Alinea creators coming to Fulton Market with Next Restaurant and The Aviary!

Brought to me by the weekly Fulton River District Association bulletin, the creators of the world-famous restaurant, Alinea, are making their presence known in the Fulton Market.  Currently under construction, two new businesses are taking shape at 953-955 W. Fulton Market.  

Next Restaurant will explore world cuisine and instead of taking reservations, your booking will be made more like a theater or a sporting event where your tickets will be fully inclusive of all charges, including dining service.  Obviously, ticket prices will depend on the time and day of your visit. 

The Aviary won’t technically be defined as a bar or a lounge, really.  They’ll have chefs producing the drinks so not only will they have the classic cocktails, but you can bet they’ll have some amazing and beautiful cocktails to compliment the menu at Next Restaurant. 

Both Next Restaurant and The Aviary are slated to open later this year. 

Chef Grant Achatz of Alinea and one of his food creations.

Awesome barbecue at Smoque BBQ. Ribs, Brisket, Mac-n-Cheese, Cornbread, Ahhh!

Soooo, the other day my friend and I had quite the Chicago food adventure.  First we paid our second visit to Smoque BBQ and then it was on to Mac-n-Cheese Pizza over at Ian’s Pizza.  But of course I’ve already posted about Ian’s so now it’s all about Smoque BBQ in Chicago’s Irving Park neighborhood.  Located at 3800 N. Pulaski Road, Smoque has been featured on tons of Chicago media outlets and even Diners Drive-in’s and Dives on Food Network.

When you’re walking up to Smoque, you can already smell the smokey goodness and when you get inside, it’s even better.  It’s totally no frills, you look up at a huge menu written in chalk, order up at the register, and then take a seat at one of the packed tables.

I ordered the Sliced Brisket Platter which comes with cole slaw and two sides (mac-n-cheese and fries) for $10.45.  My friend ordered the Sliced Brisket Platter and cole slaw with peach cobbler and cornbread for $10.45.  He also ordered an extra ‘taste’ of pulled pork for an additional $3.00.

I definitely recommend that everyone check out Smoque as soon as possible because you wont be disappointed.  The brisket was so tender and flavorful and their BBQ sauce isn’t your typical mass produced sauce.  Smoque is open every day of the week except for Mondays but definitely check out Smoque’s website for a menu and more! 

Photos courtesy of the uncrate website.

Mac & Cheese Cheese Pizza at Ian’s Pizza by the Slice in the heart of Wrigleyville!

Yes, you read right…mac & cheese pizza.  As weird as this sounds, thanks to a couple friends, I recently had the pleasure of eating a piece a month or so ago.  The pizza was forever engrained in my mind so the other day I was driving through Wrigleyville and I had to go back in to Ian’s Pizza by the Slice and get a slice of their mac & cheese pizza.

Ian’s Pizza by the Slice, located at 3463 N. Clark Street, offers a ton of different pizza’s and a lot of them aren’t the normal cheese and pepperoni.  This month’s special is a sloppy joe pizza which has the meat, pickles, french fries and more on top of it.  And as odd as that sounds, I bet it tastes awesome.  Check out Ian’s website for their pizza of the week special.  Each large specialty pizza slice is $3.75.

Mac & Cheese Pizza. Photo courtesy of Time Out Chicago