Pretend this was in Villa Verone review post.

Tags: Elgin, food, Illinois, Italian, jazz, music, restaurant, Villa Verone, youtube
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Villa Verone!

Villa Verone is a new(ish) Italian restaurant at 13 Douglas Avenue (847-742-0263). I recently took a special someone there for his birthday. The food was tasty! I remembered my camera, but only remembered to take photos during the appetizer and drinks part of the meal.

I am a vegetarian, but took an unusual break in order to eat some calamari. Very good!

We ordered the mango and orange cream martinis. Once again, delicious. Oh, and strong.

The menu is fantastic for vegetarians–many many options. Most of them contain lots of cheese or are in a heavier sauce, but there are a few lighter dishes in oil.

For two entrees and the items mentioned above (plus tip) the cost was nearly $70. I will probably only come here occasionally for very special occasions.

My only semi-complaint is we were pretty sure our server’s Italian accent was fake. Also, the front of the menu has a fake “I came from Italy to open this restaurant” story written in broken English that isn’t exactly culturally sensitive.

One awesome thing about Villa Verone is they have live jazz on Thursday nights! We did not get to see that, so I plan on going again to check it out. If you cannot afford the food, maybe just drop in for a drink and to catch some tunes.

Tags: calamari, dinner, Elgin, food, Illinois, Italian, jazz, martini, music, restaurant, Villa Verone
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November Date Night.

Since Saturday is December Date Night, I figure I should write my tell-all post about November Date Night.

First, it was awesome. Everything was a complete surprise to me. My man showed up with flowers. I hopped in his car, and off we went.

We ended up at the Chicago Botanic Garden (which is actually in Glencoe). They had Christmas decorations up, and we walked around hand-in-hand looking at them, whispering our thoughts into each other’s ears. (You are either smiling or gagging at that image.)

I twirled around in circles to take crazy photos of the bright lights. We both had a good time. We decided that we must go back in the spring.

For dinner we drove on into Chicago up to the vegetarian Lakeside Cafe. I had a warm ginger drink unlike anything I’ve ever had before.

Next we headed over to the Green Mill to throw a couple back and listen to jazz. This is one of the places I’ve been meaning to go to for about four years, but never got around to it. I liked it. We saw the Dave Schumacher Quartet. You have to walk onto the stage to get into the bathroom there–it is very odd and causes heightened self-awareness.

My baby bro has been able to play at the Green Mill a couple of times, sitting in with the Deep Blue Organ Trio. Being there and imagining him on that stage made me feel so proud of him. I hope he gets to do it again some day, so I can watch.

Overall, the date was great, and if you are looking for a place to take that special someone, I highly recommend the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Green Mill. I only recommend the Lakeside Cafe if you’re vegetarians. It was good, but not astounding. It was no Chowpatti, which I recommend to everyone–vegetarian or not.

Tags: Chicago Botanic Garden, Chowpatti, date night, Dave Schumacher Quartet, Deep Blue Organ Trio, Glencoe, jazz, Lakeside Cafe, Matt Thompson, The Green Mill
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