Susan Blumberg-Kason

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You are here: Home / Featured / 18th birthday dinner at Intro

18th birthday dinner at Intro

June 8, 2016 By Susan Blumberg-Kason Leave a Comment

All three kids are officially on summer break now and it seems like we just celebrated Thanksgiving. I don’t know where the time has gone. On top of that, this summer is going to be crazy busy with travels, camp, and getting Jake ready for college, so I don’t doubt that it will fly in the blink of a eye.

Jake’s birthday is later this month, but he’ll be at camp by then. So we celebrated his birthday a couple weeks early last night at Intro. It’s housed in the gorgeous Belden Stratford, which I just love. I’ve been to many of the restaurants there, both past and present, for birthdays, Rosh Hashanah, and just for a break from the suburbs.

Belden Stratford Hotel

Intro offered a set menu of four courses, but we opted for nine a la carte courses. I was shocked it didn’t break the bank. This photo is blurry and does no justice to the caraway gougeres with whipped cheddar. The little bites of bread were crispy on the outside but like a popover on the inside. The whipped cheddar melted into the dough and together it tasted like heaven. We were off to a good start!

Intro light bread

Next up was their spring pea toast. Dollops of goat cheese are on top. I assumed the portions would be much smaller than these, but they ended up being about four bites. Delicious.

Intro pea leaf toast

Black truffle croquettes–they tasted just as amazing as they look and sound. We ate every single piece of lettuce, too.

Intro arancini

I’m a sucker for arancini, or Italian rice balls. These did not disappoint!

Intro croquettes

The crispy potatoes were served with a chili sauce I forgot to photograph. These didn’t last very long.

Intro crispy potatoes

Intro offers a number of raw dishes, so we chose this seared tuna encrusted with roasted rice. I liked the contrast between the tender tuna and crunchy rice.

Intro seared tuna

After this, we stopped sharing until dessert. One of my favorite dishes all evening was this sugar snap pea salad with lime vinaigrette. I wish I could make this at home because I know I’ll be craving it for a long time.

Intro sugar snap pea salad

For my entree, I ordered the prime rib beef short rib. It was accompanied by a soy lacquer, green apples, and rosemary. Jake ordered the hanger steak and my mom and Tom the pork chop. I should have taken photos of those, too.

Intro beef short ribs

We were more than stuffed by this time, but had to order dessert for Jake’s birthday. So Jake picked this cheesecake brulee, which the four of shared and devoured.

cheesecake brulee

I strongly recommend Intro, especially if you are looking for a nice place with good food that won’t drive you to eat instant noodles for the next three months.

Intro is located at 2300 Lincoln Park West in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. 

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: Misc, Raising Multi-Cultural Kids

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About Me

Susan Blumberg-Kason spent her childhood in suburban Chicago dreaming of the neon street signs and double-decker buses of Hong Kong. As soon as she was old enough, she moved there to study. Her memoir, Good Chinese Wife (Sourcebooks, 2014), recounts her years in a Chinese family as a wife, daughter-in-law, and mother.

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