Feast on THIS!

Hello Bracketeers!

Hope you're all doing well and getting back into the swing of things! I know some of you bristle at talk of the waning days of summer, but I for one am super excited for the fall. Fall means college football, changing leaves, crispy air, and of course, spicy drinks. Come celebrate the start of fall at Feast's semi-outdoor area:

Feast Restaurant
1616 N. Damen Ave.
12 Noon

Love & Libations,

Danielle

Bucky's Bloody Marys - Worth Bragging About!

Not that it should come as any surprise, but Redmond's - one of Wisconsin fans six (seven?) homes in Chicago - has one hell of a bloody mary. Knowing that many of these type of folk tend to come a few hours before the game (and Wisconsin games are usually at 11am), or just like to kick the day off right, they offer a DIY bar of enviable variety. Providing patrons with just a pint glass of ice and a travel-size bottle of vodka, Redmond's lets drinkers take the reins with a buffet of house-made and commercial mixes, hot sauces of all kinds, and a plethora of peppers, salts, and importantly - garnishes. Unlike Rockit, they smartly supply skewers for said garnishes. Let's see how they stacked up:

the taste: 4.5

the texture: 4

the kick: 5

the sight: 4.75

the buck ($5.50): 4.75

Definitely the highest ranked bloody mary so far! Congrats, Redmond's! Check out the garnishes to the right. Pickled asparagus and tomatoes, standard olives and pickles (which should not be taken for granted), huge, crispy celery sticks, and so much more....mmmmm. Guest bracketeers loved the variety available, but were especially pleased with the kick that the house mix had via the clear abundance of horseradish.

Hahn's Badger Bloody

Redmond's Spicy House Mix

Lots of mexican hot sauce

Celery Salt

Pepper

Pickled Asparagus

Salami, cheese

Olive & artichoke heart

Gold & magic

Can't wait to go back! ON WISCONSIN!

The Bracket Meets Bucky at Redmonds!

Join us this Saturday, September 6 to watch the Badgers take on Marshall in the second football game of the season: 

Redmond's

3358 N. Sheffield

Kickoff at 11 - but the bar opens at 9. 

We've been known to get there right at opening and get the very last table, so come as early as your probable hangover will allow! 

Redmond's has a great brunch menu, and from what I remember they have a DIY garnish bar. So iron out that Wisconsin gear, grab the ole' pigskin & a straw, and take a taste of what they have to offer! 

Love & libations, 

Danielle & Bucky

Dunlay's - Worth The Wait

On Saturday, August 16 the Bracketeers showed up for a great session at Dunlay's on Clark. We had a fantastic, huge group and everyone had a lot of fun. While it took longer than necessary to get a table outside, we started early at the bar with some chips, dip & of course bloody marys. Once we were settled in at our table outside for the real deal, we were pretty content and DEFINITELY ready to eat (and drink!) 

the taste: 4.4

the texture: 4

the kick: 4.4

the sight: 4.5 (One bracketeer said it was as pretty as me!) 

the buck: 3.6 ($6.50)

One thing we agreed on was that the addition of Guinness in the mix made for a "richer, more complex drink", as noted by the Mango Lassie. The kick was definitely noticeable and appreciated by all. We ended up with beer backs the second time around, though the choice of Bud Lite was kind of ick - they would have done much better with Guinness, or even Miller Lite if they wanted to stick with a light, cheap summer beer. Ooh - Corona would have been awesome - with a lime! But I digress. The garnishes were not consistent (one observant judge noted that some had meat - while others didn't! BOO!) However - it was definitely one of the best we've had so far, and absolutely worth getting again. 

Dunlay's - you are the clear winner of your first round against Stanley's!!

just say no to bud lite!

Dog Days of Summer at Dunlay's on Clark

Please join us this Saturday, August 16:

Dunlay's on Clark

2600 N. Clark Street

(Clark & Wrightwood)

12 Noon

Dunlay's has a great outdoor area, so lets hope for some good weather. ALSO - please don't forget to bring items for donation to Streetwise!

Danielle

August & September Bracket Schedule

Because I will be traveling a lot in the next few weeks, I decided to post the upcoming schedule (as promised to many of you!) through September. Times & details will come a few days before each contest.

This weekend - BYE
August 16 - DUNLAYS ON CLARK (Lincoln Park)
August 23 & August 30 - BYE

September 6 - WISCONSIN v. MARSHALL @ REDMONDS! (Lakeview)
September 13 - BYE
September 20 - FEAST (Bucktown/Wicker Park)

See you all in 2 weeks!!


Love & Libations,

Danielle

The Bracket Goes Charitable with Streetwise!

Many of you, if not all, see Streetwise vendors on a regular basis. Since 1992, Streetwise has provided employment to more than 3,600 homeless men and women, enabling them to secure housing and buy food, clothing and personal necessities. Most importantly, StreetWise has served as the opportunity for their journey back to self-sufficiency. Based on my own experiences with Andre, the very sweet & hardworking vendor at Division & Dearborn (never to get deterred from those who turn him down, you may know him as the dude who coined the term, "Maybe on the way out!") I have learned that these courageous individuals buy their papers at $0.35 cents each and in turn, based on their own market calculations in their area, sell them for donations - and many of them have dedicated clients who return week after week.

HOWEVER, the money they make is often not enough for basic day to day needs. As I was cleaning out my utility closet the other day, I realized that I have a ton of CRAP sitting around, that I don't use - and that clearly could be used by those less fortunate than I. For example, how many times have I bought garbage bags when I already have some, leaving me an excess? Am I really going to use that fan? My set of dishes from college that have been sitting in a box ever since I graduated? Clothing I swear I'll wear one day - but haven't in years? Then I thought - how much crap do we have COLLECTIVELY? Imagine!

Streetwise collects donations of ALL KINDS throughout the year. From now on, I will be collecting goods at each Bloody Mary Bracket meeting. I will bring everything to Streetwise (1201 W. Lake Street). Anything you have, please bring. If you have any questions regarding acceptability, please ask beforehand. 

Thank you all in advance for your generosity!!

Rockit: Great Garnishes, A Mini Mason

On Sunday, July, 27, we visited Rockit Bar & Grill, at Hubbard & Dearborn. We were pleasantly surprised at how quickly we were seated and able to order our drinks. When the waitress came back out, we were a little confused - she held a tray of clearly full glasses. We very cautiously asked her about the "build your own" status and she clarified that you could build your own garnish. Ah, okay. 

The first thing we took notice of were the mason jars the Snow Queen Bloody Mary was served in. Definitely a cute, if unoriginal, theme. I gave it alittle stir, noting the lime that came hinged on the side. Sippy. Yum! The consistency was pretty good, but the thickness of the drink was lost in all the ice. Large chunks + smallish glass = fat man in a little coat. 

We made it over to the garnish bar (which we actually had trouble finding, even though it was in the middle of the room - it was pretty well hidden, and I think we had a grander vision before we arrived. However, our hesitance was definitely not

warranted- the vast list of creative & gourmet ingredients almost even made up for the lack of freedom to create your own base. So much to choose from! The first thing that caught my eye was a little skewer comprised of rolled up salami & sliced cheese. Yum! Sometimes pre-rolled aint so bad. 1 please. 

I quickly realized I had a problem. Maybe it's my 

fault for not being strategic before diving in, or maybe it really is a deficiency on Rockit's part. But the diameter of the mason jar was too small for the ingredients! And, there were no skewers on which to skew your garnishes. (I would have loved to see some thin, reusable, wooden spears.) This meant that you had to put  your roasted garlic, or sun-dried tomato-stuffed olive, or what have you, straight into the drink and watch it sink to the bottom, knowing you'll meet again in about twenty minutes. Bummer. At least I could still add horseradish & hot sauce to my drink (they did have these essential ingredients - a plus to be sure.) As you can see from the picture below, I got creative with my shrimp skewing. And by creative I mean, used the salami one. 

Enough about me - what did the Bracketeers think??

the taste: 4.2

the texture: 3.4

the kick: 4.4

the sight: 4.4

the buck: 4.4

beer back: n

At $5 a pop, they're definitely worth it. An eerily-Brett Dennen sounding acoustic set added to the ambiance. Mrs. Ruby loved the mason jar, and one dear old friend noted of the various types of stuffed olives, "you know I like anything stuffed - or that you can dip." (Needless to say, we also ordered the Rockit Pockits.) See after the jump for some garnishes combos we came up with. 

Rockit's Garnish Bar

Loid

- Blue cheese stuffed olive

- Pesto Tomato

- Horseradish

- Caper Berry

- Onion

- Roasted Garlic

- Celery Salt 

Yours Truly

- Blackened Shrimp

- Sun-dried Tomato Stuffed Olive  

- Salami & Cheese Roll

- Caper Berry

- Grilled Artichoke

- Pickle Spear

- Celery Salt

- Horseradish

- Hot Sauce

Well, guess I had more room than I thought. But I did go back up for seconds. 

well hello, old frens. 

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Happy Friday, Bracketeers!!

What better way to spend a Friday afternoon at work than thinking about your Sunday morning alcohol intake?

With the new ban on blogging at work (I mean....) the frequency of my postings has definitely been hindered. But, this project is a work in progress of course, and it's going to be more of a meandering, lazy-river type path to the golden bloody mary at the end of the rainbow rather than a hardcore, strictly on schedule type of thing. I know you're all okay with that!

Anyway, updates on this end: We got a TON new bracketeers at the Silver Cloud expidition two weeks ago, and it was fantastic! Thanks to everyone who came out. Clearly, the inevitable finally happened, and I lost the score cards. I haven't given up faith yet, and since I know that they made it off the restaurant patio, I will keep the search going in my apartment. But it was a great day, and hopefully I'll be able to post about it soon. If not, we'll just have to go back there!

This Sunday, we will be visiting:

Rockit Bar & Grill

22 West Hubbard Street

12:00pm - NOON

With their Sunday tradition of live acoustic sets and $5 bloody mary bar, this one will be sure to please. Or, I hope it does - because I have not been blown away by any of the "best in the citys" so far!

Love & Libations,

Danielle

Saturday at Silver Cloud

Hello Bracketeers!

I hope the Fourth of July weekend has left everyone either sufficiently rested, or tired from various patriotic (I'm sure) activities.

This Saturday, July 12, we will be visiting the first Bucktown/Wicker Park area contestant:

Silver Cloud Bar & Grill

1700 North Damen Avenue

11:30

They claim that their bloody mary is a "meal in a glass" - so bring your appetite!

Two Of A Kind - Stanley's Kitchen & Tap

On June 8, we visited Stanley's Kitchen & Tap. The layout of the place is exactly as it sounds - up front is a big bar, and in the back is a diner-style restaurant. I use that term loosely, as there are no menus; each table is piled high with huge plates, and patrons help themselves to the huge buffet that all but personifies why America is obese. Having already ate, I only tried the mashed potatoes, fried chicken, bacon, melon (and as I was to soon find out, the Mango Lassie and her Empanada Boy both HATE melons. No wonder they're perfect for each other!), and a biscuit with gravy.

Stanley's has two kinds of bloody marys - one that they will make for you, and a do it yourself. The premade drink was dominant at our table, while only a few brave souls decided to take on the mammoth DIY....

Stanley's Bloody Mary - 1 pint, $6.35

the taste: 3.6

the texture: 3.7

the kick: 3.5

the sight: 2.2

the buck: 3.2

The house-made drink was very horseradishy, which I liked when I tasted it, but some others did not prefer this taste. The garnish was unanimously weak, consisting of just a measly (but crunchy! as one bracketeer noted) celery stalk - some described it as having "lackluster presentation", and "sparse garnishes", and of course Miss ML noted that presentation really is everything. Another bracketeer, while admittedly not an affecionado, noted how well it went with the mac n cheese. Yum!

The remaining judges (including yours truly) got the make your own. Weighing in at 32 oz and just over $8, this was truly a drink to contend with:

Stanley's Do It Yourself Bloody Mary Bar - 32 oz, $8.35

the taste: 4

the texture: 3.8

the kick: 4.3

the sight: 1.3

the buck: 2.8

The choices for building the base of your bloody mary were numerous, and the stock was well-maintained. You could choose from a mix, canned tomato juice, bottled tomato juice or clamato for the drink, and celery salt, worchestershire, various hot sauces (tabasco, Louisiana), white horseradish, pepper, lemons and limes to taste. The garnish choices were weak, consisting of basically only celery - though one thin, weak pickle remained, a glimpse of what once was. None of us had ever made a 32 oz bloody mary before, and it was difficult to figure out what proportions to use in the big paper cup.

I loved my bloody mary, especially because I learned from this experience that horseradish is what makes a bloody fantastic for me. Not being shy, I kept piling the stuff on, along with a nice amount of celery salt atop a base of mostly canned tomato juice topped off with some mix. Pepper of course, and LA hot sauce rounded it out. Better garnish choices would have been appreciated, but overall, I was happy with my (3.5 shot) concoction. Prince Eric liked his as well, and we happily sucked ours down. However, we can't forget those who "made their bed, and had to sleep in it. Not Stanley's fault." Better luck next time!

If you're hungover and want a huge greasy buffet (which I'm really kicking myself for not getting a picture of), and need a bit of alcoholic salvation, this is an acceptable location - though keep in mind that they don't take reservations and you might be waiting for a bit. The pre-made bloody mary could satisfy a stoned, non-discerning patron, but the DIY - if you're into that kind of thing - would be great on a game day.

Love & Libations,

Danielle

Photos courtsey of The Mango Lassie. Visit her site for a fantastic editorial, chronicaling her & Empanada Boy's adventures with local - and not so local - eats.

Sunday, June 8 - A Lincoln Park Treat

Hello Bracketeers!

Please join us on Sunday, June 8 at Stanley's Kitchen & Tap in Lincoln Park for some Sunday Funday:

1970 N. Lincoln Avenue

12 Noon

See you there!

Danielle

Twisted Spoke - Review

On Saturday, May 31, we visited the Twisted Spoke for some long-anticipated bloody marys. It was a beautiful day out, and we sat outside on the roof. They had large picnic tables, which was awesome. First, we tried the Road Rash - voted Chicago Magazine's "Best In The City". Cliff, the owner, came out and talked to us about the history of their bloody mary, as well as his philosophy on when to break into the garnish (eat the first item, then let the rest soak – eating bits as he drinks. Timeline: Finish the garnish with about 1/3 drink left.). We give him 10 points for fantastic-ness. Here's the breakdown:

the taste: 3
the texture: 2.8
the kick: 3.2
the sight: 4
the buck ($6.75): 4
beer back: yes, point.

The garnish was really out of control (a concept well-received by the generally over-indulgent judges). Topping off the 16 oz glass were 2 pieces of salami (too fatty for my taste), pepperchini, pearl onion and olive. Sprinkled on (and in) the dirnk was shredded parmesan – something none of us had seen before!

The group was split. Half the party thought that it was too thin, half thought it was just right. Half didn’t like the meaty overdose – the other half of the group ate everyone else’s salami. Most of us thought the parm only served to clog the straws! I don’t know, maybe it was all the hype, maybe it was the fact that it was pretty hot out and the drink didn’t really stay all that cold, but I wasn’t overwhelmed by it (you can tell which group I was in).

HOWEVER! We did try the Bloody Queen, which I thought was MUCH better. This was half vodka (lime infused no less), half gin:

the taste: 5
the texture: 3
the kick: 4
the sight: 4
the buck ($6.75): 4

I thought the this drink was fantastic, as did my fellow queen-drinkers. We only wished it were thicker! Besides that, the taste was fantastic. It was not overly spicy, which was good for the judges that tried it – a perfect amount. Garnish (shown) included a HUGE piece of celery, and 2 shrimp alternating with 2 pearl onion. Now, olives are a must for me so I was a little disappointed, and we had just finished a discussion about how we didn’t like shrimp as a garnish (fishes up the drink) – so, I passed on the shrimp (I was fearful of tainting). But, those who tried the shrimp liked it.

I would like to note that the Twisted Spoke does change up their bloody mary menu with the seasons (usually they have 4 on the menu at one time). The beer back changes as well, with Guiness being the winter brew of choice.

Danielle’s Bottom Line: Road Rash: meh. Bloody Queen = awesome.

PS - The corned beef hash & the fried egg sandwich were EXCELLENT!

Official Bracket!

The official bracket has finally arrived! Unfortunately, not every venue made the cut, but I think this selection is a fantastic way to get started:

Click on it for a bigger, more readable version.

Let's get to drinkin'!

Rules & Regs

Hello!

Tonight is a particuarly exciting time for me. My last final was just handed in, my big project for work has wrapped, and my college roommate comes in tomorrow for my birthday weekend! This means summer has officially begun - finally. Adding to the (extreme) excitement is the fact that our first tasting is just 35 hours away! !!

My good friend lila, the creative mind behind food blog & brooklyn supperclub site liladobbs.wordpress.org, provides a categorical breakdown of the scoring that we will be using to grade our brunchtime delights:

the taste: are we talking fresh tomato juice? clamato? v-8? sweet? salty? savory? brine-y?

the texture: along the lines of taste...watered down? too thick? too much ice? too little ice? i like my bloodys to be solid but not too heavy that i cant order a second (or third for that matter) round.

the kick: self-explanatory. personally, im very opinionated in the tabasco vs chile sauce debate. i dont like tabasco AT ALL. i chalk it up there with olives, another dreaded food of mine. which makes my bloody mary scoring extra annoying.

the sight: i like when folks have fun with the garnishes, but it shouldn't get in the way of enjoying my drink. the garnishes should be simple, inventive and complimentary to the taste. a glass that shows up with a leaning tower of briney vegetables, so tall that you have dissasemble your drink jenga-style, nuh-uh.

the buck: at my favorite bklyn bloody joint its always two for one. 'nuff said.

At each venue, scorecards will be provided which will have a 1-5 point scale for each of the above categories. The average score from each category will be the official score for that bloody mary - but don't worry, if you have any particularly strong sentiments, they will not be overlooked! A space for your personal opinions will also be provided. As will golf pencils. If you're lucky.

You might not believe it, but suggestions for bloody mary sites are STILL coming in. I've closed the polls as of tonight, so the final list will be posted tomorrow. (today? friday. somehow, time has lost all meaning over the past two months.)

Again, thank you all for being such fantastic bracketeers! And special thanks to lila, always my creative cliff notes in a time of sleep-deprived poop for brains.

Love & libations,

Danielle

Spokey Beginnings

This SATURDAY, MAY 31, will be the kickoff of this summer's Bloody Mary Bracket!

In response to high demand and popularity, the TWISTED SPOKE will be our first location.

501 N Ogden Ave

11:30 AM

Forecast for this Saturday looks sunny & beautiful, so I have reserved the outdoor patio for our group. The owner will be coming out and telling us a little bit about their FOUR different types of bloody marys - so come with a whet palate! And try not to be late - noon is their busiest time of day!

ever think that "waiting with bated breath" is gross?,

Danielle