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March 24, 2005
Red Light, the Dinner
After witnessing the marvel that is a Chocolate Bag on "Check, Please!" mi amor made a reservation for my birthday.
A little background for people who don't live in Chicago - "Check, Please!" is a show on PBS that features three regular Chicagoans reviewing three restaurants (each person suggests a place to review, then they all eat there and go on the show and talk about the experience). Its hosted by one of the few female sommeliers in the world. Anyway, Red Light was featured and they highlighted the Chocolate Bag.
Our night began with changing into fancy pants clothes. Then we drove to the restaurant and were seated right away. That was the last time we were served immediately. Mind you, we were taken to a table that was so close to the tables around it, the hostess had to pull the table away to let me have room to sit down (and then pushed it in so far I had no leg room left). At times, I felt like I could hear my neighbors' conversations better than mi chavo's voice.
We ordered drinks and appetizers first: I had a green lantern (Midori Sour, Rasberry Vodka, and something else) and mi chavo had a My Tai. He ordered lobster wraps (wrapped in crispy wontons) and I ordered vegetarian Vietnamese spring rolls (bits of veggies wrapped in extremely thin rice paper). Our appetizers arrived before our drinks.
Next to arrive was the wine, poured by a friendly sommelier. The guy was thrilled that we had picked a Portugese white wine that tasted like liquid metal. The sommelier raved about the wine and how well it went with their food. Mi chavo enjoyed it, but like I said, it tasted like liquid metal.
Next to arrive was the main course. The server accidentally put mi chavo's plate in front of me. When he picked it up to move it over to mi amor's side of the table, he knocked over my martini glass - breaking it and spilling my Green Lantern all over the floor. Thankfully, it didn't get on me or my neighbor. The sommelier seemed offended when I said I would like a replacement glass. (Hell yeah - sweet, bright green goodness trumps metallically wine everyday of the week!) My main course was Chicken Vindaloo - chicken with an apple potato curry; mi chavo had Mee Gha Ti - chicken stir fry with chili, mint, rice noodles, and kaffir lime coconut sauce. We also ordered a delicious side of asparagus and shitake mushrooms. The food was very good. Surprisingly large portions of everything...and then, mi chavo bit into a chili and he wasn't as happy as he had been with his "refreshing" dinner.
Eventually, I had to use the facilities...a girl can only drink so much...and that created the need to move the entire table to allow me to squeeze between it and the potted tree seated next to me. When I got back, the waiter brought my chocolate bag with a candle in it. Yay! I made a very sappy wish and blew it out. Both mi chavo and I were surprised at how small the bag was. I assume that "Check, Please!" took the picture straight on, making the bag appear much larger than it actually is. Nevertheless, it was delicious.
The Chocolate Bag is a bag made out of Belgian dark chocolate. The first thing you see is a blueberry and sliced strawberries, topped with whipped cream. Underneath that berry goodness is white chocolate mousse. Omigoodness. There is no slice of heaven better than a Chocolate Bag. I also had a latte. Mi amor had some coffee and some other dessert (coconut banana something or other - really, who cares? go for the Chocolate Bag all the way). I'm just sad I didn't save enough room to finish my bag. I stopped about half way through. Sigh.
I've decided that the waiter's bad attitude and the closeness of the tables make Red Light a place I don't need to go back to for dinner. On the other hand, saddling up to the bar for a Chocolate Bag and some brandy is something I hope to do in the near future....
Posted by cj at March 24, 2005 02:39 PM