My Favorite Things from 2012

By kikilu — January 04, 2013

Life was good in 2012. As everyone knows, I dine out a lot and I love it. I meet a ton of great people and I get to travel a fair amount which I also  love. I'm already mapping out 2013 for Beauty and Her Feast, but in the process, I started looking through my photo albums and wanted to share some of my favorite moments from 2012!

Happy New Year and Bon Appetit… 

Last year, I went out on a limb and started my own interview show called, Spotlight Chef. I hope to bring it back and highlight some of Chicago's best culinary talents in 2013!

Chef Ryan Poli opened Tavernita and I went a little crazy for his Spanish meatballs.

I'm not a swooner...but I swooned for Curtis.

A culinary highlight of my year was dining in New York at Eleven Madison Park.

Our family trip to Hawaii was fantastic and this whole fried fish was the best thing we ate.

The big kids loved these Ahi Tuna tacos in Hawaii and another round followed the first.

One of the best soft shell crabs I've ever eaten created by my good friend, chef Kevin Hickey of Allium for a special event.

I'm still a fan of Gjelina in Venice Beach. I make sure to get a good hike in the morning then head to Gjelina for a beautiful lunch with friends.

Off to Istanbul! We dined like locals during Ramadan at the Four Seasons Sultanahmet.

Visiting the Blue Mosque

Once on board our Silver Seas Cruise, I helped below deck for chef Hickey's cooking demo.

Up in the hills on the island of Crete, Prince Charming and I dined at a Greek family restaurant on zucchini flowers stuffed with rice.

Our posse walking Santorini!

Prince Charming and I on our final day in Athens.

I post roughly a gazillion photos throughout the year from our favorite local sushi joint, Sushi Kushi, where we dine with the kids for what they have dubbed, "sushi saturday." Our fave...tuna brittle.

On our anniversary, we decided to make it a family affair and have the kids join us at Andy's Thai Kitchen. One of our favorite meals this year with the kids.

Quite possibly one of my favorite snacks, the oyster po' boy sliders at GT Fish.

Yes, my favorite burger and yes, I crave it. Au Cheval.

It was a fiasco trying to get tickets but I finally made it to Next!

I felt I deserved to experience EMP again and bought tickets to the Chicago-based dinner.

The famous carrot tartare from Eleven Madison Park making an appearance at Alinea.

Prince Charming and My Stanford at one of our favorite feeding frenzies...Hamburger Hop.

A beautiful weekend for Chicago Gourmet

The aftermath of Chicago Gourmet...

Only at EL Ideas do you lick your plate clean for your first course.

Chef Jason McLeod slurping a Hama Hama oyster at Yusho. Awesome night visiting some great restaurants with friends...waiting for Jason to come back and visit!

This. Is. My. Happy. Place. I can't go to NY without visiting Eataly. It's my Disney.

Look at that skin. The chicken at Nomad was just lovely. I think about often and NY is on my list for spring.

I judged the Maple Syrup Festival hosted by Burton's Maple Syrup. Great fun and looking forward to going back this year.

Finally, I got to work with someone I treasure in the industry, the Food Buddha, Chef Rodelio Aglibot. Can't wait for his new restaurant, e+o to open in a month.

This was the best bill delivered to my table at Tar and Roses in Santa Monica.

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