Sushi in West Town

Chef's choice sashimi at Arami

Despite a conspicuous location on a dingier stretch of Chicago Avenue, Arami's interior is bright and welcoming. We went on a busy Saturday evening in early June with a group of six that arrived piecemeal. Nevertheless, the staff was friendly and accommodating.

Bon Appetite magazine ranked Arami one of the top 10 sushi spots in the country. A very high honor that comes with equally high expectations.

On the whole, Arami didn't disappoint. After sampling some cocktails, the uni shooters were a fabulous way to start the meal. The Chef's Choice sashimi platter (top photo above) at another table caught our eye while we were still ordering drinks. Our table saved room for two and it didn't disappoint. All of the fish at Arami was very fresh and many of the rolls had a very unique flavor.

More sashimi at Arami

Unfortunately, all of this flavor and freshness comes at a prices. (Or maybe it was our ordering exuberance...) Our final tab came to more than $100 per person including drinks. And as Z said, "I'm still hungry!" With Z claiming starvation, we walked down the street and around the corner to Black Dog Gelato for a sweet end to the day. 

Making Sushi!

For years I thought sushi was too complicated to make at home. The seaweed, the perfectly-cooked sticky rice, the sushi-grade quality fish. It's all so precise, which is why I've happily paid $15 per roll to have an expert hand-craft it for me.

But a sushi-making class with I Wish Lessons taught me that making sushi doesn't need to be a sticky situation.

Sushi roll ingredient spread

At the class, my friend Vicky and I each made three rolls: a veggie roll with rice on the inside, a California roll and a spicy tuna roll. We started with the simplest (veggie roll) and worked our way up to the spicy tuna roll.

Rice on seaweed for the veggie roll

Our sushi rolling instructor recently got a job at Ra in the Gold Coast and has been rolling sushi for eight years. She's very passionate about her craft and was happy to answer questions. The other I Wish staffers distributed ingredients for our rolls while the bartender (The class was held at The Joynt.) made sure our drinks were never empty.

Cutting bite-sized pieces of the veggie roll

Our I Wish sushi-making lesson didn't use top-of-the-line tools or a beautiful test kitchen, like you might find at The Chopping Block. But it was well-organized, affordable and covered the basics I would want to know before attempting to roll some fish at home. Next up: An Advanced Sushi-Making Class!

Spicy tuna roll

Mom's first sushi

Sushi spread at Sushi Mon in Lincoln Park

I'm so proud of my mom! A couple of weekends ago, she finally took the plunge and fully embraced sushi. And not just California rolls and spicy tuna rolls. She went off the deep end and tried a dragon roll, a cucumber roll with raw tuna and a salmon appetizer, also raw.

We took her to Sushi Mon in Lincoln Park, a quaint BYOB place with some of the freshest, most affordable sushi in the city. Z and I stop by at least a couple of times a month and have never been disappointed. (Our favorite is the fresh gold uni they often carry.)

We started with miso soup and green salad, followed by the salmon appetizer--a piece of raw salmon wrapped around cucumber, avocado and crab meat.  Next came the crunchy California roll, which turned out to be Mom's favorite and contrary to her customary position of refusing shellfish or "bottom feeders" as she calls them.

We finished up with a Dragon roll of the pressed variety, another Sushi Mon specialty, a Vienna roll and a Viola roll.

Mom before her Vienna roll

And after! Yum!

Caffeine buzz

My sister visited me a couple of weekends ago. She lives on the East Coast and usually travels with a husband and a two-year-old. But on this particular weekend, I had her company to myself.

We packed in a week's worth of activities into just a couple of days, including dinner at Friend's Sushi in the Gold Coast, a visit to Saigon Sisters in the French Market (yeah, I might be an addict...), a Second City show, dinner at Chilam Balam, yoga at Exhale, brunch at Meli in River North and a visit to the Christmas tree at Macy's.


To fit all of this in and to stay awake for the late show at Second City, we started the weekend with a strong caffeine buzz at the Roasting Works Tour at Intelligentsia Coffee. The tour covers the history of coffee, coffee-growing regions, the smells associated with coffee and concludes with a take-home gift--a 1/2 pound bag of freshly-roasted Intelligentsia Coffee!!

I've taken the tour once before, about a year ago. My only complaint with the tour I took with my sister is that the guide turned the roasting machinery on while he was talking. Despite his headset, we found it difficult to hear.

This tour is offered twice on the first Saturday of every month. It books up several weeks in advance, so be sure to reserve your tickets as soon as you know you can go.