Snoodie Foodie kicked off 2012 at Chicago’s Downtown newer hot spot Sable Restaurant & Bar. Located adjacent to the Palomar Hotel, Sable’s bar is swanky and it’s a younger yuppy magnet. With the popularity of the Food Network and Top Chef like shows, everyone’s foodie now, and rushing out to dine and critique the latest openings in this city of big shoulders.  Chicagoans are lucky, because unlike people who might reside in Dubuque Iowa, we actually get a chance to test the food of chefs featured on Bravo’s popular series Top Chef. It seems as though a great percentage of contestants come from Chicago restaurants. This season’s Top Chef Texas featured Sable’s Executive Chef Heather Tehune. Heather immediately emmerged as a villain on the popular reality show. She was a kitchen bully. I can honestly admit that I had reservations (pun intended) about going to Sable based on Heather Tehune’s behavior on the show. I don’t support meanies. Nevertheless, my dinner club had already booked the reservation before I’d even seen how mean she was on the show.

Let’s get to the meat. Pun intended. I must admit that I cheated. A week before our reservation, another member and I went to Sable for lunch. We experienced the lunch menu and a recommended cocktail. Can you say full? We shared a full order of the Deviled eggs truffle oil, black trumpet mushrooms. Melanie had the Wild Mushroom - Brown Rice Burger red onion jam, goat cheese and I had the Wild Mushroom prairie fruits farm goat cheese, truffle oil flatbread. First, the cocktail called the War of Roses was an interesting mix flavorful pairings that I hadn’t had an any other restaurant. The food was rich and filling. Maybe a little too rich, but I’m not one to complain about rich foods. Nothing is ever too sweet for me. Some things are however, to salty at times, but in this case I have no complaints, and plenty of leftovers. Melanie walked out with half of her veggie burger that she had to eat with a fork. Which is proper etiquette, I must iterate.

So fast forward to Saturday evening, the actual Snoodie Foodie date. 
We get there, and the hostess takes us to a semi- private part of the restaurant away from all the pseudo cool bar folks. The waiter was extra witty. Emphasis on “extra, ” but delightful nonetheless. We get our drinks and commence to ordering. The food came out in a timely fashion, so all was pleased. And can I just say that the food and service were amazing. I’m not one to throw out the word “amazing” often. I will say that, one should definitely come with a fairly empty stomach, because it is totally rich cuisine. We all sampled each other’s food, and everything that I tried was a total delite. I had the Chicken and waffles 1/2 order which was more than enough. I tasted the deviled eggs, scallops, curried veggies, and the sweet corn creme brulee. The once you get over corn in a custardy texture, it’s like heaven in your mouth. You get sweet and savory in small bites, and it is wonderful. Every dish held its own very well. Heather even came out to greet almost every table, and she was pleasant. Also, since I booked the reservation on Open Table, so I received a special letter from Heather Tehune thanking me for dining. It was a form letter, but still a nice gesture and great PR move for the restaurant. By the way, the decor in the dining area’s a little suspect, because the bar was very fresh and modern, and the dining area was straight out of a 90’s late 80’s yacht from Dynasty. Do better on that end. Overall, I would go back after I lose the 5 pounds that I gained from that outing.