Making Crepes

To keep ourselves out of trouble during the NATO summit a couple of weekends ago, Z and I made a bunch of fun plans, most of which involved avoiding the immediate downtown area.

Flip Crepe's crepe-making classes in the company's training facility certainly fit that criteria. The training facility is located in an stretch of old warehouse buildings on Fulton Market Street not far from Intelligentsia's coffee roasting tour. The classes fit other criteria too--interactive, fun and satiating.

Z carefully measuring ingredients

We arrived at our brunch-making class and were immediately welcomed with a mimosa. Our instructor had also prepared a beautiful buffet for our brunch, complete with savory and sweet ingredients. Think caviar, eggs, bacon, Nutella, raspberries and bananas. Yum! Our instructor assured us we could sample the buffet as soon as our crepes were prepared.

While making crepes from scratch may sound intimidating, the staff at FliP Crepes breaks them down the process into bite-sized steps. Finding the right balance and proportion of the ingredients is important. Once you've figured that out, you're on your way.

Keeping a watchful eye on my crepe

Z and I learned something new about each other through the process. It turns out we're both star crepe flippers!

Z flipping a crepe

My turn

FliP Crepes offers its brunch-making classes on Saturdays and Sundays. Be sure to book your class in advance. 

BYOB Asian Bistro in the West Loop

The Lake Street corridor, just under the Green and Pink Line El train tracks, can be dicey. Businesses that aren't in the meat packing industry seem to come and go frequently. At any given time, about 25% of store fronts are empty and the roar of the train passing overhead blocks daylight and masks neighborhood sounds of bird chirping, children playing and even cars driving by.

While Lake Street may not be the most scenic street in the city for a stroll, it and nearby Randolph Street offers excellent dining options, including the recent addition of Anna's Bistro.

Anna's emphasizes its take out and delivery business, but if you eat at the restaurant, Anna's menu resembles a constitutional law book. It's filled with a wide variety of Asian cuisine--Thai, sushi, Laoatian, Vietnamese, Indian and more. I'm wary of dining at restaurants that seem to be a jack-of-all-trades, and Z and I were initially overwhelmed by the options when we dined on a busy Friday night. We took our time with the menu and eventually decided on a variety of dishes representing nearly all of the ethnicities that Anna's menu covers.

Z loves shumai, so we started with that. While it is difficult to disappoint with shumai, we were genuinely impressed with Anna's. Our other favorite dishes on the menu included the Peking Duck Bun, The Samurai sushi roll and the Filipino Pansit Noodles. The best part about Anna's: our delicious meal was about $50, thanks to the affordable food prices and BYOB liquor policy. We'll definitely be back to Anna's.

You probably won't need it, but you can make a reservation at Anna's on Open Table.