On the road again: Chicon, day 1

Though Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention, doesn't open registration until tomorrow, I flew up early to get settled, accommodate some work, and get set for a little activity on a still-unannounced project.  I haven't spent enough time in Chicago to be able to claim I know it at all well, but I like it, and it's a great food city. 

Though most of today went to working on a plane and then working in a hotel room, dinner was a lovely break.  Takashi has garnered a fair amount of favorable attention, so we headed to it and, predictably, opted for the omekase, or chef's tasting menu.  The amuse and the first course were both so spicy that the heat overwhelmed the other flavors, and I became worried that the whole meal would go that way.

It did not.  From then on, each course was a delicious, interesting blending of different tastes and, to a small degree, textures.  Perhaps the most successful dish was the sauteed Maine scallops and soba gnocchi with trumpet royale mushrooms and celery root-Parmesan foam.  Each bite of it was warm and satisfying, yet never heavy. 

The biggest flaw in the meal came not from the restaurant but from a drunken fellow diner.  I'm still annoyed enough that I'll save my rant about him for another time, except for this:  When you're eating at a nice restaurant, modulate your voice so only your table has to listen to you. 

I wouldn't count this dinner as a groundbreaking or revelatory meal, but I'd eat at Takashi again, and I recommend it to you.