Start Living the Luxe Life

Do you have perfectly good clothes, shoes or even vases lying around the house that you aren't using any more? Everyone should be nodding right now. Clean out your closet and fill up your wallet with the newest Chicago-based luxury auctioneer, Luxe Life Auctions. Luxe Life Auctions will sell your goodies for you and you don't even have to lift a finger. Seriously, they will even come and pick your items up for free!

This online auction house is based in Chicago and offers shoppers the opportunity to buy and sell new, vintage and collectible items ranging from coveted designer clothing and accessories to rare books, coins, antique, furs and more. The transactions take place online but the Luxe Life Auctions' Valuation Center, located at 744 North Clark, was designed by Bravo's "Top Design" winner Matt Lorenz. (Check out his amazing design studio!) In the store, you can get information from service associates that will assist with valuation and assessment consultations.

One of two shopping niches you can use to browse online while you're in the store. You can deliver your items in-person or take advantage of the complimentary pick-up service.

My favorite part of this beautiful space: the bathroom! I especially love the framed black and white photos of famous old celebrities.

Luxe Life Auctions Valuation Center is now open in River North at 744 North Clark. Now is as good of time as ever to clean out those closets!

Drinks only at Paramount Room

I've been to Paramount Room for drinks before and loved the inventive cocktails and subdued atmosphere. So naturally when my friend Brian and I were trying to plan a dinner party, we decided it would be a good spot. I was very attracted to the bar because I loved how you walk in to a smaller bar and then once you head downstairs, the room opens up to this huge beautiful space.

As usual the cocktails were killer. The drink menu has been updated since, but I had a Pimm's cinnamon concoction that was dangerously delicious. We waited for a LONG time for appetizers and our waitress politely told us they would be on the house because of the delay. Appetizers were pretty good as far as bar food - skinny fries, homemade chips, tempura green beans. My friends gushed about the mussels. Everything was going great until the entrees came. Everyone in town raves about their famous $9 Kobe Beef Burger ($10 for a Kobe Burger and a Pint every day before 7pm) but I'm sad to report that they just didn't live up to the fame. Now for those of you who know me, I'm not a huge red meat eater anyways, so I polled the table for their opinion. Kobe or not, the burgers were just very average. There weren't many options on the menu, but I inquired about the Mahi Mahi and the waitress agreed it was a good choice. Wow, bad idea. When she set the plate down, I immediately knew what was wrong by the smell. It had turned. And this isn't battered or fried old fish. This was a plain old sautéed fish sitting there looking at me. I took a bite and my suspicions were confirmed. The waitress felt horrible and was very sweet about the whole situation, but come on. It was touted as the "Fresh Fish of the Day" on the menu. Really??

Paramount Room started as a great after work drink spot in my mind, but if their claim to fame burger isn't up to par, and the rest of the menu is so hit or miss, a drink spot it will stay.

On a more positive note, take a look at this place. Not what you'd expect for a basement!

Graham Elliott

This weekend I had a mini family reunion with the women of my family. Everyone came in to Chicago so the pressure was on for me to pick good dining spots. Friday night we went to Hub51 which was dependably delicious, and I chose to go to Frontera Grill on Saturday. To make a very long and painful story short, two of Frontera's hostesses gave me horrible advice to just show up at 6pm for a table. When we did, the wait was three hours. Ten minutes after they opened, the wait was three hours. Okay, so that wasn't that short... anyways... my cousin had suggested Graham Elliot and low and behold they were able to seat the five us right away. They graciously and politely were able to accommodate us on a busy Saturday night. Take notes Frontera - I don't go around town saying you were my favorite restaurant and then come in to see a snotty, rude hostess look at me like I'm from Mars when I ask for a table.

Back to Graham Elliot! Interior was minimal but the organic tones and exposed brick walls paired well with natural decorations of bundled sticks and gourds. First up: cocktails. I'm usually one to experiment and try a few different varieties, but not when I encounter such a perfect cocktail. The "Blueberry Hill" includes Hendrick's gin, blueberry compote and a newcomer for me - creme de violette. I'm always a fan of blueberry, but this was unlike any blueberry concoction I've had before. My cousin Venessa was a big fan of the "London Calling" as well. Now for food. As a preview of the interesting and fun food to follow, GE started off with a bang serving us truffle oil-infused popcorn instead of the usual bread. This popcorn is legitimately addictive. When combined with the martinis, it is just lethal.

Even though I was tempted to do the tasting menu for $75 (NOT a bad deal at all once you taste this amazing food), I declined and ordered the sweet potato bisque. This was not your average soup. The bisque was poured table side over a big marshmallow, chipotle jam and corn nuts. Yep you read that right, corn nuts. The combination of creamy and crunchy was amazing. Next course: I split the scallops and the duck ravioli. The duck ravioli was great, but the scallops were to die for. As perfect as scallops can get in my opinion. But I did have one regret... my cousin Susan ordered the Wisconsin Cheddar Risotto and when it came out with Cheez-its on top, I immediately had to have a bite. Cheez-its? For all you Top Chef fans, it reminded me of the vending machine challenge - looks like snack food can truly be gourmet if you do it right.

And last but certainly not least, dessert. The "Caramel Heirloom Apple" was like a deconstructed apple pie with shortbread cookie, rings of apples, toasted nuts and caramel that combine to make the most delicious bite. I'm actually still thinking about how fresh and sweet that yummy dessert was. Finish it off with another Blueberry Hill and that was quite the delectable meal. I love food that isn't taken too seriously, and not only is Graham Elliot's food amazing, but it's clear he is having as much fun making it as we are eating it.

Cheddar Risotto - complete with Cheez-it garnish.

Taste for Tapas?

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Eivissa, a latin-inspired tapas restaurant in Old Town. I went with a large group of girls from work and so we had set up a tasting menu ahead of time. I'll tell you right off the bat, that is the way to do it. We tasted over 10 of the dishes and even though there were some misses, the majority were very delightful. Here is a quickie guide to their extensive menu...

Avoid:
- Patatas al aioli. The menu says potatoes in a creamy garlic sauce, but it was actually more like mayonnaisey potato salad.
- Chicken meatballs. They aren't on the menu, but if they are on special when you are there, politely avoid that at all costs. The meatballs were so tough and stringy it was hard to even get a knife through. Under seasoned and underwhelming.

Order:
- Paella. We had the vegetarian version, and it was full with chunks of eggplants and peppers - big hit with the whole table.
- Patatas bravas (aka crispy potatoes). Nothing out of the ordinary, but these fry wedges were a solid side dish.
- Croquetas de pollo y jamon. Basically yummy little baked ham and cheese nuggets. Seemed a little like kid food, but hey, everyone loves nuggets.

- Fish meatballs. As I said earlier, all of the meatballs must have been a special or a new addition, but what the chicken meatballs lacked, the fish meatballs hit out of the park. They were incredibly flavorful with giant chunks of fresh fish rolled up into a breadcrumb concoction that thankfully did not have an overwhelming binding agent.

- Datiles en jamondates. Dates wrapped in ham and stuffed with almonds. These were hands down the highlight of the meal for me. Perfectly executed and presented.

Now let's get down to business. Food is overshadowed at Eivissa by a strong and powerfully delicious element: SANGRIA. From the delicate white sangria flavored with Acai to the sinfully delectable red sangria with its notes of vanilla and cinnamon. They were sinfully delicious and some of the most delicious sangria I've ever had in my life. Right next to Second City, so grab your significant other, get a few apps, a glass of sangria... or nine... and have a good laugh.

Not a great pic, but you can see it's spacious and I really liked the birch covered walls.

Couldn't find a veggie pic, but here is the seafood paella.

MAIN ATTRACTION: Red & White wine Sangrias.

New life at New Line

New Line Tavern is a new restaurant/bar in the West Loop that took over the former Powerhouse restaurant at Clinton and Lake. (No website yet, but this will do for now) Same layout, but they've spruced it up a bit and took the menu from fancy seafood/steakhouse to dependably delicious bar food. I've been there a few times since it opened and can successfully say it has made it to my happy hour arsenal. Every time I've been there the staff has been attentive, drinks are well made and the food is a little inventive, but still maintains the qualities of the bar food everyone loves.

Today I had the BBQ Black Bean Burger which had a great consistency as far as veggie burgers go and was perfection when paired with the pretzel bun. They were very accommodating about altering the items too which I really appreciate, so instead of fried I had hummus and pita. Although I did regret not upgrading to the New Line Fries which were deliciously sprinkled with asiago cheese.

Best part of all, this place is very affordable. Our big burgers with sides and a drink came out to $12 each. A great lunch or after work option. Just be careful after work - it's a small space so it fills up very quickly.

Better late than never...

I know I've only lived in Chicago for (almost) three years, but there are still so many staples that I have yet to discover. Finally able to cross one off this weekend.

Mon Ami Gabi is located in the historic Belden Stratford hotel and has established a very solid reputation around the city. I literally asked two of my favorite foodie gals and they both separately said Mon Ami Gabi was their favorite place in the city. So naturally when it came around for me to plan a date night, I knew I had to do it.

Things at Mon Ami Gabi did not start off so good. First of all, the room was very, very small and they were artfully squeezing as many people in as possible. Next, we arrived at 7:58 for our 8pm reservation and the hostess asked us if we would wait for a bit because our table won't be ready until "closer to 8." So like I suspected, the second we stepped out of the restaurant, they came looking for us. Last but not least, the place was so tightly packed that they had to move out the table for me to scoot in. Once I was sitting the waiter than signaled for Rob to scoot in next to me. When there is a perfectly good chair on the other side. Okay, okay, sorry to offend anyone, but am I the only one who still wants to be able to look her date in the eye during a meal? I constantly make fun of people who eat next to each other and hardly even eat, they just feed bites to each other, make out the entire time and make everyone around them lose their appetite. Sorry, but save the romance for after dinner. Thank you. So now here I am, elbow to elbow with my date. Ugh.

Now on to better news: the food was amazing. House wine was inexpensive and surprisingly good. Escargot was great. Rob's peppercorn steak was amazing, and topped only by the giant heaving pile of yummy steak frites. NOTE: I ate the frites all by myself - he did NOT feed them to me. Even though it probably would have been easier since he kept elbowing me throughout the meal. Anyways... I had ahi tuna that was served with heavenly potatoes and spinach. For dessert we picked a trio of ice cream stuffed profiteroles. Looked and tasted great, but so difficult to cut and eat that when we were finished you would have thought we tied our hands behind our back and went to town.

It's tough for me to call this an absolute win because most of these kinks I'd expect out of a newer restaurant. But despite a couple initial strikes against it, Mon Ami saved itself in the end with delicious food.

The Belden-Stratford Hotel houses Mon Ami Gabi as well as fellow Lettuce Entertain You restaurant L20. Going to have to wait for quite the special occasion before trying that one out!