Lincoln Avenue

773 / SAUSAGE

Upgrading to Windows 7 with a Sony Vaio VGC JS030J?

For the last two weeks I've been having computer problems. First my antivirus and anti-spyware program let a critter through, which did enough damage to bring my Vista system to a slow crawl. After removing it, things were a little better until the operating system somehow got corrupted. Now we were back to the slow crawl. I wasted days trying to still use the system, until it slowed down so much that it took 5 hours to do a 2 hour back-up. Holding that $49 deal on upgrading to Windows 7 in my hand, I decided to upgrade.

Unlike "normal" users, we have about 20 programs on the main desktop that are used very frequently. This translates to a lot of reinstalling, re-downloads, looking for registration codes, and where the data ends up being restored someplace else, searching not for Nemo but for a few databases and reconnecting them to their programs. I decided to save time and try to do an operating system upgrade. Having had absolutely no problems whatsoever when I did an O/S upgrade to XP back in the day, I was unprepared for the sheer torture that doing a Win 7 upgrade would bring me.

If you are planning to upgrade, the first thing you should do is run the Windows 7 Advisor.

It will tell you whether your system is upgradable and where the obvious problems may be. I had done this in advance of my purchasing the software during Microsoft's $49 deal, so I was reasonably assured that the upgrade would work. I uninstalled the suspected offending programs and attempted to do the upgrade. When you are doing this with a system that is already not working very well, it's anticlimactic to finally get to a screen that tells you that you need to remove more programs. I removed those, rebooted and attempted try number 2. I received more error messages, to remove two programs specific to the Sony Vaio. I removed the one I could find under Add/Remove Programs. The other, which I knew existed based on the startup menus that popped up, I could not find under Add/Remove. I called Sony.

If you want to avoid a call to Sony, go to the Sony esupport website, fill in your model number and current operating system, and go to the drivers section. Look for Sony Applications drivers and download the Applications Uninstaller Software. This will remove all the Sony programs that interfere with an upgrade.

I was hoping that the third time would be the charm, but it was not to be. In my fatigue, I forgot to disable my anti-virus software, which is a known culprit in interfering with this upgrade. Okay, try number 4 was initiated. Tired of staying up till 2 AM every night, I went to sleep, and in the morning I saw that there were no error messages on my computer. There was also no upgrade. With no error message, it was obvious that a system upgrade was going to be more time that it is worth.

During my online research, I came across one person who attempted a Vista to Win7 upgrade 10 times before landing on the moon successfully. Upgrades on normally running systems take about 5-6 hours. Since I already had attempted this four times, I was not about to go about it another time, especially without the benefit of a system error that would give some useful information.

If you do a clean install, it will take you between 1.5 and 2 hours. This one took 1.5 hours and on a system that was running painfully slow. The upside of this is that the system is clean, and has none of the pieces that Vista would leave behind. The downside is that I now had a lot of programs to reinstall and a lot of registration numbers to look for where the software is downloaded.

I lost about 3 days trying to do a Win upgrade, and 3 more days reloading software. I have one more day to go before most of it is back to usability. Two major disappointments were the HP wifi printer, which will not have a "fix" until the end of January 2010. Since HP also has newer printers that also claim to work with Win7, it seems just too coincidental that they still haven't provided a solution for their HP Deskjet 6988 users.

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The other major disappointment was when the EyeQ eye exercise program could not install, since a warning window came up that the drivers would damage the O/S and cause the system to become unstable. I called the customer service number on the CD only to wait for nearly 15" to talk to someone, who was far from customer service focused and very defensive about their programs working on Win7. She could not provide any tech support since she wasn't a technical person, and claimed there was no one else there who could. One would think that if you sell software, you should provide technical support. I asked if there was anyone in the company who was technical and she said she'd contact them, but did not cc me if she did indeed put the request through. It's times like this that I think I should only order from Zappos, a company that excels in company service and solutions.

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Back to installing Win7. After numerous calls to the Philippines (I must know everyone on staff there by now), my suggestion would be to call Sony and have them send you their version of the Win7 upgrade. You'll probably save yourself a lot of extra steps, since their upgrades would be designed for their computers. Even after my system was successfully upgraded via a clean install, I had to call to find out how to get the keyboard functionality back.

So now I'm behind by several weeks, and still have programs that are not completely connected properly, but I do have a shiny new operating system.

Xoco

Continuing my birthday celebration, now entering the 3rd week, Senorita Nancia, el madre de Toddrico, came into our fine state of Illinois and the land of Metergate for our get together. We dined at Topolobampo that last time she came in, so today our first stop was Xoco.

When you first walk into Xoco, you basically are in a queing area, and the person in charge will explain the process and provide you with an estimated wait time. Depending on the crowd, it could be a very long wait, or a relatively short one. In our case, we were told it would be 5-10". That time is well spent looking at the menu. If you're not up for squinting at the chalkboard if you've logged in far too many hours on the computer, then just to the right of where we were there is a window sill with menus.

When you get to the end of the line, where the man with the hat is (in the first photo below), you give your order to the cashier and you need to pay for it then. If you order a meal and dessert and a hot beverage, she'll ask you if you'd like your coffee or hot chocolate with or after your meal. We arrived there at around 11:20 AM, which meant we actually started eating around 11:35 or so, and opted to have our coffees and chocolate delivered with dessert. By the time we were ready for dessert, the place was packed and we had a bit of a wait for the beverages, so much that Senorita Nancia commented that we should have asked for them with our meal.

Also, if you're not up for having to keep getting out of your seat, make sure that you find the flatware area and stock up before you find a table, because the personnel who bring your meal do not bring you your flatware. When you first enter Xoco, when occupancy allows, the greeter gives you a number on a piece of paper. After you've paid, found your flatware and navigated yourself to a table, you need to put the number on the metal stand and face it out so that as the meals are being finished in the kitchen, the people delivering them to you can find your table. To be considerate if you share a table, try not to plop your table's sign on top of the napkins because they are there for everyone at the table. We saw this with our second group of "table mates."

After you pay for your meal, you return the way you came, going past the cooks, toward the room in the back where you then need to find a table. We and most people did this on our own, although we did see the person who greeted us come back to seat a few others.

We ordered several items so that we could share them. This first item is called Ahogada, which is a sandwich (torta) of pork carnitas, black beans, tomato broth, chile arbol sauce and pickled onions, which tasted like saurkraut. It was very good!

We also split an order of pozole (soup), which was excellent. The cashier will ask you if you want mild, medium or hot. If you snack on chile de arbols as if they are sugar candy, then the hot would be for you. We opted for medium and agreed that the pozole was closer to hot than medium, but it was delicious! Having a bite of torta or two in between was the perfect compliment.

The other torta that we shared was the Choriqueso, which was homemade chorizo sausage, roasted poblanos, cheese and the salsa you see in the photo. And yes, this too was excellente!

Continuing my venture into the cause otherwise known as "Birthday Celebrations that help you lose any semblance of your waistline," we also ordered two dessert items to share. This beauty is called choco-flan. If this is your first time having choco-flan, and you usually enjoy flan alone, you should be aware that the flan will not taste exactly the same because of the baking process, so judge the flavors on their own merit.

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The baking process is that when the dish goes into the oven, the flan is on the bottom and the chocolate cake batter is on the top. When the dessert is ready to come out of the oven, the flan will instead be on the top. What I've noticed in this dessert is that the chocolate cake will also not be like a solo chocolate cake, but usually has a heavier but very moist texture. The flan will also have a different texture and flavor, since there was a co-mingling of ingredients during the baking process. This chocoflan had hints of cointreau (I avoid alcohol so any hint of anything alcholic gets my attention), but it seemed to be more for flavor and it was burned off. I've had chocoflan three times, and I think this is hands down one of the best ones I've had.

One of the primary reasons I wanted to check out Xoco was to try their churros. From a perspective of texture, it was very light, and airy and it was easy to almost miss the creme filling in the center. The churro was dipped in granulated sugar which made it very sweet. Our first table partners dipped theirs in coffee and it looked like a great combination. The one thing I missed about this churro was the lack of canela, or cinnamon. It is possible that it was there but my taste buds were blown out by all the chilies, or it is just that it is a different recipe than what I am used to.

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I am more inclined to go with the thought that the recipe itself was different. After all, in all the times I've eaten sopa pillas for dessert, only twice did they closely resemble each other, and depending upon the area of Mexico that the chef is from, they are known by the name of bueno pillas.

Due to far too many days with inadequate sleep, a hectic schedule and fighting off a cold, instead of hot chocolate I decided to try their chocolate cafe con leche. I forgot to ask for decaf so I'm paying for that today, since normally I don't even drink coffee so one cup, even with all the milk, is akin to me having 4 cans of Red Bull.

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Speaking of which, here is my beverage. It was quite good, and fortunately there was plenty of milk which helped make it less of a bullet beverage for me.

So overall, I would say that the quality of the food was excellent. My only problem with the restaurant was in the dining part, in regards to customer experience and atmospherics. Part of this is related general demographics of the clientele, who seemed to be comprised mostly of younger professionals and in general, the dining area felt like it could have been in any other downtown eatery. As a caveat, I should say that at least 80% of my Mexican food dining experiences are in family run or owned restaurants where usually at least half of the patrons are Mexican so there is a different ambience due to cultural differences vis a vis the general market.

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This feeling isn't necessarily due to the fast counter nature of the experience, as I've picked up food at Casa Del Pueblo which is cafeteria style, or El Milagro (in Pilsen), which has a similiar set up to Xoco in terms of queing and the physical flow of customers to the table areas. The one thing that does seem to make the difference is that at Xoco, the people who bring you your food are clearly scrambling, always moving, and seem somewhat rushed. There is no opportunity to actually interact with restaurant personnel once you sit down to wait for your meal.

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This has not been my experience at El Milagro, where you can still ask questions, and talk to the person who brings you your food. At Xoco the food arrives, and there is a dearth of interaction with the person. It wasn't just the person who brought us our food; it was consistent behavior which I attribute to the feeling of urgency that they had that they had to keep moving, clearing tables, bringing food, etc. In essence, it left a bit of an impersonal feeling in the customer experience arena where the actual tasting and eating of the food phase was involved. Perhaps when the long lines and the craze to try a new Bayless eatery calms down, the back end of the operation will provide a little more interaction that is common with most Latin American dining experiences. As it stood on Wednesday, I've had more ambiance standing on the street eating food I've bought from sidewalk vendors.

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Would this stop me from returning? Not necessarily. Often I've dined with people who want elegant or upscale Mexican food and that special place for a celebration. In that way, Topolobampo remains high on my list of places to go, especially if the person or persons I am dining with have specific issues that make finding an upscale Mexican restaurant in the central part of the city a requirement. There is nothing more fabulous than to share that dining experience there with someone whose only experience with Mexican food is Taco Bell. If the same type of person wants a very casual, fast dining experience then Xoco is a solid hit because of the quality of the food and the Bayless Brand. As for me, I definitely will be back!

Xoco

449 North Clark Street

Closed Sunday and Monday

312 / 334-3688