Observations on Dining Alone

I just came off of #3 of 3 solo dining experiences here in the Windy City. This time at a nuveau vegetarian joint called the Green Zebra. Delightful small plates - including fresh burrata cheese, warm blue cheese tart with pea tendrils and caraway gnocchi with Brussels sprouts and a sweet pickle garnish. Don't even get me started on the mind-bending apple bignets with Riesling reduction sauce.

But, in enjoying this amazing gourmet meal, I realized the absolute worst part about dining alone is not the tiny, conspicuous table the host always seats a single at in the center of the room ... but rather, that I didn't have someone to share the dishes with. I would gladly have given up half of my apple bignets to Marc in exchange for half of whatever delicious dessert he would have ordered ... probably the dark chocolate cake thing.

The Sweet Allure of an Organic Cocktail

This morning I managed to get a reservation at a restaurant I've been dreaming about for months (maybe even a year or more) - Frontera Grill. I've seen Chef Rick Bayless on Iron Chef America, hosting his show on PBS and we've even featured his menus on WildOats.com more than once. I'm a sucker for celebrity chef-type restaurants and even more so for Mexican cuisine, so a stop at Frontera was a no-brainer.

The past two days have been miserable in terms of eating organic here in the Windy City. Last night's meal was the greasiest fish and chips I've had since I lived in Swansea, Wales and I washed it down with 3, (count 'em - 3!) Crown and Ginger cocktails - courtesy of a vendor who was "treating" me. Today was a whole lot of HFCS-laden candy supplied at the conference and no lunch.

With a wee bit of a headache nagging me all day, I swore I would NOT drink at dinner tonight. Dessert, perhaps ... but I promised myself it would be a bubbly Pelligrino with dinner. Tomorrow is my big presentation at the conference, so I wanted to make sure I would feel tip top for it.

That is, until I flipped open the Frontera menu to discover a delightful concoction called a Blood Orange Margarita that featured fresh ORGANIC lime juice. How could I turn down my first opportunity to have an organic fruit? So, I went for it .... and man, was it delicious. Not too potent, so I'm not worried about ruining my speaking career tomorrow ... must have been the positive effects of the organic citrus outweighing the negative effects of Cointreau and Tequila.

Oh - and I actually caught a glimpse of Chef Bayless himself, winding through the narrow rows of tables. I thought maybe he would feel sorry for me, being the only person in the 20-table restaurant sitting alone, and stop by to greet me ... but he didn't. Heartless bastard.

So - cocktail was great (and I refrained from ordering a second round - yeah for personal restraint!) and dinner was amazing. Caramelized onions and poblano peppers is my new favorite addition to fish tacos. The bad news was that after all but licking the fresh mashed guacamole off my plate, I was too stuffed to order, let alone enjoy, the Tres Leches cake on the menu. Next time, I'll get a to-go.

Forgive Me Mother, For I Have Sinned

My niece's 4th birthday is next Sunday. She likes presents. And candy. I like to make her happy ... which I haven't seemed to figure out how to do in an environmental "green" sort of way, yet.

At our wedding last year, Maddy was the first to take a whack at our pinata, which she seemed to get a great deal of joy out of (see picture). So, I thought it would be fun to put together a pinata for her birthday party friends to take turns with.

While I'm not too concerned over the thin paper mache pinata itself ... what I chose to fill it with brings me some concern. Sponge Bob SquarePants bubbles, Skittles, Bubbalicious Gum, Twizzlers, LipSmackers lip balm ... if it's not encased in plastic, it contains toxic Red Dye #40, high fructose corn syrup, petroleum by-products or all the other nastiness I am working so hard to remove from my own life.

I'm feeling really guilty for buying these cheap treats for Maddy's birthday friends. The trash I've created and the horrible toxic sugar rush I'm going to "treat" these kids to next Sunday is weighing heavily on me.

Or, maybe it's the 2 Twizzlers and bag of snack size Skittles I just munched that's making me feel so miserable.