yo soy dinner!

Option 1 (for 1) $50.00 Option 2 (for 2) $100.00 Option 3 (for 3) $150.00

we are ready to go! we have been working on the upcoming menu and we are excited to share it with our next group of soon to be great foodie friends! we will be posting the detailed items this week, and will also be able to introduce our next performer that will be at the dinner. 

xo,

mike + brian

the dinner on sunday june.20th was amazing! we got to meet a lot of new and great people (shout out to neil, ken, brian, marcos, david, eric!) and have old ones that keep our dinners energetic (jorge!). The weather could not have been better, allowing us to do the cocktail hour on the steps out front, alla 227! We got everyone geared up with Mikey's Herradura Anejo-watermelon-basil-ginger drink, far too delicious! This was paired with some corn cups filled with a papaya and mango salsa, with spring onions and ginger chicken. Dinner got going with an avocado and cucumber soup poured over achiote wok seared crab legs and shaved radish. The soup was velvety and crisp a beautiful summer starter. Next we moved into Braised ox-tail spring rolls, with a black bean and papaya salsa, shredded carrots and a sauce we made by reducing the braising liquid and fortifying it with port. There was an earthiness from the ox-tail punctured by pops of light bright acid. The entree was roasted pork tenderloin stuffed with a apricot-cumin jam, cooked down with grape tomatoes, this also was reduced as a glaze after we sliced the pork. This was served alongside glazed bok choy, with minced shallot and garlic, Roasted Michigan marble potatoes with chili, Steamed enoki mushrooms, and pea sprouts. The pork was off the hook, so moist, with a perfect balance of sweet and savory. It was also comforting to utilize the local farmers market for much of our product. The sweet ending was a five spice flan, with a orange compote and caramel tuille, we finished with a dollop of cajeta and a dusting of five spice powder. The flan was a silken delight with some savory flavors nicely balanced by the sweetness of dessert.

and to close the evening stephen leonard performed and sang some amazing tunes for all of us! the crowd was mesmerized by his talent! he even did a cover of lady gaga! it was pretty amazing! stephen, please come to all of our dinners!!!

we are toying with the date for july. we have had a lot of requests to do it on a saturday night, and i think that is finally going to happen in august! we are trying to solidify the date, but it will be on a saturday that month, so get ready all! i will put the pay now button up this weekend for july's dinner!

til' then,

mikey + brian

(above: stephen leonard and his flying guitar!)

we have our menu set for the dinner on sunday! we are doing a bit more tweaking and tastings throughout the weekend, but for the most part here it is:

cocktail hour:  watermelon basil margarita paired with corn cups of tropical salsa and shredded chinese chicken (or mushrooms)

1st course:  chilled avocado soup with szechuan crab and fresh lime

2nd course: spring rolls with braised oxtail (or mixed veggies) and plum reduction

3rd course:  pork loin with apricot and soy glaze with bok choy, jasmine mexican rice 

4th course: chinese 5 spice flan

so there it is ! we are really excited about the meal, and evenly so about STEPHEN LEONARD performing after the 4th course! he is totally amazing and i cannot wait for him to blow the socks off of all of our guests! 

ALSO, there is one seat left over, so if you have been itching to come, get it and let's eat, drink and do it all over again!

xo

the dinner on may. 16th for 16 was absolutely a-m-a-z-i-n-g! we started with a cocktail hour which was paired with cactus and chipotle chicken potstickers with a soy+piloncillo glaze! the drink that was being served up by our fantastic bartendress was a watermelon + honeydew +chinese basil cocktail! it was just the right thing to set the mood for all the arriving guests! and it was also amazing that the sun was our shining bright that day so our lakeview apartment windows were open and adding to the ambiance of festivity! before sitting to dinner for our first course, we did a traditional mexican toast with a blaring linda ronstadt song called "y andale" which is all about gleeful debauchery! it was fitting since we were about to stuff our body and soul with sinful amounts of food and wine (and tequila!). 

our diners were all very open and ready to experience our talents that was so generously written up by time out chicago last week. the response from you all were and still are amazing! we are thrilled and are actively working on our next menu to be prepared for our june.20th, 2010 sunday dinner! some guests that were in attendance were jennifer sanders who runs a blog called girls just wanna have food! she was in attendance at the underground dinner party my friends and i attended on cinco de mayo in pilsen. we are quickly becoming underground dining besties, and i am seriously going to have to take it to the next level of above ground dining friendship with her! love ya' jen! the cinco de mayo underground dinner was hosted by abraham and adrian of xmarxchicago. they are truly an inspiration for this scene and should be checked out if you have not already! jorge valdivia from the mexican museum of art was also representing! there were also a college friend, jared hatch, who is an artist in all sense of the word, and his partner ramon! tony and jeff, were a gem of a couple and were a true pleasure! tess and her sisters girlfriend were here , joe fresh from barcelona was in attendance as was a neighbor from around the block i had never met before, thomas, who i hope will become a regular!

the menu did not differ from the prior post much, the only thing we tweaked was the tacos course. we were unable to perfect our sope recipe, and opted at the last minute to make tacos instead. well, it did not sit too well with us, as we felt like we were giving up on our initial recipe, so we stayed up til 4 in the morning the night before and got it right! the hard work definitely was worth it, the group went wild with love for the chorizo + shrimp and black bean puree sope with queso fresco! the ribs were melt in your mouth tender, the yucca fries were lightly crunchy, the elotes with a huitlacoche (mexican mushroom that grows on corn) aioli were ridiculous! i also cannot find the words for brian's homemade ginger + vanilla ice cream paired with a banana + peanut + honey empanada with a dark chocolate drizzle! 

the diner was concluded with john david singing some very beautiful arias for us as we had the room dimly lit and everyone with a gorgeous tequila to sip in hand. btw, thank you jorge and xmarx'ers for the crazy delicious tequila selection! it was a great evening, and we feel that we have made some new foodie friends with everyone that was there that night. we also wanted to apologize to those who were not able to get seats for that evening, but we eagerly await the next dinner to meet you all and serve up some "goodie" lovin!

unfortunately, due to the excitement of the evening, we did not have time to play loteria! which made me a little sad, but that just leaves us with further ideas of possibly just a game night for all of our past diners one sunday to get together over a fierce game of loteria and cocktails, and of course, yo soy goodness!

once again, thanks to all that believe in us, and especially to our dear friends that forefeit their sundays to help us with our dream! huge, huge, xo's to  josie, diane, and julie! we love you guys and could not have done it without you!

so, email now if you are interested in seats for the next dinner! we have already almost sold out! 

xo,

mikey corona + brian riggenbach

p.s.- we love you time out chicago!