Monday, March 8, 2010

Back from Chicago with a tummy full of goodness

I just came back from the windy city and have been too busy with all the wonderful sight seeing and food devouring to blog. I'm behind! Thank goodness I'm not attempting what Julie Powell did and try to cook four meals a day to get through the Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Anyway, I went to Chicago with this mindset: I here to EAT and of course have fun with my friend. I wasn't a total glutton but I was on the verge of becoming one. What other way to get to know a city than taste what kind of food they have there?!

My first day in, I went to Subway. Yeah yeah, I know. Subway? What?! Why? I was new to the city, I didn't know the streets of She-CAH-go (seriously that's how they say it there), so I went for what was convenient. That night, on the other hand, I went to Giordano's. This is the place to be. Vibrant atmosphere, beers in hand and large pies (pizza!) on every table. It's not your average Californian pizza with the half inch crust. Oh no, Chicago-ians like their deep dish pizzas. These deep dish pizzas are about 1-2 inches in height! My friend and I ordered the antipasto salad (you know the every day Italiano style salad) and the smallest pizza we could get. We decided on spinach and sausage with cheese. My oh my was this pizza heartily stuffed with cheese. Take a look see:





We were stuffed after one slice! The rest became my lunch for the rest of the week ;) . After enjoying that over the top pizza, we ventured down Miracle Mile on Michigan Ave. where you get to see all the swanky stores. If you love shopping, this is the avenue to be on. We ended that evening at a bar at our hotel called Rebar. I had the Emerald Drink which was inspired by Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka. That drink definitely was top shelf! What a great way to end the evening :).



TUESDAY!

I wouldn't allow myself to have Subway again or grab a donut across the street from Dunkin Donuts (whoever thinks their coffee is the best is wrong - ok not wrong but I really dislike the flavor) so instead I went out on my own to explore downtown. I was on a mission to find the large silver jelly bean structure and a coffee shop (for my friend Janet :)). While crossing the bridge, I caught a glimpse of the beautiful river and the tall skyscraper buildings. San Diego just doesn't have buildings like the ones in Chicago. The old architecture really takes your breath away. The first place I was heading to was Cafe Rom which got really great ratings on Yelp. I ordered my staple coffee drink - a mocha- to which I was quite pleased with. The people were really friendly and welcomed to me their great city. After grabbing my drink, I sat like a tourist and took pictures of the drink. Haha. I had to capture everything I ate!



Then I continued on my way across the street to Millennium Park and saw this beautiful sight:



How can one not enjoy drinking their favorite drink while observing this great piece of art. Here's some info on the structure: The sculpture is the work of world-renowned artist Anish Kapoor and is the first of his public art in the United States. The piece was privately funded and the total cost was $23 million, which was considerably more than the original estimate of $6 million.

I'll continue with the rest of my adventures soon!
- Cupcakes
- More coffee
- More sights
- FOOD!

Happy St. Patty's Day to everyone! Have a safe night and enjoy that green beer! Tonight I will be making an Irish inspired soup and will post about that soon.

2 comments:

  1. awesome post, cindy; keep up the good work!!
    -chris

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  2. food looks yum! and thanks for the comments on my blog. follow me! I finally put that widget on there. loll

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