Thanks Tom!

The Art Institute of Chicago has been free on Thursday and Friday evenings all summer. For the past, oh, I don't know, seven weeks, Marie and I have vowed that this will be the week we go. Somehow though, our last Thursday in Chicago arrived and we hadn't yet made it to this showpiece of the city's cultural attractions.

Even though I was feeling a little out of sorts (please don't be swine flu), I'm very glad we went. We started in the Modern Wing, but after one exhibit (which, I would describe as pleasant to look at but unimpressive as far as artistic skill goes) we opted for the classics.

A few favorites: from an interesting special exhibit on wine in art, one in particular stood out; the impressionists, as always, delighted, especially Monet's haystack series, of which this one was particularly beautiful; this giant piece gives the sense that the people are going to walk right off the canvas; and this, which I had never seen before, made me want to go to the circus. Hopper's Nighthawks made me nostalgic for a favorite quirky professor. The large crowd surrounding it, staring at it intently, made me wonder aloud to Marie whether famous pieces like this are actually better than those that we skim over, or whether we simply see them as brilliant because we have been told they are.

We checked off another long neglected item on our to-do list Thursday night: eat at Frontera restaurant. Since our first visit to the grocery store, we have been buying the made-for-stores salsa from this hot-spot Chicago eatery. Rick Bayless, the chef behind Frontera and its two neighboring restaurants Topolobampo and XOCO, is somewhat of a celebrity figure, having recently starred on (and won) Top Chef Masters.

Buying into the buzz behind Bayless and his restaurants, with the bar set high by the salsas (they really are that good), and with Marie's stepdad's generous blessing to go out for a good dinner (see blog title), we perched ourselves at the crowded bar and ordered up a couple of margaritas.

Unfortunately, I have to say I'm going to be sticking to jarred salsa by Bayless, and I might even go so far as to offer my services as guacamole chef for his restaurants. The guac was bland, in need of salt and lime, and the lame excuse for a bowl of salsa was neither wide nor deep enough to give a chip a good dunk. The chips were the saving grace, not too greasy, and good and thick and crispy. Desperately wanting Frontera to live up to our expectations, we ordered another appetizer, sopes rancheros--"crispy corn masa boats with savory shredded beef, roasted tomatoes, avocado and homemade fresh cheese"--which were tasty but nothing special. Though I had hoped for more behind this so-called master chef, I'm glad we checked it out, because I would have always wondered about the restaurant behind all the hype--and the phenomenal jarred salsa.