Even though I'm not an executive chef or anyone prominent in Rockford, IL. I still feel as if I play some part when it comes to the Rockford Culinary Community.
We have a lot of great places to eat in Rockford but at the same time, we don't.
I think that kind of sucks.
But there is one place that I went in April that kind of made an impact on my life. Why? Because the food was the best food I have ever had in Rockford. This place is called Social Urban Bar & Restaurant. From the outside, it looks small and cozy with cool lighting. On the inside, you feel like you are in a sexy restaurant in downtown Chicago. I've wanted to try this place for quite sometime and I finally was able to for my friend Jasmines birthday. I saw that we'd be going to Social on the wall of the Facebook invite that she sent us. I knew a little about this place. And the little that I knew, I loved.
This restaurant gets a lot of their ingredients from local farmers and growers in the Midwest. I love that. The fact that they don't have food solely shipped from California or from Sysco is pretty damn awesome to me. I love the sense of community. I love that they utilize what they have. I don't know much but as a food lover I know that this place was awesome when we ate here. The food was a little pricey so I mean, I can't go every weekend but if or when you have the money, you need to try it.
I had the braised pork shoulder and it was simply amazing. I loved it. I ate just about everything on the plate. It came with jasmine rice and that was great. The pork shoulder was tender, juicy, and delicious. I'm usually someone who doesn't eat fat. I cut my fat off. I think it's kind of gross. But the fat from this pork shoulder was so good I couldn't believe it!
I also had I think it was called something like the Pot de' creme or something like that. It was a little pot of creme brulee or something. That was just as good as dinner. I figured, I don't get to eat like this very often and I tend to live by the motto, "Go Big or Go Home" and so that is how I lived that night.
I hope that someday when I own a restaurant, that it is half of the restaurant that Social is today.
On another note:
Do you know what they put in our meat? Places that put hormones into our chicken and beef corn and other plants to make them grow 2x bigger in the little amount of time that they are given. They don't grow naturally. They are fed corn and other by-products. It just isn't right. I hate that we have to buy this meat. We have to buy the hamburger that has amonia in it. I say we "have" to buy it because people such as myself that are on the lower part of the social strata, can't afford organic foods! The reason they use hormones to grow are food is because we think that "bigger is better" when it comes to food and other things in life. So they subject our poultry to terrible things. If the Obama campaign wants to start telling everyone what to eat, then maybe he should start with the farmers of America that use pesticides, hormones, and anti-biotics! Maybe we could eat better if hormones were illegal in our foods. It should all be natural. Not just some. Maybe we could eat healthier if it wasn't so damn expensive. Maybe our nation wouldn't be known as the "Fattest" Nation if they didn't mass produce our food with additives and other terrible things.
Think about it.
After watch the movie "Food, Inc." this really got my gears turning. I feel like there is nothing I can do to stop it. If you are interested, watch that movie. It'll change the way you think about your food.
This link explains more about what I'm saying.
