Chi Town and the Food, Baby! The Food!

I had to include this picture. I HAD been riding a bike, and I HAD been wearing a ball cap, and it WAS 94 degrees and 85% humidity.  I didn't care. I know I look awful, but this is how I felt about everything we ate.  Yes, I realize it's ice cream with hot fudge.  Yes, I really did eat it. (And licked Brad's hot fudge cup clean as well, I might add.) But people! It was Haagen Dazs.  It was "cookie dough explosion."  It was vacation.  (And it was regretted almost as quickly as it was ingested. Ask Brad about that.)

When we lived in Chicago from 1992-95, we were poooooor students.  We never ate out.  Ever.  I vowed to rectify that this trip.  Boy, did we ever.

Chicago is famous for its pizza, and I highly recommend trying it.  Edwardo's in Hyde Park had supremo bruschetta (which I am going to attempt to replicate this week) and their thin-crust pizza was excellent.  Giordano's had good bruschetta and their stuffed spinach pizza has the world's best crust.  I'm drooling just thinking about that pie . . .

We found a few cafes along the way where we had turkey burgers and crusted salmon (Sweetwater on Michigan Avenue--best burger I've ever had, seriously), and grilled cheese and fried parmesan/potato chips (at Artist's Cafe also on Michigan--also on my replicate list--add two different cheeses, a slice of tomato and sprinkle with fresh basil--yum!).  Ben Pao downtown just north of the river had Chinese food that . . . I just can't describe to do it justice--wide rice noodles, homemade soy sauce, fresh plum sauce, and steamed gyoza (filled dumplings otherwise known as potstickers when they're fried).

I'm not a big foodie--I eat to live.  But I wish I'd had a few more days to expand my horizons just a bit.  If you're ever in Chicagoland, these are my picks.