MOVIE: Sin Nombre (2009)
This is a great movie; depressing with its dose of reality from south of the border, and uplifting when you realize your luck.

Restaurant: Anong Thai Cuisine

2532 N. California Ave

Chicago, IL 60647

(773) 292-500

Food is pretty standard.  Don't go here unless you don't mind wearing the kitchen smell on your clothes/bag for a week.  They should have fixed the ventilation before opening their doors for business.

Restaurant:tocco
1266 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60642
(773) 687-8895

Brand new upscale Italian restaurant. Food is very good but don't go here hungry because portions are small. The bar is pretty nice and the restaurant is equipped with garage doors opening to an open area on the side of the building--it should be a great hang out spot when the weather is nice.

MOVIE: Tehran Has No More Pomegranates! (2006)
This is a very entertaining and well-put-together movie/mockumentary portraying the love/hate relationship of the residents of Tehran with their metropolis.

Restaurant: Tavern At the Park

130 E Randolph St

Chicago, IL 60601

(312) 552-0070

The space is very hot, temperature wise, so try to avoid the upstairs area--the manager gets very defensive if you mention it.

Steaks are heavily garlic laden and you will stink for a day or two...it's a good trick to mask either the staleness or the poor quality of the meat served.  Needless to say this place is NOT GARLIC-HATER FRIENDLY!

Restaurant: Mista
2931 N Broadway
Chicago IL 60657

Owners are very nice. Food is very very bland. The pizza is basically flavored crackers. Garlic-hater friendly.

Restaurant: My Thai
555 W Madison
Chicago IL 60661
312.669.1999

My Thai is a good clean Thai food restaurant mini-chain with three downtown locations. As long as you remember to request while ordering, this place is garlic-hater friendly.

Restaurant:
Kamehachi of Tokyo
240 East Ontario Street
Chicago, IL 60611
312-587-0600

Kamehachi is one of the best sushi restaurants in Chicago equal to Sushi Wabi. This place is garlic-hater friendly.

Restaurant: Mana Food Bar
1742 W Division
Chicago IL 60622

From the creators of De Cero and Sushi Wabi comes this vegetarian place with a pan-world cuisine. Food is great and reasonably priced. Drinks will be the bigger part of your bill. This place is garlic-hater friendly.

MOVIE: The Dark Knight

What a fun movie. Lost of great actors including my all time favorite, Gary Oldman, star in this movie. The movie does a great job of bringing the characters close to reality but it does go off on some pretty outlandish nonsense still. Joker and Batman's performances are excellent. Harvey's character stays very comic-book comical. The movie is almost three hours long so prepare accordingly.

Rating: ++++

Wine: Origin Merlot

Can someone explain what are these cristals?

Wine:
Frey Sauvignon Blanc 2006 organic wine

WTF? This wine is nasty tasting and nasty smelling. To Frey vineyard I say, try again.

Restaurant:
Corosh
1072 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 235-0600

This place has been around for a while, from before Wicker Park started to really pick up. It used to server some Persian dishes but now it is full Italian menu. The calamari is pretty good, very light. The food is not bad. It is sort of prepared in the same manner as the restaurant's decoration--crude and in your face. The owner fancies himself an artist and to get an idea of his taste, head to the patio. I assure you, you have not seen anything like that before.

Restaurant:
Caoba Mexican Bar & Grill
1619 N Damen Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 342-2622

Totally dead on the weekends when every other place is hopping. They have good sangria, bad service, typical for this area. So it is nice to be able to sit some place quiet and enjoy a conversation and a drink with a friend, while still taking in the sights and the sounds of this busy neighborhood.

Restaurant:
Skewerz
1560 N Damen
Chicago IL 60622
773.276.9805

I finally stopped by here to check it out, figuring it's been long enough since they opened to have the opportunity to get over the start-up hurdles. Food sucked. Service sucked. The meats are marinated to hell, to the point that everything looks disgustingly brown...really strange. I imagine they let the meat marinate in heavy seasoning for a week...bluaaaaghhh. Be warned...this place is NOT GARLIC-HATER FRIENDLY. Even if you like garlic, you should never dine here before a date or any sort of a social event. As for service, the experience is similar to dealing with a two year old...distracted and inconsequential.

Rating: I give this place two middle fingers up!