Saturday, December 24, 2011

Happy Holidays: Cocktails Edition

This holiday, it's all about the bubbles here at Delve. Not only is it your best low-cal option for holiday cocktail'ing, but it turns over-eating into an oh-so-chic celebration. See below for two of our favorite bubbly cocktail recipes:

One -
1 oz. Grey Goose Vodka l ‘orange
1 oz. Grand Marnier
2 oz. Cranberry Juice
1 oz. Prosecco
Shake vodka, grand marnier and cranberry, strain over crushed ice. Top off with Prosecco.



Two -
1 oz. Zacapa 23 Rum
1 Sugar cube
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Cava sparkling wine

Entertaining a boozy crowd? Check out Food & Wine's guide of easy-to-make cocktails by the pitcher.

Cheers to popping the New Year's bottle a little early this year.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Look for Less: Shearling



Sumptuous Shearling jackets have been taunting us for the past few winters, however braving the cold in a jacket that cost more than a month's rent didn't seem right. Sure our first choice would be the butter-soft Vince number on the left, but then again, we could think of better ways to spend 2k. Luckily, our friends at Nasty Gal have got us covered with an equally as chic faux-shearling option for $68.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Back to Basics: James Perse Sample Sale

We cringe every time we hear of a New York sample sale, knowing that our east coast counterparts are getting designer deals we can only dream of. While the Chicago sample sale scene isn't what we hope for it to be quite yet, this weekend brings James Perse to the the vacant storefront at 100 E Walton for the traveling James Perse sample sale. Browse the racks to find men's and women's samples and styles from past seasons at up to 80% off.

Sale runs Friday from 10AM-8PM, Saturday from 10AM-7PM and Sunday from 10AM-4PM.Stock-up on solid tees, maxi dresses and more from the low-maintenance, high-fashion label.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Delve Helps Chicago Men With Their Holiday Shopping

Our friends at ManUp Chicago tapped the ladies at Delve to come up with a few gift ideas for Chicago guys to buy the women in their life. Check out Delve Chicago's picks for the Overworked, the Fashionista, the Entertainer and the Work Out Fiend in your life here.

Happy holiday shopping to all!

Delve on all things Chicago






Last week, Delve was asked by BlackBook Mag to weigh in our favorite four things in Chicago (and one that we could do without...). This is not an easy task considering they asked for everything from food to fashion, and we could go on for days about all of our top Chicago picks. Take a look at the post (linked here), for a roundup of wine'ing, dining and shopping in the Windy City. What do you think of our picks?

West Loop Wine Bar - Vera

Here at Delve we've long believed that the best cure-all for the blues brought on by Chicago's cold winters is a trip to a warm wine bar. A few glasses of your favorite varietal, a sampling of sublime Spanish small plates...is your core temperature rising? Thought so. Let us introduce you to our friend, Vera (1023 W. Lake St.), the newest wine bar in the West Loop.

Wine on tap (the rosé is our favorite), an interesting mix of gulp-ables by the glass, and a robust selection of bottles teams up with fine Midwest-sourced cheeses and tempting tapas to make this this our new winter haunt. We suggest the following:

Bread and Butter: Warm crusty bread served with an array of goat, duck crackling and garlic butter
Escabeche: Melt-in-your-mouth trout topped with pickled carrots
Lamb Chorizo: Over a bed of savory kale and sauteed onions

In addition to the enticing edibles and libations, the decor also earns high marks - handsome, bold yet understated. Reservations are not accepted so depending on the size of your party, you may want to be an early bird or a night owl to avoid waiting at the bar...then again, there are worse things in life than one more glass of wine.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Chef Chris Nugent's Goosefoot Opens Tonight

Rising culinary star and former chef of Les Nomades, Chris Nugent, opened the doors of Goosefoot (2656 W. Lawrence Ave.) in Lincoln Square tonight. This BYOB, 34-seat, contemporary American restaurant introduces a new destination and flavor profile to a two block stretch of Lawrence Ave. that is already densely packed with ethnic epicurean delights. The restaurant's smart, clean interior was designed by Mrs. Nina Nugent, herself. Power couple, anyone?

Check out the winter menu below - an eight course offering made up of the finest locally sourced ingredients for $90.


On to the obvious question: What exactly is a "goosefoot"? We'll leave the explaining to the experts - here's what their website has to say:

"The name goosefoot didn’t emerge from a fondness for feathered friends or feet, but from our passion to cook with the highest quality seasonal ingredients grown and sourced from small artisan farms.

A goosefoot or chenopodium genus is actually a plant family of great significance to the culinary world. There are 150-varieties in the family some of the species in the genus have leaves that resemble the foot of a goose. A few of our favorites are: Chioggia beets, strawberry blite, Swiss chard, Bull’s Blood, Bordeaux spinach, lamb’s quarters, red orach, epazote and quinoa."

We plan on making tracks to Goosefoot well before word spreads and foodies flock, gathering by the gaggle (pun intended).

Friday, December 9, 2011

Luxury Garage Sale Trunk Show

Stop by Delve-favorite SARCA this weekend for their Holiday Trunk Show compliments of the gals at Luxury Garage Sale. Goodies on-site include a curated collection of vintage designer clothing and accessories from lust-worthy brands like Chanel, Dior and Givenchy.

Shop for one-of-a-kind holiday gifts and enjoy complimentary bubbly:
Saturday, December 10th, 10 am – 6 pm
SARCA, 710 N. Wabash, Chicago, IL 60611
RSVP to rsvp@shopsarca.com or 312-255-0900

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Delve Does Windy City Live for Rent The Runway

Delve's resident fashion expert stopped by the Windy City Live studios today to model for Rent The Runway. Thanks to the girls at RTR, she was able to rock a STUNNING Yigal Azrouel Selma dress (retail $1495, Rental $250) perfect for black-tie events around the holidays.

Check out the clip below:







Not familiar with RTR? It's basically Netflix for Fashion. The website allows you to rent the exact same looks you see on the runway and red carpet for 10-15 percent of the cost! You pick the dress you love on RenttheRunway.com and they ship it you in two sizes to ensure the perfect fit. You return it in pre-paid postage in any blue mailbox -- and leave the dry-cleaning up to them. Check out their latest looks here: http://www.renttherunway.com/


Want to rent a dress for yourself? Enter WCL15OFF at checkout to recieve 15% off your first order!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Girl With The Dragon Tattoo for H&M


click on the image to enlarge


If you were one of the millions of people that read the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson, you may have been a bit confused when you learned that H&M was doing a collab with the US movie's costume designer, Trish Summerville. Lisabeth Salander was cool in an "I can kick your a**" kind of way, but we weren't so sure we wanted to dress like her.

Turns out we are wrong. The photos from the collection have been released and we are totally digging them. Think Alexander Wang-like silhouettes meets Balmain distressed t's and pants (minus the scary designer prices).

Completing the look with a partially shaved head and computer-hacking skills is up to you.

Holiday Styling with Olivia Palermo

Like her or not, this girl's got style.

Tomorrow, join our friends at Topshop and Refinery29 as they host Olivia Palermo for an evening of holiday styling at the Michigan Ave store. More details here.

Golden Girl Gives Back

Our favorite Spray Tan purveyors Golden Girl Chicago are using their beauty powers for good. From now until Dec. 17 you can nomintate someone special in your life to receive a day of beauty. Entries should explain to Golden Girl why this person deserves the royal treatment and what it would mean to them.

The winning submission will recieve a haircut, blowdry, spray tan, make-up application and mini-massage (aka, the ultimate make-over) at Golden Girl's recently opened West Loop Salon (160 N. Halstead). To get more information on the contest or to submit an application, e-mail jenn@goldengirlchicago.com.

In the holiday spirit, don't be a scrooge, nomintate your favorite Chicago do-gooders today!

BLT American Brasserie Opens

“A modern day grill honoring global influences while acquiring the best local ingredients” – that’s the concept behind BLT American Brasserie, Chicago's newest dining addition (whose doors opened Friday at Superior and Kingsbury) by rockstar NYC chef Laurent Tourondel of NYC’s BLT Steak, BLT Fish, and BLT Prime.

To say the menu is vast is an understatement. The French-trained Tourondel is featuring everything from burgers and BBQ ribs to fresh sushi and a raw bar (and everything you could ever imagine in between). Aside from the food, we have our eyes on a few of the featured cocktails, including the Red Apple & Bourbon Fizz (Maker’s Mark, apple and lemon juice, ginger ale) and the Pumpkin Patch (baileys, Absolut Vanilla and fresh pumpkin syrup).

Full menu is available here.

*photo via BLT American Brasserie

Thursday, December 1, 2011

2011's Best Cocktails

There's no stopping it Chicago, winter is here. On this first day of December with freezing winds and low temps, there's really only one thing to do to keep warm - imbibe. And just in time, our pals at Tasting Table released their list of the Best Cocktails of 2011. The compilation not only highlights at what locales you can try these said cocktails, but also how you can mix them up at home. No surprise, our friend Mr. McGee and his Whistler concoctions, The Violet Hour and The Aviary made the list. Also mentioned for their cocktail creations are Henri (18 S. Michigan), Sable (505 N. State), Masa Azul (2901 W. Diversey), and Morso (240 W. Armitage). Who knew?

So as we set ourselves to hibernation mode, mixing up a Negroni Thyme or Baron Row Milk Punch at home by the fire doesn't sound half bad.