I will provide you all with the highlights otherwise this might as well be a book and who has time for that when we I have the achievement gap to worry about.
First stop, you can't go to chicago without trying their chicago style deep dish pizza which is about 2 inches in height and cooked in a cast iron pan. We ordered the veggie (onions, green peppers, and mushrooms) at Giordano's for lunch. As you can obviously see, it looks more like a round lasagna than a pizza and we could not imagine how this behemoth of a pie could serve 1 person. My initial reactions was the obsence amount of cheese, i distinctly remember feeling as though i was chewing a giant wad of bubblegum. The taste was well like a pizza though i felt it needed more sauce, but overall a solid carbohydrate experience
Publican Plate score: 7
Apparently, Chicago is a late night kinda of a town as we secured reservations for Girl and the Goat for an 11pm seating (last seating at midnight!) but more on that meal later. To prevent ourselves from eating our own arms, we decided to go for appetizers at a beer and meat gastropub Publican. We had attempted to go there Thursday night but was told that the wait would have been 1 hour, apparently, thursday nights in chicago are most people's friday night. The room had a tall ceiling with walls decorated with 10ft paintings of obese pigs. There were additionally long wooden tables as well as booths that resembled pig pens (with a gate), fitting for the carnivorous offerings on the menu. We stood around a bar table and ordered the ham plate anad pork rinds, which was sliced to order in the open kitchen as we sipped on an international beer list of over 100 beers. What is pictured below is you guessed it, pork rinds flavored with chili powder and lemon juice. It reminded me of pop chips, you know the ones that say not baked, or fried but POPPED! Anyways it really didn't do anything for me except kept me thinking about the fact that i was eating fried pig skin.
Girl and the Goat Plate score: 9.5
11:30pm, filed with british brew, red wine, some sliced ham and pork rinds later, we were seated at the the Girl and the Goat. Girl and Goat is owned by Season 4 Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard...... who used her winnings to open this ultra successful small plates eatery. As a note, we were bombarded with our meal and were done eating with in 20 minutes of ordering, it was as though, they were sending us a message to finish and leave. We decided to share the chickpeas fritters with heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella
I was concerned the fritters would be dense but on the contrary it was fairly light (as light as anything fried can be) which paired well with the tomato puree, micro greens and fresh mozzarella creme
Next we had kabocha squash ravioli, mushroom raisin ragout brussels leaves mushroom creme fraiche
This was unanimously one of the top dishes of the night, which a complex depth of flavor and textures in the cream sauce, al dente pasta, sweetness from the raisin ragout and the acid from the brussel leaves. I think we all secretly wished we had a larger of serving of it. i am always intrigued when restaurants serve beef tongue so i was quick to propose this to my dining companions unfortunately, it was over braised (if that is actually possible0, the texture was rendered mushy though i could taste the crispy exterior from its time spent being panfried. Goat, another ingredient that is also fairly uncommon on most restaurant menus was beautifully prepared on the smoked goat pizza There was no unintended gamey flavor from the goat which was shredded and tossed with a tangy bbq sauce. The meat was topped with apple onion, leek blend for sweetness, ricotta for some creaminess and shredded kale on a cracker thin crust. I haven't had very much goat so i was happy to add it to my number 1 spot out of 2 goat experiences.
mHenrys plate score: 7
mHenrys was solid for a brunch spot with freshly squeezed orange juice and a pastry case selling bite sized brownies, cheesecakes, key lime pies and assorted breads and muffins. My omelette with proscuitto with a few other veggies tasted strangely smokey but not in a good way. However I did enjoy the housemade brioche cinnamon raisin toast studded with plump golden raisins and more than a few bites of my friend's "Latina" omlette which had all the predictable yet delicious latin flavors of cumin, cheese, and cilantro, onions black beans and a small side of fried plantains.
Stay tuned for chicago part 2 coming soon!
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