Smoque BBQ

You guys.

This, without a doubt, is my favorite restaurant in all of Chicago.

BEHOLD, THE ALMIGHTY SMOQUE:

Image 1. THE LEGEND.

Sola Restaurant

Now that I'm working, posting regularly has been a monumental challenge. So much so, in fact, that the restaurant that I'm about to review was one that I visited over a month ago. Unfortunately, our need for money and sleep can interfere with our hobbies sometimes.

A couple months ago, I found a Groupon for Hawaiian- and Asian-inspired New American food. Intrigued, I Googled the restaurant and was shocked to find that it was within walking distance of where I lived. That's when I knew I had to pay Sola Restaurant in North Center a visit.

Image 1. The ambiance

The interior of the restaurant was lit with a grid of those Asian rice paper lamps that you often see at Chinese New Year Festivals suspended from the ceiling. Although you can't tell from this picture, there was also a faux fireplace that added to the aura of warmth. They were also playing Radiohead's "High and Dry" in the background, which is one of my favorite songs by my favorite band.

s'more cupcakes

If you have been baking for a long time, you already know that s'more cupcakes are nothing new. However, you will find that the modular nature of s'more ingredients leads to a variety of interpretations when it comes to translating this campfire dessert into cupcake form. Today, I will share mine.

Image 1. My s'more cupcake

Fun fact: I finally bought a piping bag, but I had my kitchen redone and I lost it in the process. That would be why the frosting looks like white poo. A tragic tale, indeed.

WNTD: Wonton wrapper ravioli

Welcome to my new segment, "What Not To Do (WNTD)," in which I share my various culinary catastrophes with you. The first post is a pretty epic one, so I'm not sure how I'm ever going to top this...but moving on.

As you may or may not know, I had previously vowed to never make ravioli from scratch again after the Great Ravioli Adventure of Valentine's Day 2014. However, I had heard through the proverbial grapevine that wonton wrappers make excellent ravioli shells, so when I ran into some at the grocery store, I naturally had to pick them up.

Image 1. Innocent wonton wrappers...or are they?

Bulgogi

For a while I debated whether to put this on my MOTD section or in here, because while I technically have a recipe, it is nearly identical to my Korean-style baby back ribs recipe, which makes this whole post rather redundant. After much rumination, I decided that I had to share, partly because the recipe turned out so well and partly because it is my first true Korean recipe on this blog.

Bulgogi (불고기) roughly translates to English as "fire-roasted beef," which I always thought was odd; how else would you roast beef if not with fire? Nevertheless, bulgogi is also the most universally loved Korean dish in existence; even if you've never had Korean food before, you will enjoy this.

Image 1. Bulgogi marinating