smoking popes @ double door
"the way she used to look at me made me a thousand feet high, the meaning of the word cool..."
one of the greatest songs ever written is "pretty pathetic" by the smoking popes. but don't go listening to the album version, because it doesn't give justice to hearing it live. i guarantee that if you listen to the song live, you will never miss another smoking popes show again. you'll go to shows just waiting for them to play it... like i did last night.
but "let's take it from the start..."
francesca's forno
dan and i drove to al's house, and she drove the three of us to meet up with roy at francesca's forno. located in the old spot where soul kitchen used to be, forno has apparently been there since august 2005! jesus. i guess that i haven't been keeping a watchful eye on the neighborhood since chuck moved out of wicker park in 2004. we used to have sunday brunches at soul kitchen, with the miscellaneous hangover crews that we partied with all saturday. we'd share enormous meaty and vegetarian omelettes and french toast with cups of chocolate for dipping... so i was sad when i realized that forno took its place on the six corners (milwaukee, north, and damen).
then i went inside. the atmosphere was similar, still seedy and dark, but cleaned up a lot. gone were the red leather bound, half circle booths and the curtains that reached from the ceiling to the floor. but it felt much bigger, and with the huge windows being unobstructed, it has become a wonderful place for people watching, since it's right there on the intersection. the ambiance is ideal for an intimate date, but also appropriate for smaller groups of 6 or less. it's loud because of the proximity to adjacent tables, so be prepared to lean over the table or raise your voices if you're gonna have a decent convo. but when the meal gets to the table, don't expect to talk much.
francesca's forno is the fifteenth of sixteen restaurants in the francesca family. maybe you're familiar with mia francesca on clark, or francesca's on taylor in little italy. if not, there's a whole bunch in the suburbs, like francesca's campagna in downtown dundee, 10 minutes from my house. the reason i mention this is because if you're familiar with the family, then you know to expect above average italian cuisine... and that's exactly what we got.
the menu is short, but it is unique enough to keep you stuck in a quandary for a couple of minutes. it is vegetarian friendly, not unlike many of the restaurants in the area, but there were plenty of traditionally prepared meat dishes for those so inclined. i chose to order the linguine nere al frutti di mare off of the specials menu, updated daily. it was so delicious that i ate every piece of pasta, shrimp, squid, mussel, and scallop on the plate. the portion size was perfect, not too big but enough to satisfy. it was some of the best italian i've had in a long time.
i took a break for a smoke. the bar was lined with people doing exactly the same. right on the end of the bar was just a little space for me to lean on, and right next to that space was a beautiful brunette minding her own business. i didn't have a lighter so i asked to borrow her's. much to my surprise, i began a conversation with her and after about 5 minutes, i was sure that i'd get the courage to... oops. she finished her cigarette and was just about to walk away, but before she did, she pulled the lighter out of her purse and put it on the table for me. before i could respond, she said, "don't worry, i've got another one... have a good night!" i was able to muster some sort of variation of a thank you along with something about her doing the same, but not much else. about one minute later, roy joined me... too late to witness the magic. on the way back to the table, i scanned the place for her, but much to my dismay, she was nowhere.
for dessert i had the budino di pane e cioccolato, warm chocolate chip bread pudding, banana fudge gelato, caramel and chocolate sauce. the warm, sweet pudding soaked up the banana gelato and the sauces, which made this dessert taste as good as it sounded. it was a great complement to the savory flavors of my seafood linguine and the perfect transition into a show at the double door.
double door
in the summer of 2005, my buddy terry told me that the lease for the double door was expiring, and the building owners weren't gonna let them renew. he asked me to sign some online petition, which i did, and lo and behold, the double door is still here! if you haven't been, the double door is a nice sized venue with cathedral ceilings, capable of a 473 person capacity. so most of the shows cater to smaller, indie bands and locals, including the pumpkins, veruca salt, and liz phair. peter, bjorn, and john are performing for free next sunday, as a lollapalooza aftershow.
tonight, as with most nights at the double door, it was hot as fuck. we got in just in time to hear the last 3 tracks of the opener, and i have no idea what band it was, but they were entertaining. when smoking popes came on, it felt like home. the beauty of the popes is that they're humble, and you feel it when they're on state. it's also nice that they're local, because every show is filled with only the most loyal of fans. so when "pretty pathetic" came on, guess who was singing... everyone.
the sound was amazing tonight. better than the metro and clearwater in west dundee. the vocals were crisp and clear and the levels were perfect, so the sound was very clean. it was a great show and we left it drenched in our own sweat and the sweat of others! hopefully the next show will be located in a temperature regulated facility. i'll let you know when and where next time!
nick's beer garden
this blog is long enough, but i wanted to add one more story.
we decided to end the night drinking at nick's beer garden, just up the street on milwaukee. who knew that this place was the holy grail of wicker park? the girl to guy ratio was 5 to 1 at least, very close to the numbers in poland, and we're talking pretty, pretty ladies. we played the "celebrity sighting" game, where we pointed out people who looked like celebrities, or the offspring of two combined. danny pointed out that the cute server kept talking to me and no one else, so he asked me to "make it happen", but she came by once every 30 minutes and she was busy as fuck.
we stayed 'til about 2:30am and on the way out i asked her what her name was. i told bethany thanks, and that i'd see her again soon.
"i must have sounded pretty pathetic..." we'll see.
one of the greatest songs ever written is "pretty pathetic" by the smoking popes. but don't go listening to the album version, because it doesn't give justice to hearing it live. i guarantee that if you listen to the song live, you will never miss another smoking popes show again. you'll go to shows just waiting for them to play it... like i did last night.
but "let's take it from the start..."
francesca's forno
dan and i drove to al's house, and she drove the three of us to meet up with roy at francesca's forno. located in the old spot where soul kitchen used to be, forno has apparently been there since august 2005! jesus. i guess that i haven't been keeping a watchful eye on the neighborhood since chuck moved out of wicker park in 2004. we used to have sunday brunches at soul kitchen, with the miscellaneous hangover crews that we partied with all saturday. we'd share enormous meaty and vegetarian omelettes and french toast with cups of chocolate for dipping... so i was sad when i realized that forno took its place on the six corners (milwaukee, north, and damen).
then i went inside. the atmosphere was similar, still seedy and dark, but cleaned up a lot. gone were the red leather bound, half circle booths and the curtains that reached from the ceiling to the floor. but it felt much bigger, and with the huge windows being unobstructed, it has become a wonderful place for people watching, since it's right there on the intersection. the ambiance is ideal for an intimate date, but also appropriate for smaller groups of 6 or less. it's loud because of the proximity to adjacent tables, so be prepared to lean over the table or raise your voices if you're gonna have a decent convo. but when the meal gets to the table, don't expect to talk much.francesca's forno is the fifteenth of sixteen restaurants in the francesca family. maybe you're familiar with mia francesca on clark, or francesca's on taylor in little italy. if not, there's a whole bunch in the suburbs, like francesca's campagna in downtown dundee, 10 minutes from my house. the reason i mention this is because if you're familiar with the family, then you know to expect above average italian cuisine... and that's exactly what we got.
the menu is short, but it is unique enough to keep you stuck in a quandary for a couple of minutes. it is vegetarian friendly, not unlike many of the restaurants in the area, but there were plenty of traditionally prepared meat dishes for those so inclined. i chose to order the linguine nere al frutti di mare off of the specials menu, updated daily. it was so delicious that i ate every piece of pasta, shrimp, squid, mussel, and scallop on the plate. the portion size was perfect, not too big but enough to satisfy. it was some of the best italian i've had in a long time.i took a break for a smoke. the bar was lined with people doing exactly the same. right on the end of the bar was just a little space for me to lean on, and right next to that space was a beautiful brunette minding her own business. i didn't have a lighter so i asked to borrow her's. much to my surprise, i began a conversation with her and after about 5 minutes, i was sure that i'd get the courage to... oops. she finished her cigarette and was just about to walk away, but before she did, she pulled the lighter out of her purse and put it on the table for me. before i could respond, she said, "don't worry, i've got another one... have a good night!" i was able to muster some sort of variation of a thank you along with something about her doing the same, but not much else. about one minute later, roy joined me... too late to witness the magic. on the way back to the table, i scanned the place for her, but much to my dismay, she was nowhere.
for dessert i had the budino di pane e cioccolato, warm chocolate chip bread pudding, banana fudge gelato, caramel and chocolate sauce. the warm, sweet pudding soaked up the banana gelato and the sauces, which made this dessert taste as good as it sounded. it was a great complement to the savory flavors of my seafood linguine and the perfect transition into a show at the double door.double door
in the summer of 2005, my buddy terry told me that the lease for the double door was expiring, and the building owners weren't gonna let them renew. he asked me to sign some online petition, which i did, and lo and behold, the double door is still here! if you haven't been, the double door is a nice sized venue with cathedral ceilings, capable of a 473 person capacity. so most of the shows cater to smaller, indie bands and locals, including the pumpkins, veruca salt, and liz phair. peter, bjorn, and john are performing for free next sunday, as a lollapalooza aftershow.
tonight, as with most nights at the double door, it was hot as fuck. we got in just in time to hear the last 3 tracks of the opener, and i have no idea what band it was, but they were entertaining. when smoking popes came on, it felt like home. the beauty of the popes is that they're humble, and you feel it when they're on state. it's also nice that they're local, because every show is filled with only the most loyal of fans. so when "pretty pathetic" came on, guess who was singing... everyone.the sound was amazing tonight. better than the metro and clearwater in west dundee. the vocals were crisp and clear and the levels were perfect, so the sound was very clean. it was a great show and we left it drenched in our own sweat and the sweat of others! hopefully the next show will be located in a temperature regulated facility. i'll let you know when and where next time!
nick's beer garden
this blog is long enough, but i wanted to add one more story.
we decided to end the night drinking at nick's beer garden, just up the street on milwaukee. who knew that this place was the holy grail of wicker park? the girl to guy ratio was 5 to 1 at least, very close to the numbers in poland, and we're talking pretty, pretty ladies. we played the "celebrity sighting" game, where we pointed out people who looked like celebrities, or the offspring of two combined. danny pointed out that the cute server kept talking to me and no one else, so he asked me to "make it happen", but she came by once every 30 minutes and she was busy as fuck.
we stayed 'til about 2:30am and on the way out i asked her what her name was. i told bethany thanks, and that i'd see her again soon.
"i must have sounded pretty pathetic..." we'll see.
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