chicago day 2

For our first full day of eating I decided that we should try the iconic Chicago deep dish pizza. It was my first time and admittedly I thought I was going to hate it. I was so wrong. Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza had a deep (but pretty thin) buttery crust that gave way to a layer of sausage (they actually spread a full edge-to-edge layer of sausage between the cheese and crust) and lots of stringy cheese.

* antipasto salad

This meat and cheese filled salad was great, though a meal in itself.

* sausage deep dish pizza

* the close up

* Lou Malnati's

439 North Wells St.

Chicago, IL.

After working off the pizza at the Shedd Aquarium (and maybe Target) we stopped by Beard Papa's (this is actually a chain) for some cream puffs. I went for two classic flavours, but they have a variety of different puffs and fillings that you can mix and match.

* eclair cream puff with vanilla custard filling

* vanilla cream puff with chocolate filling

* Beard Papa's

108 N. State St (pedway of Block 37 building)

Chicago, IL.

Our dinner at The Bristol started off a bit weak and ended with a bang. Loud and busy (even on a Monday night so make a reservation), this resto focuses on local, sustainable and nose to tail eats.

* signage (too busy for indoor pics)

* beer

* pig ear and trotter terrine w/ mustard and apricot

Ok, I'm really into anything pig, and this sounded amazing. Texturally it was great, but the sauce was too overpowering.

* duck liver pate w/ pickled carrots

This was just ok. The pate just didn't have anything special.

* apple salad w/ marinated manchego and hazelnuts

This is were the meal gets better. The mix of sweet apple and manchego was perfect. Joe and I couldn't get over how good this was.

* hangar steak with charred greens, fresh cheese curds

and tempura broccoli

I loved this entire dish. Every component was cooked just right and the mix of textures made it really interesting.

* raviolo w/ ricotta, egg yolk and brown butter

This single raviolo sat in a pool of brown butter, was stuffed with fresh ricotta and when cut open a flood of egg yolk came out. So rich and so simple, but so good.

* The Bristol

2152 N. Damen Ave

Chicago, IL.