Birthday!

We went to Il Sogno again! Il Sogno is one of my favorite restaurants in San Antonio. We invited Kate and Sam, our culinary BFFs, to come. We don't go very often, but we do eat our hearts out when we go.

When we first came in, the waitress had to wait for the host to come seat us, and then he tried to seat us in the entrance area, which was dimly lit and empty. We asked for seating in the main dining room, and he offered us a table near the wait stations. We didn't want to be constantly in the wait staff's way, so we asked for a side table. Are we not that cool? Why didn't they want to give us a table in the main dining room? The sommelier knows us! We are cool! We drink Vino Nobile de Montepulciano and wear belt-necklaces! Don't send us to the corner of the restaurant!

Other than that, it was a delicious and fun night. The sommelier advised us to get the osso bucco, but we refrained. Sam, John and I got the wild hog with polenta, which I've had before and it is divine.

Kate opted for the monkfish wrapped in prosciutto.

It was excellent, if a little too salty. I also ordered a side of truffle fries because I love fries so much! Plus, we'd gotten two pizzas.

After all that food, I wasn't really hungry for dessert, so we declined. But then the waitress said they wanted to give us a dessert since it was my birthday, so I picked the fruit tart. Sam, Kate and John whisper-sang happy birthday and we ate! I love fruit tarts. They're like tiny pies.

The birthday doesn't end here! Tonight, Lyla and Stephen are coming in to celebrate and take their engagement photos with Bend the Light. And tomorrow we leave for Thanksgiving!

Talking Dirty at Il Sogno

For John's birthday, we went to one of our new favorite restaurants, Il Sogno. I called when we got home, and they were miraculalously not busy, so we rushed over. Il Sogno has an open kitchen with seating at the bar, so that's where we sat so we could watch the chefs work.

I know the sommelier at Il Sogno has read my blog. When he spotted us at the counter, he spread his arms and said "Miss Blogger!" Haha, awesome! He advised us on which wine to get. He chose a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, which is very impressive to say and even better to drink.

We got the margherita pizza for an appetizer. It says "market price" on the menu, which makes me hesitate to order it, because "market price" usually means "fucking expensive." What exactly is market about a pizza with mozzarella, basil, and tomato sauce? All it means is that they price it by the hour, so at 5 o'clock it's $5, $6 at 6 o'clock, etc. So that's solves that mystery.

Chef Andrew Weissman was there last night. His daughters were eating at the restaurant and they kept talking to him and waving. It was adorable.

First entree to come out was the hog with polenta. Let me see if I can describe it: think of the best meal you've ever had, and then multiply it by 37 and add some sprinkles and maybe some crack on it. It's just that good.

We totally hated it. Ha!

Next entree was the roast chicken and truffle fries. I must confess, while this was delicious, it suffered in comparison to the hog. That hog was MAGICAL, people. The chicken was awesome, but it just can't compete. The truffle fries were really good too. I consider myself a conniusseur of fries. I love all fries and will get them anywhere they're served. These were good fries, y'all.

I forgot to get a picture before we tore into the chicken, so you get to see it half eaten.

Cheese course! Who doesn't love pungent cheeses covered with bee pollen and honey? What, you don't? More for me then.

Sitting at the counter means you can watch the chefs cook your food. We saw them make pasta, pizzas, fish. We watched things go into the enormous oven.

Watching all of this food being cooked was like food porn. That's what the title of this post was about. I won't repeat what I said about the food, because it is downright filthy. It's just what I do.

We couldn't decide on one dessert so we got two. This is the chocolate tart and gelato. See how close we are to the chefs? I told them if they needed anyone to taste anything, I'd help them out. The chef laughed. I was being serious. Il Sogno - I'm here for you! I will taste things and make sure they're good! All you have to do is ask!

This was the strawberry dessert with strawberries, vanilla cream, chocolate sauce, and then strawberry sauce on top. It was also divine.

I don't have a picture of the last event of the evening, which was John and I moaning on the couch about how full we were. Ha!

Someone come rub my tummy

Internet friends (just like real friends, but more Internet-y), I am really full.

For dinner club yesterday, John and I made:

Pear tarts
Chicken rillettes, which we served with baguettes, croissants, pickled peppers, brie and pickles
Chocolate cake

It was all homemade except for the pickles. So not only am I full, but I am also exhausted.

After the tart, I wasn't all that hungry anymore, but I ate the rillettes and the accoutrements because it was SO GOOD. I kept telling everyone that I was going to throw up from eating to much. But I finished my dinner. And then I had a piece of cake. I know! I'm crazy! But look at that cake! It's so moist and delicious!

After everyone left, John and I laid in bed and bemoaned how terribly full we were. I started moaning to see if that would make me feel better, but that only made Buster come lick my face and stand on my stomach, neither of which helped me.

BUT! I have some exciting information! Kate told me that the sommelier at Il Sogno READ MY BLOG! OMG 34DFGH)r*(ugfklj! And he remember me! I am Internet famous!

So if you're reading Sommelier, hello! I wanted to go to dinner there on Friday, but I am afraid Il Sogno will be too busy! Alas! Some other time.

I'm gonna go lay down now.

Il Sogno

Sooooooo, I am kind of a foodie. Kind of. I like food. No, I LOVE food. I like to cook food, and serve food, and read about food, and write about food, and take pictures of food. I like to try new food. I love to try new restaurants.

If you're not familiar with Andrew Weissman, he's one of the most prolific top chefs in San Antonio. He has the flagship restaurant, Le Reve, which was on Gourmet's top 50 restaurants IN THE COUNTRY. I've been before, and it is phenomenal. He also has Sip, a coffee shop, Sandbar, a seafood restaurant, and Big'z, a burger joint.
His latest restaurant, the much talked about Il Sogno, was supposed to open at the beginning of this year. That didn't happen. Rumors said it would open this summer. But it wasn't until an article this past week in the San Antonio Current that I had some answers - Il Sogno would open soon, July or August. Construction was still going on, but it would open.

Il Sogno is located near a new area, the Pearl Brewery, which is an old beer brewery and is now home to lofts, restaurants, and, every Saturday, a farmer's market.

I follow the farmer's market on Facebook and they said on Friday that Il Sogno would be opening for breakfast on Saturday. As big fans of Chef Weissman, John and I had to go.

We showed up at 7:50 am for the breakfast. I ordered the coddled eggs, John ordered the speck and provolone panini and we split a bread basket.

It was AWESOME.


So awesome that we had to come back with Kate and Sam for dinner the next day. Here's the Bismark pizza. Can you tell it has an egg on it? A delicious, delicious egg? Because it does.

They serve grissini as you sit and wait. We also had a duck flatbread, scallops, hog ragu, and rabbit. The ragu? Was knock-you-on-your-ass fantastic.

They didn't have their liquor license yet, but they gave us wine anyway! This picture is courtesy of the adorable French sommelier from Le Reve, who was at Il Sogno on Sunday. He has taught us about the tiny bubbles in champagne, and how much he likes Sam's shirt.

I can't wait to go back!