Pierogies and gravy
Friday and Saturday – February 2 and 3, 2018
I grew up outside of Rochester, NY. After college, I moved to Los Angeles. I am frequently asked if I miss the seasons or the snow, I don’t hesitate when I answer, “absolutely not” as memories of scraping ice off windows, shoveling sidewalks, pushing stuck cars out of snowbanks, continually putting on and taking off coats, scarves, gloves, hats and boots along with months of gray skies. Winter on the Great Lakes is not easy which is why I opted for the sunshine and palm trees of Southern California.
I have been working in the Chicago area and it has been great spending time and revisiting the Great Lakes area. I was asked to stay over the weekend in case I was needed for a major cut-over at work. Not exactly the ideal time of year but I have come to realize that the Chicago area has a tremendous amount going for it and at the top of my list is the foods. Great Chefs, plenty of eastern European and German food along with a lot of Italian American.
Sophon joined me and I picked him up at the airport on Friday night after work. Sophon had never seen snow before or had experienced freezing temps. In the airport garage he commented on how cold it was, and that was in a garage! We headed to dinner and at the top of the list was the Bavarian Lodge. A German lodge-like atmosphere with German specialties . We were not disappointed. Potato Pancakes, Pirogies and a huge pork shank with a side of applesauce and sauerkraut. I thought I had been transported back to Germany!
Pork Shank
Potato Pancakes
The following day, we hung out in Naperville. We had lunch at Cooper’s Hawk, and later in the day we went to downtown Naperville to get Chicago deep dish pizza! At Giordano’s we had a small deep-dish pizza which was more than enough for both of us.
On Saturday night, temperatures dropped and it began to snow. It was the first time I had seen it snow in years. Sophon had never seen it, we went downstairs and threw some snowballs and after a few minutes decided that it was time to go back inside where it was warm.
IL
Chicago Area
Recent Comments