Next week: detox

It’s been a long & hard week. Pity me.

Tuesday

The Southern — Fat Tuesday crawfish boil : Joined by Patterson & Mary

A hurricane for Fat Tuesday

Crawfish boil

My first crawfish boil. I may or may not have been singing The Radiators — Suck the Head the entire time. I enjoyed myself enormously, even if they shouldn’t have mixed Old Bay w/the Zatarain’s. Or so I’m told.

Thursday

Blokes & Birds — dinner & drinks : Joined by Patterson, Mary & Matt

Churchill Downs (l) Breakfast at Tiffany's (r)

Blokes & Birds has amazing craft cocktails. Out of the 13 or so on the list, Mary & I have made it through about 10 of them. Churchill Downs is a far & away favorite. We had burgers, sausage platter (which had a great kishka type thing on it) , mac & cheese, and other assorted things. The apps were good but I didn’t love my burger. It was stacked 4 feet high & fell apart while eating it. I’d much prefer to go to DMK Burger Bar. But I do enjoy the Blokes & Birds cocktails. It’s super-dark in there and none of my pictures of the food came out. Sometimes the iPhone isn’t perfect. Speaking of photos, check out Mary’s.

Unwilling to let the good times stop, the four of us headed to Town Hall Pub. They’re infusing their own liquor now. Apricot tequila & orange juice isn’t the best drink in the world. Especially after the drinks we had at Blokes & Birds. However I bet their jalapeno vodka would make for a great bloody mary.

Friday

The Southern Mac Truck — buffalo chicken mac & cheese : Just me!

Fates collided & I got the  chance to hit up The Southern Mac Truck for lunch on Friday. Even better, my friend Tatiana was working on the truck for the day.

Everybody wave hi to Tati! HI TATI!!

Buffalo chicken mac & cheese. Hell yeah.

Isn’t that just lovely? Massive portion. I ate half of it & brought the other half home to share with Patterson. I actually enjoyed it more during dinner (the flavors got the chance to mesh) than I did during lunch. Also: I got to eat lunch outside! Sure it was only 42º, but it was sunny & warm enough.

I had some time to kill before heading to the White Sox tweetup down at Bull & Bear. So I walked over to Macy’s. Not for any particular reason other than it was nice out & I had time to kill. Later, walking towards Bull & Bear I found this:

Spotted on Randolph near State

Rahm's weiner

Love it.

White Sox Tweetup — Bull & Bear : Joined by Julie

Julie & I went to Bull & Bear to watch White Sox/Cubs & get a baseball fix. I love having female friends who like sports. Love. Since the tweetup was sponsored by the White Sox, I got to meet Southpaw, aka, one of the greatest mascots ever. He gave me a tshirt w/his face on it & we took a picture together. Then I won tickets to Opening Day. It’s hard to say which I’m most excited about. There was some food (the Go Fish) & some beer (Goose Island Green Line), but I’d rather use the picture space for Southpaw & our next mayor. Rockin’.

Saturday

Gaztro-Wagon — dinner & drinks : Joined by Patterson

Plantain chips

Shrimp blt

Have I discussed my love of Gaztro-Wagon? No? Well let’s pretend I have so I can just summarize. Naan-wiches, duck gumbo, plantain chips, byob, and a fun counter to sit at with great company. Patterson & I were heading up to Mayne Stage for the celebration of Mike DeStefano‘s life. Naturally, anytime we’re heading that far north Gaztro-Wagon is en route. Even if it’s not, it is. Funny how that happens. Spent some time sitting at the counter with our dinner & brown liquor. Thanks for the hospitality Matt.

Then things got weird…

After Mayne Stage & some more brown liquor, we wound up in a car with some stand up comedians heading to another bar.  You’d think it was easy to find a bar to go to on a Saturday night in Chicago. Nope. Not on fake St. Pat’s where every place is over-run with barely legal, barely standing, screaming kids wearing green. We wound up at a German bierhouse drinking $2 mystery beers. I got Milwaukee’s Best. Twice. *shudder*

Slut is for liking it, slut is for wanting it

What the hell? And then we lost an hour because of Daylight Savings. And then it was 4am.

Sunday

Big Jones — brunch & coffee : Joined by Patterson, Cheryl & Denise

Once upon a time (20+ years ago. Eep.) I went to sleepaway camp & knew a girl named Cheryl. Finding her on facebook was about the only worthwhile thing ever to happen to me on that site.  After trying to get together in NY or Chicago for the past 2 years we finally made it happen this morning. I’ve had this on my calendar since January. HOORAY! It was wonderful to catch up. Good stuff. And what better place to do it than a Michelin (recommended) brunch place?

Beignets

Complementary beignets.

Shrimp & grits

Shrimp & grits with appetizers of crawfish boudin balls & fried cauliflower in molten pimento cheese & coffee. Almost every word in that last sentence was delicious. We’ve been to Big Jones quite a few times & never had a bad dish.

Takashi — NOODLE DINNER : Joined by Patterson, Pone, Luke, & Chico

This is what we call ending the week with a bang. For our second Michelin restaurant (one star) in one day (!!!) we went for Takashi’s homemade noodle  Sunday Noodle Dinner. Sitting down with good friends to a great meal is one of the best ways you could end your weekend. Parts of this meal were what dreams were made of, and the next time I eat something awful I’m going to close my eyes and pretend I’m eating this beef tartare.

Beef tartare

Duck fat fried chicken

Pork belly buns

Grilled squid

Shoyu ramen

Niku tamago toge udon

In the ever comparing contest of pork belly buns these rank below Momofuku (Noodle or Milk) Bar but way above Saigon Sisters & Sunda. Seriously folks; don’t get the pork belly buns at Sunda. Just… don’t. The duck fat fried chicken was tasty, but my least favorite thing of the night. When duck fat fried chicken is your least favorite thing on the table I’d say you have a pretty great table. The small plates were shared amongst all of us. Patterson got the udon, I got the ramen & we shared, the udon being the clear winner to both of us. I prefer Arami’s ramen over this, but am currently undecided on which udon I prefer. I guess I’ll have to go back to both time & time again until I figure it out. It’s a rough job, but I’ll volunteer.

I can see the future, and the next week will consist of vegetables. Lots & lots of vegetables. Good thing I like vegetables, and the delicious new lemon vinaigrette I made the other day. Yay for salad. Bart was totally wrong.

I’m 94 stories above Chicago… with a group of handpicked diners… and we’re all about to dine.*

Want a way to win my heart? Invite me to a night of food, cocktails, gorgeous views of Chicago & ice skating. Throw in some delightful strangers & the bonus of a friend & the night gets even better. I was invited to be part of a group of Chicago bloggers (that can’t be me) & twitter food types (this fits me much better) that would be doing what is essentially an adorable date night on Michigan Avenue during the Chicago winter. First up: Chalet Nights.

The Peninsula Hotel: Pierrot Gourmet: Chalet Nights

The Peninsula Hotel, home to many restaurants I want to eat at, is running a lovely promotion until the end of March. Called Chalet Nights, go to Pierrot Gourmet & they’ll treat you right. I arrived after part of the group had already gathered. After joining them, we chatted while drinking some lovely wine. Everyone else arrived & we sat down for the first part of the evening. See photographic evidence below.

Going left to right, top row then bottom:

1. Half of our table.
2. A petite salad with Dijon vinaigrette — I adored this. Ate every last leaf like a good girl. Lovely vinaigrette.
3. Juniper berry-smoked speck (an Alpine-smoked and dried prosciutto) — my first interaction w/speck. Not my last, hopefully.
4. Pickled vegetables — again, you’d think vegetables would get ignored when there’s cheese & meat & bread. Nope. We ate it all.
5. Three-cheese fondue made with Gruyère, Appenzeller & Fontina, accompanied by mountain bread (not shown) — 3 types of cheese. Melted. Need i say more?
6. Chef Tony comes out & talks to us about what we’d eaten.
7. Fabulous French macaroons — decadent flavors. I’ve got better pictures, but ooh, an iPhone taking a picture of an iPhone taking a picture of macaroons. Meta.
8. Pear flavored Eau-de-Vie brandy —  quite strong.

John Hancock Observatory: Espression by Lavazza Café: Skating in the Sky

Post-dinner we walked up Michigan Avenue to the John Hancock building & headed to the 94th floor & the John Hancock Observatory. Staring down at Chicago from tall buildings makes me happy. I’ve had the opportunity to see the city from bunches of different floors & views in the Hancock. Stunning all around & never gets old. We walked through an OPEN AIR SKYWALK (94 floors up. Open. Air. Skywalk. !!!) to the Espression by Lavazza Café. Some specially crafted cocktails & more food awaited us there. Then, we headed to the ice rink. Below. Again.

Once more, going left to right, top row then bottom:

1. Chicago is gorgeous.
2. Open Air Skywalk — Crazy windy, insane to think about the fact that you’re basically outside & up that high. Hi Paige!
3. SKYY High: SKYY raspberry vodka, Blue Curacao, & lemonade, served with fresh lime over ice. — A tasty cocktail. If you ignore the not-in-nature blue color of it.
4. Hawks Cup:  Makers Mark whiskey, fresh ginger, muddled blackberries and fresh lemon sour garnished with fresh blackberries. — I could drink these all night.
5. Charcuterie and Cheese Assortment // Baked Goat Cheese with Tomato-Basil Sauce: Grana Padano, Brie & a goat cheese torta with basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Accompanied by prosciutto & soppressata. // Oven baked goat cheese with a tomato-basil sauce, served with tomato-basil crostini. — I’ll take some more Grana Padano & prosciutto to go along with those Hawks Cups please.
6. Stracciatella Gelato — I took a bite. After everything else, I couldn’t muster any more. Delicious though.
7. The Rink — adorable. Skating 94 floors above Chicago is kind of insane. It’s not real ice, I was far from graceful, and  I didn’t fall. I consider this a huge win.
8. Woman down! — that friend I mentioned as the bonus? She’s the one lying on her back on the ice skating rink after she fell. Hi Paige! Good friend that I am, I pulled out my phone to take a picture.
9. The rental skate — wasn’t gross at all. Which was a lovely treat.

Thanks to Zach at the Hancock & Susan at the Peninsula, as well as the stunning PR team working with Susan, and the wonderful chefs working in Pierrot Gourmet. The entire night was divine.

* — Apologies to Cameron Crowe for the title of this article. Kind of. I really love Almost Famous.

XOXO, Gossip Girl… I mean… XOCO

So here’s how this went down: Last night I watched the Bizarre Foods episode about Chicago. Andrew Zimmern & Rick Bayless toured the Maxwell Street Market & ate amazing tacos. I’m highly suggestible & that meant  I needed Mexican food. ASAP. Today was 50º (In February. In Chicago.) (In case you haven’t spent a winter in Chicago, this doesn’t happen. It. Was. Magnificent! Tomorrow is supposed to be almost 60º.)  & I had lunch plans w/our friend Genie. Since she works downtown (aka: not near amazing tacos) we decided to hit Rick Bayless Street.

What? It’s not called that? Give it a few years. It will be.

Side note: I’m sure I don’t need to tell you all who Rick Bayless is, right?) Ok. Moving on.

Not eating here today.

Frontera Grill & Topolobampo: Neither are our lunch destination. Soon.

Hello lovely!

Xoco: The lucky restaurant that got to play host to the two of us. Amazingly, there was no line & it wasn’t crowded. I’m not sure how this happened, but I’m not going to complain. Maybe I’ll try walking in to Girl & The Goat and see what happens.

Hello lovely!

Guacamole & Chips: Frontera guacamole, tomatillo salsa 3-chile salsa, just-made chips.

This is the perfect guacamole. If you disagree, I’ll kick you in the shins.

Tasty, but not the tastiest part of the meal.

Milanesa (Griddled) Torta: Crispy Gunthorp chicken, black beans, artisan Jack cheese, pickled jalapenos, tomatillo-avocado salsa.

Good but not great, next time I’ll skip the torta. Soup-or-Salad-or-Guac-or-Churros (or, you know, all) are the way to go.

Mexican ramen?

Pork Belly Vermicelli (Fideos): Crispy-tender pork belly, toasty-tender noodles, woodland mushrooms, zucchini, avocado, salsa negra.

This broth was mindbendingly delicious. If there’s such a thing as a Mexican ramen, it’s this. If there’s not, there is now. (That folks, is what we call covering our bases.)

Fresh from the fryer.

Churros & Aztec Hot Chocolate: fresh-ground chocolate + water + chile + allspice

Everything was great, but when you end a meal with those churros… everything just seems exponentially better. *sigh* churros…. I’ve got some Girl Scouts Samoas in the kitchen. Not the same thing, but I’m off to get one.

Mayor of Wells Street

Hey! Remember that time I was mayor of two of my favorite shops in Chicago?

Me too. It was pretty great.

Also great was when I was the mayor of my lifelong Dunkin’ Donuts & the home of the greatest duck in the world.

But I’m not mayor of those anymore. At one point for about 6 months I also dominated a boot store in Nashville where I got my amazing cowboy boots. Either way, now that I’ve got The Spice House & Old Town Oil I can pretty much quit foursquare, it’s never going to be better than this.

Breakfast of Champions

I can’t be the only one.

Bacon, egg, & cheese on a roll.

For the past almost 6 years of living in Chicago there’s one thing that’s a constant disappointment. Breakfast sandwiches.

Dear Chicago, what you think of as an acceptable egg sandwich is nothing of the sort. Bacon/Egg/Cheese/K/S/P on a kaiser roll. It’s really not hard. In fact, I had friends who worked in delis at 17 that could make stellar ones. This is what the greatest breakfast in the world looks like.

EGG SANDWICH! AKA, the best breakfast ever

Greasy, fried, bad for you and amazing. Wrapped in wax paper & served to you straight from the grill.

Order form for amazingness.

Most delis will even have pre-printed pieces of paper like this. Counter guy fills them out, hands them to the grill cook & you’re minutes away from heaven.

Impossibly hard to find in Chicago. I’ve searched for years. The best one I’ve found to date is at Billy Goat. Which shouldn’t be shocking as they certainly have the grill for it, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. If only I was downtown at 8am a bit more often. Maybe then I wouldn’t be so bitter about the whole thing. But I’m not. And I am. *sigh* Anyone know something I don’t? Does anyone here know where to get a decent kaiser roll?

ps — Are these cookies a NY thing? Patterson had never seen them before. Have you?

Are these a NY thing? Anyone else grow up with them in your school cafeteria?

pps — reverb10 stunk. Someone remind me never to do anything like that again. Yeesh.

Ask a Stupid Question…

For the month of December I’m participating in & blogging the daily prompts from reverb10. Some people are taking this seriously. I am not.

December 18 – Try What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn’t go for it? (Author: Kaileen Elise)

I don’t know how I’m going to get through 13 more of these.
*sigh*
In 2011 maybe I’ll try & be more patient with stupid questions, like the one above.

Homer.

For the month of December I’m participating in & blogging the daily prompts from reverb10. Some people are taking this seriously. I am not.

December 17 – Lesson Learned What was the best thing you learned about yourself this past year? And how will you apply that lesson going forward? (Author: Tara Weaver)

I don’t need a blog as a place to bare my soul for the world to see. This isn’t the place to share deep and introspective thoughts. So instead, here’s a picture of my parents’ puppy, Homer.

Cute lil face!

Isn’t he just the cutest little thing ever?

Boognish.

For the month of December I’m participating in & blogging the daily prompts from reverb10. Some people are taking this seriously. I am not.

December 16 – Friendship - How has a friend changed you or your perspective on the world this year? Was this change gradual, or a sudden burst? (Author: Martha Mihalick)

I’ve learned tons of things from friends this year, and from people in general. But, remember that whole “Not a Writer” thing?

Yeah. Still not. So instead I’ll let the masters of weird, Gene & Dean Ween explain it to you. Please watch/listen to “Friends” — Ween

And let’s ride…

For the month of December I’m participating in & blogging the daily prompts from reverb10. Some people are taking this seriously. I am not.

December 15 – 5 Minutes – Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010. (Author: Patti Digh)

I realize that is about 5 minutes, but with my insane love for all things Mike Patton reading the prompt instantly put Peeping Tom — Five Seconds in my head.

Anyway… 2010.

THIS: Blackhawks Stanley Cup Victory Parade — 6/11/10

NOT THIS: Mets/Braves at Citifield — 7/10/10

THIS: Sun Golds from Green City Market — summer

NOT THIS: *shudder*

THIS: Carlin — always cute.

NOT THIS: Painful.

THIS: Patterson's Grand Gesture — 2/14/10.

2010′s been pretty damn alright. How could it not be? It was the year that introduced us to Doctor Who.

Not a Goose

For the month of December I’m participating in & blogging the daily prompts from reverb10. Some people are taking this seriously. I am not.

December 14 – Appreciate What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it? (Author: Victoria Klein)

DUCK.

I so badly wanted to entitle this post “Not Ducking Around”. I didn’t. You’re welcome Patterson.

This year brought me to Sun Wah for my first (and second, and third) time. Amazing duck, carved table side & then served to you on a platter, in a soup, and in a heaping plate of fried rice. That’s 3 types of deliciousness, in case you weren’t counting. Peking duck, you’re appreciated.