Illinois

Friday, June 8th, 2018

We headed to the Navy Pier where we would find our boat to take the Architecture Tour.   My understanding is that the Navy Pier is one of the most visited places in Chicago, I am not sure why that is.  There are a couple of chain restaurants (Giordano’s and Bubba Gump’s) a Ferris wheel a children’s museum.  I kept thinking that I must be missing something, there isn’t a lot to do or see.

The Architecture tour was very interesting. I couldn’t believe how much content the tour guide delivered.  He talked from the moment we got on the boat until we pulled back up to the dock.   When I think of Chicago, I think of the Sear’s (now Willis) tower, the bridges and the “L” train.  I always assumed that Chicago, with its mobster background, was the inspiration for Gotham.  I also think of the river and the bridges.  What I didn’t realize was the diversity of architecture.   When I began to look at individual buildings, I began to realize just how much character a lot of the buildings have. Continue reading →

Friday June 8, 2018

Little Goat Diner is  another Stephanie Izard restaurant and it is right across the street from The Girl and the Goat.  I had eaten at the diner before and was not going to miss an opportunity to dine there again.   This place is fun and while we were there, we were talking about how the menu was playful and fun.   I love brunch and the menu is way beyond eggs and bacon, it is international and there are so many good things on it.  Cindy and I had the “This little Piggy Went to China” which was a sesame cheddar biscuit with sunny side eggs and szechuan pork sausage.  Sophon had the Tonkatsu sandwich, and we shared goat cheese fries with goat chili and cheese. There are so many interesting items on the menu, I could have brunch there for the rest of our stay and not get tired of it.

Unfortunately, we were saddened by the news of Anthony Bourdain’s death.   I remember reading his book “Kitchen Confidential”, and really enjoyed it. Having worked in restaurants during my high school and college years, it brought back a lot of memories of that environment.  I often watched his travel shows for ideas on what to do and eat when I visited some of the same places.  Anthony was a good story teller and more importantly he wasn’t afraid to call things out as he saw them.

I remember when I started to explore food, there were a lot of people trying to define what “good” looks like and a “foodie” was often equated with a snob.   Anthony showed us that good food was different from fine dinning, it is what we think is good and it should be fun and it can come a variety of places, from a street vendor, from a hole in the wall or a Michelin starred restaurant.  When he came to Los Angeles and his friend took him to Sizzler, he didn’t turn his nose up at it but instead commented on how the cheese toast was.

Continue reading →

June 10th, 2018

The weather wasn’t that great, cold and rainy.  We decided to hit the aquarium and the Art Institute.  We weren’t the only ones with that idea, both were crowded but not overly crowded.   I wanted to get to the Art Institute.  I loved the play “Sunday in the Park with George” which was centered around George Seurat’s painting “A Sunday afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”.  When I was in Paris, they were having a Seurat exhibition which i was excited about, imagine my disappointment when I found out this painting was in Chicago.    Getting to the Art Institute has been on my list for a while.

What amazes me about this painting is that the painter created it dot by dot,  This is long before cameras and pixels.   When you look closely at it you see the small dots of different colors as you back away, you see a uniform color.

The Art Institute had a lot of famous art.  There were a room full of Monet’s, there were a few Warhol’s, a quite a few other recognizable paintings.  I was really glad that we made the time for the Art Institute. Continue reading →

Chicken Benedict

June 10th, 2018

First stop was brunch.at Hash House a Go Go.  It was a huge dish, made me think of man vs. food.  I did not eat this by myself, Sophon and I split it.    Cindy’s dish wasn’t as large but it was still a big portion.

Bloody Mary (with fried olives)

Sunday, June 9th, 2018

Sarah Grueneberg is a name I became familiar with when she was on Top Chef.  Although she didn’t win that season, she did go on to win a James Beard award.  I couldn’t come to Chicago and not go to an Italian restaurant, Sarah’s restaurant came up in one of my searches and immediately put this down on the list.  Cindy pointed out that the brunch menu looked really good and I had to agree.   Brunch it was.

I think the Bloody Mary had to be one of the best Bloody Marys ever.  Warm, fried olives and sea beans made the vegies worth eating.   I had to have a second one.   We pretty much ordered all the brunch specials with the exception of the arancinis which were off the regular menu.   I wanted to try them.  We left very full and very satisfied.  As we worked our way through the dishes, I commented on how that there was something special about each dish, there wasn’t one that we thought “that was as expected or just OK”, everything was really good.  I also liked the large tables and the space between them.  In a lot of restaurants, your table can be a foot away from another table and you have to pretend you cannot hear their entire conversation. Continue reading →

June 9th, 2018

The three of us had dinner at Tanta.   I had been there before with Katy and Jerry when I took the train into Chicago.  I was so glad they introduced me to this restaurant, it was very good and I was looking forward to going back.   Unfortunately, I didn’t take too many pictures of the food or restaurant.

We walked back to the JW Marriott while I took pictures.  We took a selfie on the bridge!

I am a huge fan of Batman and clearly, Chicago was the inspiration for Gotham City.    I loved it when I found out that building around the corner was Wayne Enterprises in one of the movies.

Continue reading →

Fat Rice

Friday, June 8, 2018

I was planning this trip when I heard of Fat Rice, the Chef, Abe Conlon, won a Best Chef award in the Great Lakes region.  After looking at the restaurants website, I made reservations.  The food focused on Portuguese speaking Luso-Asian provinces with an emphasis on Macau, a group of small Islands off of China.  This was both familiar yet new,  I had no idea there was this mix of Portuguese and Asian foods.

I can see why the Chef won a James Beard award.   What I really enjoyed (besides the food) about this restaurant was how it wasn’t in the least bit pretentious.  It had a very relaxed atmosphere and the staff was very friendly and helpful.

From the outside, the restaurant didn’t look like much.  Once inside, it felt like we were in a different world.   The kitchen and bar was in full view of the small dining room.   The waiter was very helpful in helping us decided on what to order.   We had a bunch of different things in including hot dates, sardines, dumplings and their signature dish – Fat Rice, which seemed to have just about everything in it including chicken, shrimp, pork, beef, linguica sausage and rice. Continue reading →

Girl and the Goat

Thursday, June 7th, 2018

Chicago has an incredible food scene and I wanted to experience it.  There are a lot of great restaurants and a lot of famous chefs, unfortunately, getting reservations isn’t easy and need to be made months in advance.  I had been planning out this trip since my last visit to Chicago in February.  In February, I discovered that some of the places that I wanted to go took months to get reservations.   I decided that I would return when it was warmer and with reservations.  I had some help from some good friends, Cheryl, Frank and Falise who I worked with in Bolingbrook and suggested different places or talked about the areas to explore.

This trip is about indulging and I intend on enjoying every minute of it.  I will be enjoyed by Sophon and Cindy.  Besides eating, we are also planning on other activities depending including an Architecture tour and the Big Bus tour.   I am sure there will be other activities depending on the weather. Continue reading →