Chicago: Your favorite thing(s) to do

[Biggskip]

Originally Posted by BP348

Maybe it's just me but I thought he was referring to when Rush street was the known prostitute area. Of course that was like 25+ years ago.
Good call.

 

[indesertum]

alright just got back from 5 day trip

we managed to hit up

lola in cleveland otw there
portello's
osteria via stato
tru's dessert course
intelligentsia
girl and the goat
wow bao
bristol
violet hour
hot chocolate
aquarium
pizzeria uno (stuff was really gross. we still have half of the pizzas left)
sprinkles cupcakes
three floyd's brewery otw back


saw an awesome jersey blazer at jil sander and saw the despos sign. plus some other stuff

i got super sick on day 3 and stayed in watched ncaa basketball. it super sucked. right now i feel like im coughing half of my lungs up

thanks for all the great recommendations guys!!!!!! we had a great time with semi spontaneous but full schedule. will upload pics soon

 

[magogian12345]

Originally Posted by otc

Cafe spiaggia is good...but is it any less expensive than blackbird?

Obviously alinea is in a whole different price range...but I am not sure I remember much of a price differance between the cafe and something like blackbird.

You could also try riccardo trattoria...there is a $33 3-course menu that includes a glass of prosecco (and the individual menu items are in a similar range)

Forget cafe spiaggia. It has some nice dishes, but is nothing special. Instead, check out Pelago. Great Italian food.

 

[indesertum]

hannah's bretzel. pretzel bread was amazing. picked up $50 worth of chocolates. devoured one of the cluizel bars at the aquarium. delicious.

shedd aquarium

osteria via stato. the hostess was smoking hot. had a valpolicella. it was nice, but for a wine that tasted like it was $12, it cost way too much at 66 (i think retail was 14). prosciutto plate with mozzarella. the prosciutto was very interesting. had nice fruity flavors which was totally unexpected. from some domestic producer. the mozzarella was really creamy. delicious. never had anything like either

some kind of cream based spinach dip. pretty decent.

braised short ribs. gnocchi with simple tomato sauce. cavatelli with mushrooms. highly highly recommend the cavatelli (and the gnocchi). best pasta i've had in a long long time.

gelato. pre-dessert dessert. hazlenut. coffee. chocolate. vanilla. caramel. would recommend

tru loved everything, but service was on some next level synchronization. had a pleasant time. amuse bouche. some kind of citrusy pear foam with port reduction on top. quite good. nice palate cleanser

beignets with compressed apples in the middle, creme anglaise around, and vanilla ice cream. a little underwhelming. i guess i kinda like my beignets with a chewy doughy interior. apparently they vacuum compressed a melon ball of apple in apple juice/puree with sugar. we had a debate about how possible it was to compress a scoop of apple. the ice cream tasted very not *****, but still somehow very rich.

madeleines. nice crisp shell and soft creamy interior. best ones i've ever had.

our second plate. coffee hazlenut (?) ice cream on chicory soil. some kind of snickers bar (chocolate fondue, some nuts, layer of valrhona chocolate) with edible flower, orange grass on top. really rich. took me a while to eat such a small piece

our third plate. mint three ways? mint crocquette on top. mint icecream. mint fudge. i think there's another layer i'm missing.

dessert of dessert. passion fruit pate de fruit. lemon sabayon (very lemony). violet (?) macaron. raspberry marshmellow

surprise ending. chocolate explosion. cold thin casing of chocolate with chocolate "milk inside". gold flakes on top. it pretty much does explode in your mouth. delicious and totally unexpected

there was also a surprise surprise ending which was a wrapped financier with honey lemon filling. soooo good. intelligentsia kenyan coffee using the syphon brewer. financier from tru. fancy machine for ok coffee. had that vinegar aftertaste i dont like, but nice soft subtle flavors in front.

chocolate peanut butter macaraon

blueberry macaron

both better than the macarons at tru girl and the goat. i was really sick at this point. gf didnt want me to go, but i soldiered through. lost my appetite 3/4 through the meal. everything was really good tho. maybe a little greasy. had the three floyd alpha king and a thomas et fils sancerre that were both really good.

squish and squab? summit like that. bread. pecan butter. pureed apple and pear with olive oil. gone pretty quickly.

chickpea fritters. they were gone within 5 min

goat pate with aspic on top. orange marmalade. pickles. cauliflower. bread (reminded me of korean hobbang bread). the marmalade had way too much rind in it and the pate was way too *****, but together they were really really good.

seafood fideos. mussels, monkfish, shrimp, clams, rouille, stirato baguette. greasy, but it was really good.

ravioli. i dont remember much except that it was creamy and that the dish was for our vegetarian friend. i would have stolen some more had she not had as many options to eat.

roasted cauliflower. mint. if my mom fed me this as a kid i would have been a huge fan of cauliflower all my life.

braised pork shank. apples. tapenade. this was really good. i stuck my fork in it and the meat just fell off the bone.

goat t-bone. with some other stuff. the toppings were delicious. the goat steak was well cooked, but i think goat meat is a little tough. still delicious

dessert breakfast at yolk. was joined by a model friend of a friend. when she mentioned getting a job at nivea in thailand i was sorely tempted to make a joke about ladyboys in thaliand. crepes suzette

red velvet cake french toast

i also had an eggs benedict. quite good and at decent prices too. eggs benedict was memorable. havent had a good one in awhile. truffles at whole foods

also got to try dom perignon 2002, the recent opus one (30 second finish no joke), a flight of champagne, some beer, and a plate of soft cheeses. om nom nom. love the whole foods here. also met some random girl who started talking to me about junya watanabe and jun takahashi The Bristol best ******* restaurant of the entire trip (and one of our cheapest meals). thanks for the tip. would move to chicago just for the bristol. very good relaxed service. left a nice 30% tip.

last word. so good.

monkey bread with dill butter. everything was delicious although i didnt taste much of the dill in teh butter.

charred dandelion green salad with couscous (?), dried currants, mandarin oranges. i thought it was pretty good. charred flavors were well balanced with the bitterness of the greens, the oilyness, the sweetness of the fruit, but nobody else on the table liked it like i did. i loved the smoky flavors of the char. whatever. more for me.

goat and caper pate. goat rillette. cornichons. pickled spicy waxed white beans. homemade mustard. really really delicious

bone marrow. shallot jam. parsley shallot salad. homemade bread. i thought the beefy bread didnt go that well with the subtle flavors of the marrow. it was damn ******* good on the white baguette bread tho from the previous dish. loved the jam

slow cooked skate. white asparagus. furikake-ish stuff on top. i thought it was a well balanced dish. loved the textures on the fish

raviolo stuffed with ricotta with a brown butter sauce. this was damn delicious. rustic and simple, but well executed.

pork tail. cornichons. creem fraysh (?). dumpling cakes?. loved it. very porky.

Dessert at Hot Chocolate

Brioche donuts with chocolate dip and kettle corn. It was ok. I would've liked the donuts with more chew

chocolate souffle (?) tort with coffee ice cream and a pretzel. shortest souffle i've seen, but still delicious

one banana two banana. i dont remember exactly what was in it (bananas, marshmellows, icecream caramel). all i know is i licked my plate and was sad when they took it away before i could dip the donuts in them

dreamsicle. baked alaska, vanilla milkshake, cookie. quite delicious

pu erh. tasted of orange marmalade. really enjoyed it and it went nicely with the rich desserts

hot chocolate. apparently it was a bit too much after a few sips

Drinks at the violet hour. waited maybe 30 minutes to get in. Drinks were worth the wait. The hangover + upper respiratory infection, chills, fever, body aches were a little more debatable

pap van winkle 23. gorgeous. great caramel, toast, cinnamon, coffee, star anise, vanilla flavors.

pegu club. aviation. some house cocktail. how all cocktails should be made

Sprinkles. They were quite pleasant and hit the spot. not worthy of crazy hype, but well made cupcakes (moist cakes, nice flavors, good buttercream)

there was pizzeria uno on the last day in the car. the filling was ok, but the pie crust was gross. we also had italian beef, chicago dogs, and cake shakes at portello's the night we got in. would highly recommend all three. was sorely tempted every night to go get some more. wow that took forever to write. anyways. hope you guys enjoy the pictures

 

[otc]

wow, well that's one way to repay us

!

 

[Biggskip]

Great pix. Glad to hear you had a good time aside from your illness.

What did you think of Lola?

 

[MrGoodBytes]

damnit dude, do you know how hungry your post just made me!

luckily hannahs bretzels is only a block away

 

[ChicagoMediaMan]

Damn dude. You literally ate your way through Chicago. You chose great places though. How much weight did you put on?

 

[evilgeniusdan]

Nice trip! I gotta plug Manny's delicatessen. Best corned beef/pastrami sandwich outside of New York. That and Eli's cheesecake. Yup.

 

[Oski]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMediaMan

Damn dude. You literally ate your way through Chicago. You chose great places though. How much weight did you put on?

+1

 

[BP348]

Great pics and nice write up!

Sorry about Uno's, there are much better pizza places.

 

[Biggskip]

Originally Posted by evilgeniusdan

Nice trip! I gotta plug Manny's delicatessen. Best corned beef/pastrami sandwich. That and Eli's cheesecake. Yup.

FTFY

Love those potato pancakes.

 

[ChicagoRon]

Dude - you are clearly not Jewish. Manny's is good.. but it's not a NY deli. Check out Pastrami Queen or Katz's or Ben's ... it's not even a contest. Plus - latkes are for Chanukkah. A proper deli sandwich deserves a Knish... which, incidentally, you can get a GREAT one at Ashkenaz. Sadly, they serve Vienna meats

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by ChicagoRon

Dude - you are clearly not Jewish. Manny's is good.. but it's not a NY deli. Check out Pastrami Queen or Katz's or Ben's ... it's not even a contest. Plus - latkes are for Chanukkah. A proper deli sandwich deserves a Knish... which, incidentally, you can get a GREAT one at Ashkenaz. Sadly, they serve Vienna meats

+1 on katz's. you keep saying your going to drag your ass out to the burbs, man, and you never do.

 

[spertia]

Enjoyed the trip report and photos -- good stuff.