With apologies for the delay, here's a brief recap of my Chicago trip (which I am now re-writing, since I managed to accidentally erase the entire post I wrote. Grr.)
First of all, a huge thanks to @Daisy17, who did an amazing job planning our trip, even when I wasn't focused on it, and who was able to turn my attention to it with a beautiful balance of determination and gentleness at just the right times. Second, a big thank you to @TroySidle, who reached out to many of his Chi-town friends on our behalf; we were treated like rock stars.
Our home base for the weekend was the Palomar, home to Sable, which would become our "local" for the weekend. Once we were settled in, we headed over to the Purple Pig for lunch (my favorites were the fried manchego with membrillo and the asparagus & hazelnuts salad with arugula & treviso), then walked around for a bit. Later we headed for an early cocktail at the Violet Hour, then a Mexican nibble or two at Big Star across the street. We were slated for a 10pm dinner at the Girl and the Goat, but arrived around 9 and luckily scored seats at the bar (where we prefer to eat anyway). We ate some of their lighter dishes, having been nibbling the past few hours, and quickly befriended the bartender, Nate, as we arrived amidst Friday night douchebag central — many dudes in their 20's ordering Stoli O and soda. He was thrilled to have two customers who showed genuine interest in the food and proper cocktails. He even made us a delicious digestif cocktail after our dinner.
Saturday morning I headed to the gym (balance!), then met Karen and her friend for (healthy) brunch at Sable. Surprisingly, we spent a good chunk of our day NOT eating or drinking, but on a boat, getting an architechtural tour of Chicago — a great way to see the city. After a brief rest and an outfit change, we were off to the main event, courtesy of Grant Achatz: avant garde and innovative cocktails and bites at The Aviary followed by dinner featuring recipes from Escoffier (circa 1906 Paris) at Next. Bottom line — really interesting cocktails happening at Aviary and certainly worth a visit, and Next was fabulous, but incredibly rich and decadent. They certainly don't make sauces now like they did in Escoffier's day. Have been repenting ever since. We ambled back to Sable for a digestif, but were pretty much toast at that point. Weak showing.
We made a quick pre-brunch pit stop at Star Lounge for coffee, and then headed over to the Publican for our last meal in Chicago. I've been thinking about their pork rinds ever since I went there in 2008! A soft-shell crab sandwich (and pork rinds) kept me happy throughout the entire flight home. Looking forward to my next trip to catch all that we missed this time around, and perhaps to do some cycling around the city!
Photos from the trip are here.
