Tastes of Chicago

Soon after the New Years on a sunny winter afternoon, I booked a weekend trip to the Windy City for the first weekend in March.  The mission: to visit one of my closest friends, Lindsay.  As it turns out, winter arrived late this year and I was greeted back to the Midwest with blowing snow gusts and freezing temperatures.  Ah, yes, home!  But that didn't stop us from getting out and soaking up the city, including some great food to fuel our fun.  This post highlights some of my favorite tastes of Chicago, in chronological order.

The Signature Room 

Located at the tippy top (the 96th floor) of the John Hancock Building, we kicked off our Saturday afternoon with a happy hour and a view.  On the menu, a "Chicago" Manhatten for me, a Blueberry Margarita for Lindsay, and a fancy cheese plate to share.  Honestly, a place like that makes a girl feel reeeallly classy! 

Our view of the Chicago skyline looking east,
including the great Lake Michigan.

Yikes! Makes my stomach drop just looking down at the
bustling Michigan Avenue and the Old Water Tower castle below.

Want to know a local secret?  The best view from the top is located in the women's restroom.  Sorry guys, your view apparently stinks (no pun intended)!  We made sure to use the power room before leaving to check it out.

Lindsay looking out towards the Navy Pier. 

Giordano's Pizzeria 

After returning to ground level on Michigan Ave, we both decided that all of that altitude aroused serious cravings for Chicago pizza.  So, instead of shopping for material goods we went pizza shopping instead!  The final descision was Giordano's on North Rush Street.  I was so thrilled to have found a mutual fan.  Call me nuts, but I still haven't tried Gino's or the other Chicago favorites because I fell in love with this place at first bite years ago.  The only downside of eating here is that there is always a long wait.  We put our name in, pre-ordered one of their famous deep-dish pies (veggie supreme, yum!), and grabbed a few frosty Goose Island 312s to pass the time. 

Watching the cooks play with dough was quite the entertainment.  They twirled and tossed raw crust dough saucers all over the kitchen!  Too bad my camera couldn't capture the details, but you get the idea by the dough blur...  And once got our table, our pizza was plopped in front of us a few minutes later (the longest minutes of my life I might add).  After such a beguiling wait including much slobbering over other people's tables adorned in melted cheese and doughy crust, we may or may not have eaten this entire pizza before leaving... ha!

Pheobe's Cupcakes
On Sunday morning, we woke up by taking a refreshing (chilly) morning jog along the coasts of Lake Michigan in Lindsay's Lakeview nieghborhood. The lake was curiously blue. Swap out the snow flurries for some sun and the blue horizon could pass for a tropical ocean.  Upon grabbing some steaming hot Caribou coffees, we ended up sampling the suductive sweets at nearby cupcake shop. I wish I had carried my camera with me that morning because our Giant Turtle Cupcake was to die for. Just picture a chocolate cupcake the size of your hand, topped with a fluffy caramel frosting hat, drizzeled with caramel and chocolate, and sprinkled with crushed pecans.  We grabbed two forks and sat by the window like trying to suppress our inner-child urges to smear our faces in cake crumbs and frosting. It was decidedly the perfect begining to our final day together. 

Garrett's Popcorn
Before we knew it, we were back stolling the busy sidewalks of Michigan Ave. Since I had traveled with luggage size of a small hiking backpack, my suvieners included a sassy pair of colorful earrings (for me) and a bag of Garrett's popcorn (for my hubby back home).  This was my first time ever hearing about Garrett's and I'm so happy to know that flavored popcorn shops are still alive and well... in Chicago, at least!  I knew this place was good when we took our place at the back of line that twisted out the door. The smells of hot butter and caramel took me back to Christmases of the past, when my family would pull open a fresh tin of gourmet popcorn. My hands were always in the bright red cinnemon flavor, but I remember my Dad mixing the chedder and caramel together. Yuck! I had once thought, but that combo is exactly what Garrett's is famous for. They dubbed it "The Chicago Mix" and I can't believe it took me until now to finally realize that my dad had been right all along... sweet and salty is a very tasty (and addictive) combo.

This small shopped produced seemingly endless supplies popcorn. Once we reached the counter we are rewarded with small sample cups of their many varieties to munch on as your bag is being hand mixed. Now that's what I call service.

Sampling the popular, "Chicago Mix."
Each bag gets mixed fresh on demand. 

Indian Garden

Our last stop before beginning the dreaded journey back to Midway Airport was to a second floor Indian restaurant tucked away near Ohio Street in the "foodie district" of downtown.  We caught the tail end of their special Brunch Buffet, but had just the right amount of time to sample nearly everything this restaurant had to offer.  There were two long buffet tables topped with hot sterling silver dishes piled high in salads, fruits, chutney's, and curries of every kind!  The best part, they kept our table supplied with warm naan to help soak up the rich curry sauces.   

Plate #2 following a nice Indian salad.

I went curry crazy!! On this plate is a fish curry, goat curry, chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken, curried cabbage, and then others I don't know the names of but included peas and cheese, dal, or other combinations of veggies and sauce.  This meal made me realize that Indian cuisine just may be my favorite ethnic food of choice. 

Dessert!

Dessert included two types of milk flour balls. One was simply soaked in simple syrup (the white one on the left), and the other was stuffed with pistachios, deep fried and also soaked in a simple syrup (the brown one on the right).  I didn't much like the white ball, but the fried one was doughy and so tasty.  To balance out the palate, I tried their fruit salad which resembles ambrosia salad but is in actuality much different.  Lindsay and I tried to figure out what types of fruit it contained and we guessed pears, pineapple and papaya?  Whatever they were they were perfectly sweet when mixed with that coconut cream sauce.  

Indian Garden's waiting area was embellished in fine fabrics
and plush pillows that simply made us want to sit and stay a while.  

With full bellies once again, we slowly made our way to the train station so that I could make my evening flight back to Denver.  As with any trip, especially those including good company, the departure is so terribly difficult.  Since returning back to Denver, I've flipped through these pictures at least a dozen times. Every time I do, I'm back with Lindsay eating cereal out of mugs on her apartment floor and laughing about life.  Thank you, Linds, for such a wonderful (and flavor-packed) weekend. I can't wait to see where we meet next!