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December 17, 2020

Top ‘ate’ of 2020!

Is there anyone out there who will be sorry to see the year 2020 come to an end? We don’t think so!!! Let us recap some of the Dining Duo’s highlights from the past year.

The good, the bad, and the gooey

There are several holiday foods that people either love or hate. The first one that comes to mind is eggnog. This is a slightly slimy mixture of raw eggs and milk laced with enough bourbon to kill the salmonella in the raw eggs.

Back out to the ‘Outback’

Being a restaurant critic has not been easy lately. We plan on going to review a restaurant, and when we get there, the entire county is closed for inside dining. We then drive to another county just as it is being shut down. We are stuck scratching our heads and jokingly we said, “We should go to the outback in Australia, the restaurants there are probably open.”

It’s “Za Za” dahling

Due to this whole crazy Covid-19 situation, Nancy has resorted to virtual shopping. She is becoming quite adept at ordering things she see’s on Amazon, Groupon, and Facebook ads. Who would have thought that some items are not exactly as they appear on the internet? Such was the case with a Local Flavor coupon we purchased for a restaurant. We drove up to what we thought would be a fine dining restaurant, and to our surprise, it looked nothing like it did on the internet.

Cravin’ Asian

Jim and I have been “cravin’ Asian” food lately. As a matter of fact, we are total Asian food junkies. There are not many dine in Asian restaurants that we haven’t been to. After checking Facebook for the 4,322 time one day, a light bulb went off in our pea brains.

New burgers on the block

Some people have a green thumb. Jim and I have the black thumb of death. Every Spring we go to our local nursery, buy some perennial plants, and by the end of summer, they commit suicide. Our landscaping is what our neighbors point to and use as a bad example. This year our lawn caught a bad case of fungus. Along with that, some cute striped little critters, aka Chip and Dale, set up camp under the sidewalk leading up to our house.

The “Village” People

On September 5 you may have noticed signs all around Huntley saying, “Tune Radio to 101.5 FM For Fireworks”. Don’t worry, this did not mean your radio would have exploded if you tuned in. Huntley Community Radio had a live broadcast during the village fireworks display, and someone had to put up all those signs.

Syrup-y Sweet!

Nancy and I have become desperate for entertainment during this Covid-19 crisis. Nancy is convinced she is qualified to be a doctor after watching “Untold Stories of the ER” on TV, and she actually is becoming good at diagnosing the cases. Our Saturday night entertainment is now the Three Stooges followed by Svengoolie. We have also learned from the grandchildren the importance of checking FaceBook constantly. This turned out to be true when we read in the Wildflower Lake neighbors group about a new restaurant called Syrup in Algonquin.

The COVID Zone

Imagine if you will, a world where any dealings with strangers is done through a sheet of plexiglass; where toilet paper can mysteriously disappear from all store shelves overnight; and where wearing a mask going into a bank will not get you arrested. Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to enter the “Covid Zone.”

Getting back to the future of dining

The Dining Duo is overjoyed now that the restaurants have opened up. There are several reasons for this celebration. First, we get to dine out once again. Second, we don’t have to wrack our brains and to come up with some stupid subject for our column. Last, but not least, when we stay at home, we usually dream up some crazy plan and Nancy winds up in a cast or some sort of body brace.

Evel K-‘Nancy’

The “Shelter in Place” order seems like has been going on forever and the Dining Duo is getting bored. While standing outside hoping to see other signs of life, our friend John goes zooming past on his bike. He stopped to talk, and we told him we would like to ride our bikes but it was too much work.

Quarantine queen

This “Covid 19 quarantine” that we are all going through has really been an eye-opener. I have discovered that my loving bride of almost 46 years is a total, raving, lunatic. We all know that she feels I’m the moron, but here is a little look into life with Nancy.

Chef moron to the rescue

In keeping with the CDC Covid-19 guidelines, please “social distance” yourself six feet from our photo!!!

The MOD Squad

This is a very stressful time for everyone, due to the Corona Virus outbreak. Nancy even stopped drinking Corona beer!!! Our editor, Chris LaPelusa, gave us the option of suspending our column or reviewing take-out/delivery. We feel we have an obligation to our loyal readers, so as the saying goes, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead,” but don’t spare the hand sanitizer.

HEEEEERE’S FRANCESCA’S

Things have been “interesting” around the Dining Duo household recently. It is a fun filled “perfect storm”, and we do mean storm. We’re just coming out of the winter doldrums, the weather is not warm enough to venture outside, and Nancy is starting to run out of “happy pills” after her surgery. I have to don an apron and attempt to cook, clean, and do laundry while Nancy turns into a contortionist twice a day with her legs flailing in the air as she does her rehab exercises.

5,070 calories and counting

We were wracking our brains trying to come up with a restaurant to review in the Schaumburg area since we were going there to do some shopping. The light bulb over our heads went on when suddenly we remembered a restaurant that has been around forever, and we have not been to in ages. We are referring to the mother of all calorie bombs, the restaurant with a menu to end all menus, and the ever popular, long forgotten Cheesecake Factory in Schaumburg.

An old republic

Nancy is scheduled to go “under the saw” and have her knee replaced, and as a result, things are very busy around the Dining Duo household. I am stocking up on leftovers and trying to bulk up to survive her recuperation period. After all, it’s all about me…

El Niagara doesn’t “fall” short

The Dining Duo has lived here in the beautiful confines of Del Webb for 10 years now. We have seen restaurants come and go, which makes our job so much easier. The location for the restaurant we are reviewing today was once Mimi’s Cafe, then Lume’s Pancake House, and now it houses El Niagrara Mexican Restaurant in Algonquin.

The holidays are over, the leftovers are gone, the resolutions broken, and it’s the dead of winter. There is no better time for a Mexican fiesta than now. We jumped into the Dining Duo mini-mobile and off we went.

Let’s get ‘Nasty’

One year after Jim retired, we finally closed on the selling of our industrial building. This required us to deal with several banks. Somehow things like this never go easy for the Dining Duo. You can write a check on a paper airplane, fly it through the bank lobby, and they will snatch it up and take your money. Asking for a withdrawal is another story.

The Dining Duo: Best of 2019

“Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind.” Here in Del Webb, as we all get older, that seems to be getting easier and easier to do. We are no exception. We keep a binder with all of our articles, and every year, we take out last year’s reviews, spread them all over the floor in the family room of the Dining Duo’s palatial estate, and attempt to come up with ten of our best restaurants for 2019.

¡El Breakfast!

T’was the day after Thanksgiving, the turkey’s picked clean, the relatives all left, and the house looks like a crime scene.

The leftovers were wrapped, and put away with care, in hopes that we have, another dinner to share.

A happy village

Restaurants come and go, and that is why we have been writing this column for seven years, and have never repeated a restaurant. There is a relatively new restaurant on Randall Road, which took the place of a barbecue restaurant which was obviously not as “famous” as they would have hoped to have been.

A “hair” raising experience

Prior to the Dining Duo moving to the friendly confines of Sun City Del Webb Huntley, most of our marital bliss was spent in Hoffman Estates. As a result, we seem to find ourselves returning there for various reasons like doctors, stores, restaurants, etc. While driving down Roselle Road in Schaumburg, a storefront caught Nancy’s eye.

A pretzel und a schnitzel

Nancy and I were sitting in our screened in porch the other day smoking cigars – yes, Nancy smokes them too. We looked around and noticed the season is now changing to fall. The leaves are turning brown, just like Nancy’s roots, and there was a chill in the air, much like the look I just got from Nancy. Being the Dining Duo, our thoughts immediately turned to Octoberfest and German food. After one last puff on our cigars, and with our stomach’s growling, we headed off to Checkers II in Union.

On the road again

Jim is having his midlife crisis at age 70, oh lucky me, that means he’ll probably live to be 140!!! Time to go out looking for a small fun car to boost his ego during his crisis. He always wanted a Smart Car after seeing them in Europe, and it would be a perfect fit in our garage since we want to get a golf cart also. Our first goal was to see if Jim, being 6’4″ tall, could fold himself into this miniscule vehicle. To our dismay, we learned that they are no longer sold in the United States.

Biaggi’s ball

You may only think of the Dining Duo as charming, witty, and knowledgeable restaurant critics. While this is absolutely true, it is not the only avocation that we have. We are also bocce ball athletes!!! Every Friday morning we psyche ourselves up, jump into the mini-mobile, and head out to do battle at the bocce courts. This is the first year that I get to have Jim as my partner, oh lucky me!

Holy mostaccioli!!

Nancy has not been to church in for longer than we care to admit. Our children are all married and most of our relatives have passed, so that takes care of the top two reasons for us going to church. Because I am an ex-altar boy, and survived 12 years of parochial school, I’d like to consider myself an authority on church matters.

Be Bop a Lulu…

A good friend of ours, Kathy, invited us to join her and a group friends, for dinner. We jumped at the chance for two reasons. It would be a fun night out, and we found out that, on that particular night, you get 50% off on all appetizers and entrees at the recentley opened Be Bop A Lulu’s Rockabilly Cafe in Union.

Dropping anchor once again

After seven years of writing this column, we are proud to say we have never repeated a restaurant. That is partially due to the fact that after we review them, for some reason, they go out of business. Was it something we said???

All aboard!

Recently our son and his family came for a visit from the great state of Florida. They have a seven year old son, Henrik, and four year old twin daughters, Ana and Greta. As it is with most grandchildren these days, it seems like they have to be constantly entertained every hour, every minute, every second, of every day, 24/7 during their four day stay.