Welcome to Forgotonia

Chris and I joined some of his co-workers for a small gathering at the Bierstube in Davenport, during which I consumed:

1. Blue-cheese burger (on a pretzel-roll bun),
2. Waffle fries (whole serving, nary a crumb left behind), and
3. Three–three!–of these tall boys. (I am part German, [and part Irish], you know).

Oh, and then half a cheesy pretzel (split with C-Nor).

In other words, B’DANKA! That’s the sound (in German) of my big ol’ butt falling off the Weight Watchers wagon. Ouch!

It was delicious, though. No regrets. (Until I try to put on my jeans tomorrow…)

According to article from the QCTimes.com, the leader of the free world stopped in at Ross’ 24-Hour Restaurant, of all places, during his visit to the Quad Cities. This greasy spoon located near (almost underneath) the I-74 Bridge happens to be the place where Chris and I met up for our first face-to-face date in 2008 (although we actually just met up in the parking lot, since I was coming over from Illinois and he was coming from Iowa, and we went for lunch elsewhere).

I took a photo of Ross’s sign awhile back because I liked the old diner style. It’s not too great of a shot, but it should give you some idea of what the place is like.

Palatial, eh? (More of my Flickr pics from area places here.)

In other presidential-visit ephemera:

Be sure to check out the luxury port-a-potties the are apparently presidential-worthy. And, (in what is surely the picture of the day) :

“Alcoa protester believes Obama is an alien.”

As I mentioned quite awhile ago, I have a fondness for this place, especially knowing that my grandparents had their first date there so many years ago. (That in addition to my general fondness for all things vintage and endangered.) It’s just off the downtown square in Macomb, and as with the Standard Oil building a few doors down, it’s one last little bit of a time gone by that you pass on your way to the Wal-Mart.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I received a comment on my post from a former Macombie Homie who says he’d like to look into buying the building to see that it gets restored. How cool would that be?

I seemed to remember, from when I first noticed that the building was for sale, that some person or company I’d never heard of was the seller–someone who’d made a handmade For Sale sign (i.e., no Remax hot air balloon here). So, to try to help, I swung by the former diner on Monday and took this (snazzy) photo with my cellphone. And I have to say, from a marketing perspective, I’m a bit concerned with the, er, presentation. I couldn’t find a web site for said realtor, either.

But hey, at least I sent this former Homie the phone number. Let’s hope he’s got some extra funds sitting around!

First visit: week of opening

Chris and I checked out the new Shiloh’s Bar & Bistro for dinner on a Friday night, after they’d only been open a few days. I asked the hostess if I could speak to the owner, since I wanted to thank him for our interview, but he was (understandably) too busy to come up front just then. I was pleased to see the place was bustling and loud and almost crowded.

We did not order an appetizer, but apparently with dinner entrees you receive a pre-meal order of small slices of seasoned bread with some kind of pastel-orange, cream-cheesed-based spread. I was tempted to finish off the plate.

Chris’s order: Crispy Shrimp Salad. My impression: ew. But only because I don’t eat shrimp. He liked it.

Alison’s order: the Chicken Shiloh. This dish involved both bacon and Gouda. Enough said. (Rice and vegetables also excellently prepared.)

Second visit: with two girlfriends, who we’ll call Emily and Kim. Friday night, Sept. 3

Appetizers: crab cakes, heavily breaded, accompanied by some kind of creamy sauce. Very good. We have a mini-spat in which each of us pretends to not mind if the other takes the last half of one, which means we all obviously want it.

Drinks:
Ravenswood Lodi red wine. (Alison. Happy.)
Honey Brown beer. (Kim. Happy.)
Water. (Emily. Pregnant. Pissed at Kim and Alison.)

Alison’s order: Chicken Roulade. Dry. I didn’t really like it. (My friends explained it was made the way it was supposed to be.)

Emily’s order: Filet mignon.

Kim’s order: The Ella Fitzgerald. (Bowtie pasta with some kind of creamy sauce and feta cheese.) It was delicious. I know this because I ate off her plate.

Service: Excellent on both visits. However, this is what happened when Emily gave her order to the young waitress.

“I’ll have the filet.”

The waitress froze, pen poised over pad. “The…filet …of…?”

Overall impression:

That second visit, it was almost an hour to get our food. But we were happy to catch up. And it was busy. And even though I didn’t really like my Chicken Roulade, I will definitely go back and try new things. (And, if I should ever find myself ordering “the filet,” will be specific.)

The menu is fancy enough that there are several items I don’t really recognize (hence the Roulade), yet casual enough to feel like you can wear jeans and nobody looks at you sideways. It might seem a bit pricey in a town where one of the few choices is, say, Buffalo Wild Wings, but the thoughtfulness of the menu, the quality and the service seem worth it. It’s a fantastic, much-needed addition to Macomb, and it was great to see the place hopping.

P.S. It’s my 500th post, y’all. (Not counting the earliest incarnation of my blogging self, which was in the early 00s and which was under a kind of pseudonym. (No, not Gossip Girl, but boy do I wish I could cause the same kind of destruction!)  Thanks again to those of you who read and subscribe, and especially to those who comment, either online or in person.

To the first reader of this 500th post, you may redeem the key to your new car, and brush the confetti off your shoulders, at the customer service desk. Prize not redeemable for cash.

Maid Rite, Macomb, IL

Originally uploaded by Rural Rose

Independently owned restaurant to offer wine, jazz, and Southwestern cuisine:

Shiloh Bistro to replace ‘The Spaz’

Things have not been going well for the historic Macomb Square. After losing Camera Land and another business on the west side, it was announced this week that the facade on the building destroyed by fire in March is going to be torn down. And it’s been several months since The Spaz packed up and left town.

picture of old Il Spazio I borrowed from Google Images or somewhere

So let’s cross our fingers for the future prosperity of the Shiloh Bistro, a new restaurant to be located in the empty space where Il Spazio, a.k.a. “The Spaz,” was located.

I recently got in touch with man behind the plan, and he filled me on on the details. Shiloh sounds like the very kind of venue that Macomb desperately needs. Plus, it’s got a love story at its heart.

(Huge thanks to Jason Miller for giving me all the deets. In the grand tradition of blogging, I copy-and-paste our conversation here, offering the sloppy journalistic tactic of letting him tell you all the details himself.)

Here’s the scoop:

What and when: Shiloh’s Bar & Bistro will open in Mid-August.

Is Shiloh’s part of a franchise, or is it independently owned?
This will be a family owned, operated and managed business. I, Jason Miller, am the executive chef, and my wife, Kymberly, will also be a front of the house manager and PR director.

What kind of food will the new restaurant offer?
The menu is still in the works but will feature steaks, chops, seafood, and pasta created with the southwestern flavor: all chef-made meals with an excellent wine list as well as infused liquors such as homemade lemoncello. The cuisine will have a Texas feel to it, with a touch of pecan smoke on some meats, to specialty rubs, and delicious products like hill-country farm-raised quail.

Is this your first restaurant? How did the idea to open a business in Macomb come about?
I have had other restaurants in Texas (Houston), and [we are opening this one because] my wife and [I are]  moving back home as my family is from Rushville. I remodel/build restaurants myself, and I am currently getting the building ready for opening.

What will be some highlights/features of the new restaurant?

The front of the the restaurant will have a specialty market where my signature rubs & spices, specialty hard-to-get items, and our dishes par-cooked for our guests to cook our food themselves at home. Anything I use in my cooking will also be available for sale, as it is tough for the average person to come up with some of those ingredients in this small town. We will have monthly wine dinners and weekly app tastings. There will be a lunch menu featuring lots of sandwiches and more pasta dishes. We will have live jazz 3 nights a week and we also have a private dining room. The service will be amazing, as I have grown up in this business and know what it takes to please guests.

Is there any story or meaning behind the name?
In 2001, I moved from Dallas to Houston to build a restaurant with my uncle. Opening a restaurant takes LONG hours, and we had a waitress who let my dog, Shiloh, out on her breaks because I couldn’t get home until late at night. She eventually fell in love with Shiloh and that led to she and I beginning to date. Shortly after that, we were married, and we always say that Kymberly fell in love with my dog before me.;) Shiloh is the reason I have such an awesome wife.

1. Do you think this news story means that someone stole the secret to The Ugly Steak?

“Macomb police were dispatched about 9:38 a.m. Friday in response to a burglary at the Red Ox Restaurant, 1302 W. Jackson St.”

2. On a more serious note, it looks like the International Film Series is in trouble, which really stinks.Not that I go anymore. But I wish I could.It makes me wonder if it’s Netflix doing the most damage. Or could it be something a little more philosophical, i.e., loss of a sense of community now that there are several showings over several days, (vs. the 4 showings that used to take place at the Cinema I&II)?

   And btw, how’s the Rialto doing in general?

   As for me, I seem to forget it’s there, now that it’s tucked away in a strip mall filled with other businesses I seem to never patronize (Sears, Kmart, CVS, etc.)

   A certain boyfriend of mine says he thinks the marquis looks like a sign for a car shop.

   And I don’t mean to be harsh on the owners, but I have commented before that their web site is hard to find and sounds like it’s named after your aunt and uncle. (In fact, I think I’ve gotten more hits from people Googling for the Rialto web site than anything else on this blog. Hmph.)

   I really want the new theater to survive, of course. But I don’t seem to have the time or the money these days to patronize it myself.

   What about y’all? Have you been there lately? Going regularly? Are the theatres full? (Leave me a comment below).

3. In other slightly depressing news, one of my esteemed sources tells me we have finally lost The Spaz. (Guess it’s been a long time since I’ve been on the Square). That true? If so, R.I.P. ….. from one local spaz to another.

Okay, how can it be that I’m reporting on TWO new places to eat in Macomb in ONE week?

Wow.

What’s next—a post-dusk coffee shop?!?

This one appears to be in or near what used to be Spirit in the Sky (which is now on the Square).

But be warned:

this is not the place to go if you’ve been out boozing and have the drunken munchies.

Find out why below, or

Read the whole story at the McDonough County Voice online.

Italian Express now open in Macomb

Macomb, Ill. – A much anticipated addition to the restaurant scene has now come to Macomb in the form of Italian Express, located at 928 W. Jackson St.

The new restaurant offers customers a line of homemade pasta dishes and sandwiches.
The Macomb location is the second business for owners Paul and Cathleen Rashid, who have their first Italian Express in Princeton and have been working on coming Macomb for the past two years.

“We thought we would expand the market,” Paul said. “We figured it would be a good place to open the restaurant up.”

Cathleen is a teacher in the Kewanee school district – also a graduate of WIU – and runs the Princeton restaurant. Her husband Paul will run the Macomb location, but with three children, the couple has not yet decided if they will be moving.

“Everything is on the table at this point,” Paul said.

The location of their Macomb Italian Express is a bit unique, added Cathleen, as the drive through is located within the building.

“We have the drive through, which you can access from the back of the building,” she said.
“It’s kind of odd since you have to drive through the building to get in it.”

Besides the drive through, customers can access the store from both the front and back doors for both carry-out and dine-in services at Italian Express.

A main aspect of the restaurant the Rashids feel is important to their customers are their homemade products, including Italian bread, red sauce, pasta, meatballs and Italian beef.

“We make everything homemade and there are no additives or preservatives in our products,” Cathleen said. “We also make it fresh to be as healthy as possible and as relatively inexpensive, too.”

Italian Express is open Monday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. and is closed Sunday.

They offer a menu of Italian pastas and sandwiches made from scratch and available by drive through, carry-out, dining-in and catering services.The restaurant can be reached at 833-3777.

The good news is, Macomb has a new eatery, and it’s apparently family owned. It’s located in the former Secret Garden, nee The Old JC Penny’s.

The bad news? I kan’t eat at this place on principle. I just kan’t.

from the Western Courier:

Kafe adds sweet tooth to campus crust

What started out as a hobby has turned into a full time business for one Macomb couple. Debbie and Aaron Hix are the owners of the new Kakes Kafe & Bakery, located at 24 West Side Square, a few doors south of the Ford Hopkins Drug Store. Originally from Joliet, Ill.…

1. There’s nothing quite as humbling (depressing) as

• finally admitting to yourself (and only doing so because you truly no longer have even an inch of closet space) that the goal to fit into the size _ clothes you’ve been hanging onto for the past 3 years (okay fine, 4 years) keeps not getting met, and then
  
• filling 3 full bags of amazingly small-looking clothes and
  
• loading them up to take to the Salvation Army, (all the while berating yourself for the fact that you just can’t seem to muster the fervor you once had for those crazy newfangled hippie things like watching your weight and getting regular exercise and blah blah blah.)

2. Scene from Saturday: me and C-Nor, (after deciding to re-create our first date),

• going for gyros and fries at Uncle Pete’s in Moline mmmmmmmmm,

• then going for a walk along the Mississippi as an effort to burn off some calories—
• and then stopping mid-walk, reaching into the pocket of C-Nor’s red hooded sweatshirt, and pulling out the frosted-ghosts-with-M&M-eyes gingerbread cookies that his mom made for Halloween, and
  
• laughing as we shared them in the middle of the sidewalk. (Hey, at least we talked on the walk back to the car about purchasing a Wii Fit.)

A few other weekend highlights:

1) I got my picture taken with R2D2.*
(Wonder if he’s got a cousin called H1N1? – hayo!)

* why am I cut off in the middle in this picture, you ask?

Because Chris took it when I wasn’t ready yet, and the resulting snapshot makes me look as if I was caught in the middle of the biggest sneeze in history.

Or a person with a spastic, tremor-having problem caught in the middle of the biggest sneeze in history.

Chris is attempting to blackmail me with it.

“This,” he said when he saw the picture, “may be the very reason I decide to start back up on Facebook.”

2. Anyway, we saw this little guy moving up and down the street outside a comic book store in Rock Island.

When we went inside, I tried to be a good girlfriend and actually learn about and appreciate the comic book store culture.

I managed to make it in there for about 10 minutes, even. Maybe 15.

But how can you blame me for what happened next?

I discovered this store right next door, Fred & Ethel’s Retro Antiques. I meant right next door.

So, of course, I ditched the nerd cove and went to Fred & Ethel’s.

I expected to like it, because I love retro stuff. But I did not expect to love this store so much that I wanted to take my clothes off and roll around naked in all of its merchandise.

I am a total ho’ for vintage anything.
(Well except maybe comic books).