bin 36.

my new favorite place in chicago just might be bin36, a wine bar & restaurant located right downtown ... next to house of blues & (in?) hotel sax.

here's why ...

- upon entering, the adorable hostess commented on my outfit ... telling josh that i "made him look good." ha! compliments? an obvious way to win me over. plus, josh & i had a good laugh over this.

- our server was one of the most knowledgeable servers on veganism that i have ever met. more on that later.

anyway ... here's what i had ...  

spiced mixed olives :

with orange zest & fennel.

yum. a wide variety of (and quite a few!) olives in this little bowl. and the fennel seeds on top were awesome. added such great flavor! i definitely plan to do this at home ... 

 heirloom cherry tomato salad :

watermelon w/ basil & mint pistou (no persian feta). 

the perfect salad for the end of summer. i loved the basil with the watermelon. and heirloom tomatoes are always a win in my book. overall, super unique and delicious.

trio of housemade sorbets :

pineapple, blackberry & raspberry.

light & fresh. typical sorbet. yum ...
here's where the fabulousness of our server came in ... when i asked if he could confirm if the sorbet was vegan, he replied, "sure, because i'm not sure it is. it might contain egg whites or gelatin to hold it together." (paraphrasing a little.) i was so happy to hear someone who knew that gelatin was not vegan! i feel like for non-vegans, this is an easy one to overlook.

alright ... so bin 36 is great. awesome food. awesome staff. awesome vino. check it out.