Dinner @ Gallos

A Review

Sunday nite after the holidays was a good time to check out the scene @ Gallos, Evanston's place for fine dining. If you will remember, Gallos had a longstanding scene in Rogers Park before space requirements required their lease to be transferred to the suburbs several years back. Their new shop is expansive compared with the old, but retains the Rogers Park charm of the original.

With the holidays over, I was hoping for space for my date and I would not be too hard to acquire. Luckily, since I know the owners, I was seated ( however, it was not @ my normal spot, but close by) Gallos has two main chefs, Gallo himself and his wife Shipley* . Generally, ideas come from both. Their dish for this nite, coq a la Gallo avec les pommes de terre, is ususlly prepared by Gallo. However, Shipley was on point for the nite. There was no word on why (Gallo drunken and vomiting on the bathroom carpet was not the excuse for this nite), but the usual high quality of the kitchen was kept through this substitution.

The meal was suberb. The chicken was juicily cooked, and the skin (best part of any chicken) was crunchy delight. Shipley used some turkey juice to achieve that 'Evanston taste' they are so famous for. Fingers had to be resorted to to eat up all the yums. The potatoes were likewise tasty. Dipped into the sauce was the way to go. Topped all that off with a bottle of Bois de Chuck cider and a lip of Bois de Sasha, and I was Ali G. We finished with chocolate cake from a bottle.

A Reflection

Best story of the whole nite was noticed only by me. Little girl #2 was playing with mom Shipley, and the look on her face @ one moment was read by me thus:

"Oh ! I did whatever I usually do to make Mom happy!! Mom is happy !! Oh, she's hugging me, just like I planned it !! YAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*couldn't tell ya, it just popped up.....................i like it