Game #35 – Cubs vs. Cards / Restaurant #26 Wood

Game #35 – Cubs vs. Cards / Restaurant #26 Wood

Saturday, August 18, 2013

Heather, Wigs, Kevin & Julie

Another gorgeous day today! Since it was so nice out, we decided to go in early for batting practice. We stopped at the little grocery store next to Tango Sur for empanadas to bring in for lunch (corn, spinach and chicken – yum!!). We have to remember to include empanadas in our rotation for lunch. There is another place (café nola) over by the Jewel that also has them, so we’ll have to go there too. T-shirt giveaway today – it was a Large (vs. the normal XL) – the 1908 bear logo. Cute!

 

Another good crowd today (41,981) – this time the stadium was full all around, with of course lots of Card fans. Both yesterday and today, the Card players looked like they were having fun with the fans during batting practice. I was feeling optimistic after yesterday’s win, and our All Star Travis Wood on the mound. And things started out pretty well – the first inning had fly balls to each of the outfielders, 7, 8 and 9 in that order. Ha ha. Wood didn’t give up any hits until the 4th inning. He got on base in the 3rd, and then was hanging out there for a while (no runs scored), so don’t know if that affected him?? (It shouldn’t!) In the 4th, back to back doubles scored an RBI for Beltran (!). In the 5th, another run scored on huge mental mistake by Castro on shallow fly ball, allowing a runner to tag up from 3rd. He did eventually throw home, but not in time to get the out. 2 zip Cards. Kevin is still bitter about this – don’t ask him about it. I read later that the ump called the infield fly rule, which is weird cuz the ball was in the outfield and Castro was actually waving off Junior Lake.

 

Next inning, Castro no longer in the field. Donnie Murphy (our team leading .333 hitter) moved to short from 3rd and they brought in Ransom to play 3rd. So there, Starlin Castro! Cards tacked on another 2 runs via homer from Yadier Molina. I think this was his first game back after being on DL??? And Cubs had nothing. 5 hits, 7 left on base.

 

After the game, guess where??? You know it. Had a couple drinks here and then headed over to Wood for dinner (on Halsted in Boystown). We actually went to the wrong place (MiniBar, I think), and the waiter had brought us water. We were debating on having a drink cuz we felt bad, but Wigs had called Wood to get a table, and we didn’t want to make them wait. So we tipped the waiter for the water. Sorry dude – that was the easiest $5 you made all night! Wood was next door, and they had an awesome patio on a side street off Halsted, so it was not as noisy. Really cute.

 

This place had both small and large plates, so we ordered a bunch of stuff to share. Heather, Wigs and Kevin started with fancy drinks (whiskey for Wigs, gin for Kevin, and vodka (??) for Heather). I went right to wine since I had a whiskey drink at Bernie’s before we left : )

Here’s what we ordered - Small Plates:

• Cheese plate – 4 different types of cheeses, served with jam (yum!) and bread
• Oxtail Ragout – saffron risotto and shelly beans. This was Heather’s favorite.
• Tagliatelle – merguez sausage, tomatoes and nicoise olives
• Scallops – shelly beabs, bell peppers, tomato & Italian sausage. This was Wigs’ favorite.
• Country Ham Flatbread – raclette cheese, kale and mornay sauce

Large Plates:

• Whole Roasted Fish – Branzino (meaning head and tail). Kevin did a fantastic job deboning this; even the waiter complimented him! This was my favorite.
• Catalpa Grove Pork – sweet corn fritters, blistered pardon peppers and smoked cherry sauce. This was Kevin’s favorite.

I had gone inside to go to the restroom, and it was totally fancy in there with people all dressed to impress. And here I was in my Cubs shirt. Oh well.

 

Check out all the accolades according to their website:
WINNER, 2013 MICHELIN BIB GOURMAND AWARD
Zagat: "Chicago's Hottest New Restaurants"
Michigan Avenue Magazine: "Best Places to Dine 2013"
Celebrity Chef Art Smith: "Every dish was beautiful and tasted wonderful."
2013 Award: World's Best Bars
Phil Vettel, Chicago Tribune: "Every single dish is impressive."
Chicago Eater: "Wood has achieved a reputation as a go-to for interesting dishes and cocktails."
Chicago Social: "Chef Ashlee Aubin is turning out what have become some of our favorite dishes of the year— "

 

I agree that the food was really good, and I would definitely go back. But dressed better : )

 

Recap:

 

Cubs Lose 4-0

 

My season record: Visitors 23, Cubs 12

 

Parking update: No update today