Salt

I've been to the new Salt restaurant in Peoria Heights twice now for dinner. I tried to meet someone there for lunch once as well, but Salt is currently closed on Mondays.
The first time I ate there we stopped in on a whim on a Saturday night to see how busy it was and found the small restaurant booked, but were offered a seat at the bar to dine, which was fine with us.
The restaurant has a contemporary feel and is accented with salt block lights and salt block candle holders.
To start we had their Focaccia bread served with sea salt butter. The salt was distinctive and I found I preferred only a very small amount of butter.
When we placed our order, the bartender suggested we could split a salad, which came topped with cranberries and local Ropp curds along with candied walnuts. It was very good.
For my meal I ordered the pork Porchetta ($26), a slow roasted pork shoulder served with a sweet potato puree.
After tasting my husband's meal, salt crusted beef ($28), a filet cooked under a salt dough cap served with a root vegetable confit, I was envious. The beef was extremely tender and the root vegetables were incredible. You are not meant to eat the salt dough, but on a next visit my friend dared me to try it so I bit off a tiny chunk. Now that's what I call SALT! Makes for a delicious steak, though.
The bartender who served us was very knowledgeable about the menu and wine and was very attentive until the restaurant got a bit busier. He became distracted and though we had asked about desserts he soon dropped off our bill so we paid and figured we'd check it out another time.
On my second visit with friends, there was a mix up about who was serving our table and we ended up sitting for 15 minutes with no water or drink orders, but after that things were fine.
One friend ordered the vegetarian noodles which features noodles made of butternut squash and sweet potato. Another had the Amish chicken served with chicken mozzarella sausage. I sampled the sausage and it was delicious.
I went with the featured fish, a red fish served with asparagus and artichoke hearts garnished with capers and accompanied by a risotto. Again, the vegetables were incredible. I mused that if a chef could make vegetables taste as good as the ones I've tried at Salt, they could certainly serve only vegetables and strike it rich.
This time I did get to try dessert, the salted bacon brownie. Not only was it garnished with a thick slice of bacon, there were bits of bacon baked into the brownie batter and the whole thing was drizzled with caramel. Decadent.
I am looking forward to trying breakfast and lunch at Salt. A friend of mine said she had a salmon burger there that felt like it weighed two pounds and it was served with chips garnished with the salt of her choice.

The Other Dawg

My dawg StfRon and I visited The Other Dawg in Peoria Heights for lunch recently. The small dinette is tucked behind Subway on Prospect Avenue.
My past dining out experience with hot dogs involved trips to DQ with my mom when I was a kid. Always a dog with mustard and some sort of ice cream treat to accompany it. Later, I was introduced to Chicago dogs at Duffy's in Peoria's Westlake and developed a taste for those as well, but I've never really been into a dog topped with meat sauce.
I opted for a plain dog ($1.75) at The Other Dawg and dressed it with mustard and relish. This was not a natural casing wiener, but it was a nice quality frankfurter, a beef/pork blend.
My husband probably ordered a meat laden dog, being a fan of such nonsense, but I honestly don't remember. The Other Dawg has a meat sauce they developed to rival the sauce of Wonder Dog fame.
The restaurant also offers a selection of tamales including a black bean variety.

Lost & Found

Last week I stopped by Lost & Found in Peoria Heights. What a cute shop!
There were vintage items mixed in with fun new stuff. Things like home decor, colorful drink tumblers, pretty gift wrap, handmade earrings, stationery, junk free soaps and bath salts and much more all artfully arranged in the Lost & Found shop.
And today I see that they are featured on Seize the Deal with a $20 store credit for just $10.
If you have some gifts to buy or are looking for something fun for yourself, stop by and take a look.

The Publik House

On a recent night after work, we decided to make our first visit to The Publik House in Peoria Heights.
I ordered a nice glass of Cabernet and took a look at the menu while my husband enjoyed a beer.
He had arrived before me and had already made his decision: fish & chips ($13), served with hand-cut french fries.
After hearing a description of the spring vegetable risotto ($9) from one of the employees, I decided to give it a try.
My meal arrived in a bright white bowl that set off the distinct green color of the risotto, nestled with asparagus, leeks, scallions, crisp green peas and shavings of parmesan cheese. It was unexpectedly delicious.
We also decided to splurge and split a dessert: peanut butter mousse sandwiched between two warm peanut butter cookies, paired with a serving of spiced chocolate milk. It was scrumptious.
The menu featured unique offerings for appetizers, sandwiches, soups and entrées, certainly not your ordinary pub fare.
The Publik House made for a great midweek diversion.

Noir Tapas & Rendezvous Lounge

This month for date night I chose a movie followed by dinner at Noir Tapas & Rendezvous Lounge in Peoria Heights.
We arrived at Noir shortly before 7 p.m. on a weeknight and were able to get a seat right away, but within less than an hour of our arrival there would have been a wait for a table.
There were chocolate leather couch style booths, bench booths and tables plus tall tables available for seating and some fun vintage horror flicks were being broadcast against the back wall.
We chose a bottle of wine from the list of many and decided to start with two tapas (appetizers meant to share) selections: sauteed mushrooms with garlic and the bruschetta.
Our order arrived quickly.
The mushrooms, in this case Crimini mushrooms sauteed with garlic, parsley and applewood bacon, were incredibly rich and flavorful. The bruschetta, toasted crostini topped with tomatoes, feta cheese and a balsamic reduction was great.
Next we ordered the spicy Chorizo skewers, which were presented like upside down meatball lollypops. The Chorizo was paired with Gruyere cheese and the balls were coated in a breadcrumb-type crust. Not being a huge fan of Chorizo, I was surprised at how good they were.
After enjoying some more of our wine and allowing our food to settle, I couldn't get the gelato I had noticed on the menu out of my mind so we ordered it to share.
The gelato, vanilla bean and roasted banana served with fried plantains topped with rich whipped cream was a nice finish to the meal.
Our server was helpful and attentive, and with our wine selection (about $30), our bill with tip came to about $80.

June Restaurant

We dined at June Restaurant in Peoria Heights recently, a restaurant which has received much praise from both local media and the Wall Street Journal.

We arrived early, about 5:45 on a weeknight and were able to get a table without a wait.

Our dining experience took about two hours, and by the time we left business had picked up quite a bit.

The decor at June was simple and contemporary in style with soothing colors, concrete floors and nature-inspired artwork.

Even the table settings were simple, yet elegant.

Our server was knowledgeable about the wine list, the menu items and the food preparation methods, which include Sous-vide, slow cooking under pressure in a heated water bath.

The ingredients for many of the menu items are from local farms, which I think is great. Not only are local ingredients likely to be fresher, the support of local farms helps them prosper, which in turn can make these items more readily available.

We selected a bottle of Albak Tempranillo wine and sampled that while still pondering our dinner choices.

We were also served some of the breads baked in house daily, a ciabatta bread and a black olive bread.

After hearing from our server about the farm fresh egg on the first course menu, we decided to share that prior to dinner.

He described the egg as being cooked for about an hour and a half, placed on homemade brioche and topped with fresh herbs, hollandaise, bacon and shiitake mushrooms smoked with espresso beans.

The egg was extremely soft and fresh tasting, the brioche nicely crisped and the bacon had a good smoky flavor. The espresso smoke flavor of the shiitakes was a bit strong for our tastes.

We selected our dinner entrées, Branzino (sea bass) for me and a New York strip for my husband, and were not planning on having a second course item until the waiter mentioned a mozzarella salad, which we agreed to share. I don't recall the entire description of the dish, but the description of the cheese was very appealing, especially to us cheese lovers, and the dish had sunchokes, which we had to have a refresher on.

When this dish arrived we found the cheese to be wonderfully creamy and smooth, the plate sprinkled with fresh herbs and balsamic. The dish also included a caramelized onion garnish bursting with flavor. The sunchokes were prepared chip style and scattered throughout.

The kitchen at June is open to the main dining room, and most tables have a clear view of everything going on there. This also allowed us to experience several of the tantalizing scents the food preparation was generating.

Once our entrées arrived, we found that every element of them was notable, and we ended up passing our forks back and forth across the table so each could experience everything.

My Branzino had an amazing meaty yet tender texture, the thinly-sliced chorizo and sauce served with it was wonderful and the chickpea spaetzle was great.

My husband's New York strip (aged 45 days) had such a buttery texture it almost melted in your mouth and could easily be cut with a fork, topped with a smoky au jus and served with a seasoned potato puree, accompanied by carrots and other root vegetables.

Throughout our meal our server would stop by and top off our wine glasses without being intrusive, checking to see how everything was.

The food portions were reasonable enough that we could eat every last morsel and still consider dessert without being miserable.

After hearing the dessert offerings from another member of the team who was taking care of us, I selected the dark chocolate pot de creme which was described as having some heat to it, if I recall correctly it was ancho pepper, and was topped with a smoked cherry mascarpone.

StfRon opted for the peanut butter cake with brown butter paired with homemade caramelcorn ice cream.

He especially enjoyed the caramelcorn ice cream.

My pot de creme started out very good, and first seemed rich and almost fudge like, the cherry mascarpone subtly flavored. By the time I was done, I was loving and raving about the spiciness, and the texture of the creme reminded me of a ganache. I drove home with the heat from the peppers still lingering on my palate, recalling a wonderful meal.

Our bill came to $178 pre-tip.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. We haven't had a dining experience anywhere near this caliber in close to two years, and even before that it was few and far between.

Leaves-n-Beans Roasting Co.

We stopped by Leaves-n-Beans Roasting Co., 4800 N. Prospect Avenue in Peoria Heights, to pick up some gifts a couple of weeks ago.
We used the downstairs entrance, since we were looking to buy some beans, and found ourselves at the end of a line of coffee buyers.
There was a lady busily scooping and bagging coffee, and soon the new owner popped down, saw the line and happily pitched in.
We ended up getting some of their Snickerdoodle, a long time favorite, and a vanilla variety as gifts, and some bananas foster beans for us on a whim. We aren't as much into flavored coffees as we used to be, although I still appreciate a good brew with cinnamon flavor, especially during the holidays. But bananas foster seemed interesting enough to give a try.
Since visiting Leaves n' Beans, we have noticed our regular home brew, Yuban, which I've drank for 15 years or more, at least the can we are using now, is not as bold as it always was, so we may be on the lookout for a new bold home brew.
The owner had us set in minutes, and I was surprised to find the old punch cards still on file from several years back when I started one. He said that he would add us to the computer, and that he has plans to do some demographics studies as far as where customers are coming from and such.
The lady in front of us was actually from the suburbs of Chicago, and he mentioned that they offer shipping, but she said she does make it to the area often enough to stay stocked up.
We then popped upstairs and each ordered a cup of brewed coffee to go and found a few people sitting at tables visiting.
The coffee shop is featuring live music some evenings, and has added dining options. I am looking forward to making it over there for lunch one day soon.
It was refreshing to see the enthusiasm the new owner has for the business, and great to see them doing so well.

April, 2009 — Leaves-n-Beans is now serving both breakfast and lunch, including some vegetarian options. They also carry organic coffees.

TNT Sports Bar & Grill

Sunday we took another ride on the River Trail of Illinois in East Peoria, thinking the fall colors would be out in full force. Either they're not quite there yet, or they aren't going to be that stunning, but the weather was great for a ride nonetheless. Some friends of ours met us for the ride.
The trail passes right behind TNT Sports Bar & Grill, so we made plans to stop there for a bite to eat.
TNT is located at 3304 Meadows Avenue in East Peoria.
We stepped inside to find a dark (especially coming in from the noontime sun) dining room behind the bar, walls lined with wood planks. Through some window openings into the bar that were covered with Plexiglas, we could see a row of several flat screen TVs, each displaying different football games.
Along the bar wall in the room was a nicely maintained shuffleboard table.
When we took our seat, there were about three other tables of people in the dining room, but once noon hit a pretty steady stream of customers flowed into the restaurant.
We had been tossing around the idea of Bloody Marys and breakfast at the bar. Our waitress came by to take our drink order, and since I hadn't seen any sign of a breakfast menu, I asked for an iced tea. StfRon looked at me and said "What, no Bloody Mary??" Our waitress piped up and said they had a Bloody Mary bar. We were all intrigued, and three of us ordered one.
The waitress delivered three glasses of vodka on ice to our table, then escorted us to the Bloody Mary bar to give us the rundown.
There were several bottles of Bloody Mary mix, one of which is TNT's own creation, which she mentioned has won some awards. We all decided to try that one. There were seasonings like Worcestershire, celery salt, salt and pepper, and garnishes including Slim Jims, celery, green olives, pickles and green onions. There was also a pot of chili and some bowls on the Bloody Mary bar.
We loaded up our drinks and headed back to the table to enjoy our creations.
We decided to go with pizza for our lunch. StfRon and I ordered the sweetfire chicken pizza and our friends went with a deluxe. We also ordered some wings in honey BBQ (StfRon's doing) and mild for me.
TNT's pizzas are thin crust. The sauce on the sweetfire chicken pizza ended up having a pretty good kick to it. Between that, the Bloody Mary and the mild wings, my taste buds were heading toward a mild inferno. If I order that pizza again, I think I would have to cut down on the amount I ate.
StfRon enjoyed the honey BBQ wings. I don't particularly care for sweet wings, but I liked the mild ones.
Service was good, and several servers checked on us from time-to-time. I also visited the women's restroom and was fairly surprised at the decor and cleanliness. I really had prepared myself for a more low-end utilitarian restroom, but this was definitely a few steps above.
We were also pleasantly surprised when we got the bill. With the Bloody Mary bar priced at only $3, wings at 35 cents and pizzas at a few bucks off on Sundays, we made off with a bargain, and had we not been on bikes, we could have taken home some leftovers.
TNTs has daily specials and offers free WiFi.

TNT opened a second location in Peoria Heights at the former Penguin Tap in early 2009.

I Know you Like a Book

I've dreamed for years of someday owning my own book store, and I Know you Like a Book is everything I would love my store to be, and more.
I opened the door at 4707 N. Prospect Road in Peoria Heights and stepped in off the street into this little sanctuary. The door closed behind me, and the woman behind the counter greeted me. About 15 seconds after my arrival, Ringo, the wiener dog, popped off his bed beside the counter, gave a single "Woof" and trotted over to greet me.
The walls are lined floor to ceiling with wooden bookcases done in a charcoal finish, and they have a built in appearance.
I Know you Like a Book sells new and used books, mixed together on the shelves. The used books are marked with handwritten price stickers on the back cover.
There are a few rooms of books, and each hallway is lined with bookshelves as well.
In one corner, there is a caraffe of coffee to enjoy while you browse.
The shop also carries the StoryTeller's Blends, a Leaves-n-Beans venture pairing special coffees with novels.
In the farthest room from the entrance, there is an attractive grouping of chairs, and a counter set up for wine tasting. Now this is genius. In all my wildest dreams, I never thought of serving wine in my imaginary book store, but it's a perfect fit for me.
I was in the store to look for a book for a Christmas gift, but I didn't see anything that struck me for this person. However, I did find a new book that sounded interesting for myself, so Merry Christmas to me, I guess!
Typically I pay for anything over $15 with my credit card, because I rarely carry cash (and I reap nice rewards from my credit card), but heading to the cash register, it struck me that a small business owner would more directly feel the cost of credit card acceptance, so I paid cash, said no thanks to a bag to carry my book in, and headed out into the falling snow.

Carlson's Custom Jewelry

My wedding ring is different and unique, and I love it.
We decided to see about having a ring made to match mine for StfRon, after scouring the web looking for a nice ring for him, and chose Carlson's Custom Jewelry for the task.
Carlson's, located at 4701 N. Prospect Avenue in Peoria Heights, carries a selection of jewelry, creates custom jewelry, and performs jewelry repairs.
We had decided to see about having a family wedding ring redesigned into StfRon's wedding ring. We talked to an employee at Carlson's, and she said they would be able to do this, and might need to add a small amount of gold to the ring as well, to create the design we wanted.
We got a call a few weeks later from Carlson's; they were ready for my ring, to use to pattern StfRon's ring after.
We picked up the rings shortly before our wedding, and the one Carlson's created looked great, and we love the fact that our rings look like they belong together.

Schooner's

I think it's high time I gave up some love for Schooner's.
Schooner's serves up large, well, schooners of ice cold beer, great wild (or mild, be sure to enunciate well) wings and garlic wings, burgers, turkey burgers, chicken sandwiches (including an awesome buffalo-style bird), excellent tempura-style onion rings and more. Plus, a huge king tenderloin which is served with four buns. Great for sharing, or a good pig out.
The garlic wings are one of my favorites, covered with chunks of minced garlic. I eat these babies at lunch and have no guilt of my garlic breath for the rest of the day. I'm an unabashed garlic lover.

I am most familiar with the cozy War Memorial Schooner's in Peoria Heights, but there is one in Morton as well, and I have been there, and a Bloomington location, which I have not visited. The Peoria location is my favorite, as it's more like home. One wall of the restaurant is covered with photos of people and their morel mushroom finds.
The Peoria location also features a decent-sized beer garden of sorts, filled with picnic tables and tall wooden tables.

Oliver's Pizza & Pub

StfRon and I stopped in to check out Oliver's Pizza and Pub, 1231 E. Samuel Ave. in Peoria Heights one Sunday. I had been to Oliver's once when it was near the GrandView Hotel.
We were greeted by some fairly loud country music when we walked in (not our thing) but the bartender offered to turn it down, which she did. After a couple of country songs, the music changed to other jukebox hits.
The decor at Oliver's is very rustic and has a neighborhood feel. I noticed they have a deck with tables and chairs, so they should be all set if a smoking ban is enacted.
A couple of older gents came in, separately, while we were in, one to play video games while he sipped a beer, and another who sat at the bar, watched some sports, and drank a five minute beer, then dashed out the door.
We each ordered a personal pizza. Mine was the Hawaiian, StfRon chose one with onion, pepperoni and sausage. Oliver's boats a three cheese blend on all of their pizzas.
The three cheeses were mild, and I'm not sure mozzarella was one of the three. I prefer a more salty, buttery cheese myself, but this was good. The crust was thin and very light and crispy.
StfRon had some Samuel Adams brews, I stuck with iced tea.
The bartender waited on us, and our service was prompt and friendly.
I noticed that Saturdays Oliver's boasts karaoke and Tuesdays they serve tacos for $1.25. They also have live music on weekends.

Alwan & Sons Meat Co.

Thanks to Numero, my absolute favorite Peoria magazine, StfRon and I got a gift certificate for $25 to the newly-expanded Alwan & Sons Meat Co., 703 E. War Memorial Drive in Peoria.
The Alwans have been in the meat business in Peoria for almost 50 years. The new look is great, with 11,000 square feet of meaty magnificence!
Alwan's also fires up a grill during lunch, so you can enjoy a freshly-made sandwich in the great outdoors.
We ended up going with a package deal, since we just bought a new chest freezer and wanted to fill it up right. We got four pounds of bacon, some pork chops, ribs, minute steaks and chuck roast.
While waiting for our box o'meat, a couple different employees asked if we needed any help. The service is very good.
The place was hoppin' on a beautiful Saturday night. I'm sure lots of people were planning to go home and grill out.

Tower Park

One of the most noticeable landmarks in Peoria is the red tower in Peoria Heights.

Located at 4901 N. Prospect Rd., Tower Park has recently been updated with nicer seating and landscaping plus a new fountain. Of course, as a kid, I called it the woodpecker tower due to the large fiberglass woodpecker which adorned the tower.
If you aren't afraid of heights, a trip in the glass elevator, 170 feet up to the top, is a fun time.
This tower is actually the second one, the first having been torn down during WWII and used for scrap metal. Our tower is the only one of its kind in the U.S.
There are three observation decks at the top, and telescopes for viewing as well.
The park itself also has a hidden geocache, if you're into that sort of thing.
Each year for Independence Day, the tower sells tickets in advance, allowing visitors to view various fireworks displays from the top of the tower. On a clear day, you can see displays from several towns within 20 miles from this vantage point, plus avoid all the crowds at the displays.

Jim's Bistro

Jim's Bistro at 4612 North Prospect Road in Peoria Heights is a great addition to the area.
I've been in several times for lunch. After I tried the beefeater sandwich, I've had a hard time trying anything else. But everyone I've eaten with loves their meal choices, as well.
Give the bistro a try for lunch or dinner, and the bonus is a nice walk through the Heights where you can do some window shopping. A lot of great shops have sprung up lately.

Cyd's Sendsationals

Recently I had lunch at Cyd's Sendsationals in Peoria Heights. Cyd's is a smörgåsbord of culinary delights. Don't feel like cooking? Pick up some gourmet fare from Cyd's, like the cilantro pork tenderloin I was eying.

For lunch, Cyd's has a great selection of sandwiches and salads. I had an apricot chicken salad sandwich, a grapefruit soda and a marble brownie to save for a snack later.

Cyd's is also a great option for cakes, catering and cooking classes. You can view their weekly menus and cooking class info at http://www.cyds.biz.

I've heard a rumor that Cyd's will be relocating to Junction City in October, which should give them even more room to fill with gourmet goodies!

Update, April, 2007: Cyd's has relocated to Junction City, at Prospect and Knoxville Ave. I stopped in for lunch, and enjoyed the modern look. They have several salads, sandwiches and starting at 2 p.m. have appetizers. They also carry single bottles of beer for purchase while you dine-in.
I had a fruit and nut salad with brie, walnuts, dried apricots, prosciutto and mixed greens with a balsamic dressing. Very tasty.
I like the chairs they chose for the dining room. They remind me of these chairs I saw on Made in America.