The other day, a friend and I went to eat at Al Bawadi, a Mediterranean restaurant in Bridgeview, IL. The restaurant is located along a busy road, lined by an endless stretch of strip malls. Despite initial impressions, the suburb is unique; Bridgeview boasts a growing Muslim population, a large community mosque, and many Arab-run businesses.

Our favorite place to share good food with friends is Rocco’s Little Italy. Each table has the olive oil and parmesan cheese for dipping the basket of bread while sipping a fragrant merlot. Our perfect beginning to the meal is a bowl of homemade pasta fagioli that warms the soul, or the house “garbage” salad tossed with gorgonzola which pairs perfectly with garlic bread for sopping up the tangy house Italian dressing. My favorite entrée is the house specialty of baked spinach ravioli in gorgonzola sauce.

I still think about the goat cheese spinach dip. The fish tacos haunt my dreams. I pine for the three-layer chocolate cake with the longing of an addict. If I would’ve known that was to be my last meal out in a restaurant, I would have slowly savored every bite. I would have snuck another sip of my husband’s beer.

I love Googie architecture. If you're not familiar, it's that Mid-century, slightly kitschy form of design that was all the rage in the 1950s.  Full of boomerangs and kidney shapes and starbursts, its height of popularity coincided with interest in space travel and all its trappings: rockets, atomic energy, parabolas, flying saucers.  George Jetson lived in a Googie world.

We had dinner with our friends the W**** at one of my favorite restaurants, Inovasi in Lake Bluff.  A delightful place in an unlikely spot, as Lake Bluff is not know for fine dining, but that has changed since Inovasi arrived 2 ½ years ago.  “Inovasi” means innovation in Indonesian, and it is an apt name for this restaurant.

The second time I went to Girl & the Goat was my most memorable experience. They sat my friend and I at the chef’s table and every part of it was amazing. It was a fully sensory experience—from watching the food prepared in front of us, smelling the aromas that flooded out of the kitchen, feeling the heat of the ovens & the texture of the food & tasting it all once it finally arrived.

From time to time we will now be posting raw interviews and behind the scenes footage from season 11 of Check, Please!.

I've never had a bad meal or a bad experience at Greek Islands. You can always count on the food being  fresh, delicious and well-prepared. The gyros meat is always tender and juicy; the chicken is never over or under cooked; and you know that the ingredients they use are going to be the freshest available. I love going there because I know that the tzaiki sauce will be tart and creamy just the way I like it and that the saganaki will be delicious and perfectly prepared.

 

Patricia is a graduate student at DePaul University who enjoys traveling,