Pili Pili

Tomorrow is Alvin's birthday! Everyone wish him a happy birthday!

To celebrate, I took Alvin for a birthday dinner at a Mediterranean/Provencal restaurant in River North called Pili Pili

Appetizer: Artichoke Tarte Tatin (with caramelized fennel, red onion, oven dried tomatoes and olive emulsion). The flavor was fantastic.

Appetizer: Scallop ceviche. Mmmm. I liked the artichoke tarte tartin better, but mostly because the scallops were good and the other ceviche parts were good but I didn't eat enough of them together because of the way it arrived in the martini glass.

My entree: sauteed cod with mussels, clams and pistou of Provence vegetables - it was so good! The fish was perfectly cooked and the flavor was exactly what I like.

Close-up of the fish - doesn't it look yummy? It's so rare to find a place that makes really good entrees, usually the appetizers are so much better (appetizers were good here too).

Alvin's entree - braised rabbit with a ragout of white beans and spinach

Panisses: chickpea and cumin fries - these were amazing!

One of the desserts called "floating heart"... vanilla meringue in raspberry soup with strawberries... yum.

Chocolate bombe... white and milk chocolate mousse with flourless chocolate cake and fudge topping, served with guava sorbet... does it look like it could possibly NOT be good? Of course it was good!

What every table got after dessert... some little treats.

Happy dining adventurers! :)