Chicago for Foodies

Forget the Sears Tower and Millenium Park, here's what I did with Megan on her first visit to Chicago:

Plates:

• Deep-dish pizza from Art of Pizza
• Mujver (zucchini pancake) and lahmacun (thin Turkish pizza) from Nazarlik
• Pineapple-rhubarb french toast, berry and banana cheesecake pancakes, and lemon ricotta pancakes from Bongo Room
• Granola from Milk & Honey Cafe
• Carne asada tacos and horchata (cinnamon rice drink) from La Pasadita
• Frozen kefir (uber trendy yogurt-like product) from Starfruit
• Family style Mediterranean at Cedar's
• Swedish pancakes with lingonberries from Ann Sather's (hotelie-run!)
• Chicago hot dog and duck-fat fries from Hot Doug's (I can('t) believe we waited 45 minutes for this...the line was out the door and wrapped around the building.)
• Banh mi (Vietnamese sub) and coconut sticky rice & black-eyed peas from Ba Le
• Ginger-raisin & banana-chocolate pannenkoeken (dutch pancakes) from Pannenkoeken Cafe
• Ghormeh sabzi (beef stew with green herbs) and fesenjan with eggplant (walnut-pomegranate sauce) from Masouleh
• Borek (pastry filled with meat) from Big Buns and Pita
• Pork bun, sesame ball, and red bean paste mooncake from Chiu Quon Bakery
  

The ones that got away (the restaurant industry, it's volatile!):

• Curry puff from Thai Grocery (closed in mid-April)
• Jibarito (plantain sandwich) from Cafe Salamera (closed in February)
• Sweet potato doughnuts with cinnamon sabayon, poached pear, and pumpkin pepitas from Powerhouse (fell victim to limited stomach capacity)

People (characters we met around town):

• Quintessential Wrigleyville: outside Wrigley Field, we ran into a drunk guy who was trying to walk with a sweatshirt around his ankles and then planted his nose on the ground. Twice.
  
• Classic Wicker Park: hipster guy with an iPod jogging while wearing a skin-tight Strand tee
  
• At Mojo Spa, the guy behind the counter thought Megan and I were international relations majors (an asian kid and a white kid hanging out!). Next, he guessed that we were engineers. I'm not sure what that says about my appearance.
  
• While waiting in line for Jersey Boys tickets at 8:45 am, we made friends with the couple behind us, Cornel and Trudy (?). The latter was giving us lots of advice: "I recommend staying away from San Francisco...there are too many gay men there."
  
• Random guy in head-to-toe black leather who shared a cab with us: "Yeah, I just got my own place, but it won't be just me for long...my brother's turning 18 and getting out of foster care."
  

Places:


Sometimes I forget how spread out Chicago really is, but this weekend, we definitely explored large swaths of the city from top to bottom. Some of the traveling was due to necessity; we drove out to the suburbs and hiked ~6 miles of the Des Plaines River trail. On other occasions, we traveled stupidly far distances...all for the sake of getting food. I have no regrets.

Eating aside, we did manage to see Jersey Boys ($25 front-row rush tickets), wander through the Art Institute during Looptopia, go on a cruise on Lake Michigan for Ana's birthday, and find a few letterboxes. Plus, I discovered the Seminary Co-op bookstore in Hyde Park, which might be my new favorite bookstore. It's located in the basement of the Chicago Theological Seminary, and every square inch of its labyrinthine shelves, from the floor to the ceiling, is jam-packed with esoteric titles. Though my inner bibliophile was spasming, I restrained myself and simply picked up a copy of "A Very Short Introduction to Quantum Theory." Admittedly, this is completely useless for me, but maybe I'll be able to pick up enough key phrases that I can front knowing something about quantum mechanics.