I’m heading to Chicago tomorrow for two nights with two 18 year olds to check out School of Art institute of Chicago - staying right by there.
Any recommendation for dinner walking distance rom Art Institute area for Saturday night? Nothing fancy - Uggh looks like it’s Valentine’s day too.
Sunday I was going to try to hit Kasama for breakfast goods. I have a reservation at The Duck Inn for dinner, my college age niece in Chicago joining us, but open to other places. Any recs for best hot dogs/sausages/Chicago Beef for lunch?
Monday I might sneak off for lunch by myself while the girls are in college presentation - not sure where. Thanks!
The best hot dog is whatever the closest hot dog joint is. So long as they’re serving Vienna dogs, you’re probably good. Personally, I think you need cheese fries to complete the experience.
For Italian beef, Al’s Beef on Taylor or Mr. Beef on Orleans.
While you have the time, take in what the Art Institute has to offer. It’s a world class museum. And best of luck to your prospective students.
Thanks! I’ve been to Chicago a few times, but somehow have never gotten an Italian beef. My daughter and her friend were both admitted, so we’re doing the tours before the final decisions are due in May.
So the first night was kind of a bust, we got in late and everyone was wanting different things so we walked over to the food court at the Willis Tower which is open until 11:00 according to their website. I figured I would hit Rick Bayless’ Tortazzo for a torta and margarita. Turns out the food court is open until 11, but most of the restaurants inside it are not. So we just ate a Cava, a mediterranean version of Chipotle that was actually pretty good.
The next morning I grabbed a delicious flat white from Intelligentsia Coffee (which I didn’t know was founded in Chicago) and watched people making Tik Tok videos in front of the bean sculpture in Millennium park. It was unseasonably warm, hitting 60 on our last day.
The teens decided to ditch me (or maybe I ditched them - hard to recall exactly). So freed from the shackles of lazy teenagers (did I mention it was I who ditched THEM?), I did a three mile walk over to Kasama, a Filipino all day cafe and bakery that turns into a 2 Michelin star restaurant at night with a $325 tasting menu. The walk was great because I went through a bunch of residential neightborhoods I hadn’t been to before. At Kasama I had their version of an “Italian beef”, with shaved pork adobo and a giant garlicky longanisa sausage in the middle, with a piquant giardinara - excellent. I pre-ordered some pasties in the morning to avoid waiting in line. That long pastry thing is the Foie Gras Danish [Laminated with 82 percent European butter and topped with brambleberry jam, pistachios, foie gras ganache, hibiscus, mint], and was the best thing I’ve eaten since - I can’t even remember. Crunchy, sweet, savory, with some tartness from the berries - outstanding. I was stuffed from the sandwich but could not stop eating it.
Sunday evening we met up with my niece at Pequods. Since the awning mentions cocktails I asked the server what they had, and he said well we just have a few, and named some classics so I went with a whisky sour - it came in a pint glass lol. Sticking with the Chicago theme I also had a Goose Island IPA (although I guess they were sold a few years back). Pizza was excellent, and heavy - we could each only put down two slices, but luckily my niece was able to take a whole pie home. Love the old school vibe of the place.
School presentation gave us tickets to the Art Institute, which was a nice way to wrap up the short trip. I always love visiting Chicago, such a cool city with great food and architecture.
Yeah, I was scoping the area for something open and I turned around and the girls were already in line at Cava - oh well. I can see why Kasama is getting so much hype.
I pre-ordered the pastries in the morning, then when I picked them up I asked if I could add the sandwich, and just waited for them to prepare it, so no line for me. Just walk in and go to the right if you pre-ordered. If you want to eat in the line was probably an hour. Some of the pastries seemed to sell out pretty quickly (the ones with coconut and ube), as they were already gone when I ordered at like 9:15.
