Chicago: Uncommon Ground

Goddess C's birthday was last month.  As Stacker was taken away by familial obligations, it was up to CK and I to bring the party.  Well, our kind of party.  Which basically means eating.  A lot.

We made the birthday girl choose the restaurant because 1) it's her birthday and 2) if it were up to me, my notorious indecisiveness would lead us nowhere.  Goddess C picked Uncommon Ground:

The place was HUGE.  It doesn't look like it from the outside, but there were rooms upon rooms filled with tables.  There was kind of a woodsy, artsy feel going on:

We started off with the best damn sweet potato fries I've ever had in my life:

The goat cheese fondue I could do without, but the fries!  Oh, the fries!  And I don't even like sweet potatoes.

The three of us split two entrees.  There was the housemade ricotta cavatelli with black truffle butter, sauteed wild mushrooms, spinach, caramelized onions, and fried cheese curds:

Okay, so my first thought might have been "MAGGOTS!", but I got over that really quick and ended up really enjoying the dish.

We also got the Q7 ranch beef stew:

It certainly looked good on the menu.  Braised short ribs and brisket au jus, fingerling potatoes, brussels sprouts, broccoli, egg pasta, and baby carrots...sounds delicious, right?  Too bad it was way, way, way too salty for consumption.  Not that that stopped us from eating it.  We paid for it and we're Asian.  Of course we finished it.  We just had to ask for additional french bread to help combat the saltiness.

You can't have a birthday party without dessert, so we got the dark chocolate brownie sundae:

So decadent.  Super intensely fudgy brownie topped with Black Dog banana gelato, whipped cream, banana slices, and caramel.  All we were missing was a birthday candle.

Wish we could have thrown you a crazier party, Goddess C.  But I hope you had fun!


Uncommon Ground
3800 N Clark St
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 929-3680
http://www.uncommonground.com/