Thursday, November 11, 2010

Chicago Vacation

I recently spent 5 days in Chicago. What did I do? Visited friends and family. And ate a lot. I'm surprised I didn't gain 10 pounds. What follows is only some of what was on the table.

But first - the Bean. Because no trip to Chicago would be complete without it.


Dinner at Sushisamba was an epic experience. A friend of mine knows the chef (Dan Tucker, awesome guy), so we ordered nothing, just let him send things to the table.

Sushi:

Kobe beef, cooked by us on a hot rock:

And, my personal favorite, duck ragout on a corn arepa with cilantro cream:
There was more (much more), including a sweet corn fritter, a whole chicken, skirt steak with Malbec butter (!), etc., etc. This meal alone would have been worth the trip.

Filipino breakfast at Uncle Mike's Place. Longanisa, tocino, garlic rice, overeasy eggs.

The Purple Pig wasn't in the original plan, but was a spontaneous decision. And a good one it was.

Pig tails braised in balsamic vinegar:

Bone marrow!

Shaved Brussels sprouts with cheese:

Green onions with romesco sauce:

Breakfast at El Tinajon, a Guatemalan dish called revolcado. Piggy ears, tongue, heart, liver. Delicious.

Korean BBQ at San Soo Gab San:

I certainly enjoyed my brief culinary tour of my favorite city, even though I only scratched the surface. Looks like another trip is in order...

6 comments:

Tati said...

Another trip is absolutely in order!!! Glad to have you visit anytime!

Vicki said...

Hey Tati! Careful what you wish for :) Thanks for making my weekend an awesome one!

caninecologne said...

hi vicki - welcome back from your trip! chicago is such a cool city to visit and their food is great too! we enjoyed a Polish buffet there, red apple.

re: uncle mike's place - wish i knew about that, we would have tried it. that sounds like my kind of breakfast - rice/meat/eggs. can't go wrong with that.

Vicki said...

Hey CC - I love my city :) There's still so much I haven't tried, need to go back!

Denise Michaels - Adventurous Foodie said...

Wow, it's like you took a trip around the world in terms of the foods you at in your four days in The Windy City. Amazing - and thanks for sharing it with your readers.

I was looking for the Chicago-style pizza from Gino's. As much as I love visiting New York - the Big Apple and all - nothing beats a Chicago pizza.

Vicki said...

Hi Denise - It was quite the world tour. For the 1st time ever, I didn't have pizza or Italian beef while in Chicago :)