140 small space solutions, a blogger meat and greet and a do-it-yourself ice cream store

A host of home furnishings and accessories for cramped quarters, hanging out in a swell steakhouse with fellow food bloggers and an ice cream/frozen yogurt/sorbet store that lets you design your own flavors.

Okay, show of hands. Who out there doesn’t have square footage issues? The clever welcome mat above, available at Manhattan’s Tiny Living, says it all for most of us. And it’s one of nearly 150 different items chosen for space-challenged homes and apartments in a recent New York magazine online Shop•A•Matic. There are collapsible measuring cups and nesting measuring bowls for the kitchen; all sorts of storage boxes, units and racks; stackable and foldable chairs…everything designed with a small footprint in mind. And honestly, not everything is strictly speaking a spacesaver—I mean, throw pillows and curtains? But it’s all charming. And while some shops featured are solely New York stores, others like Urban Outfitters, Crate & Barrel, CB2 and Anthropologie can be found elsewhere. There are plenty of online shopping opportunities too.

As always, the editors have helpfully arranged the items by price, starting with $7 Lingo Storage Boxes from IKEA and ending with a “price upon request” Chung-Tang Ho/Tong cabinet from the Soho outlet of the “very high end” Amsterdam-based home furnishings company Droog. Shop•A•Matic Small Space Solutions

“Let them eat steak. Later they can have the cake.”

One of the cool things about writing about food is connecting with others who love it just as much as you do. Even cooler is when you get a bunch of them together in one place. Last week, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar created just such a moment when it hosted a dinner for some Chicago food bloggers.

It was an intimate evening, just ten of us in a private, wood paneled dining room that looked out upon Chicago’s old Medinah Temple [now home to a temple of furniture and housewares, Bloomingdale’s Home & Furniture Store]. Besides Blue Kitchen, restaurant-reviewing Chicago Gluttons and The City Vegetable, a blog about “food and living in America’s 3rd largest city,” were represented. Just as interesting as what had drawn us together—loving food and writing about it—was how incredibly diverse our small group was. It included someone who works for the landmark Chicago Theatre, a bartender/web developer, a web designer for Playboy, an ad salesperson for Time Out Chicago, a personal chef and a city high school teacher who had served in the Peace Corps in South Africa.

As you might imagine, the conversation was wonderfully wide ranging. But—as you might also imagine—it somehow kept circling back to food. Even on this topic, talk was refreshingly free of ego and one-upsmanship. Discussions of where to find the best burgers, hot dogs, tacos al pastor and shahe fen, for instance, were all about the joy of shared and exchanged discoveries, not who had the most esoteric find.

Speaking of food, it was a glorious evening in that regard too. Fleming’s gets food. Steaks are the centerpiece, of course, and they are generous cuts of USDA Prime beef, aged up to four weeks, hand cut and broiled at 1600º to seal in juices and flavor. But the same attention is lavished on everything, from appetizers to sides, seafood, lamb and pork offerings. Indeed, our host, Operating Partner Curtis Nordeen, spoke as glowingly of the pork chops as he did the steaks. So did the Chicago Glutton who ordered the pork and ate every morsel. Mostly, though, dinner was a decidedly communal affair, with plates flying around the table with enthusiastic cries of, “You must try this!” It continued right through dessert, with creme brulee, fresh berries with Chantilly cream, an especially decadent chocolate lava cake and other delights being passed around. This level of attention to food is not always a given with a chain [they have more than 60 locations spread across 27 states], but they take food very seriously.

Fleming’s takes the wine bar portion of its names just as seriously. They offer 100 wines by the glass in a range of prices as well as wine flights, three two-ounce samplings of wines that you can choose yourself or let your server guide you.

All restaurants are feeling the effects of our collective economic woes these days, especially higher-end restaurants. And Fleming’s is no exception. As many restaurants are doing to make dining more affordable for their customers, Fleming’s currently offers a three-course prix fixe menu in addition to their regular menu. For around $35, you get a choice of two appetizers, one of three entrees—currently filet mignon Vigneron, spicy grilled shrimp or braised lamb shank—one of three sides and warm cookies and milk for dessert.

Even though they picked up the tab for the evening, our gracious host Curtis assured us they didn’t expect us to write about the dinner unless we wished to. I do. Chicago is a city of steak lovers, and there is no shortage of steakhouses to cater to our carnivorous desires, both old school and contemporary. Still, Fleming’s is a nicely polished addition to the beefy landscape.
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
25 East Ohio St., Chicago, IL 60611, 312-329-9463

The ultimate designer ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet [designed by you]

I like the idea of making my own ice cream. It’s the reality I have trouble with. First, there was the hand cranking of an old-fashioned ice cream maker on my Aunt Veta’s porch one Mississippi summer until I thought my scrawny 11-year-old arm was going to fall off. Then there was the failed attempt at modern ice cream making that put us off ice cream makers pretty much forever, I think. I would tell you the brand to save you, but we put it out in the alley, where it quickly vanished and no doubt broke someone else’s ice cream-loving heart.

So imagine my delight when I heard about iCream cafe. It’s just opened in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, a short waddle from my office. You can walk in the storefront cafe and moments later, walk out with ice cream [regular or lowfat], frozen yogurt [lowfat or non-fat] or sorbet, all made to your specifications. You start by choosing from dozens of flavors—from chocolate to chai to pomegranate. Then you choose three add-ins and/or toppings from an equally impressive list—it goes from healthy [fresh fruits] to indulgent [peanut butter cups, heath bar, cookie dough…] to silly [gummy bears, gumballs, jelly bellies…]. You can even choose the vivid, food-safe color you want. Then you watch them mix it up and quick freeze it, using liquid nitrogen, right before your very eyes. To plan ahead [or to live vicariously through your friends in Chicago], you can design your own ice cream and print out your specifications at the iCream cafe website.

iCream just officially opened last weekend. When the weather warms up, I expect a line down the block. I also expect to be in that line.
iCream cafe
1537 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, 773/342-2834