All Good Things

Since it was the end of my trip to Chicago, I decided to go all out for the last evening. So I bought a Saleen S7 and outraced the cops speeding down Lake Shore Drive sipping on Cristal out of Cartier crystal flutes and throwing gang signs in my rear view at the suckers eating my dust.

Actually, that last sentence is a complete fabrication. When I walk past automotive dealers that sell $555,000 automobiles, however, the insane lottery fantasies I have start going off. On the way to dinner, I walked past a car dealer that was selling a Mercedes SLK McLaren alongside Bentlies (if that is in fact the plural of Bently) and Ferraris. It was an interesting lot to stumble across on the way to dinner.

My lovely dinner companions Krysta and Nikki met me at Dudley Nieto's new regional Mexican joint Xel-Ha. Nieto was the original chef at Adobo Grill back when they were a good restaurant with atrocious service (as opposed to now being a bad restaurant with atrocious service). The menu features half traditional Mexican dishes with a twist and half Yucatan specific regional dishes. There was one vegetarian selection in both the Pan-Mexican and Yucatan appetizers and entrees.

The drinks were ridiculously good. There was a surprisingly tangy red wine apperatif that is in the photographs. There were numerous variations of margaritas also captured in digital form.

The food was interesting if not spectacular. The regional cuisine is always markedly different from the cookie cutter Mexican food available at Chipotle. Huilacoche and black bean quesadillas were interesting foils to one another, with the earthy notes in the huilacoche being contrasted by a faint smokiness in the beans. The main dish consisted of a number of vegetables like squash and eggplant served aside a stuffed mild chili pepper.

The food was very good, but the best suggestion in this price range would probably be Frontera Grill, Topolobampo's cafe restaurant.

The rest of the pictures are of the crew running around to Danny's in Bucktown later that night. I also witnessed some Irish-themed marathon before I left. Check the pictures below.

End of the Trip

There is also a small chance I start reviewing music and going back to my previous bitter political sarcasm soon. Stay tuned...out.

Always eating the same thing

There must be a reason that I always eat the same thing for breakfast almost every day. It is a bagel with cream cheese and peanut butter with coffee and orange juice. After eating high end breakfast in Chicago, it's going to be hard going back.

Wicker Park's Bongo Room offers breakfast all day. They have breakfast burritos and various pancakes and French toast with a variety of accoutrements that are guaranteed to send your blood sugar skyrocketing.

The cheesy whole potato hash browns were divine. The sweet potato pancakes with pecans and a honey-based syrup were delicious. The restaurant is efficient and provides good service. Its a great place to eat breakfast food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (Beware of the address on the Web site--it gives a South Side address when the place is in Wicker Park.)
















Goose Island is always a great lunch and a beer spot. The brewpub offers a wide variety of beers that never see the inside of a bottle and are poured for you straight out of the cask they were brewed in.

My stock lunch is the veggie burger. I change the cheese up (this time it was pepper jack), and I will always order it with mushrooms.

The beer sampler allows you to try four small pours of different beer. I tried the Rye stout, the Anniversale, the Demolition stout and the Matilda Belgian ale. The crazy thing is that I also later made it into the Wrigleyville Goose Island, which offers the same beer surrounded by twice as many yuppies.
















The trip was finished with a trip to Sam's Wine and Spirits, the megamall of liquor stores. I also shopped at Reckless Records, purveyors of obscure used music. Then I walked through Old Town back to the hotel. Enjoy the Picasa photo link that shows off my breakfast and lunch activities.

Wicker Park-Bucktown-Old Town