It was a freebee, a chance to go as a local blogger and review the restaurant for advertising purposes. Before I get into the review proper, let me say that Shane, a manger there, made a brilliant move having a group of local bloggers come out and eat there for free and write reviews. It shows that the management there understands that the way of the future is the web, and that local bloggers are a great source of positive publicity.

Of course it could have backfired. We could have hated it.

<backtrack to 2003>

My wife and I had a favorite restaurant in Peoria. We loved it. When we wanted something special, we went there, to Dominick’s. It was great. Pasta, steak, great service, beautiful decor. We loved it. And it closed.

Since then, we’ve found local places we liked at different times, and in different moods. But we’ve not found a place that I considered “fine dining” in all the ways I liked to replace Dominick’s since it closed.

Until last night.

I showed up a little before 7 and sat down and there were already a half dozen bloggers there. I’ve met quite a few local bloggers at blogger bashes and such before the evening, but none of them were there. Another 3-4 showed up before we got started and it was a good group.

I have this habit of sitting in the middle of a group and trying to take part in all the conversations. It never works but I keep trying. I didn’t write down the names or the blogs represented, but the ones I remember are Morton Malaise and Keep Passing the Open Windows (I’ll add more when I remember them).

I ordered an IPA to start out and looked over the menu. After some discussion with my neighbors at the table two of us decided to split the Calmari, which was the best I’ve had to date. It often is a little too chewy for me, but this was just perfect. I also got to try some of the Crab & Artichoke Au Gratin and some of the Escargot.

All of the appetizers I tried were fantastic. I would try any of them again, and I would have loved to try the Mushrooms or the Brie.

Then the salad came. I ventured out and had the Pear Salad, which came with dried cranberries, bleu cheese, walnuts and a strawberry vinaigrette.

I wasn’t sure how the tastes were going to work together, but since it was the most out of the ordinary, I had to try it. They had a house salad, and a spinach salad, and a Caesar–but I had to try the Pear.

I wasn’t disappointed. The amount of dressing on the salad was just right for my taste, and the flavors of the varied ingredients were just fantastic together.

With dinner I ordered a bottle of the Ridge vineyard Geyserville (2006 vintage) Zinfandel. We shared it around the table, and it was one of the finest Zins I have had–ever. They mentioned changing the wine list soon, and I hope that they keep the wines from that vineyard.

After a great deal of deliberation (they had veal and duck on the menu which I have a hard time turning down) I ordered the Rack of Lamb. It was cooked exactly as I had asked and served with asparagus and their 30 Layer Potato Au Gratin (a specialty) and everything was just beautiful. And flavorful. And delicious. And…. I loved it. I saved some to bring home (the wife couldn’t come) but I enjoyed every bite.

Dessert was the only mildly disappointing part–and only because I didn’t ask my questions before I ordered. I had the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, which isn’t made on site. For a dessert purchased off site, it was still pretty good, but had I asked before I ordered, I would have had the chocolate mousse with Chambord glaze. I tasted my neighbor’s and it was just lovely. Definitely getting that next time. Enjoyed the dessert nonetheless and ordered a Booker’s (neat) to go with it. This is a small batch bourbon not often found in local restaurants, and I enjoyed it greatly.

I was thoroughly impressed with everything (and the decor was nice too!) last night, and will certainly be back. Probably next month for my anniversary.

Thanks for the invite, Shane! It is one of the finest meals I’ve had, and rivals some of the restaurants in big cities like DC. I’ll be back as often as I can afford it.

And you bloggers that didn’t take him up on the invite–Shame on you! You missed out on a great meal and a great time.

Two25 is a great local restaurant and a credit to Peoria. Be sure to check it out soon!

Our default restaurant is Kelleher’s, but I was in the mood for something different, or even new. TC reminded me that we had talked about trying Richard’s on Main for a while now and still hadn’t.

We parked in front of the restaurant, arriving a little before 8, and got a prime parking spot. We rooted around for change before realizing that meters don’t need to be fed in the evening–a good start for our dinner!

The place was pretty empty (it’s Monday after all) and we decided to get a table rather than sit at the bar and be distracted by the football game.

Our appetites have been changing, and we’ve finally decided that it’s a better investment to not buy two entrees and end up taking half of both home, or overeating (we’d both like to lose weight). So after perusing the menu, we settled on splitting the fried portabello caps (hand breaded, we found out later) and the Ribeye with sautéed mushrooms. TC’s cutting back on carbs so we chose cottage cheese for the side order. Oh, and I had an Erdinger’s draught.

The beer was bigger than I expected, and Erdinger’s is a wonderful wheat ale (Bavarian) that I very much enjoy. Light and tasty. (My friend Ralph turned me on to it). The food arrived and we dug in.

The steak was prepared perfectly, and was tender and juicy and mmmmm so good. The mushrooms were very good, served with a side of ranch dress sing.

I liked the decor, it’s a beautifully done basement with tin ceiling tiles. I could have gone for the game being a bit quieter, but it was not as noisy, even then, as Kelleher’s would have been.

We’ll be back.

The place is in the former Big Easy Cafe location, around the corner from Rhodell’s and next to Rizzi’s on State, across the way from WTVP. It’s owned by the same owners as the Mackinaw Valley Vineyard, and should be a good investment for them to get their wines better known in the area. Between us all we tried seven different wines, and TC and I left with a bottle of Alexander’s Conquest, a lovely full-bodied red that I’m looking forward to popping open the next time we have a heavy beef meal. We also shared a piece of their Italian Cream Cake that was just fantastic to eat, especially on the heels of the flight of white wines, before starting into the reds. Seth and Crystal had a scone and I heard no complaints.

Because we were the only table there for a while, the manager spent a good deal of time talking with us and we got the whole story. The place hasn’t been opened long, and I’m pretty sure we’ll become regulars there before too long. Like many of the places on the river, they’ve used the warehouse architecture for their benefit, rather than covering up what used to be there. They have a couple of private rooms that could be used for meetings or parties (small ones). I’ve added them to my Peoria Links section of the sidebar and we will certainly be back!

Oh, my!

From the freshly baked bread, to the bottle of Chianti, to the freshly made (on site) pasta dishes and the meat that we had (a filet and some venison) with the pasta everything was amazing. Truly fantastic to the point where I could not stop exclaiming how good it was.

I have eaten out quite a bit in my life and worked in some mighty fine establishments, and this is by far the best meal I have had in recent memory, possibly my whole life. We sat around the table, the children, Raquel, Gabrielle, and Theresa and me waxing and enjoying and in a froth about how good this food was. The wine was perfect for the meal and we just ate and ate and were filled with joy at the artistry of the chef.

Midway through the meal it hit me, and I made an announcement to the table: Do you all realize that the food in heaven is better than this?

Better. Better in unimaginable ways.

As I wrote yesterday I have been longing for heaven quite a bit of late, and so I’m going to vent those desires as some short writings about heaven here on the blog. One thing about heaven that I don’t think most of us believe on most days is that it’s better. And by better I mean better than anything here. All of the good stuff (90% Cacao chocolate, Single Barrel aged Bourbon, homemade cookies, finely aged cheese, whole wheat crust pizza, homemade tomato soup . . . ad infinitum) is better there.

And by better I mean on a scale that we can’t even imagine. So much better that we couldn’t handle it without crying in joy it’s so good. And on top of that—we’ll enjoy it with Jesus. And above all else that’s what makes heaven so special. We’re with Jesus. And He will give freely all of these things that we have here—only better—forever.

Every week I taste, briefly, heavenly food as we come to the Lord’s Table. And it is so only a taste. But a taste nonetheless.

And later? More, better, and with Jesus. When we’re Home and praising Him forever.

One way to love our neighbors is to frequent their businesses. That way they can help ours. Thinking locally means being willing to pay more for something that doesn’t come from a bigboxmart type store.

Thursday TC and I had what is probably our last date before Little Engine arrives. We had a midwife appointment and then headed down to the riverfront to eat dinner at Kelleher’s Irish Pub. We had a wonderful dinner there of Irish fare and will be back soon–but on a less busy night. Between Bo Diddly and game 7 of the NLCS starring the “local” Cardinals it was crowded and pretty loud. The food and service were great. We bumped into our district councilperson and met the owner and I will enjoy going back and trying more of the Irish specialties.

After escaping the noise we decided to find someplace quiet to sit down and have some coffee. We went to Kade’s on War Memorial. It was nice and quiet, soft jazz playing on the speakers. Fantastic service and great coffee, plus they had loose tea available by the cup. We had a nice time talking there before heading out shopping for a few minutes and then home.

Support local peoria businesses! Eat, drink, spend money–and help build a thriving community here.

Both meals were eaten at restaurants Chef Kevin recently reviewed, Grandpa John’s Rib Shack and CiCi’s Pizza.

Grandpa John’s was everything I expected and more. I ate the Pulled Pork dinner and TC had the Ribs. Both were great. I know Chef Kevin wasn’t impressed with the pork but I prefer it not smoked. And I just loved the BBQ sauce—just the right blend of sweet and spicy.

The big surprise for me was that the choice of sides included sweet potato fries. Both TC and I love sweet potatoes and get excited when it’s a choice instead of regular potatoes. The fries were wonderful and the Cajun baked beans as the second side worked great. I loved it. TC said the cole slaw was just like here mama used to make.

We will definitely be back—I won’t miss Famous Dave’s at all now—Grandpa John’s was better and local.

As for CiCi’s—TC and I used to eat there when we lived in South Carolina and always loved it. A bargain for a pizza buffet, and the customer service there was always top notch.

Nothing different here. A small hiccup was that they don’t take credit cards. Not a bad business move when you consider they have an ATM right there with a $.99 fee (much cheaper than most ATMs) and instead of taking a hit on the CC % they’ll make money on the cash.

The pizza was just like I remembered and they had one of my favorite video games in the game room for the kids and I to play after dinner. They’ll make whatever you want—whether it’s out or not—and always do it with a smile. I’m glad we finally got one here in Peoria. Like Chef Kevin I don’t like to eat at chains, but this is an exception to that rule.

Two fine meals today but I’m glad to be back to my wife’s cooking tomorrow.

I explained to my friends that it’s about community. When I shop at Walmart, I am not encouraging the local economy. My products are made in China or shipped in from Chile, and the employees that are serving me are making minimum wage (if I get served at all—you can get in and out of many stores now without having to interact with a person with the “self-check� lanes). Very little help to the local economy.

I contrasted that with my own vision of how a local economy used to work (as I understand it) and how it could work again. I would like to open a restaurant when my boys get older. A restaurant is one of those businesses that depend upon local business. People rarely drive 100 miles to come to your restaurant—no matter how good the food is. If I go into the local hardware store where I’m waited on by the owner or one of his workers that gets paid well above minimum wage, I am investing in my restaurant. These guys now have more money than that Wal-Mart employee to spend, and more incentive to spend it locally (because they survive the same way—from local business). If they choose to buy their groceries from the last independent grocer in town instead of the big chain, they continue the chain of dollars and interdependence that makes for a community.

If all of these workers decide to “save money� by shopping at Wal-Mart they may someday find that Wal-Mart and those companies like it are the only employers left in their city.

There are other reasons I don’t shop at Wal-Mart, but they are not germane to the topic today.

The blog at DCC, however dealt with the other side of this. We have very few self-owned businesses left in our nation. What we have is joint stock corporations, predominately made up of passive investors. Saenz traces the history (in brief) of this development and ends up being unsure of what he should think of it. He references two books, Ideas Have Consequences by Richard Weaver and The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea.

I don’t want to repeat the content of Rick’s post here, but I wanted to add something to it. The key to the joint stock corporation is the limited liability of the investor. The investor doesn’t have control over the corporation and so his liability is limited to his investment. Meaning if the corporation commits a great crime due to negligence of the managers or whatever his other personal assets cannot be touched.

I am convinced that this is unethical. At present, I can form a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) that only is me, or a few investors who do have control over the corporation. That means if I open a restaurant as a LLC and then food poison several hundred people in a given night all I can lose is the restaurant. None of my own assets can be touched, no matter whether that is just or not. The litigiousness of our society notwithstanding—I find that to be over the top. I do something wrong and the person to whom I did it wrong has little to no recourse against me, the person who did something wrong. That’s because it’s not actually the person me who “did the wrong� but the corporation me who “did the wrong.� And the “corporation me� has a special get out of jail free card from the government called LLC. I file chapter 7 and I go home and my house and savings are untouched by my negligence.

This too, works against community. If I am not responsible for the consequences of my actions then my incentives to run my restaurant well are diminished. The system also favors heavily the giant corporate structure of the fast-non-food restaurants rather than the local guy who is running the restaurant in order to feed his family and to serve his community.

Businesses should exist, not merely to make profit, but to serve. And when one provides a legitimate service that people need and are blessed by then making a profit comes easily.

As Christians we need to reconsider this recent innovation called the corporation. And as we strive to form communities we need to think about how to depend upon one another rather than big corporations whose self-interest is not tied to the local community.

Recently on the short drive to church and back, and I was listening to Gene Edward Veith’s lecture, Pop Goes the Culture. He was talking about pop culture and how our entire American way has slid into pop.

No longer is there a consistent folk culture—culture that is regional and personal and not aimed at profit—in our country.

I’ve written elsewhere about some thoughts about opening a restaurant as a family business. As we’ve thought about a restaurant we’ve been considering how it can be an encouragement to local community and folk culture rather than an obstacle to it.

One thing that we want our restaurant is to be is a gathering place. In days gone by, there were public houses that served food and drinks—and they were more than the bars and restaurants of today. Certainly in a pop, non-Christian culture there are bars that people go to in order to gather. Having been a part of that culture for a long time I can tell you that the location was an inhibiter to the “gathering.�

When we gather together we ought to be able to converse. This means that loud music is not to be a part of the ambience of a gathering place. The room also ought to be designed so that conversation can be easily overheard across the table without being easily distracted by the conversation across the room. In some gatherings, though, a conversation might take place across a room between two friends who (either serendipitously or by prior arrangement) find themselves gathering in the same place.

We hope to accomplish this by having a dining room and one or two other “gathering� rooms (for lack of a better term at this point). One might have the feel of a living room while the other might give the impression of a smoke filled bar (but without the alcohol and tobacco, though maybe with a pool table). Some people prefer to gather over a pot of freshly brewed tea around a coffee table and others might prefer to stand kibitzing over a tall table laden with appetizers. And neither of these ought to distract the families and couples having a quiet dinner over a table in the main dining room.

We have some other goals for the restaurant that I’ll write about later. I’ll give you some topics here, mostly to remind me later:

Restaurants as an expression of local culture

Restaurants as a service to the local community

Restaurants as a culinary treat

Restaurants as tools in relationship building

There may be others, and as we continue to plan out this project—you’ll get to see it play out.

Before I took the job I have now I worked for many years in the restaurant business. In fact, except for one summer where I worked on a ride at Silver Dollar City and some part time work as a life guard, I don’t know that I have ever worked anyplace outside of restaurants and hotels.

Restaurants are one place where they’re not too concerned about a college degree. Especially if you’re going to wait tables or wash dishes. Not having one myself (a topic which I will devote some time to later) that fact didn’t escape me. I was able to work my way up in restaurants, becoming an office manager for a three restaurant franchisee before I finally left.

For some time, I have considered getting back into the restaurant business—not as a waiter this time, but as an entrepreneur. What keeps this thought mulling is that I have three sons (and hope to have more) who will at some point begin systematically eating me out of house and home. They will hit this point almost simultaneously since there is just over 4 years between all three. Some people are saving for retirement but I am saving for my sons’ teenage grocery habits.

I also have a great desire to teach my sons something wherein they can provide for a family. Outside of running a restaurant (or managing people in general) I don’t have any great skills (some might say that these aren’t great either)—and so I can’t teach my sons to be plumbers and carpenters as can some of my friends.

So I fell back on restaurants.

Don’t get me wrong—I love restaurants. The fact that at least 3 in 4 restaurant owners lose their shirts doesn’t scare me. It’s the hours.

If you want to make a living in the food service business, you have to be open for supper. At least I can’t imagine having a high enough profit margin in breakfast and lunch to feed my growing family. That means somebody has to run the place in the evenings.

When I took the job I have now someone asked—“what do you like best about it?�

“I get to go home in the evening.�

So as I’ve thought about it, we’ve decided that it should wait until at least the older children can work in the restaurant doing something and that way we can preserve some of our family culture in the venture. Because if we lost that—the cost would be too great.

At some point I’ll write more about restaurants and my ideas for this particular one, and you’ll get to read about the formation of this idea as it mutates over the next few years and we get ready to open it.