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Love: Vanity Fair's look back at The Sopranos, with the cast and creator David Chase, which makes me want to dive into the series all over again, from start to finish. The oral history has lots of interesting behind-the-scenes detail, not the least of which is the seemingly intense feelings James Gandolfini and Edie Falco had (have?) for each other.

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012/04/sopranos-oral-history

Like: Lounge-height cat's cradle bases for Eames chairs. I'd sure like to get a pair for the living room, in part to add a dash of color (red? green? yellow?) to our otherwise stark and dark palette.

(Late) Discovery: It took me WAY too long to make it to Mission Chinese Food, but it lived up to the hype.  Salt Cod Fried Rice was indeed worthy of 7 X 7's Big Eat list, and it's hard to find fault with Thrice-Cooked Bacon.

Obsession: Pouring through the banquet of stunning images that is the Lyla & Blu blog.
http://www.lylaandblu.com/archive

Complaint: Why is there so much television goodness on Sunday nights, and not enough on the other nights? I know one can DVR everything, but it's hard to avoid spoilers if you can't get through it all on Sunday night. Right now, it's a choice of what to watch first: Mad Men, where the glamour of the earlier 1960s has all but vaporized; Game of Thrones, with the great Tyrion as the King's Hand and a dozen other balls in the air; and, starting next Sunday, the promising-looking Girls. Sunday, don't be so greedy. Can't we spread the good shows around a bit more?

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Love: The Boxcar Children was a childhood favorite of mine - to read and endlessly play act - so it's been lovely to re-read it this past week with Stella. The idea of four resourceful kids fending for themselves while living in the abandoned train car in the woods (storing bottles of milk in their cold creek "refrigerator", gathering mis-matched cracked dishes and pots from the town dump, finding eggs in the woods for supper, etc.)is as appealing now as ever.

Like: Tasting Table's Year of the Dinner Party series, which promises to provide ideas and inspiration for entertaining for the coming year.  Based on the first two entries, I'm hooked.

http://www.tastingtable.com/multipart_article/national/121

Discovery: Friskies' brilliant Cat Fishing app, which played a small part in keeping our poor cat Clara sane during her 8-week confinement following surgery (she was hit by a car in January.)  As of today, she's a free girl and authorized to be a normal cat again. 

Obsession: The current post-advertising fantasy gig is owning a small, modern urban inn above a bar or restaurant. Not unlike Longman and Eagle in Chicago or Detroit's Honor and Folly.

Complaint: That I don't have a picture of the finished dish to help convey this, but I swear this recipe for Guinness-Braised Beef Brisket is the easiest and most delicious centerpiece to a St. Patrick's Day dinner, if you are so inclined this Saturday.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/guinness-braised-beef-brisket-10000000577146/

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Love: Cocktails at Aviary, where the science and imagination of molecular gastronomy is applied to alcoholic concoctions. Of course, I had to go with the Negroni-based option, called the 2-in-1. You start with a glass vial of carbonated Negroni and a tall glass with a white lady, all frothy egg whites and gin.  After a few sips you mix them together and a new drink emerges.  When I'm next in Chicago I want to try the 7-course cocktail tasting menu for sure.

Like: Ruxbin, a down-to-earth but gourmet Chicago BYOB, named one of the 10 best new restuarants in America by GQ.  Run by a brother, sister and friend trio, all surnamed Lee, we had delicious stuffed calamari,hanger steak, and a chocolate pot de creme topped with bacon cotton candy.

Discovery: That Bill Cunningham is pretty much the sweetest man on the planet.  Such a rare and unusual character, and such a lovely documentary. 

Obsession: Take Shelter, a terrific small movie from late last year, with Boardwalk Empire's Michael Shannon (decidedly non-Agent Van Alden-ish) as a working class family man in rural Ohio who becomes obsessed with his dreams and visions of an apocalyptic storm.  Is he prophetic or descending into paranoid schizophrenia?

Complaint: Hotel room service – how long it takes, the awkward standing around in a robe while someone brings the tray in, deciding how much to add to the 2 gratuities already on the bill.  Thankfully, this complaint has been solved at Public, Ian Schraeger’s new stripped-down hotel concept in Chicago, which aims to offer everything you need and nothing you don’t at a surprisingly affordable rate.  The best part of the stay: 6-minute room service left outside your door in a stylish bag. 

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Love: A brilliant film or television show title sequence.  I was very happy to find the Art of the Title website, which goes deep with directors and the artists who create title sequences to dissect their inspirations and thought processes. A sampling from their pieces on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Mad Men:

http://www.artofthetitle.com


Like: To shop local, and a regular stop is Oakland's Bella Vita.  It's a good resource for vintage jewelry and purses (like this color block purse I picked up), vintage and new clothing from small area designers, and kids' clothing and gifts. 

Discovery: Bouche, a fairly new restaurant next to the Tunnel Top on Bush. It's super tiny - the size often described as "jewel box" but really "cigar box" seems more appropriate given its stripped-down, more masculine vibe - and incredibly good.  That everything we ate elicited a sigh should not be surprising given chef Nicolas Borzee's pedigree (Coi, and time with Alain Ducasse, Michel Troigros and Joel Robuchon back in his native France.)

Obsession: Graham and Green's Odyssey Writing Desk, based on a 1940s Italian design, which might nicely fill a spot in the back of the living room.

Complaint:  Why did I go 5 years without a watch?  After my last watch broke in 2006, like so many people these days, I had fallen into using the ever-present cell phone to check the time.  That is until last weekend, when I finally and very happily got a new timepiece: Nixon's The Time Teller in matte black with dark tortoise.