Weekend Recap: Family Fun & Food Comas

Ooph. Monday. I was not quite ready for you to arrive.

We have had quite the weekend here and I am certainly feeling the effects of it. Alex's brother Patrick was up from Dallas this weekend and we have had so a great time visiting with him. Aside from the fact that he's just a lot of fun, Patrick is a big food and restaurant lover (like me!) and he has an affinity for good/rare beer too. Needless to say, Chicago was the perfect place for him to visit-- and his visit was the perfect reason for us to do a little culinary exploration... and indulging.

Proof that Patrick was here: Exotic beers in our fridge.

We took Patrick to Piece Pizzeria & Brewery on his first night here. It was 90+ degrees out and their AC was broken. Yikes! We still really wanted pizza, so we suffered through it and got by with a plate fan manned by Alex and a trip over to iCream for dessert.

As a belated birthday present to Patrick, we took a much anticipated trip to the Publican for dinner this weekend. I won't divulge too much about the meal (because I plan on telling you more later in a restaurant recap post), but what I will say is that it was one of the best meals I have ever had. Also, even as someone who could usually take or leave meat, this restaurant really puts the emphasis on it and it is really good.

Proof positive: the brothers (below) with mouths full of pork.

One of Patrick's only requests for a weekend activity was to make a trip to the Map Room in Bucktown. This bar serves up over 200 different beers, which represent over 26 different brewing styles. Basically, it was heaven for Patrick.

We introduced Patrick to one of his brother's favorite guilty pleasures: Glazed & Infused doughnuts. That one in front is a blackberry-goat cheese bismark. So good.

On Saturday we went up to Montrose Beach for Alex's company picnic. It was a beautiful day for some architects to let loose on the beach volleyball court. And per usual (and to our delight), the picnic was catered by Smoque-- one of Chicago's best barbecue joints.

And we finished off our weekend by gorging ourselves at Little Goat on Sunday night. After an amazing dinner at Girl & the Goat last year I have been dying to visit Stephanie Izard's diner across the street. Many of Patrick's foodie friends recommended a visit to Girl & the Goat, but since reservations there are few and far between at the last minute we decided on Little Goat instead. And a 20 minute wait on a Sunday evening? Perfect.

I'll be sharing more details on the food later, but here's a little sneak peek into how good it was: Patrick ready to dig into his bullseye french toast.

We're headed to Farmhouse tonight before Patrick's late night flight home... we'll miss having you here, brother!