Sometimes we are fancy

Four of our close friends are leaving Chicago to move to Boulder. Taavo, Kiki, and Ben Stub.r are all going to Naropa for grad school, and they are taking Alex with them. It is exciting for them but sad for us. They are on the road right now. Ben wanted to send them off with a dinner party, which we threw for them last weekend. Meredith came too, although she is staying in Chicago. It was amazing. I was in charge of ambiance and dessert, and Ben of course made all the food. Six courses, drink pairings with every course. We ate and dranked ourselves silly.

Welcome to Cafe Coach House! As the weather is lovely and there is not enough room to seat you anywhere else, please make your way to our outdoor dining patio!



Please, do your best to keep the groping to a minimum. Before we are seated, please enjoy a mojito, gin and tonic, or Newcastle along with the prociutto, melon and cherries.




Now let us progress to the table to begin the meal with a cold avocado and corn soup, served in martini glasses. We'll fill your goblets with prosecco.



Caesar salad with or without grilled chicken. Homemade croutons and dressing. Lettuce grown on our friend Chris's farm in Madison. Served with a white wine.



Orecciette pasta with pesto and mushrooms. Basil used to make the pesto from Chris's farm. Served with Belgian beers, courtesy of one T. Smith.



Huge zucchini from Chris's farm with a homemade marinara sauce, stuffed with roasted red peppers, onions, parmesean, and Italian sausage from the family owned market in Chicago's own Little Italy for the meat eaters. Served with a Beaujolais.



As the after dinner drink, cold limoncello from Italy. Warm peach and blueberry crisp with vanilla ice cream.



The after after dinner drink, again courtesy of Taavo, Three Floyd's Dark Lord. Only a few precious drops ended up on the floor amidst the broken glasses.



Job well done, chef. Certainly Ben's finest show of his talent yet!