Well, not quite. But close!

You see, rasslor was passing through town and wanted to get together for dinner. takaza and I met him and linnaeus at the Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling to have dinner at Tramonto’s Steak and Seafood. Once we walked in and talked to the hostess, we found out that they were also hosting a viewing party for tonight’s episode of Top Chef, which was filmed in the restaurant last year! This of course isn’t the first time we’ve eaten at Tramonto’s, and the meal was excellent as usual. Here’s what I had:

Cocktail: Sake mojito
Appetizer: Hamachi sashimi in a miso-pineapple emulsion with chili oil
Entree: Roasted halibut with organic spring peas, fava beans, and pea tendrils
Side dish: Fire-roasted asparagus with Hollandaise sauce
Wine: A Bourdeaux sec (yes, a white – very rare for me!)
Dessert: Malted milk chocolate souffle with Ovaltine ice cream

After walking around the hotel a bit, we parted ways and came home to watch said episode of Top Chef. I was amused to see our waitress from this evening shown prominently a few times in the episode, and Dan recognized enough faces to guess that the “patrons” in the restaurant when they filmed were all employees of Cenitare (the part-Tramonto-owned company that own Tramonto’s Steak and Seafood and Osteria de Tramonto) or their guests. It was a good episode, and I agree with their choice for elimination, though when it came down to the final two it could have gone either way (and the person who didn’t get eliminated should really be the next to go).

And now, we’re off to bed.