Spacca Napoli

Spacca Napoli is about a ten minute walk from our apartment, which we have lived in since June. We've been trying to have dinner at Spacca Napoli since then. Finally Kelsey and I got in Friday night for a 6pm reservation, like an 83 year old couple :) Safe to say, we get why this place is constantly packed with families, big groups, and dates: Spacca Napoli is authentic and amazing. 

My date, clearly going very well and starting off the evening by being the obnoxious people in the place! We each had a glass of Barbera and decided to split some appies before deciding on which pie to get. The fresh chunk of burrata brought us back to the buffalo farm in Campagna and the fried zuchinni blossoms reminded me of home, since they are one of my dad's specialities. I guess it really showed we had lived in Italy when we both ordered our own pizzas, and finished them, after splitting two starters.

We went with two specials of the day: the most incredible mountain of burrata with olive oil and toast and fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with roasted peppers, ricotta, and a hint of anchovy. 

Come on... so delish! 

The cheese and flowers could have been a meal on their own if I wasn't splitting, but the pizza was just too tempting.

Kels was clearly quite eager to dive into that Puttanesca, which comprised of San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte (cow's milk mozzarella), grape tomatoes, anchovies, black olives, capers, parmigiano reggiano, and extra virgin olive oil.

I had the Bufalina, which is simple and fresh – blended San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala, basil, and extra virgin olive oil. 

Honestly, you could get any toppings on these and it wouldn't matter because it's all in the dough. Thin, with an amazing crust, reminded us of our trip to Naples to visit the home of pizza (seen here). 

Clearly working really working on that beach body – boy oh boyyyy do I love my heritage and the fact that Kels and I devoured these with two judgmental girls looking at us as they split one pizza :)

This spot is really a hidden gem (I mean that, it's kind of on a dead street), but I hope to get to again before we move out! 

xx

The Winchester

One of my favorite girls is in town this weekend for a conference so we brunched at The Winchester this morning. I've seen this place posted a thousand times on Instagram so we decided to check it out. Not sure if it was our server or what, but I wasn't as thrilled with it as I thought I'd be. Don't get me wrong, the food was good, but I was expecting the avo toast to knock my socks off. And it did not. Don't let this post discourage you from trying it – we all like to live by the motto don't knock it till ya try it right? But it is in the East Village (Ukranian Village), which isn't exactly the most conveniant spot to get to! 

Avo toast with grapefruit + chili

Regan opted for the waffle which came with bananas and walnuts

And I had the biscuits & gravy with breakfast sausage + one gorgeous fried egg on top! 

Obviously a lovely catch up with Regan, as always, and a great space flooded with natural light, but just reporting honestly about the food – wasn't extremely thrilled!! Anyone agree? Disagree? I probably won't be racing back out for brunch anytime soon, but would love to try their BLT or dinner options. 

xx

Quite Frankly

Quite Frankly, it's been way too long since I've taken (or even had) the time to sit down, edit some pics, and write a post. By a long time I mean since January! Dang! But all apologies. This spring semester is flying by and so is March. I was in Cancun for spring break, then my mom came to town, St. Patty's weekend happened, and now we've got friends in this weekend to celebrate Kelsey's birthday. SO it's been hectic,  crazy, busy and March is somehow almost over already! BUT rest assured, I will be getting back into a routine this week and have some posts lined up, so get readyyyyy for that. In the mean time, here are six snaps I took around the city in the past week or so.

moose on the loose in the loop

 my kind of town

Moyra Davey's Subway Writers 

textile + color inspo @ AIC

Chitown

still reeling over Gorgon City a few weeks ago (and on repeat)

xx

Ming Hin Dim Sum

On Friday Kelsey, Alanna, and I headed to Chinatown for lunch since we were craving some Dim Sum. Kelsey had done a little research and heard about Ming Hin so we decided since we only knew about a few things on the menu, to just order away and keep it coming. 

Siu Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumpling) and regular shrimp dumplings.

 Chicken Feet with special sauce...not my favorite, but I always am willing to try something at least once.

deep fried crab egg rolls with seaweed 

BBQ Pork buns

And these muffins from heaven... we asked our waiter what his favorite item on the menu was and he said these sweet baked egg yolk balls. Sounds odd, but they were crunchy & amazing. 

Beef Brisket & Rice Noodle Soup

Deep Fried Sesame Balls (even though they came as doughy sheets)

Bellies stuffed, we walked around Chinatown in search for a new pet for Alanna. That mission was completely unsucessful... but a great day exploring a new part of Chicago none of us had ever been to!

xx

Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!

Jac has a love and fascination for all things Spanish, so she's been eager to check out Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! for quite a long time, so since her brother is in town we figured we should try it for brunch this morning. We've seen their Bloody Mary bar on Instagram and needed to check it out for ourselves. 

We started with deviled eggs with a crispy bacon bit on top, then our glasses of peppered vodka came so we bellied up to the Bloody Mary bar.

To say we were impressed with their Bloody Mary spread would be an extreme understatement. They had the basics, but also crispy bacon, pickles, celery trees, olives, cucumbers, shrimp skewers, horseradish, and just everything you could possibly want.

Since brunch was tapas style, we ordered a ton of food and just shared everything. We had one of specials, arugula, goat cheese, and fig flatbread. Then the iberico ham has with bell peppers, onions, confit potatoes, and poached egg. 

We ordered the beef tenderloin with an English muffin, poached egg, and hollandaise sauce, which was seriously sooo delicious.

My personal fav, Spanish tomato toast with served with baked eggs with charred romescu sauce and pumpkin seed pistou.

And for dessert, naturally, chicken and ham croquetas.

If you adore Spanish food, or are the type of person who likes to try one of everything, or just a taste, this is a great spot for ya! If not for brunch, then at least go for dinner. 

Enjoy!

xx