Kopi A Traveler's Café

Kopi is a vegetarian/vegan cafe in Andersonville on N Clark St between Berwyn Ave and Summerdale Ave. The walls are lined with shelves of travel guide books and travel journals, and clocks with current local times in cities worldwide, and there's a small boutique in the back. It's a crowded coffeehouse with small 2-tops and 4-tops, and the menu is expansive.

I ordered an Egg Sandwich, which is 2 fluffy, scrambled eggs on a bagel with your choice of cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, swiss, or feta). I opted for a plain bagel and cheddar. The cheddar was melted in like an omelet, and I added salt and pepper myself. It came with a thick tomato slice and fresh lettuce leaf on the side.



I'm not a vegetarian and the food at Kopi doesn't excite me very much, but it's not bad. For me, the café is a nice place for catching up with an old friend or meeting a new friend. It's comfortable, and the staff is friendly. I could sit in there for hours just talking with a friend.

E Wok Cafe

Tonight, we had dinner at E Wok Cafe on W Irving Park between Leclaire Ave and Lawler Ave in Portage Park.

We started with Crab Rangoon, which were 6 small pieces, and very crabby. They had an interesting flavor, and we think it's because there was a lot of crab. They were good. We also started with Vegetable Tempura, which was a mix of carrot, zucchini, and broccoli.

Then we ordered sushi. We ordered 3 rolls: House Deep Fried Roll (spicy assorted fish, tempura, avocado, cilantro, chef's special sauce, and unagi sauce) - We both liked it, Geisha (soft shell crab, cream cheese, tempura, avocado, crabmeat, masago, green onion, and unagi sauce) - The pieces were very large, too large, and Crunchy Spicy Tuna - I was told it was very sweet.



Overall, it's some of the better sushi we've had in Chicago. The restaurant is a hole in the wall, which we tend to like. The menu has lots of offerings. We may come back.

Egg, Brie, and apple on an English muffin

Egg, Brie, and apple on an English muffin

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 English muffins
4 slices Brie cheese
Cooking spray
2 eggs
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 pepper
4 thin slices apple

1. Cut the English muffins in half and toast them.
2. Cut the Brie slices, and place them over both English muffin sides, then broil them to melt the cheese.
3. Meanwhile, scramble the eggs in a bowl, and cook them over cooking spray. Season them with salt and pepper, and fold them up while cooking to fit nicely into the sandwich.
4. Layer the sandwiches: Bread, melted Brie, apple slice, egg, apple slice, melted Brie, bread. Enjoy!

Chicken with asparagus, pesto, and cream

Chicken with asparagus, pesto, and cream

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 tbsp olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bunch asparagus
1/4 cup basil pesto
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken. (Cut the breasts in half if they're very thick.) Heat for 6 minutes, then flip.
2. Cut the root ends off the asparagus, then add to the skillet while the chicken continues cooking for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the pesto, cream, salt, and pepper, and let it come to a boil. Then serve all together!

Bacon, egg and cheese sandwich on a pretzel bun

This recipe is the same as this one, but this time I toasted a pretzel bun instead of a bagel. It was an awesome and filling breakfast!

Foil-baked salmon and asparagus

A very easy salmon recipe!

Foil-baked salmon and asparagus

Ingredients (serves 1):

6-10 asparagus stalks
1 salmon fillet
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp butter
1 lemon

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Cut the woody root ends off the asparagus, then line them up on a piece of aluminum foil. Squeeze half of a lemon's juice over top. Place the salmon fillet over them. Season with salt and pepper. Put 2 pads of butter on top, plus 2 slices of lemon.
3. Wrap it up with the aluminum foil, and heat for 25 minutes.

Nookies Tree Restaurant

Admittedly, we were attempting to dine at another nearby restaurant that hadn't opened yet when we found ourselves at Nookies Tree Restaurant on N Halsted St between Buckingham Pl and Roscoe St in Lakeview. The restaurant seems more fitting for brunch, but we found ourselves there near dinner time. This unassuming diner has roomy booths for seating and friendly service.

I ordered the Classic Burger with cheddar cheese and bacon. It was quite underseasoned. It came with lettuce, tomato, and pickles on the side. Also, it came with cottage fries, which are basically fat, succulent potato chips.



It was okay, and not great by any means. If I happen upon the restaurant again near breakfast time, I may be tempted to try it again since they boast a large breakfast menu.

Jam 'n Honey

Recently, on a long lunch break, 3 of us dined at Jam 'n Honey on W Webster Ave between Sheffield Ave and Bissell St in Lincoln Park. I wouldn't call this a greasy spoon restaurant, but it tinkers towards that edge, and it happens to be down the street from a college. We went there anyway.

I ordered the Mexican Benedict, which is 2 poached eggs with chorizo patties, pepper and jack cheese, and chipotle hollandaise on an English muffin. I got french fries on the side. It was greasy, and filling. Nothing bad, and nothing great. Sure hangover cures all around, but if you don't have a hangover, your reaction would be the same as mine. It was just okay, and probably more fatty than I wanted to eat at the time.

I'm surely showing my age now.

The Purple Pig

The Purple Pig is on Magnificent Mile (N Michigan Ave) between Grand Ave and Illinois St. It's a popular and expensive small plates/tapas restaurant. As per most tapas places, dishes are served when they're ready without any formal dining order. Servers recommend 3-5 plates per couple, but the sizes of the dishes vary greatly. The menu is overwhelming, but the servers know it well, so don't be afraid to ask for help.

We started off by choosing 3 cheeses for the small cheese plate. It came with toasted bread slices and a sweet, chunky jam. For our cheeses, first, we chose Desperado, a cow's milk cheese that's semi-soft with a nutty flavor. Second, we chose Sunset Bay, a creamy, silky, and dense goat's milk cheese with the smoky flavor of Spanish pimentón with vegetable ash on the rind. Lastly, we chose Hook's 5 Year, a tangy cow's milk full-flavor Swiss cheese with a slightly nutty edge. A generous amount of bread was provided with the cheeses, and the jam went particularly well with Sunset Bay. The portions were quite small for the price.



Next came the turkey leg confit with crispy lentils, treviso, endive, and agrodolce. This was a pretty large plate, and well worth its cost in size and flavor. It was beautiful in it's presentation, and our favorite dish of the evening. As soon as I cut into the turkey leg, the meat fell right off the bone. Even the bone seemed to melt apart in places. The lentils added an unexpected crunch and nice texture. The sauce was flavorful without overwhelming the dish. I highly recommend ordering this. Unfortunately, I failed to snap a photo of it before we made it disappear.

Next came the pork tripe and pig's feet with chicken sausage, black-eyed peas, and pork skin breadcrumbs. On the side, there were 2 halves of toasted bread. It was a medium-large sized dish. It was very filling. The texture wasn't quite what I had expected, and it was too salty, even for me.



The Purple Pig is a fun restaurant with an interesting menu. If you want to taste something new, try it out.

Prosciutto and gouda egg sandwich

Prosciutto and gouda egg sandwich

Ingredients (serves 1):

1 egg
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 oz gouda
2 slices sourdough bread
1 slice prosciutto

1. Crack egg into a skillet over medium heat. Add salt and pepper while the egg is setting. Thinly slice the gouda, add it on top of the egg, and cover the skillet. Let the cheese melt over the egg for about 1 minute.
2. Meanwhile, toast the sourdough slices
3. Assemble the sandwich by layering the egg, cheese, then prosciutto.

Breakfast sandwich with egg, bacon, Brie, and apple

Breakfast sandwich with egg, bacon, Brie, and apple

Ingredients (serves 1):

2 turkey bacon rashers
1 egg
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 oz Brie cheese
2 slice sourdough bread
1/2 an apple

1. Fry bacon in a skillet over medium heat, flipping often until crisp.
2. Scramble egg in a bowl, and cook in another skillet over medium heat. Add salt and pepper while the egg is setting. Thinly slice the Brie, add it on top of the egg, and cover the skillet. Let the cheese melt over the egg for about 1 minute.
3. Meanwhile, toast the sourdough slices, and thinly slice the apple.
4. Assemble the sandwich by layering the egg, cheese, apple, then bacon.