Road Tips

Via Arenella - Arlington Heights, IL

During the annual AXPONA show in the northwest Chicago suburb of Schaumburg this past spring, I was tasked with finding places to eat for our ever growing team that worked the show.  We had gone out for Indian food the night before - something that my boss doesn't care for, but tolerates.  For the next night, I asked him what he would like to have for dinner that evening.  "Italian doesn't sound bad," he said with a slight smile.  OK, now I had to find an Italian restaurant in Schaumburg, an area that I wasn't overly familiar with.  I went on line and looked on a couple of sites - Yelp and TripAdvisor - to see what was in the area.  I found a place in nearby Arlington Heights that seemed to have a consensus of good reviews - and not the kind that seemed to be canned or contrived.  I made reservations through Open Table for a party of 12 at Via Arenella.  

Mario and Rosa (Rose) Longobardi were longtime restaurateurs in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.  They opened Ristorante Arenella in Arlington Heights in 1989 and it quickly became a favorite among the locals for a number of years.  In 2009, the Longobardi's were forced to close their restaurant because the landlord wanted the space for another business.  Not long after that, the Longobardi's reopened at a new location with a new name - Mario Trattoria.  But by 2016, Mario and Rosa wanted to slow down a bit and they closed Mario Trattoria in the summer of that year.  

The Longobardi's three sons - Alfonso (a.k.a. "Fonzo"), Franco, and Mario, Jr. - all grew up in Ristorante Arenella working after school and on the weekends in the kitchen or in the dining room.  After their parents closed their restaurant, the three brothers got together and decided to open their own restaurant using many of the recipes their parents made at Ristorante Arenella.  

Pictured at right - the Longobardi family.  From left - Mario, Jr., Rose, Alfonso, Mario, Sr. and Franco.  Photo courtesy The Daily Herald.  

The brothers found a spot in a strip mall at the corner of S. Wilkie Road and W. Campbell Street for their new restaurant.  (see map)  With the blessing of their parents, the Longobardi brothers opened Via Arenella in early 2017.  From years of learning from his father, Fonzo Longobardi took over in the kitchen as the head chef, Mario, Jr. took over the pizza oven duties serving the family's famous thin-crust pizza, and Franco - who studied hospitality management at DePaul University - oversaw the front of the house.  Of course, Mario, Sr. and Rose couldn't stay away, so they help out on the weekends and some nights when the place got busy.  

And the night we were there was one of those busy nights.  But I had made the reservation on Open Table for 7:30 and we showed up promptly at that time.  We had a couple minute wait while they put two tables together for our large party and we were seated not long after.  It was an seasonably cold and blustery evening with wet snowflakes mixed in with the cold rain drops and Italian food was going to be a wonderful thing that evening.  I only hoped for the best when we were all seated.  

Via Arenello features a long and narrow dining area with a large bar area off to the side in the middle.  Opposite the bar are a number of tables with banquette seating along the wall.  

The long bar was accented with blue lights underneath and on the back bar area.  They had a good selection of craft beers, they featured a full bar with a number of mixed drinks, and they also had a good wine list.  

The menu at Via Arenella features a number of traditional Italian favorites including fettuccine alfredo, lasagna, and penne pasta in a classic bolognese sauce.  They also had a number of house pasta specialties including prosciutto-stuffed tortellini in a cream sauce, linguine with fresh mussels, and the Bolognese Bianco -  paccheri pasta topped with a Neapolitan white bolognese meat sauce along with with melted mozzarella cheese.  They also had a number of chicken entrees, and a number of veal entrees to choose from to.

Our server for the evening turned out to be Rose Longobardi who was pleasant, efficient, and very informative of the items on the menu.  For someone who wanted to slow down after owning a restaurant with her husband for a number of years, Rose certainly appeared to be in her element waiting on our table.  She was thoroughly impressed that many of the people in our party were French Canadians, but we also had guys in from Washington State, Oregon and, of course, Iowa.  When she asked me how I found the place, I told her that it was a stab in the dark via Yelp and Open Table.  "You made a good choice," she told me as she patted me on the shoulder.  "We'll take good care of you."  

It turned out that all three of her sons and her husband were on duty that evening - Franco was bartending, Fonzo and Mario, Sr. were cooking the food, while Mario, Jr. was making pizzas.  Rose did a good job of convincing me to try their pizza at some point, but I was in the mood for pasta that evening.  

After some great appetizers - grilled octopus and fried calamari - and a house salad consisting of fresh greens with chopped tomatoes, sliced red onions and cucumbers, and Kalamata olives topped with a balsamic vinaigrette, our main entrees made it to the table.  I have to admit I've been on a meat-filled ravioli kick as of late and that's what I got at Via Arenella that evening.  It came in a wonderful sweat and tangy marinara sauce and I asked Rose if I could get a couple meatballs to go with it.  Well, the meatballs were huge!  One of my colleagues said,  "Those aren't meat balls, they're bowling balls!"  The meat-filled pasta, I could tell, was recently made in house with a nice ground beef and veal mixture.  The meatballs were also a mix and they were some of the best meatballs I've ever had.  I was more than happy with what I ordered.  

My boss was gracious enough to ask my wife to join us for dinner that evening.   She had come in to stay with me and to go shopping while I was working the show.  She ordered the veal piccata with a side of fettuccine alfredo.  When Rose sat the veal dish down in front of her, my wife's eyes bugged out.  The veal was swimming in a wonderful cream lemon sauce with boatloads of sautéed mushrooms on top.  My wife has just recently gotten to the point where she can eat fresh sautéed mushrooms after a lifetime of hating mushrooms, but even this was a little too much for her.  I had a bite of her veal along with the mushrooms and it was sensational in flavor.  

A number of the people got the special that evening - a pasta entree that featured fresh lobster in a light lemon sauce topped with capers.  From the reviews from everyone who had it, it was out of this world in taste.  But it was so rich that not one person who ordered the entree could finish it.  Portions were definitely huge at Via Arenella. 

A couple of my colleagues went with the spaghetti pescatore - spaghetti pasta mixed with clams, mussels, calamari and shrimp in a crushed plum tomato sauce that was very chunky.  It, too, was a large portion and while they both did their best to finish up the delicious seafood pasta dish, there was a lot leftover when they finally threw in the towel.  

One of my colleagues at the other end of the table got the gnocchi in the creamy vodka tomato sauce.  He, too, thought it was just outstanding.  And one of my other colleagues seated near me got the chicken parmigiana with a side of the fettuccine alfredo.  He ate about half of the chicken parm and made a dent in the rich fettuccine.  By the looks of satiation on everyone's faces, I think I hit a home run in terms of picking out Via Arenella for our dinner spot that evening.  

(The next day, I told one of my dealers from St. Louis about Via Arenella and how good the food was.  That night, he and a couple of his co-workers went there for dinner and one of them had the lobster pasta special.   He had the same reaction as my colleagues had with their lobster pasta special the night before, "Oh my God!  It was so great, but, oh, so rich!"

My wife and a friend of hers went to Via Arenella when they were in Chicago for a long weekend not long ago and they happened to have the lobster pasta special that night.  My wife got it and she thought it was heavenly.  But there was no way that she could take the leftovers back to the hotel.  Even if she took it directly home and put it in the fridge, it wouldn't heat up properly to make it taste as good as it is served fresh at the restaurant.)  

As I said, Rose did a wonderful job in talking up her son's  pizza making prowess.  I had to come back at some point later on after my first visit to try one of their pizzas.  Seated at the bar this time, I ordered a small (10") thin-crust pizza.  (They also had New York-style with thick crust edges, a Chicago deep-dish pizza, and a stuffed pizza that is similar to a large calzone at Via Aranella.)  I got a Revolution Brewing Anti-Hero IPA to go along with my pizza.   It was cut in tavern-style squares and featured thick chunks of Italian sausage, slices of salty pepperoni, and sliced fresh mushrooms in a tangy pizza sauce topped with mozzarella cheese.  The crust was thin, but it was light and chewy.  Rose was certainly correct - this was an excellent pizza.  

Our initial visit to Via Arenella was outstanding.  The taste of the food, the size of the portions, the friendly and efficient service by Rose Longobardi left everyone in my party of 12 with a satisfied - and full - feeling as we were leaving.  My subsequent trip back to Via Arenella to try their pizza was equally as pleasurable.  Although it is run by the Longobardi's sons, there is still that "mom and pop" feeling to the place.  This was one of the more memorable places I've come across in my travels and I will definitely be back there for more of their great food at some point.  

(Update - Via Arenella closed their doors at the end of September of 2019.)

 

Tap 22 - Silvis, IL

Late last year, we had read about a new place over in the Illinois Quad Cities that was going to focus on gourmet burgers, pizza and craft beers.  We're always up for checking out places like this and on a warm Saturday afternoon we decided to make the trek over to Tap 22 in Silvis, IL.   

26-year-old Mitch Kadriu grew up working in his family's restaurant business, first in Anchorage, Alaska, then at the Welcome Inn in Milan, IL that his father, Denny, bought in 2009.  Mitch Kadriu was the general manager and bartender at the Welcome Inn for a number of years.

When the former Red Bull restaurant went out of business a couple of years ago, Mitch Kadriu saw an opportunity to turn the restaurant - which had also housed PK Dugan's and the Olympic Flame over the previous years - into something that featured high quality food, a number of craft beers, and a laid-back atmosphere that families could enjoy.  After months of renovating the building, Kadriu opened Tap 22 in February of this year.  

It was a little less than our standard "3-month-break in" period that we give new restaurants to work the kinks out of their system when we pulled up to Tap 22 in Silvis.  (see map)  We found a parking lot that was full and we were lucky when a car happened to be pulling out of a spot near the building.  Upon entering Tap 22, we were greeted by a hostess who took us into a dining area off to the side.  I had been to this place when it was called PK Dugan's and this room was always shut off.  But this room was lively with flat panel televisions, some exquisite custom artwork done for Tap 22, and a number of people having lunch.  Our server for our visit, Chrissy, came over with menus and asked what we'd like to start out to drink.  

The first thing I needed to have was on of Tap 22's delicious looking Bloody Mary's.  I'd had a bit of a rough night of partying the evening before, so a Bloody Mary with a beer was calling my name.  The Bloody Mary mix was a house mix that Tap 22 had - zesty and a bit spicy, but it seemed a little sweet for me, as well.  I got a Bell's Two Hearted India pale ale to go along with my Bloody Mary.  My wife got a Revolution Anti-Hero IPA for her beer choice. 

As I said, Tap 22 features a number of gourmet burgers, pizza and nightly food specials including prime rib on the weekend, along with fried chicken, fish and chips and other nightly chef specials through the week.  Tap 22 also had a number of appetizers to choose from on the menu.  

We were there for the burgers and we both ended up getting something different.  I went with the gruyere cheese burger with grilled ham.  For a side, I got fries.  The burger was presented on a wooden cutting board that looked like it had some miles on it.  The top of the bun was branded with a "Tap 22" logo.  The toppings - including lettuce, sliced onions, pickles and tomato -  were off to the side.  The fries were served in a stainless steel container.  It was a nice presentation.

My wife got the 22 burger - a basic burger featuring American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles.  She cut it in half so I could get a picture of the perfectly cooked medium burgers that we both had.  

My burger was juicy and delicious.  The gruyere cheese wasn't too forward in taste masking the taste of the burger, and the grilled ham gave it a bit of a salty taste.  My wife was equally impressed with her 22 burger.  We both felt the bun - which is the key to any good burger - was light and spongy, and held together very well with the juiciness of our burgers.  

The fries were good - crispy on the outside with a warm, flaky inner core.  But my wife got the cole slaw that she wasn't too happy with.  She felt the cole slaw was too dry and not very flavorful.  But, overall, we certainly enjoyed the burgers at Tap 22.  

After we finished up in the dining room, my wife wanted to look around the place.  The bar area was somewhat similar to what I remembered from the PK Dugan's days.  It featured a long bar that curved and meandered the length of the room.  There was a turnout on one end with a large liquor island.  Large flat panel televisions were on the wall behind the bar.

Off to the side of the bar was another dining area.  The chairs were a little more comfortable than the ones in the other dining area.  It was a well-lit room with a wooden slat floor.   

For some reason, my wife was in the mood to continue to party like we did the previous evening and she said she wanted to have another beer at the bar.  There were two seats open on the corner and we sat down.  One of the bartenders came over and we both ordered a pint of the Pseudo Sue IPA from the Toppling Goliath brewery in Decorah, IA.  

As we were watching a baseball game on one of the many flat panel televisions behind the bar, the couple next to us had a pizza brought to them.  It looked very good with a thick outer crust, but a thin crust underneath the toppings.  As the couple was eating, they remarked how good the pizza was.  My wife said, "It certainly does look good!"  And it wasn't too much later when a SECOND pizza was brought out and sat down between the man and my wife.  I asked if I could take a picture of the pizza and he had no problem with me doing that.   

We would have to say that Tap 22 is a nice place for a casual meal of burgers or pizza with an ever-changing menu of craft beers.  My wife and I were both impressed with our burger selections, while the couple seated next to us at the bar seemed to really like their pizza.  The service we received in both the dining room and in the bar area was friendly and efficient, and the atmosphere was lively, yet laid-back.  We'd probably frequent Tap 22 more if it were closer to our house, but we've found it to be a worthy stop on a road trip to the southeast side of the Quad Cities.  

 

Luna di Luna - Bloomington, MN

On many of my trips over the years to the Twin Cities, I've passed a little Italian restaurant on my way to my hotel in the Bloomington area.  I've always been intrigued by the place and it doesn't really have much of a presence on the Internet.  One night after an aggravating drive to the Twin Cities in an early spring snowstorm, I decided to take a chance on dinner at Luna di Luna in Bloomington.  

The Awada family are of Lebanese descent and three of the brothers have owned restaurants around the south side of the Twin Cities for a number of years.  One of those brothers, Alex Awada - is the chef/proprietor of Luna di Luna along with his wife Sanaa.  Alex's first foray into the restaurant business was an Italian restaurant by the name of Guiseppe's in the south Twin Cities suburbs.  He ran that for 10 years before closing it to open Luna di Luna.  The little restaurant is located in the 8800 block of Lyndale Ave. S. in Bloomington.  (see map)  From the outside of the place, I guessed that it was formerly a Long John Silver's.  

When I entered the restaurant, I found a small, cozy spot with a small bar up front.  I was greeted by a guy in an untucked white t-shirt - not exactly the best first impression on my first visit to Luna di Luna.  It turned out that it was the owner Alex Awada.  I spied the small bar and asked if I could sit there.  He said, "Sure, sure!  Anywhere you want."  

Well, it turned out the bar was very uncomfortable.  There was no ledge to the bar top and my knees were jammed up against a brick facade under the bar.  And the sound system near the bar was blaring with contemporary jazz music.  After getting a house cabernet from a young lady behind the bar and getting a menu to look over, I got the attention of Alex Awada and said, "Aw, you know, this isn't the best idea.  Can I get a seat at a table?"

He was more than accommodating.  "Yes, sure!  You're right, the bar isn't the best place to sit.  Come on.  Let's get you a table," Alex said enthusiastically.  He took me to a two-seater table along the wall.  It was small  and a bit cramped along the wall, but it was much better than sitting at the bar.  

Saada Awana came over to wait on me.  "You'll be much more comfortable here," she said assuringly.  She brought the menu and my wine over from the bar for me.   Not long after, she brought out a basket of fresh baked bread with a plate of herbed vinaigrette to dip the bread in.  The bread was warm and soft with a salted sesame seed outer crust.   It was delicious.  

The menu was short but had a lot of interesting items.  They had staples such as chicken parm, a seafood "frutta di mare", and fettuccine alfredo, but they also had some things such as a baked spaghetti pie in a bolognese sauce, and a four-cheese bake with tortellini pasta in a light cream sauce.  Chicken and/or shrimp could be added to that for an upcharge.  I was also impressed with the wine list at Luna di Luna.  It was far more extensive than the food menu.  

After I ordered my dinner, Saada brought me out a nice salad with a house-made creamy light garlic dressing.  The salad was topped with shaved parmesan cheese.  The salad was very fresh and very flavorful.  It was very delicious.  If the salad was any indication of what was to come, I was already happy with my visit to Luna di Luna.  

For my main entree that evening, I went with something that had my interest by the time I read through the description on the menu.  It was called Ceciliana - penne pasta in a bolognese sauce with chopped sausage and meatballs.  It was all topped with melted mozzarella cheese.  The taste of the Ceciliana was - in a word - outstanding.  It was a cold evening for early April.  The snow had stopped, but it was still somewhat treacherous on the roads.  And I was in this cozy little Italian restaurant that I had passed by many times wondering about how good the food may be, enjoying this hearty and delicious Italian dinner with a couple glasses of a robust Cabernet.  Life alone on the road - at that moment - was good.  

After driving by Luna di Luna a number of times over the years, I finally decided to give it a try.  And I'm glad I did.  And I afterward, I was mentally kicking myself for not stopping in sooner.  It was a cozy little family run place and I thought the food I had was outstanding.  They have little to no presence on the Internet other than on places like Yelp, Zomato, or Trip Advisor.  Given how small the place is, they probably don't feel that they need to be highly visible.  I'm sure that they rely upon repeat customers and by word of mouth.  Well, here's my strong recommendation to give Luna di Luna a try if you make it to Bloomington at some point.  You'll be glad you did.

Crawdaddy's - West Allis, WI

 

I was happy to hear last summer that one of my favorite Cajun food places in the Midwest - Crawdaddy's in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis - had reopened.  It shut down after the death of one of the co-founders/owners a few years back, but I found out last summer that it had reopened down the road from the original location.  On a trip up to Milwaukee earlier this year, I made a point to head to the new Crawdaddy's for a meal.  

I wrote an entry on the original Crawdaddy's in one of my early Road Tips posts before I found a voice and formula for the blog.  (Click here if you'd like to see the difference in styles from early posts to the present day.)  The original Crawdaddy's was located on Greenfield at 64th Street in West Allis and was opened in 1995 by managing partner John Vukelic and chef-partner Jonathan Klug.  Crawdaddy's was a huge hit from the start winning a number of local "Best of" local awards over a number of years.  

In addition to the restaurant in West Allis, Crawdaddy's had a food place on the Henry Maier Festival Park grounds, home to a number of festivals, most notably Summerfest - the largest music festival in the world.  My wife and I used to go to Summerfest nearly every year starting in the mid-90's and it became a tradition that our first stop would be at Crawdaddy's to get a "Gator-on-a-Stick".  It consisted of ground alligator meat (it tastes like chicken) mixed with mild ground alligator sausage.  It was all right, but it was a tradition.  

Sadly, in 2012 John Vukelic passed away unexpectedly and Jonathan Klug kept the doors to Crawdaddy's open.  However, about a year later financial troubles brought on by the death of Vukelic forced Klug to close Crawdaddy's.  Milwaukeeans lamented the loss of the wonderful Cajun restaurant on Greenfield Ave.

However, Klug was able to find a new managing partner in Mike Weier.  The two searched for a new location, not far from the original Crawdaddy's location.  Big Dog's Sports Bar located 30 blocks west of the original Crawdaddy's at Greenfield and 94th, near the Wisconsin State Fair Park, had closed in early 2015 and Weier and Klug took over the space in late 2015.  They remodeled the place into a larger version of the old Crawdaddy's and reopened in the summer of 2016.  Crawdaddy's was back and people from all around Milwaukee flocked to the place in droves.  And the "Best of" local awards began to pick up where they had left off three years.

I pulled up in front of Crawdaddy's and was able to find a parking spot out front.  (see map)  Parking at the original Crawdaddy's was always an adventure as it was mostly on street parking along a busy stretch of Greenfield.  The new Crawdaddy's has a parking lot that can handle over 30 cars.  

Upon entering Crawdaddy's, I found an expansive place with a main dining area that was much larger than the original Crawdaddy's.  Waits of up to an hour - or more - were common at the original Crawdaddy's.  But the new place looked like it could accommodate double the number of patrons versus the old place.

There a back dining area that served as an overflow or private party area.  Drawn portraits of a number of musical artists hung on the walls throughout the place and the sound system was playing some great music from various New Orleans artists such as Earl King, Dr. John, The Wild Tchoupitoulas, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, and one of my all-time favorite bands, The Radiators.  

The bar was a festive area on the opposite side of a wall from the main dining room.  It had some nice lighting accents in front of and behind the bar.  I contemplated sitting there, but decided to have a seat in the dining room.

Off to the side of the bar was a small lounging/gaming area.  It appears that the new incarnation of Crawdaddy's can handle a large number of people in the dining room and in the bar for those waiting for a table.  

I was shown to a table in the middle of the dining room and given a lunch menu.  It's not as extensive as the dinner menu at Crawdaddy's, but it still offers some Cajun specialties such as Po' Boy sandwiches, shrimp and grits, and a Cajun stir fry consisting of a mixture of alligator meat, alligator sausage, andouille sausage, surimi (a Cajun flavored paste made out of minced seafood) and crawfish tails that are tossed with mixed vegetables with Crawdaddy's Cajun Power garlic sauce.  It's all served on a bed of creamy grits and topped with a spicy Cajun gravy.  Had I been more hungry, I would have gone for that.  

My server was Mary Beth, a pleasant lady who was outgoing and effervescent in her demeanor.  I immediately liked her when I asked for the beer menu and she said, "You look like the kind of guy who likes good beer.  We have the Abita Wrought Iron IPA on special during lunch.  $3.00 a pint."  I couldn't pass that up.  

I was sort of up in the air with what I was going to get, but I ended up starting off with a bowl of Crawdaddy's gumbo.  Their "Ya Ya" gumbo was exactly as I remembered.  It featured chunks of chicken, chopped smoked ham, andouille sausage, okra, and the "Holy Trinity" of onions, celery, and bell peppers with chunks of tomatoes in a spicy chicken broth.  It was served with rice that I spooned into the gumbo once I was able to eat some of it down, and a couple pieces of fresh baked bread came on the side.  I zipped up the temperature of the gumbo a bit with some Tabasco sauce and it was just fantastic.

Along with the gumbo, I got the fish tacos.  They were three flour taco shells filled with blackened Icelandic cod (deep-fried tempura cod was also available), topped with a lime-cilantro slaw and a spicy chipotle mayo.  Fresh pico de gallo came with the fish tacos.  They were very good and very filling.  I was able to get through two of the tacos and a couple bites of taco No. 3.  I had filled up on the gumbo - which was fine with me.   The gumbo was outstanding.   

All hail the return of Crawdaddy's!  It was one of my favorite restaurants in Milwaukee for a number of years and its demise in 2013 had me - and thousands of Milwaukeeans - bummed out.  But they're back and bigger than ever with a new space that is gargantuan compared to the original Crawdaddy's 30 blocks to the east.  The food is still outstanding - the gumbo I had was superb and the fish tacos were very good.  And the service I received from the fun and outgoing Mary Beth was excellent.  I'm glad to see that Crawdaddy's is back and I can't wait to go back some night to try some of their other Cajun specialties.  

La Za' Za' Trattoria - St. Charles, IL

 I took one of my dealers from the far western suburbs out to dinner in St. Charles one evening not long ago.  St. Charles has a lot of good dining options and my dealer suggested we have dinner at a place that I have passed a number of times over the past few years, an Italian restaurant by the name of La Za' Za' Trattoria.  I was up for some good Italian that evening and we went there for an early dinner.  

Dino Sisto loved the food his mother prepared for their family since he was a little boy.  One of 10 siblings, Sisto's mother Dottie had a number of family recipes she had gotten from her mother who had grown up in Italy.   Dino loved his mother's cooking so much that he learned how to make many of the items she had learned from her mother.   Wanting to take many of those recipes and share them with the public led Dino Sisto to open La Za' Za' Trattoria - named after his grandfather - in 1995 in downtown St. Charles at the corner of W. Main and S. 1st Street next to the Fox River.  (see map)  

Sisto and his brother, Joe, partnered up to open other Za' Za' restaurants in the western suburbs of Chicago including the now-closed ZaZa's Italian Steakhouse in Addison that I used to frequent when I stayed in that far western Chicago suburb for a number of years when I first started to call on accounts in the area nearly 16 years ago.  (Click here if you want to read a very early entry from Road Tips - circa December 2006 - on ZaZa's Italian Steakhouse.)  Joe and Dino Sisto split their partnership a number of years ago and I believe that the only ZaZa restaurant that is still open is the La Za' Z' Trattoria in downtown St. Charles.

Pictured right - Dino Sisto.  Photo courtesy Kane County Chronicle.   

Urban renewal in downtown St. Charles threatened the La Za' Za' Trattoria location and Sisto thought he was going to have to move his restaurant.  However, he came up with a plan and the cash to buy the building and salvage it from the wrecking ball that took down many older buildings in downtown St. Charles.  

We were able to find parking in a city lot to the west of the restaurant at the corner of W. Main and S. 2nd St. and we walked over to the front door of La Za' Za' Trattoria that is located on the back of the building on S. 1st St.  

There's a front dining area and a back dining area where the bar is located.  We were seated in the back dining area near the window.  We were given menus - both food and wine - and we were greeted by our server for the evening, a nice lady by the name of Kathy.  We started off with a nice bottle of California cabernet from La Za' Za's short, but interesting, wine list.   

You'll find traditional Italian food on the menu at La Za' Za' including pasta dishes, chicken entrees, a veal dish, a filet mignon, and pork chops.  They have a couple of seafood items on the menu, as well.  Antipasti appetizers such as deep fried shrimp, stuffed artichokes, beef carpaccio with arugula, and mussels served in a spicy tomato sauce were available as well.  

We started off with one of the chef's antipasti specials that night - the burrata and tomato salad mixed with greens in an olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar.  My guest wasn't certain what burrata was, but when I told him that it was basically a soft cream cheese encased in mozzarella he was sold.  And the salad was very good.  The tomatoes - for the time of year - were very ripe and fresh tasting.  The burrata was just wonderful - my guest was very impressed with the taste of it.  He said, "I can't believe I've never had this before."  I told him that if burrata is available on a salad, I usually always get it.  Along with the fresh greens mixed with the extra virgin olive oil and the aged balsamic, this was a very good salad.  

For dinner that evening, I wasn't overly certain what I wanted.  The pan-roasted veal medallions served with wild mushrooms with linguine sounded very good.  The sautéed Manilla clams and Prince Edward Island mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce with linguine also sounded very good.  But we were having a meaty red wine and I thought pasta with a red sauce would go well.  I ended up getting the chef's pasta special that evening - cavatelli pasta in a bolognese sauce.  I asked Kathy if they could put a couple meatballs on the plate, as well.  

My guest went with the lamb chops.  It came with roasted veggies and mashed potatoes in a lemon white wine sauce with fresh chopped oregano.  He told me that his wife doesn't like it when he orders lamb or veal when they're out, so the only time he orders something like that is when he isn't dining with her.  "I like lamb," he said as he cut into his first chop.  "But she frowns on that when I've ordered lamb in the past."  The lamb chops were big and meaty, and he said they were very good.

I was equally impressed with my cavatelli and bolognese sauce.  The meat sauce was thick and flavorful - the hearty red we were drinking that evening was a perfect compliment to the sauce.  The meatballs were some of the best I've had - they were tightly packed made with (I'm guessing) a mixture of ground pork, veal and beef.  They held together very well and weren't dry at all.  

We both thought our meal at La Za' Za' Trattoria was outstanding.  My guest was very happy with his grilled lamb chops and he thought the mixed vegetables were not overcooked or mushy.  I was more than happy with the chef's special cavatelli pasta in a bolognese sauce with meatballs.   And the chef's special antipasti that evening - the tomato and burrata salad - was top notch, as well.  The meal was matched by the exceptional service we received that evening.  If you're in the far western suburbs of Chicago and looking for a great Italian restaurant, I would highly recommend La Za' Za' Trattoria.

The Curragh - Chicago, IL

Staying out by O'Hare International Airport during my work visits to Chicago, I'm always looking for a good place to eat that's within a 5 to 10 minute drive from the hotel.  There's a number of restaurants along Northwest Highway in the far northwest Chicago neighborhood of Edison Park and one that I found recently is an authentic Irish pub by the name of The Curragh.  I went there one recent evening for dinner.

Actually, there are four Curragh pubs - 3 in the greater Chicago region and one in Holland, MI.  And after I had dinner at the one in Edison Park, I realized that my wife and I ate at the one in Holland during a short vacation we had in the area a few years ago.  (Click here to read about our visit to the Holland Curragh location.)  At that time, I knew there were sister restaurants in the Chicagoland area, but I can never remember names of some of the places we'd been to.  On my visit to this Curragh location, I never put two and two together that this was affiliated with the one in Holland until afterward.  

The Curragh (pronounced CURR-ack with sort of a phlegmy throaty emphasis on the "ack") is named after the home of flatland racing in Ireland, the Curragh Racetrack, a historic race track that hosts all five of the classic Irish horse races - including the Irish Derby - and has been around since the 1700's.  It's documented that chariot races were held on the grounds of the Curragh race track in the third century.  

The original Curragh Irish Pub opened in 1999 in Schaumburg, IL next to the massive Woodfield Mall.  But the roots of the pub go back even further to a Chicago area restaurant called J.J. Finnegan's that was started by Jim Leongas in 1984.  His son, Paul Leongas, was the managing partner for the first Curragh and they later opened a second Curragh location in Skokie.  (The original location in Schaumburg had to move due to development of a strip mall on the spot where the building stood.  They moved the original building, piece by piece, to its present day location on Northwest Highway in the Chicago suburb of Edison Park.)

Jim Leongas opened a J.J. Finnegan's in Holland, MI in 1988 and it was run by his daughter, Sophia.  Sophia and her husband, Dave Jurgensen, opened the third Curragh in Holland around 2006 and closed the J.J. Finnegan's restaurant in Holland in 2009.  

The Edison Park location actually is the original Schaumburg Curragh.  The Schaumburg location stood on a plot of land where a developer wanted to tear it down and put in a strip mall a number of years ago.  Rather than having the building torn down, the Leongas family decided to find a new home for their brick building.  They ended up dismantling the building - brick-by-brick - and moving it to Edison Park where they painstakingly reconstructed the building - brick-by-brick - to the present day Curragh on Northwest Highway.  (see map)

I was able to find a parking spot in a small municipal lot just down the street from The Curragh and made my way inside around 7:30 one somewhat warm and humid evening.  I walked into a small front room that was a cozy little public place with the Irish phrases Céad Mile Fáilte ("a hundred thousand welcomes") and Céol Agus Craic ("music and fun") on the wall.  Just past this little room was the bar area featuring a curved bar around a center island.

There's a back area just past the bar where the table are a little larger and more spread out.  A brick wall with a large fireplace were the features of the back wall of the restaurant.

I ended up seated at the bar and was met by Martina, a middle-aged lady with a quick smile and a heavy Irish brogue.  In talking with her later in the evening, she told me that she was an Irish ex-patriot who had lived in the States for over 20 years.  "Fell in love with a guy here, but that didn't last," she said.  She still had family back in Ireland and she was, in fact, heading back to see them in a couple days.  "I usually try to get back once a year, sometimes twice, if I can," she said in her Irish brogue.  She poured me a pint of Smithwick's, one of many beers they had on tap at The Curragh.  

Martina gave me a menu to look over and it was pretty extensive with a number of traditional Irish dishes such as Irish stew, corned beef and cabbage, and Shepherd's Pie.  But there were also a number of other items such as appetizers, sandwiches, and main entrees such as Romano chicken, and a Gaelic steak that featured a 16 ounce rib-eye with a mushroom marsala sauce.  I seriously thought about getting the corned beef on rye sandwich after Martina told me that they made all their corned beef in house.  

But I ended up getting the corned beef and cabbage boxty. A boxty is an authentic Irish dish where they stuff the contents into a potato pancake.  They also had a vegetable boxty on the menu, as well as a chicken boxty.  When I ordered the corned beef and cabbage boxty, Martina said, "Oooo, that's my favorite."

And I can see why it was her favorite. the corned beef and cabbage boxty came with a side of mixed veggies and mashed potatoes.  It was stuffed full of delicious and tender corned beef, the cabbage wasn't limp and overcooked, and the potato pancake - on its own - was outstanding.  This was a "stick-to-your-ribs" meal for a cold winter night, but it even hit the spot on an unseasonably warm early spring evening.  There was no way that I could eat the whole thing, but I put a serious dent into it.  When Martina looked at the remains on my plate, she asked if she could box it up.  "It tastes great warmed up," she said temptingly.  But I told her that I was traveling and even though I did have a fridge and a microwave in my room, I just didn't think I could properly bring it back to life as a leftover dish.  

I've now eaten at two Curragh locations - the one in Holland, MI and now the one in Chicago's Edison Park neighborhood - and both times I've walked away impressed with the food, the service, and the atmosphere.  The corned beef and cabbage boxty was outstanding and the friendly service I received from Martina at the bar that evening was all a single diner can ask for.  It's always great finding authentic Irish bars and The Curragh is a great place to get your Irish on if you're on the northwest side of Chicago. 

Boyd and Charlie's - Omaha, NE

Over the past dozen or so years that I've been traveling to Omaha for my present job, I've known about a barbecue place that I've really wanted to try called Boyd and Charlie's.  The problem was that it was located out in the far northwest Omaha suburb of Elkhorn.  It was always going to be kind of a haul for me to get out to Elkhorn to try their barbecue, so I usually just ate at any number of fine restaurants in the greater Omaha area.  However, earlier this year, I found out that Boyd and Charlie's had opened a second location last fall - this time it was IN Omaha along S. 60th Street.  (see map)  I decided to seek out the Omaha location of Boyd and Charlie's to give their barbecue a try.

Whereas most barbecue places pop up because of the demand created by someone who has made the rounds in the competitive barbecue cook-off challenges, it was quite the opposite for Boyd and Charlie's founder Perry Viers.  Viers really didn't do much barbecuing at home, but he did have an interest in the cuisine.  He found a corner place in downtown Elkhorn that had been basically a social club or a bar over the 100 years the building had been in that spot.  He was going to turn that location into a barbecue joint.

Viers had a friend down in Alabama who he turned to for advice on how to start a barbecue restaurant.  He helped Viers track down smokers, kitchen equipment and told him what to concentrate on as far as smoking meats.  (The one bit of advice that Viers didn't take from his friend - smoke only pork.  But Omaha is in the middle of beef country in the Midwest and Viers knew he couldn't get by without beef ribs and brisket.)  When it was close to the time he was going to open, his friend was planning on coming up from Alabama to help him get started.  However, at the last moment, Viers' friend said he couldn't make it and Perry Viers found himself in a literal barbecue ocean without a paddle.  However, jumping in with both feet, he opened Boyd and Charlie's - named after his two sons - in late July of 2003.  

The first few months were a learning experience for Viers, but he was able to make a go of things and Boyd and Charlie's started to get a following.  Three years into the existence of Boyd and Charlie's, Viers partnered with Kevin Stork to open Bella Vita, an Italian restaurant just across the street from Boyd and Charlie's in Elkhorn.  (Bella Vita is "The Good Life" in Italian, and "The Good Life" has been sort of a tourism tag that Nebraska has used for years.)  

Viers had been looking to put a second Boyd and Charlie's in Omaha and he found a building along S. 60th St. that used to house a golf shop that specialized in antique hickory golf clubs.  After some renovations to the building, he was able to open the second Boyd and Charlie's in the fall of last year.  

There's ample parking in front of Boyd and Charlie's Omaha location and the parking lot was about half full when I pulled in around 7 p.m. on an unseasonably warm early Spring evening.  Inside Boyd and Charlie's I found a space with rustic decor, mounted wild game heads and fish on the barn board walls (I was told Perry Viers is an avid outdoorsman), and a nice bar area.  

 
It's counter service at Boyd and Charlie's and the menu is located on the wall above the window that looks into the kitchen area.  The lady who was taking orders seemed confused as she waited on a couple ahead of me, then when it was my turn to order she was still sort of out of sorts.  I'm guessing she hadn't worked there all that long.  I asked if she had a beer list and she looked around and then sort of shrugged her shoulders.  "We have most of the regular beers, I guess," she said.  She started to recite some big brewery domestic beers and after about four beers her voice sort of trailed off.  

I saw a sign for Deschutes beer and asked if they had the Mirror Pond pale ale.  She said they did and she rang me up for two of them along with my food.  I took my number and went out to find a table in the dining area.  As I said, it was a rustic feel to the place and the dining area featured a wooden wagon that had sauces, condiments, napkins and utensils.  There was some eclectic background music on the sound system featuring some good and diverse tunes by artists such as Two Gallants, Rocky Votolato, Miranda Lee Richards, and Jamtown which features Garrett Dutton - better known as G. Love from G. Love and Special Sauce.  

After I settled in for a moment, I went up to the wagon to grab some sauces and a young guy came out from behind the bar and asked if I was the one that ordered the Deschutes beer.  He said, "I think she was a little confused.  We don't have the Deschutes Mirror Pond."  I winced when he said that, but he then said, "We have another pale ale from the Pint Nine Brewing Company down in Papillion (a suburb of Omaha)," he told me.  He had brought out a sample for me to try and I thought it was good enough to go with instead of the Deschutes.  

The menu at Boyd and Charlie's is very extensive with a number of smoked meats - including chopped pork, sliced brisket (with burnt ends, when available), mesquite-smoked ribs, smoked turkey breast, and sausage.  They have a number of sandwiches, burgers, and entrees such as fish and chips, and chicken fried steak.  They also feature a number of appetizers, soups and salads on the menu.  

I went with the three-meat combo - ribs, brisket and chopped pork.  For my sides, I got the fries and some baked beans.  For sauces, I tried Boyd and Charlie's regular sauce - a sweet and smoky molasses sauce; their spicy sauce - which I didn't feel was all that spicy; and their whiskey sauce that was basically their regular sauce with a whiskey base to it.  It was actually pretty good.

The ribs were meaty, lean and had good bark on the outside.  The meat pulled away nicely from the bone and it was tender to the bite.  The ribs were very good.  

The brisket was cut thick and also had a nice bark to the rim of the meat.  It, too, was tender enough and very flavorful.  The chopped pork bought up the rear as it was a little dry, but dipping it in the sauces helped out tremendously.

The sides were sort of "meh!"  The fries had a coating on the outer shell that made them extra crunchy, but they were just all right.  The beans were Alabama-style with beans, large chunks of pork, all mixed in Boyd and Charlie's house barbecue sauce.  I added some of the spicy sauce to try to zip up the taste, but it really didn't add much.  The beans were better than the fries, but not by much.

I'm glad that I finally was able to try Boyd and Charlie's - without having to drive all the way out of Elkhorn to do so.  I was happy with the meats I tried - the ribs were lean, meaty and flavorful, the brisket was thick cut and had some good bark on the outer edges, and even though the chopped pork was a little dry, the sauces helped out very well.  The sides I had - the fries and baked beans - were average, at best.  The lady working the front register where you order your food wasn't too with it that evening, seemingly lost and somewhat scattered when taking people's orders.  But still, it was a nice experience at Boyd and Charlie's - a welcome addition to the barbecue scene in the heart of Omaha.  

Max and Benny's - Northbrook, IL

Always on the lookout for a good Jewish deli in the Chicago area, on a recent trip to the north shore suburbs I was able to stop by a place that has been serving great deli, as well operating as a Jewish bakery for over 30 years.  This is about my trip to Max and Benny's Restaurant, Deli and Bakery in Northbrook, IL.  

Lester Schlan grew up on the south side of Chicago, the son of Julius Schlan who sold restaurant supplies since before World War II.  After graduating from high school, Lester Schlan went on to the University of Illinois where he worked as a grill chef and as a baker to help him get through college in the late 60's and early 70's.  A budding entrepreneur, Lester Schlan ran a small 24-hour coffee shop in a space he found in a deli near the University of Illinois campus, and he and a handful of friends ran a record store in the basement of the local YMCA in Champaign/Urbana.   He eventually became a manager at a restaurant before he and his wife, Rhea, saw a need for a kosher deli in the northern suburbs of Chicago.  They now had two young boys, Max and Benny, and the couple decided to name their place after their sons.  The Schlans opened Max and Benny's in Glenview at the end of December in 1985.  

Many of the recipes that the Schlans used in their deli were family recipes passed down thru generations.  Schlan used his grandmother's recipes for matzo soup, kugel and other Jewish specialities that the family served in their deli.  The food the Schlans served was fresh - and it was good.  So good that after 8 years they realized they had outgrown their 4,000 square foot location in Glenview.

Lester Schlan was driving around some of the suburbs along the north shore of Chicago looking for a new and larger location in which to put an expanded Max and Benny's.  He found an open spot within the Brookside Plaza just north of Interstate 94 on Waukegan Road in Northbrook.  (see map)  In 1994, the Schlan's opened their new and larger location of Max and Benny's.  And four years later, they took over another space next to them for their full bakery and a deli take-out area.  

The "Max and Benny" in the deli's name still exist in this story - Max Schlan went on to study hospitality administration at Boston University, but his plan of coming back to help in the family business got sidetracked when he was accepted into Hofstra Law School.  He graduated cum laude in 2012 and is now a practicing attorney in New York City.  Meanwhile, Benny Schlan - now called Ben - followed his father and mother into the family business and is managing the day-to-day operations at Max and Benny's.  

Pictured right - Ben and Lester Schlan.  Photo courtesy the Northbrook Tower.

Ben Schlan is a large supporter of the Jewish writers community along the north shore of Chicago, and Max and Benny's has hosted a number of authors reading their works as part of their North Shore Jewish Author Literary Series over the years.  They've expanded that to include authors from all over Chicago and continue to showcase their works on a monthly basis.  In addition to showcasing authors from around the Chicago area, Max and Benny's also hosts a comedy night, and also focuses on family activities by inviting families to come in to learn how to make challah bread or cookie decorating.  

It was around 1:30 when I got into Max and Benny's and upon entering the place I found myself in the bakery and deli area.   

The bakery features a number of different types of fresh baked breads, pastries, rolls, and cakes.  Max and Benny's is famous for their theme and team logo cookies that are all hand decorated.  They've even made cookies of famous movie characters for special events in the Chicago area.  

The deli area was next to the bakery and featured meats, sides, and soups.  They had a little store area where they also sold condiments, jarred olives, Max and Benny coffee cups, and other items.  The deli was pretty interesting to walk around in and I sort of wished that we had something like this close to where we live.  

The dining area at Max and Benny's is located to the left of the bakery/deli area and I was seated at a booth along the long wall in the main dining area.  It was still very busy well after the lunch rush, but I was able to get in right away.  I was given a menu and my server Blanca came over to greet me.  Not long after I was seated, another person came over to drop off a basket of assorted rolls.  There was a bagel chip in the basket and it was very tasty.    

I was sort of taken back by the number of items Max and Benny's has on their menu.  (They also serve breakfast and dinner entrees at the deli.)  They, of course, had a number of sandwiches - including the hot pastrami with Swiss cheese on rye bread like I got above - but they also had wraps, salads, and hot sandwiches available.  Since it was kind of a cold day, I came really close to getting the hot brisket sandwich served on open-face challah bread with mashed potatoes and gravy.  

But I was very happy with my pastrami sandwich.  The pastrami was lean and flavorful with a nice outer bark on the edges.  Two thick slices of Swiss cheese were on the top and bottom of the sandwich, and the caraway rye bread was soft and moist, but held together very well.  There was a lot of meat on the sandwich and while I always sort of recoil when a big deli sandwich is placed in front of me as I wonder how I'm going to eat the whole thing, I usually end up eating the whole thing because it's so damned good.  The sandwich at Max and Benny's was no exception. 

Authentic Jewish deli's are getting harder to find.  From what I read doing research into this post, less than 150 kosher deli's exist across America - down over 90% from the 1930's.  But Max and Benny's does a wonderful job of carrying on the tradition of the old school Jewish deli's by offering good to excellent foods at a fair price.  The hot pastrami sandwich that I had was delicious and it was tough to not sample any of the items in the roll basket that was brought out before.  The service at Max and Benny's is friendly and efficient, and I was in and out of there in about 20 minutes, tops.  There wasn't much to not like about Max and Benny's.  

Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen - Kansas City

I had a morning meeting at an account out on the far west side of Kansas City, so I got a hotel room in the Village West complex of retail, entertainment and sports.  The Kansas Speedway and Children's Mercy Park stadium which is home to the Sporting Kansas City soccer club are part of the Village West district.  There's also a number of restaurants in the immediate area although many of them are national chains that I try to stay away from.  However, there was one place that I recognized - Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen - a place that I first ate at in the Westport area of Kansas City nearly 20 years ago.  It was a cool and rainy evening and I needed some spicy food to warm me up.  It was a very short trip between my hotel and this location of Jazz which was part of the Legends Outlets shopping complex.  (see map)  

Years ago when I was working for a Kansas City area company, my boss liked to take us to a Cajun restaurant in Kansas City's Westport neighborhood.  (Of course, the name of the place completely escapes me.)  It was really the first time I was exposed to Cajun food and I immediately liked it.  He and his wife had traveled to New Orleans a handful of times and he declared the food at this restaurant was as almost good as what they'd had in authentic Cajun/Creole restaurants in Louisiana.  

Along about the same time that I started with the company in Kansas City, Vic Allred was living in Lubbock, TX going to school at Texas Tech.  Allred had been working in restaurants since he was 14 years old starting out as a dishwasher in the upscale New Orleans House restaurants before moving to Texas to go to college.   Allred worked in restaurants in Lubbock to earn some money while he was in school.  In Lubbock, there was a higher-end Cajun restaurant by the name of Oscar's that reminded him of some of the top restaurants in New Orleans.  While the food was good and it was authentic Louisiana cuisine, it was an expensive meal.  Especially for a college student.   

Allred knew people who were in the restaurant business in Lubbock.  The group got together and came up with a concept for a Cajun/Creole restaurant that was much more casual and less expensive to eat in.  They found a spot near the campus of Texas Tech and they opened Jazz in 1986.  In order to attract more students, they kept their prices low and offered live music starting at midnight some nights.  Allred was the first kitchen manager of the Jazz location in Lubbock and two years later, they opened a second Jazz in Austin, TX near the University of Texas campus.  Allred was named the General Manager of the Jazz location in Lubbock soon after that.  

Pictured right - Vic Allred.  Photo courtesy the Missouri Times.

A young lady from Kansas City stole Allred's heart and he ended up marrying her in 1991.  In 1993, he was approached by a landlord in the Westport area of Kansas City to become a consultant on the revitalization of what was a popular bar dating back to Prohibition.  While Allred declined the offer, he got to looking into the history of the building.  The building that housed the tavern at the corner of 39th and Stateline near the present day University of Kansas Medical Center started out as a livery stable.  It became a speakeasy during Prohibition, then was rebranded as The Bigger Jigger.  

The Westport Bigger Jigger eventually became Jimmy's Jigger, a popular joint with many people still talk fondly about today.  After the owner, Jimmy Bowers, sold his interest to another party, it wasn't the same place without him in there holding court.  Subsequent proprietors of the place couldn't make a go of the bar and it closed for good in the mid-90's.  When Allred was approached a second time by the landlord of the building, this time he didn't hesitate in moving his family to Kansas City to open a Jazz location in the spot of Jimmy's Jiggers old space.  

When the Legends Outlets complex opened in Village West in 2006, Allred saw to it that a Jazz location went in there.  Since then, he's put in Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen locations in Omaha, NE, Independence, MO, and in Columbia, MO.  The original Jazz is still in business in Lubbock, TX.  In addition to serving on various boards of national, regional and local restaurant associations, Allred is also now a candidate for the Missouri House of Representatives in the state's 13th District.    

The Jazz location at Village West is in the southwest part of the Legends Outlets complex.  I was able to park a short distance from the west door of the place.  Stepping inside, I found a space that was sort of industrial in its decor with colorful lighting casting a glowing hue around the dining area.  There were step-up dining areas in the dining room with low wrought iron fencing.  

On the walls throughout the restaurant were a number of posters, beer signs and New Orleans memorabilia.  On the second floor overlooking the bar area was a gentleman playing an electric guitar and singing.  It was actually kind of loud in there for just a one man band.  

I ended up taking a seat at the bar.  There was just one other person sitting down at the other end of the bar and hockey game was playing on the flat screen television in front of me.  I was greeted by the bartender, a young lady by the name of Stephanie who had to yell to me over the music that was being played just above us.  She offered me a menu and asked what I'd like to drink.  They had a number of Kansas City area beers on tap, but I ended up getting the Big Easy IPA from the Abita brewery in Louisiana.  

Looking through the menu, I found a number of authentic Cajun and Creole dishes including blackened seafood and chicken, shrimp or crawfish étouffée, Po' Boy sandwiches, pasta dishes, and Jazz specialty items such as a Cajun stir-fry, a seafood-stuffed catfish, and the Chicken a La Mer which features a grilled chicken breast topped with shrimp and crab meat and finished with a Parmesan cream sauce.  The menu said it was their most popular dish at Jazz.

I was feeling a little out of sorts and I thought I needed something to warm me up.  I decided to start out with a cup of the gumbo.  And it was served to me in a coffee cup.  The gumbo featured big chunks of shrimp, catfish filet, and andouille sausage.  It was spicy, but I wanted to spice it up a little bit more.  I asked Stephanie if she had any Tabasco and she came back with a bottle of Jazz's own "Voodoo" sauce.  It was similar to any type of vinegar-based Louisiana hot sauces on the market and helped kick the spiciness of the gumbo up just a bit.  

For dinner that evening, I thought about getting a couple of things.  The blackened tilapia topped with garlic butter-sautéed shrimp, crab meat and scallops sounded really good.  The seafood fettuccine with shrimp, crab and scallops also sounded good.  But I was wanting something more on the spicy side to help warm me up.  

I ended up getting the shrimp étouffée with a side of jambalaya.  Before she brought the meal out, Stephanie offered me some bread to go along with it.  I declined the offer at first, then saw that I should have ordered the bread to dip into the rich roux the shrimp and rice were swimming in.  The sautéed shrimp were plump, the rice was fluffy, and the roux had a bit of a spicy kick that I kicked up a bit with some of Jazz's Voodoo sauce.  Dipping the fresh baked bread into the roux was really the highlight of the meal.  It was a very tasty meal, to say the least.   

The jambalaya had chunks of cured tasso ham and andouille sausage, along with ground beef with rice.  It, too was a little spicy from the Piquant sauce they used and it was very good.  I could have gotten a big plate of the jambalaya with a side of the shrimp étouffée and been happy.

I'm always up for good Cajun/Creole food and the food I had at Jazz was very good.  I've only been to Louisiana once and that was about 20 years ago, but I've been eating in good Cajun restaurants in the Midwest for years.  I imagine that the food at Jazz would rival what I think would be good food in Louisiana.  The shrimp étouffée was delicious, even more so with the fresh baked bread dipped into the roux.  The gumbo and the jambalaya that I also had were also very good - I could have easily picked any one of the three items I had for my main entree and I would have been happy.  Although it was a little loud in there from the live one-man-band music, it was still a pleasant enough experience.