Ethiopian Diamond and Valois

Hannah and I always look forward to the dinner adventure with Candace and Roscoe. Most of the time, Grace join us as well to explore food from different parts of the world (and yet within Chicago!). This time, Mark (a semi-retired scientist from Eugene Chang's lab) suggested, and brought us to Ethiopian Diamond. I have never heard of Ethiopian food before, so naturally, I was eagerly looking forward to it.

When we entered the restaurant, there was a band playing jazz, and we joked that it seemed a bit out of place :) It was much nicer after that band that there was more ethnic Ethiopian musical performance (at least I thought it was). 

We ordered two samplers so that we could a taste of what the restaurant got to offer. This is a restaurant that you wouldn't want to go with someone you are not comfortable with. Everything is served on a single huge metal-plate in the middle of the table, and you are supposed to use your hand, use a piece injera and pinched some food (meat/ vegetables) off the metal-plate, and put it in your mouth...  The injera is a sourdough-risen flatbread, and has an unique, spongy texture. It was a interesting and unique food experience, and Mark kept us entertained with his interesting stories throughout the dinner.

Cost is reasonable, and splitting the bills between all the friends makes it even more affordable. Do not waste the food - if you can't finish, make sure to use a take-away box, because the injera soak up all the flavor, and tasted even better the next day!

Ethiopian Diamond

6120 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL 60660

(773) 338-6100
https://www.ethiopiandiamondrestaurants.com/

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We have been to Valois Restaurant at Hyde Park more than a couple of times since we moved to Chicago, but have yet to write anything about it. It was memorial day, and Hannah and I decided to go there for brunch :) Valois is a no-fuss restaurant offering standard breakfast/ lunch - eggs, harshbrown, steak, coffee and of course, bacon. It is probably a good idea to know what you want as you queue up to place your order because they usually have the "cranky" guy taking orders, and the "happy" person collecting cash at the end of the queue. You definitely do not want to make the "cranky" guy unhappy. The restaurant is a very smooth operation, and sometimes I wondered how did they get everyone's order correctly even though there is no paperwork, and everyone is just shouting orders out to each other in the open-kitchen. And Valois only accept cash, so get those bills ready.

As I said - no fuss.. so go in, order, sit down and enjoy your food. As Hannah put it "her everything omelette is pretty much the best deal ever!"

Valois Restaurant

1518 E. 53rd Street

Chicago, Illinois  60615(773) 667-0647
http://www.valoisrestaurant.com/

Updates

Spring is here! Hannah and I were pleasantly surprised that the orchids are blooming for two years in a row! We bought these orchids last summer, and thought they wouldn't bloom for a while. However, I guess I have the making of a "plant whisperer" :), and they are rewarding us with a display of vibrant colors. The apartment has come together nicely, still working on a lot of places, but things are shaping up. My favorite place in the apartment (so far) is the sun-room. It is filled with succulents, orchids, birds-of-paradise, palm and also not forgetting our favorite fiddle-leaf fig tree (named Lucky). I like to sit in this room on weekend mornings with my coffee and look at all the greens around the room. It gives me time to relax, reflect on the week and plan out the days ahead.

And with the spring being almost in full mode now, the day has gotten longer :) The sun doesn't fully set until 8pm :) I have been working on my self-defense techniques and physical fitness in a Krav Maga training center (I will write more about that some other time).It feels great to be out of Krav Maga training and the sun is still out. The longer daylight definitely makes me feel much better than the winter, when everything was gray and gloomy.

Hannah, Grace, Dominic and I took the opportunity to go camping at Kettle Moraine State Park the past weekend. The state park was about 1.5hrs drive from Chicago. We packed four people, two dogs, camping gears and stuffs in our jeep, and headed out on Sat morning. The weather was gorgeous, and we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with style, with some Bloody Mary, tequila and quesadilla around the campfire. And of course, we had to do some running in this beautiful location :) Hannah and I enjoyed the run very much - There was rolling hills, wide tracks and single trails...everything you can almost ask for as a trail-runner. And of course we enjoyed it so much that we decided that we should come back again for our training.