Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Sky...Don't you Dare Cry! @ IO Urban Roofscape



For your anti-rain dance:

We've all heard the saying "if you don't like the weather just wait..." Chicago held oh so true to that. Saturday was a high of 80 degrees and it looked like this...
Monday looked like...never mind we know what 30 degrees and snow looks and feels like.

Ok now Chicago! Unravel thy self from that fetal position and pick yourself off the floor. We are bound to have another summer-like day! For those who missed out on that one day in April when it was summer, and have now forgotten what the sun feels like,  I invite you to live vicariously through my Summer Saturday.

Upon hearing Tom Skilling (Chicago's beloved meteorologist) put the words 70 degrees and Saturday together, this text was quickly composed "Let's roof @ Gregory Godfrey." The Godfrey is a new  luxury boutique hotel located in Chicago's River North, whose fourth floor houses this indoor and outdoor roof-ish lounge I/O Urban Roofscape . Ha I just got it...indoor/outdoor, hence the name I/O. Clever! 

With plans set, my inner ray of sunlight was quickly extinguished by the sight of gray skies and the sounds of thunder. My friends and I are not quitters darnit! We did our anti-rain dance all the way up to the 4th floor of the Godfrey. 
Let's get brunchin'
 Mimosa is an obvious choice, but the Margarita was amazing! The glass arrived to our table topped with habanero foam. If I wasn't told, I wouldn't have picked habanero out of a line up. It had a nice refreshing zing to it. I would've mistaken it for carbonated mint and lemon....it was the habanero zing!
My friend and I shared 6 of the small plates.

The Steak Benedict: The free range steak is a nice upgrade from the sometimes chewy, and less substantial canadian bacon. I did not feel like I was gnawing on a chew toy. Staying true to the steak theme, it was topped with bernaise instead of hollandaise. 


Adult Smoked Salmon: It's supposed to be smoked with bourbon and gin. My pedestrian palate really did not taste that. It just tasted like fresh salmon. No Negative Nelly face here. I'm usually not a fan of capers, but this actually complemented the salmon nicely. 


Huevos Rancheros: Where's the guacamole?! I actually did not realize that guacamole was supposed to come with it. Wait was it there? The perfectly poached egg, the salsa, and the crunchies had the perfect texture combo that I'm still not sure if the guac was there...and nobody puts guacamole in the corner!






I/O Prime Beef Sliders: "Oh that has a nice kick!" It's not an overwhelming spice where you would tell your kids not to eat it. It is a welcomed flavor, that I wish I was fed as a child. I hate to admit it, but spicey mayo is a condiment I can no longer dismiss.




Let's get to the good stuff!

Lemon Donuts: The periwinkle glaze is from the violet liquor and lavender honey. I put the fluffy lemon donuts through the spin cycle inside the bowl, just so I could enrobe it with the periwinkle goodness. The donuts were surprisingly light and not greasy at all!

Brioche Sticks (French Toast): Who doesn't like caramelized bananas?! The crowning glory of this breakfast dessert is the foam flowing underneath the brioche Jenga. It appears as the now trendy culinary foam, but when you dig into it, it has a gelatinous consistency. It hit my mouth with a nice limey sensation. Forget the maple syrup...bring me more foam!!!

Our meal ended with us contemplating ordering another margarita pitcher, but we intelligently decided to go work it off at Bloomingdales, with plans of coming back for that second pitcher. Let's just say that the breakables in Bloomies looked more breakable than ever. I felt like a kid obediently keeping their  hands to themselves.

We did not end up going back for that second margarita, bust instead ended up at 25 degrees for some Boozey Milkshakes. We will definitely be back for a second helping of everything at I/O. The vibe was so Miami/Vegas Fake-cation! We might make this roof-ish our summer home.

Well, well...It looks like our hopeful determination (and awesome dance moves) bent mother nature into holding back the sky's tears and giving us some sun....and getting a farmer's tan Ha! Us 1(sortah). Mother nature 0... I guess she was busy turning her tears to ice. Well played MoNa!


*This just in...70F degrees on Easter Sunday!



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