30/66 Chicago: The Finale

The original plan (and original plans never seem to work out) was to get up early Sunday morning and partake in two separate breakfasts. Matt and I actually did manage to arise on time, but after dumbly staring at each other for 10 minutes we both went back to bed. There was an unspoken agreement that breakfast #1 was cancelled (it was supposed to be at Southport Grocery and Café in case you were wondering.) Luckily, the entire gang was up in time for our 11am brunch reservation at Nightwood. After an ass-blasting drive down Lake Shore we arrived right on time.

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30/66 Chicago: Part 4

Sorry to sound like a glitched out cyborg (i.e. repetitive), but Hopleaf was yet another venue where everything simply fell into place. Aside from the fact that it was pretty packed, and loud as F, I simply had no complaints.

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30/66 Chicago: Part 3

Our destination for dinner was just a few short blocks away at Avec. I knew they didn’t take reservations and coupled with the fact that it’s one of the most highly recommended restaurants in Chicago, I was expecting a wait. But not quite this type of wait. When we rolled up right around 8pm the place was back to the gills with a huge crowd of people outside. Dismayed, but not deterred, I went inside and put our name in for a party of 5 and was quoted with a wait of 2.5 hours. Holy shit. That would mean we’d be eating somewhere around 10:30 and we had a show to catch at Second City at 11pm. Dinner at Avec simply wasn’t an option.

After much brainstorming we finally decided to go to Abuelo’s since it was cheap, delicious, and we had a virtual guarantee that there wouldn’t be a wait. I loved the large windows and airy space, but was kind of annoyed that the only lighting they had were a few strands of Christmas lights hanging in the front window. So, therefore, I’m sorry that these pictures suck.

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30/66 Chicago: Part 2

After rinsing off all the sand and sweat from hours of Spikeball, we all piled into M’s car once again and headed down to Fulton Market. I’d done my research on how to score a reservation at The Aviary and was delighted when I received a confirmation email that afternoon. We scored a table for five at the 6pm seating. We turned our keys over to the valet and checked in with the doorman. He told us to have a seat on the snazzy outdoor couches for a few moments while they finished preparing our table. We took a few group photos and then a hostess led us to our table.

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30/66 Chicago: Part 1

My 30th birthday, celebrated in 66 hours in Chicago, get it? Moving on. Our flight departed at 9pm and we arrived with about 30 minutes to kill so we checked out the bar at Phillips Seafood right next to our gate.

I ordered a MM Manhattan neat, and apparently to this bartender neat means warm. I guess I have in the past said chilled, neat, but I never expected to be served a warm Manhattan.

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Raging the Windy City à la Wind God Gau Pt. 3

After putzing around the city for a while we finally worked up the stomach room to sip a few beers at The Map Room. The sign out front was easy to spot from far off and looked like... Well, it looks like something, doesn't it?

It's not my imagination right? You see it too? Good, we're on the same page then.

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Raging the Windy City à la Wind God Gau Pt. 2

After seeing Taste of Peru featured on DD&D and finding out that it was mere walking distance from M's place, I immediately added it to our itinerary. So we skipped breakfast and walked over to ToP on Saturday.

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Raging the Windy City à la Wind God Gau

That's right, I went, I saw, I ate it all. Did I see the city? No, not really. Did I eat the city? You're GD right I did. I planned out where I wanted to eat and then we figured out the rest on the fly. My good friend M moved out there a little over a year ago and was happy to cart me around, sampling some really great foodses. From the moment I stepped off of the plane on Thursday to when we pulled out of the parking lot at Johnnies Beef on Sunday, we pretty much ate non-stop. We sampled everything from elk sausage and foie gras to to Fruto de Cacao and Thit Nuong with a detour into the Lair of the Minotaur. What the hell am I talking about you ask? Are you salivating with anticipation yet? Well then, let's get right to it.

You may find yourself asking yourself this: Did Mr. Micro have a planned food map and itinerary and did he carry it on his person at all times? Why yes, I most certainly did. No true food obsessive visits a city for the first time without researching where he wants to eat for hours on end. Slow days at work meant researching where I wanted to eat in Chicago.

My flight landed at O'Hare at 9:10pm and after finding M and (getting used to his frighteningly thick black beard that would make even the most backwoods lumberjack green with envy) giving him a hearty greeting we hopped in his car and sped off to our first destination, a place I've been dying to go to ever since I saw it on DD&D: Kuma's MFing Corner!

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