If you were following our trip to Chicago via Twitter and/or Instagram, you may have seen these pictures already, but I wanted to do a quickpost with links to all the great places we dined at while in the Windy (andvery delicious) City. By the way, all these were taken with a cell phone,usually in very poor light, so apologies for the quality. Enjoy!
Our home for the week was the very hip and happening, Public Chicago. The staff was beyond helpful, and the accommodations top notch. Howcool was our hotel? World famous DJ Paul Oakenfold dropped by one night to spintunes in the bar, that’s how cool.
Still not convinced? Chris Martin andGwyneth Paltrow were spied walking through the lobby. Also, there were rumorsabout a celebrity chef from YouTube partying like a rock star on the 14thfloor, but that could not be independently confirmed.
When I first get into a new town after traveling a longjourney, I don’t necessarily want to run right out for a fancy meal. I’m alwayshoping there’s a nice, casual restaurant near the hotel where I can get somesimple comfort food to help me settle in.
We found that at PJ Clarke's. Anear-perfect BLT was loaded with smoky, crisp bacon; but the star of the platewas the freakishly large baked potato. It was like getting a "welcome to Chicago"bear hug.
Of course we HAD to try a Chicago style hot dog, which weexperienced at Five Faces Ice Cream Shop. I basically like any hot dog, andthis was no different.
While I’m more of a plain mustard guy, it did make mefeel good knowing that, contrary to what you hear, the people of Chicago weregetting some vegetables in their diet.
We also had to get some deep-dish pizza, since that’s a Cityordinance for all tourists visiting longer than 3 days. Failing to do soresults in a $1500 ticket or having to watch a Cubs game (most people just paythe fine).
We did a sausage pie from Pizano’s Pizza & Pasta, and enjoyed itvery much. By the way, the thin crust vs. deep-dish debate is just about thestupidest thing ever, as these are two completely different foods – both geniusin their own way.
For my birthday dinner, Michele took me to Boka. We enjoyeda wonderful tasting menu, which reminded me of Commonwealth in style andattitude. Lots of very interesting food, done very well, served by people thatenjoy what they’re doing.
My favorite was probably this skate wing withhuitlacoche purée. They also get bonus points for pairing the chocolate dessertwith beer.
Finding a decent breakfast joint near your hotel is always agreat joy, but The Original Pancake House was so far beyond decent that we arestill talking about it.
Perfect spinach and feta omelets, amazing potatopancakes, and something called a Dutch Baby. This oven-puffed pancake takes 20minutes to cook, and is served simply with lemon wedges and powdered sugar, butit alone is worth a trip to Chicago.
I know I already posed a recap of the fabulous rehersal dinner at The Bristol, planned and presented by my cousin Tony Quartaro, butfor my money you just can’t look at too many pictures of gnocchi.
These weremade with ricotta cheese and garnished with zucchini and mint. They were pureawesomeness.
What’s better than spicy pork rinds? Free spicy pork rinds!That’s right, when The Publican found out (and by “found out” I mean that Itold them) that Chef John from Food Wishes was in the house, these warm, crispy giftsfrom the Gods suddenly appeared.
If you’re a fan of Best Thing I Ever Ate youmay have seen these, and they were incredible, as was the rest of the meal.
This place is known for its meaty fare, but the mostinteresting plate we tried was this grilled octopus with barley, freshgarbanzos, and watermelon. It was really, really good.
After I posted thepicture online, someone commented that certain things should never be servedtogether. What an idiot.
Since I’m 25% Polish, I was very much looking forward totrying some of Chicago’s famous Eastern-European cuisine. This isn’t somethingwe have a lot of in San Francisco, and I was not disappointed.
We found thislittle hole-in-the-wall called Pierogi Heaven, and it was. Perfect littlepotato and farmer’s cheese dumplings, topped with bacon and fried onions. Comeon, San Francisco restaurant industry; please open a few of these here!
We celebrated Bastille Day where everyone should celebrate Bastille Day, in an authentic Bistro. At Bistrot Zinc, we looked at nude art, ate frisée salads with poached eggs on top, and of course, slurped French onion soup in all its caramelized gruyere glory.
I poke a lot of fun at the French, mostly because they deserve it, but all kidding aside, they know how to eat.
We finished our eating adventures at David Burke's Primehouse. I’ve been fortunate enough to eat some world-class beef in my day,but this was right up there with anything I’ve ever had. They age the primemeat in the basem*nt, and the back wall is actually made from blocks of pinksalt.
It was too dark to get any decent shots of the steaks, but Ihad the 35-day Kansas City Strip, and Michele went for the even funkier 55-dayold Ribeye. The amazing depth of beefy flavor and buttery texture made meatmemories that will not soon fade.
The side dishes were great, the service wasexcellent (a reoccurring theme during our stay), and all was accompanied bythese gorgeous popovers. They’ve been haunting my dreams, and as soon as Ifigure out how they did them, I will share in a video.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this very brief glimpse into ourculinary adventures in “Chi-Town” (I had the good sense to not use that while Iwas there). Thanks to everyone who so generously offered their personal tipsand recommendations. We simply didn’t have enough time to eat everywhere wewanted, but we will be back for sure!Thank you, Chicago!
