chicago day 4

After the gorging that happened on day three, we tried to restrain ourselves on our last day (though I did consume copious amounts of Garretts Chicago Mix popcorn). We started with lunch at Rick Bayless's Frontera Grill. As far as Mexican food goes (real Mexican, not Tex-Mex), this was some of the best ever.

* entremes surtido appetizer platter

(from top left: chicken taquitos, guac & tortillas, ceviche tostadas, quesadillas, jicama salad)

The ceviche and quesadillas (corn masa turnovers stuffed

w/ cheese) were my favs.

* carne asada a la Oaxaquena

Rib steak marinated in red chile w/ plantains, beans and guacamole.

* tacos al carbon

Al pastor-style pork & pineapple w/ beans and guacamole

* fresh tortillas

* Frontera Grill

445 North Clark St.

Chicago, IL.

Dinner was close to our hotel at Quartino, an Italian restaurant literally two minutes away. We passed it every night and it was always packed. We figured it to be a touristy joint, but gave it a try since we wanted to have an early night. We started with a tasting of various meats, cheeses and antipasto dishes (you get to pick) and the portion was huge. Then we moved on to pasta. I'm not really into pasta too often, but these dishes were simple and delicious, especially the home made noodles.

* salumeria tasting: fennel salad, gorgonzola dolce, giardinera, sopresatta, caponata, roasted peppers, mixed olives, duck prosciutto, taleggio, sweet & sour cucumbers, raisin nut crostini

* cavatelli with fresh ricotta, basil and tomatoes

* tagliatelle alla bolognese

* Quartino

626 N. State St.

Chicago, IL.

chicago day 3

Day three in Chicago was full of heavy-duty eating. It was a good day.

Lunch at Hot Doug's. Getting to Hot Doug's from downtown is quite the trek (two subway lines, plus a bus ride), but well worth it. We were here on a Tuesday so the line wasn't too bad (but still out the door). The corndog (my first, ever!) was delicious and the ribeye sausage was amazing. Actually, everything was really tasty and I've been craving hot dogs ever since.

* the line & menu wall

* our spread

* the dog (original Chicago style)

Grilled dog topped with tomatoes, onions, relish, pickle.

* ribeye sausage topped with black garlic aioli and brie

* the teuben

Corned beef sausage topped with sauerkraut, swiss cheese and Russian dressing.

* corn dog

* cheese fries

* Hot Doug's

3324 N. California

Chicago, IL.

Spontaneous dessert at iCream. We came across this new ice cream shop while walking through Wicker Park and decided to give it a try. You basically get to create your own ice cream on the spot. Pick your base, mix-ins and toppings and watch as it all gets ice cream-ified in a stand mixer using liquid nitrogen. The resulting ice cream was pretty good, but not mind blowing. The texture was a bit weird: kinda lumpy, not totally smooth and not really that creamy as the name suggests.

* cream soda flavoured ice cream with cherries

This didn't really taste like cream soda, but it was still alright.

* vanilla ice cream with fresh pineapple, graham cracker

crust and caramel topping

This tasted like pineapple cream pie. Which means it tasted awesome.

*iCream

1537 N. Milwaukee Ave

Chicago, IL.

Dessert #2 at Hoosier Mama. We didn't really need to eat pie after the ice cream, but I had heard good things about this place and we were kind of in the neighbourhood so we stopped in for a couple slices of their famous pie. I'm glad we did. This was some of the best pie I have ever had. The fillings were so fresh and the crust, oh man the crust! Perfectly flaky and with just the right amount of salt (so important!)

* banana cream pie

* cherry berry pie

* Hoosier Mama

1618 W. Chicago Ave.

Chicago, IL.

I was really looking forward to our dinner at The Publican and it started off great and ended, well, less great. I'd still go back sometime to try some of their other dishes.

* pork rinds

Spiced and with a hint of malt vinegar these were addictive.

* daily pickles (bread & butters, squash, tomatoes,

watermelon rind & cabbage)

I love pickles and these were very tasty.

* yellowtail crudo

Light, fresh and melt in your mouth good.

* oysters (chef selection)

* octopus with sungold tomatoes, capers and beans

Nicely charred octopus, sweet tomatoes and perfectly cooked beans. We both enjoyed this one.

* fried clams with okra and remoulade

Heavily crusted and fried, I could barely taste the clams. The okra was flavourless. And the remoulade unmemorable. Not a fan of this one.

* flank steak with mustard spaetzle, artichokes and tapenade

The steak was ok, but so salty. I think it was crusted in the tapenade too which made it even saltier. The spaetzle and artichokes were unimpressive too. Thumbs down.

* The Publican

837 W. Fulton Market

Chicago, IL.

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.

chicago day 1

So I'm back from a short trip to Chicago. It was sweltering hot, but a nice getaway nonetheless. So what did I eat? Here’s my recap of day one.

Lunch at Al’s #1 Italian Beef. At first bite I was like “hmm, not really into this.” But by bite three it was more like “oh yeah, I am totally into this.” Basically shaved beef on a squishy roll topped with hot giardinera and DIPPED (optional) into the beef juice.

* my Italian beef

* Al's #1 Italian Beef

169 W. Ontario St

Chicago, IL.

Dinner at Mado. This was my favourite meal of the entire trip. Located in Wicker Park, it's one of the many Chicago restaurants that proudly supports the farm to fork movement. The menu focuses on small dishes meant for sharing.

* inside Mado

* capicola

Porky goodness.

* accompaniments (sourdough bread, grain mustard and daily pickles)

* chicken liver pate

Holy crap this was probably one of the best chicken liver pates I have ever eaten. It was rich, smooth and buttery and tasted as if it had a hint of blue cheese in it.

* roasted carrots with ras el hanout goat cheese, pistachios and cumin honey

This dish was probably one of the best of the evening and it didn’t even have meat! The carrots were earthy and sweet, the goat cheese was creamy and tangy and the honey just pulled everything together. I’m hoping to recreate this one at home.

* duck prosciutto with melon and chili

Salty, sweet and refreshing. This was a match made in heaven. Also been added to my "must try to make at home" list.

* whole wood-grilled rainbow trout with corn

and squash + gorgonzola polenta

Such a fresh and tasty main. The fish was cooked perfectly, the veggies were tender and sweet, and the polenta was creamy and just cheesy enough.

* chocolate marquise with raspberries

Basically a lush and dense chocolate pot topped with a tart, barely-mashed raspberry. So good!

* shortbread

This shortbread was really buttery and crumbly and delicious. The portion was huge so we had to bring some back to the hotel with us.

* Mado

1647 North Milwaukee Ave.

Chicago, IL.