Chicago Restaurant Week: Smith and Wollensky

Happy Saturday! Kristen here. So yesterday was the start of Chicago Restaurant Week, and to kick it off and to celebrate my dear friend Melody's 23rd birthday, we went to Smith and Wollensky! And it was wonderful. To start off, it was a great deal. $22 for a three course meal next to the River?? Yes, please! Not only was it a great deal, but we got lucky and were seated by the window, giving us a great view. Thank the Lord for a clear sunny day! 

Got some garlic rolls shortly after ordering. We both tried to eat only one piece so we wouldn't be too full, but we couldn't resist and ate two each. 

First course: Split Pea Soup

Second course: Melody had the Butcher Burger while I had the Pan Seared Salmon. 

I don't have a picture of our dessert, unfortunately, but we got coconut cake, and it was very very good. We were stuffed after eating half of our entrees so we took our leftovers + coconut cake slices to go. 

What Melody and I have going on is actually pretty cool and uncommon, in my opinion. We met in 8th grade (10 years ago!) and have been friends since, with the exception of a short break in between. Post college, we got back in contact, and now we grab lunch almost every other Friday in the city. I don't think I have many friends I keep in contact to this extent! <3 

What a fun and tasty way to spend an afternoon! 

xoxo, Kristen

overexposed and over contrasted

Okay, let's be real. Eunice and I are terrible at updating this blog. Actually, me specifically. My excuse? I was living life. But it's time to get back at it. A big thank you to Jay Ko (KoKo) for blogging!

I'm feeling extra productive today. Productive as in waking up at 6:30, getting a donut and coffee from Glazed and Infused, and going to the Laundromat to do 4 loads of laundry. It's such an inconvenience not having an in-unit washer/dryer. It's definitely a non-negotiable for my next apartment.

Here are some overexposed and over contrasted photos of mostly food to get me back into blogging.

Next post coming up SOON. 

xoxo, Kristen 

Bar Pompi: The Legendary Tiramisu

Ciao Amici,

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of visiting Bar Pompi, a fairly famous dessert café in Rome, Italy. Established in 1960, for over 50 years Romans have been traveling half-way across the city just for their tiramisu. 

I have tasted many tiramisu(s) over the years and have enjoyed all of them. When I heard about Pompi’s tiramisu, I was a little skeptical of the reviews. How could a simple dessert, a tiramisu non-the-less, be life changing? I could understand sipping a fine single-malt scotch whisky that was aged 30 years in a French oak casket to be “life changing” … but tiramisu? I had to try this legendary tiramisu for myself. 

I WAS WRONG… VERY WRONG!

Pompi’s tiramisu made me question my fundamental understanding of what tiramisu is supposed to taste like. Can a dessert be creamy yet firm, sweet yet not overpowering? The answer is Yes, a resounding YES! As I placed the first scoop of the pistachio tiramisu into my mouth, I felt a light creaminess on my tongue that resembled whipped cream. The pistachio flavor immediately hit me like a slap in the face from an angry girlfriend. The pistachio had bravado and lingered for a few seconds but didn’t overpower the taste pallet. I felt a sense of balance in the tiramisu that created harmony in my mouth and in my life. The second, third, and fourth scoop created a cascade of flavor in my mouth that is hard to explain. Like a fine glass of scotch whiskey, the taste slowly matured from a sweet note to a creamier note. Before I knew it, the tiramisu was all gone. Similar to listening to a Taylor Swift song, once isn't enough and I had to hit the repeat button. I ended up eating a strawberry, banana, and a traditional tiramisu before eventually stopping because of a stomach ache. Was the stomach ache worth it? Yes! Should I have continued eating more tiramisu? Probably, but unfortunately I wasn't man enough to handle another serving of that seductive tiramisu. 

Until next time, 

Eat well and be happy ~ KoKo

Bar Pompi from the outside

A wide selection of desserts

 The pistachio tiramisu on the left and the traditional tiramisu on the right

The banana tiramisu on the left and the strawberry tiramisu on the right

Bar Pompi:

Via Albalonga 7b/9/11, 00183 Rome, Italy

http://www.barpompi.it/index.html

Introducing KoKo, guest Food+Restaurant writer

Hello Friends,

Kristen and Eunice have graciously allowed me to post as a guest writer in the Food+Restaurant section of their critically acclaimed blog, KnockBox. It is a pleasure and an honor to be given the privilege to be a contributor in their visionary work. As a gastronomy aficionado, I share their passion and adventure for unique tastes from around the world. Although my current situation prevents me from traveling too much to try different foods, I will try my best to provide thoughtful posts whenever I get a chance.

Life is an adventure, so eat well and be happy! Cheers Mate!
~KoKo (Jay Ko)

My Not-So-Shameless Plug(s)

HELLO WORLD! Eunice here...3 things I’m obsessed with as of late that I want to share with you all!

1.      My annual Christmas Cookie Baking Extravaganza where me and my besties try to outdo ourselves every year and make a sh*t load of cookies. It is a long day filled with blood, sweat, and tears and we wonder… why do we put ourselves through such misery?? But in the end, we get to eat cookies for the next 3 months so I guess it’s worth it.

2012, 2013, 2014

2.       My beautiful friend Shirley Lim has introduced me to MustHaveMustGet jewelry. Pieces are simple, delicate, and minimal. FREE SHIPPING TILL THE END OF THE YEAR! Get on it y'all!

I freaking want EVERYTHING

3.      My good friend Sam (and me and Kristen’s 2 degrees of separation) has released his long anticipated album Part II: The Counterfeit. You guys can find him on iTunes under the artist Taebot.

      I cannot find enough great things to say about him and his music. The best way I could describe The Counterfeit is like a 7-layer dip, but instead of it being just 7-layers, it is like a 1000+ layer dip because I keep hearing new and different things every time I listen to the album.  So so very good. Anyone who has gone through heartbreak will relate to the lyrics like “…I woke up to know none of this could be true; Because you hop-scotched right through; My chalk outline and on you went…” from the song Away.

Please go check it out. You can thank me later.

I first met Sam at our small group freshman year at UIC. He’ll tell you that my first impression of him was a bad one because he always wore this tie-dye shirt and rose his hand for EVERY question asked during bible study. But if it was so bad, why would I then want to be friends with him!?

Sam and I looking fine as hell.

We had the incredible privilege of being young and living in Chicago, so we, plus a couple of other crazy kids took full advantage. He lived on the 4^th floor of our dorm building sophomore year and I lived on the 7^th. I would hear him playing his guitar and singing in the stairwell since acoustics were better in there…or something like that. I would sit like a creep on the stairs on 7^th, and listen to the melodies float upward from 4^th. I remember many 3am conversations with Sam and my “breasty”, Arnold, at Kopper Kitchen eating split pea soup. He has always been hilarious, severely loyal, and incredibly talented. So of course I am so so proud of him and his accomplishments! Love you, brother. 

Then and Now. We are like a fine wine...just gettin betta with age!!!!

other ways to spend $55

I'm finally done.

That makes it sound like I've been struggling with the GREs for months and months when in reality, its only been two weeks. So, I didn't get the score I wanted and I ended up spending way too much on parking, but I'm done and one step closer to grad school!

Let me tell you about how I ended up spending 55 dollars on parking.  My exam was at 12:30, so I left my apartment at 11:30 to get there by 12. It should only take 30 minutes via public transportation, but guess what happened? The Damen stop was closed for construction. Of course. Of course, of course, of course. On exam day.

So I decided to take the next best option: Uber. But guess what happened? The Uber driver couldn't find my location. I ended up waiting 10 minutes when it should have taken 2 minutes for him to get to me. HOW. WHY.

It's now noon with 30 minutes left. I ended up just driving into the loop. On my way down I reserved a spot in a parking garage next to my testing center, but guess what happened? A truck blocked the entrance and wouldn't budge. Just my luck. I ended up going to another garage and parking there because I had less than 10 minutes left. What should've been a $4 train ride became a $55 ordeal.

Just a few other ways I could have spent $55:

• Fifty McChickens (five dollars towards tax)
• Five hot chocolates from Mindys
• A topography watch if I added a few more bucks

... and a million other ways...

A long day justifies a good meal, so I celebrated with a sandwich afterwards at the cutest little place: Blue Door Farm Stand. I will gladly go here again and again, so let me know if you're in town and wanna go.

Also, Eunice's work had free cases of beer. She promised to give me one.

xoxo, 
Gossip Girl.

Just kidding. Until next time!

xoxo, Kristen

A Work of Heart

Hello World! Eunice here...half the genius behind knockbox_blog (although Kristen deserves most of the credit)

We figured it was best to jump right on in so here we go!

The past couple weeks have been eventful due to the holiday season, so it's been awesome meeting up with old and new faces. Last night I attended an art exhibition of an old friend from college.

I met Andrew our freshman year at UIC and today he is killing it all over Chicago with his incredible pieces. And when I say all over, I mean ALL over. Just google him.

Andrew and I last night

His artwork speaks for itself:

By far my favorite of the night. This is actually only the left side of the entire piece. 

From this angle you can see both sides and the size of the work

This is so different from the usual colorful pieces Andrew does, but just shows the versatility he brings to his art

So good right?? and I know what you're all thinking....wouldn't this translate so well in tattoos? Well my friends, you're in luck.

Andrew also works at Awaken Tattoo in Humboldt Park where he recently started tattooing and has a ton of his artwork on display. We stopped by the shop for the after party and the place is very spacious and inviting. (The couch in the waiting area was uber luxurious) 

Awaken's facebook page

The night was super chill with everyone in good spirits with the help from the live band (who I unfortunately didn't catch the name of)

The guy on the right is wearing suspenders!! Super cute.

And sorry ladies...Andrew is taken by one of the baddest girls around, Roro (just kidding she's like God's greatest gift on earth)

Look at these cuties. Rosanna and Andrew have been dating for like...20 years.

All in all, such a great night getting to spend time with old friends....and we seriously are old now, After getting home at 2AM I don't know how we used to stay out till daylight to get breakfast the next morning. 

Until next time!

Everyone stay tuned for our next post from Kristen!