When Champaign-Urban announced their 4th annual Restaurant Week I was skeptical. For a town where a lot people consider Longhorn Steakhouse's New York Strip and fried onion to be the culinary experience of their lifetime, I had given up on any lofty foodie aspirations. However, there are some good restaurants in the area and I am a willing patron of those facilities. Anyway, I had heard about special menus and discounted prices and thought, why not?
But I must preface this with the first locale was as crazy random happenstance and was not on the CU Restaurant Week roster. First stop: Sweet Indulgence.
I had never heard of this place. I live on the other side of town and hardly ever venture past a 2 miles radius of my home, with the exception of work. Bryan and I wanted a small bite before dinner and just drove past a strip mall with a small little bakery. When the sign makes you laugh, you have to go in and at least take a look.
The shop was littered with little confections that instantly gave me a toothache. Cupcakes the size of softballs, cookies, tarts, cakes, and of course a barista to help you wash down your sweets with a kick of caffeine.
"Love at First Sight" cupcake. Marble cake with chocolate ganache, buttercream and cherry pie filling
Mini coconut cream pie
Pomegranate Italian soda, amazing
On our way back home, I noticed a swarm of geese flying to a pond on the side of a road. Hopped up on Italian soda and chocolate, I convinced Bryan to pull over to seek out the geese. Turns out, they were some of hundreds of geese that gathered on a frozen pond in the middle of Champaign. I ran to the body of water and seized a rare opportunity for a Hawaii born girl and walked onto the solid water. Amongst the distant honking from what seemed like 400 geese, Bryan and I soaked in the last bits of sunlight and watched the sunset on a frozen pond.
Walking on a frozen pond
Hanging out with geese
Terrified on ice
Frozen
Bryan and I have been meaning to visit Escobar's for a long time, but couldn't make it work until now. With Restaurant Week and wedding planning in full swing, there was no better time to go out and relax.
Duck taquitos with guacamole and simple salad
Roasted duck breast with pureed ginger sweet potatoes, grilled pear, fried plantains and mixed veggies
Grilled steak with chimichurri sauce, chorizo rice and mixed veggies
I saw something on No Resevrations when Tony Bourdain went to Brazil. They mentioned something called a caipirinhia. "What the heck is that?" I thought to myself. Fast forward several months and we found ourselves at Radio Maria for drinks thanks to their $5 caipirinhia special. Imagine a gimlet with rum or a mojito with tons of lime and no mint. That's the sweet spot that we found ourselves in tonight. Just in case I ordered a house infused raspberry vodka cosmo, since rum can have disastrous effects on my health and well being.
Caipirinhia and raspberry cosmo
Not bad for a Thursday. So while I sit in the cold waiting for Spring to come, at least I can say that I've had a few Winter experiences that will stay with me forever.
-Akemi-chan
No comments:
Post a Comment