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Snazzing It Up At Think Cafe
Sunday Nov 20, 2005.
By Zinny Fandel
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We were tossing back and forth BYOB ideas without much success. Being dressed to the nines generally comes across better at places with entrees that run more than $9, but we kept coming up with casual, cheaper spots. While "spend less" is generally my modus operandi, we were ready to pair our $10 bottle with something that would leave more of a dent on the credit card...and make more of a gushy, decked-out memory. So we headed to Think Cafe, 2235 N. Western Ave., an Italian restaurant we had seen months ago on an episode of "Check, Please," that we had added to our lengthy to-try list. We arrived to a sizeable line of bottle-bearing couples around 9 p.m. on Saturday, all hovering a bit awkwardly in the doorway. A note for those waiting: BYOB restaurants always get a plateful of points with me when they include a bar; Think goes the distance with a small, wine-glass-filled nook to the left, perfect for two to uncork their wine pre-dinner. But the wait ended quickly enough and we were ushered to a back room. The restaurant is homey, simply decorated with the odd vase, a shelf of cooking oils and grandmother-style curtains. The food followed suit: There was nothing confusingly gourmet or modish on the menu, but tomato-filled classics prepared well and in abundance. We foolishly downed a basket of bread before receiving a plateful of Prince Edward Island mussels ($10) swimming in a spicy red tomato sauce that begged for the then-absent bread (don't fret, we got another basket). But ahh, the timeless error of filling up on bread, one that became abundantly clear once our sizable meals were served. Steamer went with the zuppa di mare, a giant bowl of linguini with mussels, clams, shrimp, calamari, scallops and fresh fish in a red sauce ($20); I opted for the swordfish special ($26), a huge filet topped with a tomato and kalamata olive sauce, with eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash slices draped on top. If it all sounds indulgent, that's because it was...as was our appetite for wine. As usual, the tasty Cabernet was medium-bodied enough to be liberally sipped both sans-food and with-food, emptying the bottle far too early. We did our darndest to tackle what was left on our plates, the leftovers of which were brought out in two bags that we quickly shoved under the table, hiding the evidence before ordering dessert (a sort of deconstructed cannoli) and, admittedly, breaking into the Ouzo. All in all, we forked over a good $80 for the meal, certainly more than we tend to spend on our bring-our-own outings, but, in all its BYOB glory, less than we would have forked over at an equally date-worthy, wine-listed spot. Italian, a cuisine that was ruined for me by bad, spaghetti-filled sports banquets in my youth, is making its way up my food chain, and Think certainly helped inch that along. As did the bowl of Andes mints calling my name by the door... Zinny Fandel's tales of living the (mostly) BYOB life are intended to be attempted at home and in the community, preferably at BYOB restaurants.
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Dressed as close as we get to top-hat-and-tails snazziness, Steamer and I had late-night cocktail party plans. We headed out for a pre-fete dinner, I in a proper skirt, he in a tie and jacket, with a bottle of Ouzo (which was later received with much more excitement than the gin and vodka gifts—score) and a bottle of McManus Cabernet Sauvignon between us. I'm a geek over the California winery's Merlot, but hadn't given much thought to the Cabernet, my new domestic wine of choice as the chilly days set in.