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Thanks for the update, Kenny. Antonius and Amata: you'll be missed, but we'll save you some alligator. Or at least think of you fondly while eating it. We'll pass your mejores saludos to Sergio.

Everyone else - see you tonight at 7. The restaurant is 773-376-7474 for updates. I'll be there starting at about 6:40 to get the table configured and catch up with the owners.

Thank you all for the perfect company, and game and patient ordering / dining. This was a remarkably easy event to get together at a most welcoming place. Please feel free to post here, but any particularly strong feelings on individual dishes and service will likely be visible to more of the community here:

GNR Nomination / Renewal Thread:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=8847

Main Thread:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... 658#160658

Santander

Thanks for organizing. La Casa de Samuel was as great as I remembered. We had an interesting conversation on the way back up north about the various dishes (was the alligator better than the goat?) but it was a great time. I'll post more relevant comments in the GNR thread, but ... thanks.

The rattlesnake disappointed me, though.

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Chicago Craft Beer Week!

Ay. La vibora, no hubo. Una lastima por las edades.

I'll be posting pictures to the general thread, but this is worth a comment for those who are curious. When I called last Thursday to confirm the reservation and the fact we'd be eating adventurously, I was asked for specific dishes that we were certain we wanted, since they put their game-meat orders in on Fridays for the delivery the following Monday. I specifically cited the boar, snake, and alligator, since I've read on other boards that they are frequently out of these items.

When the first of us arrived at the restaurant, the power on the whole block on the north side of Cermak was out; CdS was lit by candlelight. It came back on shortly, while I was down the block at the bank; I had the interesting experience of watching an ATM reboot. With all of us gathered and the lights back on, we ordered appetizers (including the eels, or "coleslaw with eyes" described previously), and then eventually the entrees. I ordered in Spanish for the table highlighting our interest in the game dishes, and Sergio was genuinely pleased. He also asked if he could make the dishes at their authentic spice level, which is what we eventually received.

About five minutes after the entree order, he came back out of the kitchen, and came straight to my ear, whispering in Spanish la vibora, no hay - the kitchen didn't have the snake. He was mortified. But he added that the alligator, boar, rabbit, goat, cod, and deer were all in and very fresh, and that seemed to be our experience. When the meal ended and I lingered to catch up (he loved us), he confirmed that the game order had come in yesterday before the outage, but he didn't notice that they had left out the snake. We're warmly invited back for the snake for our next outing - he says garlic, oil, and lime is the way to go, and it's more succulent than the alligator (which we had in the same preparation, and which I liked quite a bit). An aside: I learned that Sergio himself is from Mexico City and had lots of practice with his flambeing skills in restaurants there, no surprise.

Thanks for organizing this. I will wait to post until you get your pix and thoughts up on whichever thread you prefer.

The table did let me order appetizers, so we started with the baby eels (I do love eels), squid in spicy garlic sauce and sopa de ajo. Kenny promised to ooze over his seatmates on his flight to Washington this morning, but was unsure how his business meeting would go if he filled up the room with he aroma of garlic.

So, how did it go Kenny?

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d
Retired, gone fishing, and exploring my curmudgeon within

Eels in garlic, squid in garlic, garlic soup, alligator in garlic... this was my kind of meal! My American Airlines seatmate might not have enjoyed it as much. Thanks to Santander for organizing the event, and I'll share more thoughts in whatever thread you choose.

The baby eels in garlic were amazing: aquatic shoestring potatoes. The goat was also astonishing, moist and tender. And the squid appetizer and flavorful venison (almost like a skirt steak) were very good as well. I also enjoyed the cod and the garlic soup. And the flambe desserts were a real treat, giving the restaurant a rather continental (i.e., European) flair.

Casa de Samuel proved it self very worthy of a GNR renewal - for style and creativity.

I was not enamored of all the dishes. The alligator was dry and tough; the rabbit was mundane; and the shrimp mole is not the best in town, disappointing compared to much else that we were served.

I'm going to split the (mostly horrid in that lighting) photos into several places since it's GNR-time, but put the bulk of images and personal comments in the Eating Out thread. Post wherever you like; thank you for the comments already.



Dickson pondering his first michelada as we wait for entrees