Hello Chicago!

My flight was pretty smooth, but upon landing realized I was famished. I decided to check out Season 52 (their Oakbrook location). Wow! The Happy Hour menu was fantastic. It was hard to make a choice, but I finally picked two; Blistered Shishito Peppers and Grilled Chicken Yakatori skewers. Yum, yum, yum!

Blistered Shishito PeppersThe Blistered Shishito Peppers were prepared with roasted corn, goat-feta cheese, lemon aioli and sumac. What is sumac you ask? Sumac is a spice that comes from the berries of a wild bush that grows wild in Mediterranean areas, especially in Sicily and southern Italy, and parts of the Middle East, notably Iran. It is an essential ingredient in Arabic cooking, being preferred to lemon for sourness and astringency. The peppers were delicious!

The Grilled Yakitori Skewers had chicken, caramelized pineapple, slivered scallions and toasted sesam in the dish. It was a beautiful presentation and so yummy.

Now what topped off my evening wasn’t even the food. I decided to finish up my dinner with a cocktail at the bar. I be-friended the lady sitting next to me. She mentioned she was in her late forties, divorced and in a dead end relationship for the past four years. She’s had a tough life and most of it spent on her own. But she’s reinventing herself, she’s moving to Houston June 1st to be close to her two daughters and her grandson. One would think this woman would be down on relationships, yet what was her tone? Hopeful. She is looking to find love again. She said that she is a good person and what if she bumped into a guy at the bar of a restaurant and accidentally spilled his drink… She would apologize profusely and then he would buy her a drink and they would find out that they had so much in common and eventually they would marry. This was a conversation not only about hope but about inspiration, and it was the ultimate meet cute. I loved our visit and can’t wait to start my day tomorrow preparing for the 2018 Spring Fling Writers’ Conference.