I love regular puppy chow (aka muddy buddies), but I like to sub almonds for the Chex. It's a great snack, and since you have to eat it slower than regular puppy chow, slightly easier to resist gorging yourself. I imagine it would ship a little better, and vegetarians always appreciate extra protein.

nah, i'm in denver. i always get a little sad when i see plates where people have pushed the corn shoots to the side. they really don't know what they're missing.

http://www.cholon.com

i work in a restaurant and we feature them on a halibut dish. i've seen them at farmers markets, but i would probably just sprout my own at home, they tend to be expensive. i really enjoy the mindfuck aspect of eating this tiny thing that could've potentially been a 6ft stalk of corn!

http://www.sproutliving.com/store/products/pop_corn_shoots.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ss...

corn shoots are my obsession right now. they are....overwhelming, to say the least. it's as if an entire corn cob was contained in wee inch and a half little sprout!

i did really like the curry blood sausage and the stilton sandwich at euclid, but thought everything (especially the duck poutine) was pricey enough to keep me from going back. $11 for a plate of fries with a very meager amount of duck? $5 for a single kumamoto paired with 4 oz of beer? the pickles i sadly did not try (i love piccalilli), so i will put them on my list if i do go back.

as for their beer selection, while it shows promise, i really didn't find the list that exciting. they class young's double chocolate stout under "calculus: pushing the envelope"? young's?? really about as exciting as licking an envelope. and a 750 of gulden draak is $32.75, which you can get retail for under $12. i've worked at enough places to know what the typical margin is, and that's just ridiculous. table 6 carries 375s of girardin for $9, which is about a dollar more than you'll usually find it retail. i know there may be special circumstances regarding pricing for specific things, but i'm familiar with quite a few things on their list and they all seemed unnecessarily high, even for larimer.

i like the concept and i like the space, i just think the execution makes it seem like the management group is a little over confident about the public's eagerness for jen jasinski as a brand. she's a great chef, and i think the place will be successful, it just seemed a little full of itself. that said, i'll probably go back at some point and enjoy myself, but it's not a place i'd ever get excited about going.

beatrice for dinner would be better w/o child, it's fairly romantic and childfree. you'd probably also enjoy the silliness of the decor more alone. brunch would be ok though and the young un might get a kick out of the tree stumps and chain saws, not to mention the bathrooms! foodwise though, i'd vote for fruition for your special dinner. beatrice food can be really unpredictable--amazing escargot, disturbingly burnt "charred" pork, root veggies cooked improperly because of too much variation in size. that said, it's cute and fun for a cocktail and small bites or brunch.
euclid hall is good but not great, and one only needs so much of one chef. rioja is her best work.
root down would be lots of fun with the kid for dinner--it's loud, it's bustling, it's kitschy, and the food is awesome.
squeaky bean is good for a casual thing and often has families. one warning though, if they're busy, food times can be excruciating, always important to keep in mind when dealing with very young children.
den deli closed recently to reformulate. i wouldn't dare bring a toddler into sushi den--too see and be seen, too long of waits. if you're set on bringing kiddo out for sushi, maybe try izakaya den, the middle sister of the den family. it's less crazy (sort of) and more friendly (sort of). definitely make a res, but don't count on being seated on time unless it's 5:00 on a tuesday. domo would be fun, but it's usually on the quieter side.
everything else seems fine, although denver's indian food is really terrible.

if you're going through denver, watercourse is pretty awesome for veggie food. i love the portabello mushroom done with polenta crust and chipotle mayo. the thai peanut stir fry is also yummy (although not very authentically thai tasting). their portions are also nice and generous so you'll have leftovers if you're not starving. if you get in to town late or want a veggie oriented bar, there's city o city. they are kind of hit or miss, but they usually do good pizzas and the seitan buffalo wings are tasty. they have a good beer selection, although it tends to be overpriced because of all the hipsters in there. the staff is also unpredictable--some are shirt off their backs nice, others are ridiculously surly and unhelpful. watercourse and city o city are both very casual, but if you were looking for something a little nicer, you might try root down. they aren't totally veggie, but emphasize it a lot. i'm not sure if they'll still be doing this by the time you do your trip, but this summer they started doing prix fixe vegan raw foods dinners on thursdays. $35/person for multiple courses, really interesting food. and i know they do a $52.80 special every sunday, not sure how veggie friendly it is though. while i do love root down's food, i find their kitschy decor and crowdedness pretty annoying, but most people like it. shazz is another option for more upscale veggie friendly dining. i have to say of all the ubiquitous beet salads around town, theirs is one of the best. there's also a new sandwich place, organixx, near my work that everyone has been raving about. haven't been there myself but have only heard good things.

http://watercoursefoods.com/
http://www.cityocitydenver.com/
http://www.rootdowndenver.com/
http://www.shazzdenver.com/index.php
http://organixxrestaurant.com/

jesus, yes. when i visit family in LA, we go to nbc almost every day. we all get our favorites: chicken feet for the kids, lo bo gao for the whiteys, pork shumai, blood cubes for anyone suspected of illness (usually everyone), pig ear, bbq pork buns, sesame balls.....now i'm so hungry i'm willing to put up with my bossy uncles!

also missing nyc seafood and mas' islamic (rip tung lai shun)

my info on tru's decline isn't exactly firsthand; i've only eaten there once, about 2 years ago, and it was great. friends of mine worked at tru for a number of years and said that there was a lot of focus lost during the expansion (read: selling out) with all the hotel stuff a few years ago, and then that burger window, which was seen as more of a marketing ploy for tru than a genuine endeavor. from what i've heard, everything is still great, just not amazing like it may have been before.

carnivale makes me feel like i'm at a swap meet. the food is good and the bar can be fun, but the main dining room is more seizure inducing than those nintendo robbie robots.

anteprima is far away, but the patio is one of my favorites in the city. i also feel like andersonville gives out of towners a feel for a real chicago neighborhood rather than all the hullaballoo of downtown, which can be nice if you're burnt out from the taste. plus, if you want to go out after dinner, there's hopleaf right down the street. and if you're making it one of those nights, there's always carol's....kidding!

you're right, mk and blackbird probably aren't worth the extra $$. i would say that if you want to stay downtown i would vote for cafe spiaggia.

sorry to be a downer, but tru has fallen off quite a bit in the last few years...

www.thepublicanrestaurant.com
www.thepurplepigchicago.com
www.anteprimachicago.net
www.mkchicago.com
www.blackbirdrestaurant.com
mk and blackbird are on the pricier side, publican might be too casual

cafe spiaggia, cafe des architetes YES
shaw's, carnivale NO