I had a fabulous dinner on Rush Street last Saturday evening. My friend (we will call her Sparkle for the purpose of anonymity) and I headed out to Carmine's on Rush Street for our bi-weekly girls night out. We originally had reservations for 8:30 but Sparkle, pretty girl that she is, got herself lost on the way from the suburbs to my apartment. But, that is a story for another day. I phoned the restaurant after receiving Sparkle's third frantic call requesting directions and asked if we would be able to move our reservation to 9:00. They graciously agreed which was very kind seeing that it was a Saturday evening.

Now, I must start by noting that as an Italian-American I do not typically frequent Italian restaurants. The food never tastes as good as my Mother's or Aunt's. Carmine's however is always super tasty. Now, Sparkle eats about 1/8 the amount of food that I eat so naturally I get a little self conscious when we go out for a meal together. Sparkle is a carb restrictor which makes absolutely no sense to me because she too is Italian. All of us Italians grow up eating pasta by the pound and consider a piece of bread to be just as essential to the dinner plate as a knife and fork.

When you go to Carmine's they immediately bring you a basket filled with small loaves of crusty Italian bread. It is wonderfully crusty and chewy on the outside while soft and airy on the inside. Did I mention that it is also warm? Yeah, it's warm too. Then they give you a little plate filled with olive oil and parmesan cheese. So simple yet so delicious. As soon as the waitress stopped by to ask us what we wanted to drink I blurted out that I wanted the Pasta Fagiole. It is a pasta and white bean soup that is housed in a spicy tomato base. I attacked the bread basket while I waited for my soup. Sparkle took one tiny piece and informed me since it was now May she could have a piece of bread. I guess she now eats carbs only once per month. Madness, I know. By the time I had finished my soup I was down about 7 pieces of that yummy bread. Sparkle ate half of the piece she took. Sparkle ordered Halibut. There was one piece of fish on her plate with some vegetables. She said it was delicious and I took her word for it. I ordered the pasta with four cheeses. It was like Fettuccini Alfredo with even more cheese plus blackened chicken and peas. It was so good that I wanted to cry right there at the table. If you have ever been to Carmine's then you know that they give pretty large pasta portions. I watched Sparkle glance at my quickly emptying plate every few minutes with a look of controlled horror on her face. Sparkle picked up the check for my birthday and only then did I feel guilty about the amount of food I ate.

After dinner we sauntered over to Tavern on Rush for a cocktail. If you are familiar with this area of Chicago you will know that it is referred to as the Viagra triangle for obvious reasons. On this particular Saturday however there were quite a few cute younger men on the premises. Yay for us! Tavern on Rush has a fantastic apple martini. I have not had one of those in years and decided on a whim to order one. I am glad that I did. Sparkle and I ran into a few friends and ended up spending the evening at their table. One of our friends is a gentleman that current resides in Los Angeles and produces a freaking fabulous reality show on a popular basic cable station. We spent part of the evening trying to persuade him to tell us in advance who makes it all the way to the end. No go. Something about contractual obligations to the network. We tried.

The bar also served as a setting for another odd phenomenon. There was a bachelorette party in the house. How do I know you ask? There was a young blonde woman wearing a white and hot pink wedding veil sipping her cocktail through a straw that was modeled after a male appendage. Now, I know that this is nothing new but Tavern is not usually the kind of bar that is frequented by the members of a bachelorette party. Usually that species is more comfortable in an establishment that can offer a saddle and an electric bull. I am by no means casting judgment having thrown my cousin one of those same obnoxious bachelorette parties in the 90's. All I am saying is know your audience. A crowd like the one at Tavern will not likely participate in your "suck for a buck" game. That's all I'm saying.

Have a wonderful evening!