I’ve not been around much the last couple of weeks, but I have a good excuse; my brother got married!!! This post isn’t so much about food as it is about celebrating a great event. I will warn you… There are lots of photos ahead, and almost none have food in them!
For those of you that have heard me talk about Robert, he’s been in Chicago for several years now, building a great carpentry business. He’s also had his hand in a restaurant, Longman & Eagle, in Logan Square that’s gotten a lot of great press from Esquire, GQ, Vogue and even the Today Show. The chef, Jared, does an incredible job, and the restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in its first year. The place looks fantastic, and Robert, with others, build out the 2nd floor as a 6 room inn. If you can’t tell, I’m proud of him, and it’s great seeing his successes build up!
Well, he went and got himself married, and had both families come into town for a really fun weekend. Some of us were lucky enough to have a room at the inn. Half the rooms were filled with Robert’s family, the other half with his wife’s family (that’s kind of weird to think… My brother’s wife!).
We got to Chicago on Thursday and met her family, and we met some of her family downstairs on the back patio at the restaurant. The weather was perfect, and we found out really fast that we like my brother’s in-laws. As the weekend went on, we found out we like them a lot!
We didn’t get a chance to eat dinner at Longman & Eagle, but we did enjoy drinks and breakfast/lunch every day. The dinner menu is fantastic, and the breakfast/dinner menu is a great compliment to it. My first breakfast was a croque madame with beef fat fries…
It turns out my sister-in-law’s brother is into cooking, and he got some great food together for a Friday night get-together at my brother’s place. He did goat cheese kumatoes with pickled onion, which are a very sweet tomato variety, along with cole slaw and a brisket that was sauerbraten-brined, smoked and braised. Everything turned out great, and it was a fun night with my family and getting to know her family better.
The wedding had its moments… It was supposed to be outside, but it poured, so it was in my brother’s living room. It worked out great, and everything was official!
The reception was Saturday night, at a great mansion in Logan Square. The room looked great, and the food was done by the L&E chef, Jared, so it was also fantastic!
I really enjoyed the reception. I think the main thing was just seeing family and seeing my brother and his new wife have a really great time. During the weekend, I got to see some of my brother’s friends, and got to know his in-laws. It was a full weekend and thoroughly enjoyable. It’s good to see my kid brother doing well, surrounded by good friends and, now, a great wife!
This is a great shot of my brother’s new mother-in-law, responding to her son’s speech at the reception…