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Jeff the Chef’s Day Off

Apr 1, ’11 1:08 PM

Jeff is one of the founding members of the Montana Embassy here in Chicago. For the past few weeks he’s been working in the busy kitchen at the new GT Fish and Oyster, which opens it’s doors tonight.

After a week or more of previews they gave Jeff a day off. Being the swell guy that he is he took me on a little tour of Vietnam Town. There were some truly excellent, and familiar feeling grocery stores and a few great looking restaurants offering wide, sloshing bowls of Phở. (We ate our massive lunch/dinner meal at Tank Noodle, a popular corner restaurant just off the Argyle Metro line.)

Getting a little more familiar with the extended neighborhood feels great, for one, I know where I’ll be buying my sriracha hot sauce from now on. But I think the best discovery of the night came after dinner. Jeff lives just east of me, but  we got off on the same stop and looked for a place to get a drop to drink. As it turns out I live right next door to a humble little bar, The Village Tap.

After a few hoppy beers and a game of Yatzee! with a nurse we met it was time to go. Poor Jeff had to leg it back over to his place while I got to exploit  the privilege of proximity. A terrific afternoon Uptown.

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Book Club

Mar 30, ’11 11:09 AM

Remember these?

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Breakfast with Rosie

Mar 25, ’11 3:36 PM

Far and away, the most fun I’ve had in Chicagoland has been getting to spend my mornings with my grandma Rose. We’ll share a pot of coffee, flick through the newspaper and chit-chat about what’s coming up in the day or what the weekend was like.

Lucky me

This morning Rosie took me and my cousin Jackie out to breakfast  to Dimitri’s Cafe, just a few blocks from Colleen and John’s place in Downers Grove. It’s a fairly typical breakfast diner but it’s Greek-owned, so mounted among more familiar diner wall hangings a there’s a big “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ” poster and the menu offers a “Spartan skillet,” potatoes with asparagus and feta. I ordered a huge No Sweat inspired plate of potatoes, broccoli, tomatoes, spinach and cheese, with an egg on top for good measure.

Thanks for breakfast Rosie! That’s not a bad way to start a Friday.

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The Real Green River

Mar 17, ’11 7:03 AM

Last night Aunt Colleen brought home this seasonal Chicago treat and suggested Grandma Rosie and I might like to make little dinner cocktails with it. They were the perfect drink to toast St. Patrick’s Day eve.

WHALE OIL BEEF HOOKED!

I had my first bottle of Green River at the old Bear Trap Hot Springs in Montana, outside of Bozeman. As I remember it, Bear Trap’s dingy back-bar was lined with the most exotic pops and beers in existence. My dad spotted a bottle of Green River, ordered a round for my sister and I and told us of the age-old and firmly Ozian tradition of dying the Chicago River in honor of St. Patrick, who is well known for hating all other colors of river.

My dad also told us the literally unbelievable true fact (see also: metaphorical middle finger) that the dye goes into the river a vibrant orange:

If you were watching this for the first time you would think this is a mistake or a bad joke. You see the dye is orange and its initial color on the surface of the river is orange and you would think to yourself what heathen would do something like this. After a moment or two you then see the true color magically appear.

Source: GreenChicagoRiver.com

I didn’t see the river go green this year. They dump the dye on parade day, which was this past Saturday. My excuses are boring though. I was apartment hunting, it was cold and I was reluctant to follow the tottering pub crawlers. But getting to taste just holding the bottle more than made up for missing the other real green river.

Sláinte to you, wherever you end up tonight!

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Chicago Neighborhoods

Mar 16, ’11 12:56 PM

Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time talking to people about Chicago neighborhoods. I’ve tried to absorb opinions and impressions of these social territories because their names give nothing away: Pilsen, Logan Square, Bucktown, UK Village, Roscoe Village.

I’ve spent the most time in Ukrainian Village and Logan Square, but with the cold it’s hard to get a feel for the neighborhoods. Trying to read up on them on-line isn’t any easier. A neighborhood’s mood is so subjective even if someone bothers to take time and try and describe something they end up unhelpful and sounding like this:

Wicker Park = hipsters, bars, music, medium crime
Buck Town = rich version of Wicker Park
Lincoln Park = Buck Town – Hipsters + (Chads and Trixies) – Crime
Lakeview = older version of Lincoln Park
Humbolt Park = Wicker Park + Gangs – Bars
Uptown = Wicker Park + Crime
River North = River West = Loop = South Loop = Old Town = $$$$$ Source

So I was really glad to have come across  I Am Chicago, a street corner photography project that follows a simple plan:

We set up a portable, natural-light studio on Chicago’s neighborhood corners. We spend a day there documenting the characters of the city by inviting all who pass by to step into our studio. We take full-body portraits of them to record the exact way they have presented themselves to the streets on that given day, brown paper bags and all. Some strut, some smile, some grill, some glare, some frown…

It’s not far enough along in the project to be a look book for the whole city, but there’s enough there to show a wide range of the neighborly characters you may meet walking these streets.

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