So, I had only been back for about a week from my trip to Milwaukee before I turned around and headed to the Pittsburgh airport once again to begin my next leg of travel. Because I was at the mercy of relying on others (one of my least favorite things to do ever), I ended up arriving at the airport quite early. The solution for that? Find food.

The Pittsburgh airport has a few dining options - for quick service, there are places like Quiznos, McDonalds, Villa Italian Kitchen and Rice N Noodle. For waited service, there are paces like T.G.I.Friday's, Quaker Steak and Lube and Bar Symon. Bar Symon is the outlier here, as it is created by celebrity chef Michael Symon, a James Beard Award winning chef. He also is the mastermind behind B Spot Burgers.

The menu at this location has appetizers, sandwiches, and some pasta dishes. Of course, what caught my eye was the macaroni and cheese. I went for the pulled pork mac.

It was a pretty huge portion with pulled pork spread throughout, cheese baked on top with a drizzle of hot sauce. For airport food, it wasn't bad. I think the macaroni and cheese was actually a bit dry, and the pulled pork could've used some more flavor. But, not bad.



Grade: B
 

On the way back from Milwaukee, we had a layover in Chicago. After New York City (which will be coming up soon!!), my culinary dream place in the U.S. is Chicago. So, even though we only had a little bit of time in Chicago (and it's an airport) and not a full-fledged trip, I wanted to make the most of it.

Tortas Frontera

Rick Bayless is a well-known chef specializing in traditional Mexican food who has a few restaurants in the Chicago area. Tortas Frontera is located in three terminals in the airport, as well as at the University of Pennsylvania. I can only assume the airport quality would differ fairly significantly from his full-service restaurants, but, for now, it'll do! I ordered the Milanesa, which was crispy chicken, artisan Jack cheese, pickled jalapeno, black beans, cilantro crema and tomatillo-avocado salsa. It was good - but actually very spicy. At least for me. Tony got the Chipotle Chicken - artisan Jack cheese, poblano rajas, chipotle, black beans, cilantro crema, avocado and wild arugula. I actually liked his sandwich better and we ended up swapping! Not bad.

Ardent is one of the restaurants I was most looking forward to in Milwaukee. It was named one of the 15 best new restaurants in the Midwest by Conde Nast Traveler, and Justin Carlisle was a James Beard finalist for Best Chef Midwest.



A few things: You have to make a reservation; it's a very small restaurant. And when you make the reservation, you supply a credit card that will be charged $30 per person if you cancel with less than 24 hours notice. There are two seatings: between 6 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., and then between 8 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.



The restaurant itself is adorable. It has this sort of ease of elegance. It's located a little below ground level with little markings beyond the "A" on the door to designate its existence. There are only a handful of tables inside, and neutral toned shawls adorned the backs of chairs if you need some added cozy warmth. There was a sliver of a window open to the kitchen, so you could see the chefs working away.



As soon as you enter the restaurant, you know you're in for an experience. It's not just a meal. It's a memory in the making. The service is impeccable, the little touches do not go unnoticed. For example, they brought me a phone pillow. A PHONE PILLOW, they said, in case there are any spills. It's a plank of wood with some burlap on top.



Tony and I ordered a bunch of different courses to split. You're ordering one-word dishes with little context - just a hint of what that plate is. So, it's a bit of a surprise. You can opt for the eight-course tasting menu, but it's a little pricy, and this way we got to pick and choose. The first amuse bouche from the chef was this little cheese puff that had a creamy cheese inside with shaved cheese on top. It was a nice savory - a bit nutty - bite that really set a great tone for the dinner. For each course, the chef comes out to describe it. The very personal attention makes for a really engaging dinner.




The first plate we dug into was "Milk," which said "Pain Au Lait, Muenster Cheese, Cultured Butter." What it really is is a small roll, a house-made butter from the milk of Edelweiss Townhall Creamery’s grass-fed farms and a house-made fresh Muenster cheese. It all had a very fresh, light air to it, which was very tasty.

The next plate was "Corn," which said "Black Lime, Farm Cheese, Urfa." This actually ended up being a ravioli with a very soft cheese inside that had a sharp flavor. The sweetness of the corn really balanced it out.



Next up was "Game Hen," which was described as "Vegetable Kraut, Schmaltz, Mustard." This, while not initially what I gravitated toward, ended up being my absolute favorite dish. It was super moist and flavorful. The kraut had just a hint of bitterness. A very solid plate of food.

Next was the "Beef," complete with "Panzanella, Tomato, Black Garlic." This was cooked very well, and the salad had a delicious dressing that I couldn't stop myself from sopping up with the beef. Each bite was thoughtfully prepared, and artfully paired to enhance the flavors of each element.

Finally was "Apricot" with "Cream Cheese, Coriander." This was our dessert of sorts. You thought I was going to order the caramel thing, didn't you? I would have, but I had forced Tony to eat about 15,000 caramel things at this point so we went for this lighter option. And it was totally delicious! The meringue blew my mind. I friggin' love meringue. It was simple, refreshingly sweet and a very nice ending.

But, wait, there's more!

These complementary little mini vanilla cream puffs were a great finale. I love the little gifts from the chef, and I love a petit fours.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE.

And this is literally the best idea ever. You know how you leave a restaurant, and sometimes (if it's really REALLY good) you can't stop thinking about how amazing it was? Well, Ardent goes one step further and gives you these mini muffins to take home and remember the next morning how great the place is.

Everyone, do this. Best. Ever.

Grade: A

Comet Cafe is one of the weirder restaurant experiences we had while in Milwaukee.



We read of its hipster environment and bangin' vegetarian (and more) food, so we headed thatta way. But when we arrived, there was no host to greet us. Instead, there was a sign that said on that particular day, half the seats in the restaurant are reserved for an event and to sign your name on the sheet of paper to be in line for a seat. OK.



We signed our name and waited. And waited. And waited. There's literally no place to wait. The door opens right into the dining area, so it was super awkward and uncomfortable to just be standing right in front of these diners. Eventually, a server saw us and basically told us to just sit in the one empty table that was available, as though that was the obvious choice ....... if we knew we could just sit wherever - despite what the sign said - I would have done that before the painfully awkward standing around. Sigh.

We were seated super, super close to a couple on a date and another group of very loud, excited individuals. Are you getting that the environment here left something to be desired? It didn't start off on the right foot, and it had a hard time coming back from that. The, food, however was the saving grace.



We ordered two entrees (because we couldn't decide) - the mac & cheese: "Made-to-order creamy mac and cheese. Need we say more? Yes we do! We cover that with even more cheese and broil it" and the compact turkey dinner: "Beer-battered, fried balls of slow-roasted turkey, sage stuffing, cheesy mashed potatoes with country gravy and vegetable of the day." Each entree came with a soup or salad. Tony got the soup of the day, and I got the tomato soup.

My tomato soup was tasty - but it was even better paired between bites of the macaroni and cheese (literally one of my favorite combos). This macaroni and cheese, I kid you not, is one of the best ever. It was super creamy, cheesy and just slightly crisp on top. It was rich and delicious. That + the tomato soup together? Heaven.


The fried turkey balls were also quite good. It was a bite of Thanksgiving all in one bite. Little turkey, little stuffing, little mashed potatoes, battered, fried and floating in a pool of gravy? There's literally no way that couldn't be good.

This table was full of amazing comfort food in an - ironically - not super comfortable environment.

Grade: B

Lakefront Brewery is a nice craft brewery in Milwaukee that is clearly part of the fabric of the community. At many of the restaurants we went to in Milwaukee, they had Lakefront beer on tap.



We took a tour of the facility, which was quite nice considering you got four beers during your tour - or before or after. You got tokens that you could choose to use whenever!!

I tried a ginger beer, a Belgian white and a pumpkin, of course. Tony and I used our one leftover coin to try their root beer, which required two.








And their beers are very good! The tour here was fun, the beer was great, and the overall atmosphere was very cool. I would definitely come back here if I find myself in Milwaukee ever again.



Grade: A