SNAPSHOTS | CHICAGO 2023 | DAY 3

 

It's funny how we become our parents as we get older. After two days of vacation, we started to crave Asian food. So where do you go to find the best food of your people? Chinatown!

 

Chicago's Chinatown is located just below south loop. We started our tour with Chinatown Square Plaza, which is a neat pedestrian-only area filled with restaurants and shops. We arrived by Uber super early so it was pretty quiet with only a few places open.

 

 

For breakfast, we decided to get dim sum! There are a handful of dim sum restaurants in Chinatown but we went to MingHin Cuisine, which has six other locations around Chicago. The restaurant was quite modern and pretty spacious. 

 

Since we were only ordering for two, we stuck with the classics. Shrimp dumplings ($6.95), sui mai ($6.95), deep fried taro puff ($6.35), and shrimp crepe ($6.95). The shrimp were pretty large and bouncy and overall, the taste was solid. Not the best dim sum I've had, but I would say it's above average. 

 

 

Almost directly across from MingHin was TE'AMO Boba Bar. They're a local bubble tea shop with several locations. Their packaging and branding is super cute. All of the drinks are sealed in pop bottles complete with a functional tab. We got their strawberry lemonade ($5.95) which came layered in a beautiful ombre. The drink was really sweet and lightly fizzy. Wish we could've adjusted the sugar level.

 

We walked further down to explore the rest of Chinatown. This spanned several blocks with more restaurants and shops.

 

Chinatown is always a great place to pick up cheap souvenirs. I'm a magnet collector myself. The kitschier, the better.

 

 

After finishing up in Chinatown, we took an Uber over to explore River North. This view is specifically from DuSable Bridge.

One of the activities that I was most excited to do was an architecture river tour! Chicago is known as the birthplace of modern architecture. The skyscrapers are so diverse and the history behind them is immense.

There are a few river cruises you can take, but we went with Wendella Tours. Cruises run every half hour or so, and you can choose between 45 or 90 minute rides. During our time slot, we got to go on the 90-minute lake and river architecture tour.

There is an expert guide who will narrate the entire tour, pointing out specific buildings and unique facts. The Marina City Towers (left), or the corn cobs as I like to call them, was one of my favourites. Also, the St. Regis Chicago was really beautiful. The glass almost glistens under the sun. It's actually the city's third tallest building, and the world's tallest structure designed by a woman. 

 

The cruise also took us out onto Lake Michigan where we got amazing views of the Chicago skyline. But we were not prepared for how cold and windy it was. They don't call it the windy city for nothing! We had to go down to the lower deck cabin to warm up a few times.

 

After the river cruise was finished, we began walking down Michigan Ave, also known as Magnificent Mile. We were lucky to be in town when tulips were in bloom! Every year, Chicago plants tens of thousands of tulip bulbs down Michigan Ave. The result is spectacular. 

 

We popped into the Starbucks Reserve Roastery, the largest Starbucks in the world! The Starbucks is 5 stories tall and each floor has a different concept. The main coffee bar, a bakery & cafe, an experiential coffee bar, a cocktail bar, and a roof terrace.

Truth be told, we mostly came inside to use the washroom but it was a cool experience. Pro tip, go to the 5th floor for private bathrooms and no line!

 

For lunch, we had to hit up Portillo's! A name synonymous with Chicago, they're known for their Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, and homemade chocolate cake (which you can also get blended into a milkshake). Although locals will tell you there are better places to go, Portillos is a good one-stop shop for tourists to try all the classics.

 

LT got the regular Portillo's beef hot dog ($3.99). A Chicago-style dog includes mustard, relish, celery salt, chopped onions, sliced tomatoes, a kosher pickle, and sport peppers, all on a steamed poppy seed bun. Absolutely no ketchup allowed. Seriously, you might get kicked out. Truthfully, I'm a closet picky eater and couldn't fathom eating so many of my least favourite ingredients in one hot dog. So I passed on trying this.

 

 

Instead, I ordered a regular Italian beef ($7.39), extra gravy. An Italian beef is thin slices of roast beef served on a French roll. The sandwich is usually dunked whole into au jus, so the bread just soaks up all the flavour. It's usually topped with giardiniera or sweet peppers, but I went a little sacrilegious and got grilled onions (+$0.50) on top. To be fair, the cashier mentioned that she tried it with grilled onions the day before and loved it. 

 

Opening up the sandwich was quite a messy experience. Be sure to have lots of napkins and hand sanitizer ready. I didn't have high expectations but it was actually really good! The sandwich was loaded with soft, tender beef. It wasn't too salty and the grilled onions added a nice sweetness.

Next on our itinerary was Trader Joes! No trip to the states is complete without a Trader Joes run. We must have hit the after work rush because it was super busy. I swear we walked down every aisle twice just to make sure we didn't miss anything. Somehow I walked out spending $107. Trader Joes is good for the soul, but dangerous for the wallet.

 

We rested back at the hotel for a couple of hours before it was time for our dinner reservation. Another restaurant just a couple minutes from our hotel was Aba. The restaurant is located on the third floor, which means it has its own rooftop patio. We stayed inside the dining room which was equally, if not more, gorgeous with live trees and fairy lights. Aba, which means father in Hebrew, serves Mediterranean food with influences from Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, and Greece.

 

Aba boasts nine different hummus and spread options, served with housemade pita bread. It was such a hard decision but we went for the crispy short rib hummus ($17.95). The hummus itself is really creamy and smooth. The crispy pieces of short rib were great and the beef jus made everything really savoury. We also loved the pita bread. So warm and pillowy soft. They sprinkle the pita with a magical spice blend that reminded us strangely of pizza. Make sure to ask for seconds (it's unlimited!).

For our main, we got the grilled chicken kebab ($18.95). Served with basmati rice, sweet peppers, and zhoug, an herby, spicy cilantro sauce. This was fine, nothing out of the ordinary.  The chicken was not dry but not super juicy either. The rice was also quite dill-forward. 

 

On the side, we ordered the brussels sprouts ($13.95). The best sprout is a crispy one, and these were amazing. They sprinkle almond and cashew dukkah (blend of nuts, seeds, and spices) over top as well as a drizzle of harissa honey. A perfect blend of salty and sweet. These were super addicting. I would take these over fries any day.

 

 

I can never pass up creme brulee, and Aba puts their own twist on it by making a creme brulee pie ($11.95). The texture is definitely a bit more stiff than a regular creme brulee but the signature sugar crackle and custard flavour still come through. The strawberry-rhubarb syrup was delicious and a great accompaniment.  

We walked back to the hotel, stomachs full and hearts happy.

- CT

SNAPSHOTS | CHICAGO 2023 | DAY 2

 

We woke up to another rainy day in Chicago. A light drizzle never hurt anybody but thankfully our plans were mostly indoors.

 

 

Within the West Loop neighbourhood, you will find the epicentre referred to as Fulton Market District. Fulton Market used to be an industrial area full of meat-packing warehouses. Nowadays, it's a trendy area filled with popular restaurants, bars, retail, and hotels.

 

For our first meal of the day, we walked over to Au Cheval. A cross between a pub and a diner, it was once touted by Bon Appetit as the best burger in America. Pretty strong statement if you ask me. Wait times can be up to 3 hours on the weekend, so we chose to go on Monday right when they opened. 

 

Considering their claim to fame, the cheeseburger is a must-order. Be warned that the single cheeseburger ($14.99) actually has two patties while the double has three. You also have the option of adding an egg (+$2.99) and/or bacon (+$6.99). Of course we added both. 

The burger patties are grilled to medium, with melted American cheese, finely diced onion, pickles, and Dijonnaise. The burger is well-seasoned (could be salty to some) and pretty juicy. The egg adds a bit of creaminess but the star of the show is definitely the bacon. Thick-cut pieces of pork belly, the bacon is meaty and super succulent. There's also a slight sweetness to it, almost like it's candied with maple syrup or brown sugar. Do not skip the bacon!  

 

We also tried the foie gras ($25.99) with scrambled eggs and toast. The scrambled eggs were perfectly cooked. Silky smooth and fluffy. The foie gras was served in sizable chunks with brown onion gravy. The gravy was both sweet and salty thanks to the caramelized onions. Delicious! It's also a dish made for sharing. We weren't able to finish it all just because it was so rich and decadent.

Straight from Au Cheval, we walked a block over to Chicago's own outpost of Levain Bakery. Levain Bakery needs no introduction, but if you've been living under a rock, it's a NYC institution best known for their giant chocolate chip cookies. I have no idea when I'll travel to NYC, so I settled for trying it in Chicago.  

 

 

Knowing how big the cookies are, we just bought one to share. The new caramel coconut chocolate chip cookie sounded tempting, but we stuck to their signature chocolate chip walnut cookie ($5.00). The cookie is basically a huge mound of dough baked at high heat. The result is a crispy, craggly outside with a gooey, melty centre. Make sure to eat it when it's warm!  

 

After a quick coffee break at the hotel, we hopped onto the subway to the Art Institute of Chicago. It was the perfect rainy day activity. You can spend hours inside getting lost (like we did) and exploring all the different rooms.

 

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte (1884) by Georges Seurat

 

Even with a map in hand, the museum layout was pretty confusing. There are so many different levels and stairs, but as long as you keep walking, you'll be able to find the most famous artworks.

 

Sky above Clouds IV (1965) by Georgia O'Keeffe

American Gothic (1930) by Grant Wood

"Untitled" (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) (1991) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres

 

This was one of the most unique pieces in the museum and it made for a good souvenir. Essentially a pile of foil-wrapped candy, visitors are allowed to interact freely and take a piece of candy. The pile has an "ideal weight of 175 lbs", which people believe corresponds to the average weight of an adult male. The interactive nature of the art, where the candy pile depletes over time, is supposed to parallel how the artists' partner, Ross Laycock, died due to AIDS-related complications in 1991. However, the candy get replenished constantly, which grants it endless life.

 

After the museum, we walked down State Street to do a bit more shopping. LT wasn't as prepared for the chilly weather so we were on the hunt for a cheap hoodie or jacket (Primark ftw!). When we began feeling tired, we popped into Magnolia Bakery. Another NYC institution, I knew I wanted to try their famous banana pudding. They were out of small cups so we ended up with the medium. Filled with sliced bananas, Nilla wafers, and creamy vanilla pudding, this was delicious! The vanilla pudding was mixed with whipped cream, so it was super light and airy.

We popped back to the hotel to rest for a couple of hours before our dinner reservation at Rose Mary.  Rose Mary is an Italian-Croatian restaurant helmed by Top Chef (season 15) winner Joe Flamm. The restaurant is named after his grandmothers, Mary Rose and Mary.

 

The restaurant was just around the corner from the hotel so super convenient. I believe I made reservations a good month in advance. They do accept walk-ins at the bar but a reservation is probably your best bet. The kitchen is open so the restaurant can get quite loud. The food is meant to be shared and the menu is split cleanly into vegetables, pasta, risotto, fish, and meat. 

 

 

The first dish that came out was the tuna crudo ($22.00). Slices of raw tuna dressed with veal aioli, shallot-beef fat vinaigrette, and crispy capers. The veal aioli gave the fresh tuna a creamy, rich quality. It was also balanced with just the right amount of acidity from the vinaigrette. But the star of the dish for me had to be the crispy capers! Little pops of salty, briny crunch. No caper was left untouched.

 

 

Another favourite of the night were the zucchini fritters ($14.00). These came out piping hot. A crispy, craggily exterior gave way to soft, mushy (in a good way) zucchini. The zucchini was naturally sweet and it almost reminded me of eating yam tempura. The pesto aioli was a good accompaniment but I did wish the pesto flavour was stronger.

 

An Italian meal is not complete without pasta. We got one of Rose Mary's most popular dishes, the radiatore 'Cacio e Pepe' ($19.00). Cacio e pepe is a Roman pasta dish that literally translates to "cheese and pepper." It's a simple pasta that combines grated pecorino cheese, black pepper, and hot pasta water into a thick, cheesy sauce. I've never seen radiatore pasta before but it's unique ridged shape helped the sauce cling to the noodles. It gave me adult 'mac and cheese' vibes. Super rich and decadent. It was almost too much for me so I would definitely recommend sharing this one.

 

 

Our final dish was cevapi ($20.00), a grilled minced meat sausage popular in Croatia and other Balkan countries. The sausage is caseless, similar to Turkish kofta, and is generously spiced with onion, garlic and paprika. It was served with lepinja, a type of flatbread, with various condiments: avjar (red pepper sauce), kajmak (a rich cheese spread), and diced red onion. It's a fun, interactive plate where you can DIY your own sandwich. The lepinja was made with sourdough, so it had a tangy quality. I was reminded of foccacia, crispy and oily on the surface but fluffy on the inside. However, I sort of wish the crust was more tender. It was almost too hard to bite through with all the ingredients nestled inside.

All meals should end on a sweet note, so we walked a few blocks to Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream for dessert. Jeni's is a chain of ice cream shops that originated in Columbus, OH. You'll even find their pints in thousands of grocery stores nationwide. How I wish they came to Canada! All of their ice cream flavours sound so delicious!

The night was cooler so we lucked out with no line! A standard scoop ($6.95) lets you choose two flavours. LT was a bit boring and got darkest chocolate and honey vanilla bean, while I chose brambleberry crisp and rainbow BFY. Brambleberry crisp had brambleberry jam swirled throughout vanilla ice cream with bits of oat streusel. The ice cream was smooth and creamy and I loved the bits of crunchy, toasty streusel. It paired well with the rainbow BFY since both flavours were tart and sweet. BFY stands for buttermilk frozen yogurt and it combines raspberry, key lime, and passion fruit flavours. My favourite ice cream flavour since I was a child was rainbow sherbert. This hit all the same notes.

Looking back on this day, I didn't realize that we had three desserts. Calories don't count on vacation.

- CT