strawberries in paris

Home Bistro Chicago

Let me just say that the dinner experience at Home Bistro was the best in my life! We brought the party to this joint for sure and to top it off the food was AMAZING!! Check out my mussels which came with TRUFFLE fries!

April knew beforehand that it was BYOB (yay Chicago rocks!) so we brought a bottle of Pinot Grigio and as we stepped up to the restaurant we realized it probably would be advantageous to get another! Our table was not ready yet so the maitre d brought us four glasses to enjoy the Pinot and we asked if there was a good wine shop in the neighborhood and there was! The Kafka wine store was awesome! And they were playing Mika in the store! We picked up a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc (my favorite type of white). We then scurried back (ever so gracefully in our fabulous garb) to the bistro and continued our pre-dinner happy hour at the maitre d station.

The chef, JonCarl greeted us and we started chatting it up. It turns out that he lived in Mt.Vernon for a couple of years and has family from Dundalk/Sparrows Point! He insisted on employing the “Hon” voice the rest of our stay!! LOVE IT!!

We got the almond stuffed dates for our appetizer, which by the way are wrapped in bacon and baked with brown sugar. Can we say food orgasm?? Wow! April had had these before and boy are we glad we went for them!

The food amazingness continued with our entrées. I got the amsterdam style mussels which were cooked in a beer broth with anise, dried basil, and garlic. So fresh and tasty! Did I ever tell you that the truffle mushroom is god’s best food innovation ever? I live for truffles.

April got the sautéed white fish that came atop a manhattan clam chowder with celery seed butter. She thoroughly enjoyed it!

Gina went for some real meat and got the smoked pork and crawfish sausage! It sat atop a shrimp creole risotto with a basil puree and old bay. OLD BAY! IN CHICAGO! craziness I swear, craziness. The sausage definitely had an amazing flavor.

Lastly, Laurita got the special- a chicken cacciatore. She could not stop saying how it tasted just like grandma’s homemade chicken soup (which btw is amazing). Clean Plate Club for sure!

But the party did not stop! We got dessert and it was incredibly delectable! A chocolate chocolate chip bundt cake atop a creme chantilly with chocolate syrup.

YAY for amazing times in Chicago! CANNOT wait to go back!