Hungry in Chicago? Go here!

Enjoying lunch at Blackbird, from left: Stephen Wicks, KMA’s curator; Barbara Apking; Robin Turner; Lane Hays; Pandy Anderson; John Cotham; Alan Carmichael; Bob Hawthorne; Susan Hawthorne; Donna Wertz; Ashley Addair; Molly Joy, Myron and Jayne Ely. Not pictured, other than me: Terry Wertz.

From left, Blackbird’s executive chef, Ryan Pfeiffer, Donna Wertz and Alan Carmichael.

Even before that fantastic salad pictured at the top of this blog post, we knew we were in for a treat when the bread arrived. It was a slice of warm and crusty sourdough wheat bread: sharp-flavored and delicious. The butter was filled with finely minced herbs.

We had a limited menu to expedite our lunch. Those who chose beef got this grilled hanger steak with crispy shallots atop an artichoke basil puree. They loved it.

Those of us (like me) who chose fish, got poached halibut with peekytoe crab, a duckfat and allium puree and ground cherries. (Those things that look like little tomatoes? They are the ground cherries. I assume, meaning they are grown on low bushes rather than traditional cherry trees.) They are sweet-tart and delicious.

Even for a non-dessert fan like me, this was irresistible: chocolate pistachio mousse cake, lemon verbena sherbet and micro basil. Holy cow.

Stephen Wicks gave Pandy Anderson a sip of his espresso. Talk about a great tour leader!

Here’s a look at that sleek award-winning interior.

Donna Wertz in front of the restaurant, in case you are looking for it.

Alan, left, and John Cotham at the entrance to Boka.

First up: An amuse-bouche compliments of the chef. In this case: smoked eel on a nori chip with a dab of some kind of delicious garlic sauce.

My first course consisted of luscious heirloom tomatoes with pinenuts, black garlic and buttermilk. It was a bright and delightful combination.

Alan chose roasted carrots with pistachio, vadouvan, dates and smoked feta cheese. Vadouvan is a kind of French curry spice mixture that really complements carrots.

John didn’t get a first course because his main course was huge! Here it is: roasted chicken with broccoli, almonds and foie gras. Interestingly, the foie gras was inserted between the breast meat and the crispy skin.

Alan went with seared monkfish with sunchokes, cabbage and mussels.

Mine didn’t photograph very well, but it was fantastic. It was shellfish and apple chowder (how’s that for seasonal?) poured over smoked mussels, peekytoe crab and kombu. Kombu is a kind of edible kelp. This was velvety smooth with a delightful little nugget of something interesting in every bite.

With help from our server, we picked a wine that would go with all our dishes: a Lunae Colli Di Luni vermentino.

Alan selected the dessert for all of us (mostly him!) to taste. It was a blueberry concoction on angel food cake with coconut, violet, earl grey and sorghum. (That’s the sorghum popped like popcorn.)

As if we needed more food, we received these little jewels as we were paying our tab. On the left, bite-sized blueberry corn cakes. On the right, luxurious white chocolate truffles. Of course, we managed to eat them all.

Look for this sign!

Crunchy breadsticks with truffle butter are waiting for you at the table.

Our friend Lane Hays and Alan share a toast with their gin and tonics.

Pandy Anderson and I chose martinis. (Photo by Lane Hays)

My starter was roasted buffalo Scamorza cheese with arugula and heirloom tomatoes. (If it appears to you from my selections that I am on a tomato kick, you are correct. Trying to get in as many as I can before the season ends!) These were at their peak.

Alan raved about his tri-colored gnocchi, which were tomato, cheese and spinach potato dumplings with a Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese sauce. He let me taste one of each and they were light and delicious.

Here was the dinner drink of choice for Alan and me. I loved it and will try to find it in Knoxville. (If I can find it, it may replace my old standby.)

Lane selected a roasted veal loin chop with oyster mushrooms sauce. She did not leave hungry!

Here’s Pandy’s grilled lamb chops with fresh herbs.

Alan had a seared halibut fillet with white wine and chives sauce.

I opted for fish soup with herbs and extra virgin olive oil. It was light and very flavorful, loaded with fish, shrimp and vegetables.

The Pelago interior is spare and elegant.

We were stuffed but somehow found ourselves ordering gelato for dessert. These are pistachio. Refreshing.

We stopped in the open rooftop bar when we got back to our hotel to take this picture of the Chicago skyline. But we didn’t order anything because of our early schedule the next day.

Molly Joy and Alan outside Chez Joel. It is small and super charming.

Here’s the interior. We had booked a party of six and a party of three, and they agreed to seat us together at one big table.

Jayne Ely got her French on and ordered escargot.

My starter was piping hot cauliflower soup. It was soothing with more than a touch of cream in it!

Alan loved his Coq au Vin. It was braised in white wine rather than the traditional red.

Lane had bouillabaisse. The portions were hefty.

My main course was steamed Prince Edward Island mussels with herbs, shallots and a white wine sauce. They were tender and tasty, but I could not finish them.

Caesar salad with grilled chicken at The Godfrey Hotel Chicago.

Here’s the daytime view from our hotel.