Mike Isabella has a new restaurant, and it is modern Mexican — the BEST kind

this is what I sampled:

• Guacamole (salsa roja, masa crisps, chicharrones)
• Sikil pak (pumpkin seed, jalapeno, orange)
• Totopos (tortilla chips, ranchera, crema)
• Blue crab taquitos (coconut, red chili, purple potato)
• Octopus tacos (adobo, cucumber relish)
• Mahi Mahi tacos (chipotle, avocado, lime)
• Skirt Steak tacos (refried beans, avocado, salsa, crispy onions)
• Nachos (crispy goat, white beans, goat cheese, chile di arbol)
• Queso Fundido (duck confit, maitake, manchego, sunny egg)
• Albondigas (spicy pork meatballs, sofrito)
• Charred corn (chile, cheese, corn nuts)

they suggested we get this much food, but this much food was too much food

my favorites: chicharrones (always), blue crab taquitos (these mini tacos were very refreshing for this hot summery day), and charred corn (foodgasm: best end to meal, nice touch with the corn nuts)

the octopus was cooked really well, i must say, and the mahi mahi, though it looked like a giant fish stick, was also well prepared though i like my fish tacos with more slaw

somewhere between skirt steak tacos and nachos i was really full, so it would have been hard to please me, except the charred corn SUPER pleased me even at the end of the meal

all in all, i am really happy for mike isabella’s success even though i did not really root for him in either of his seasons of top chef.

sometimes i am too caught up in the savoring of the food to take a photo of it.  sometimes i just think it is inappropriate to take photos of my food. in any case, i think sometimes i’m just going to give you words describing my food and you’re going to have to just imagine it in your head

do not worry. i still have photos of food that i have eaten the past month or so that i have not logged

i also have baconfest photos (whaaaaa~)

i have one more thing to note.  J and i went to Whole Foods yesterday, where i stocked up on my last “major” purchases for the school year (i have enough meat in the freezer to last me until the end, so all i’ll need to stock up on are vegetables and fruits). i love Whole Foods because they have dispensers for pantry items, which gives me control: i am only one, petite person. i do not need more than 1lb of anything, and oftentimes i would prefer less than 1lb!

while not photo-documented, i found our groceries to be amusing:

my groceries

• one bottle of Redemption Rye whiskey (to reward good behavior. if that bottle is empty by finals, i must have been that productive on the daily!)
• two bottles of kefir milk - one goat, one lactose-free cow
• one carton of semi-local, cage-free hens’ egg whites
• dispensed ~2 cups raw pumpkin seeds (nut-free pesto!!)
• dispensed ~2 cups baby lima beans (i love lima beans in my shakshuka!)
• dispensed ~1 cup mung beans (to sprout)
• mason jar for sprouting
• dispensed coffee beans: Vienna roast and Extra Dark French roast (cold-brew coffee season is nigh!)

J’s groceries

• two bottles of wine
• tomato
• onion
• six pack of izze grapefruit soda

this is how we doooo it~

p.s. i got my ma drinking veggie smoothies, too! and, a friend of mine started as well, but i cannot say that had anything to do with me

sorry, guys. i have tons of photos of food for you to drool or ponder over, but they’re currently just hanging out in my camera and iPhoto gallery.  when i am not going to events (which are sort of relevant to my academic experience and future career), i am staring at a blank screen being sad i am not chatting up my friends

i will definitely post about my experience at Chicago’s 4th annual BaconFest, in which i barely ate a quarter of what was offered (bacon-flavored pop rocks, beer-braised bacon!), and how J and i poorly planned for that, and i had to sit down twice due to fullness

and, i will post about what i ate during my busy, last few weeks (EVER) of school

for now, this is my liquid diet, bc every time i bring a bag of snacks to my carrel, i eat them ALL AT ONCE (full bag of goldfish crackers last Tuesday, full bag of all natural cheddar puffs today)

do not fret. still eating three meals a day on top of my liquid diet, but pictured is a thermos of coffee, a bottle of water (i try to drink two of these while on campus + more glasses at home), and my daily veggie smoothie (feat. dandelion greens!)