Weekend Trip to Chicago
This past weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to Chicago for a quick weekend trip to stay with a friend. Although I had assumed that we would be staying in the city proper, I quickly learned that staying is the suburbs exposed me to a couple top-shelf restaurants that I would have otherwise missed.
Our first outing of the weekend was a Latin American dinner at Maya del Sol in beautiful Oak Park on Friday night. When browsing the menu, the cochinita pibil immediately jumped out at me and I couldn't resist!
I am a big fan of most pork-based dishes and, until last weekend, I had never had the opportunity to try the traditional Mexican dish. By slow-cooking the pork shoulder while wrapped in banana leaves, the meat remained juicy and tender and I knew I had made a great choice. Served with some delightfully acidic pickled onion and a salsa verde that would knock your socks off, all-in-all it was an excellent dish and a great start to my weekend away!
Psst - did you catch the live jazz performance that we were treated to at Maya del Sol on my Instagram stories? It was like we had a front-row seat at a private concert!
Saturday was the day that we decided to spend in downtown Chicago, given that the marathon was on Sunday and millions of people would be in the city. Between sight-seeing in Millennium Park and shopping on Michigan Avenue, we managed to stop into one of my favorite food destinations - Eataly. I have eaten at the Midtown location in NYC as well as the Boston location that opened last year, and in comparison to those two, the Chicago location didn't disappoint. We had a light lunch made up of charcuterie and fresh mozzarella (and crusty bread!), which ended up being perfect for our slow-paced day.
Of course, we had a couple of Aperol Spritz cocktails to accompany the Italian delicacies. 😊
Over the course of the afternoon, we made our way North of the downtown area into a neighborhood known as Old Town. My friend had purchased tickets for us to see Baby Wants Candy at the Second City theater, so we wanted to be sure to grab food somewhere nearby. SteakBar had large accordion-style doors that opened up onto the street and a lively atmosphere, both of which drew us into the restaurant for dinner.
The menu wasn't huge, but I still struggled with making a choice because everything sounded great. I ended up referring to the waitress for her suggestions and she had a couple great dishes at the ready! Although everything she mentioned sounded good, the stand-out star of the evening was definitely this tuna poke appetizer:
Now I've had tuna poke before, but this one stood out from the pack. Not only was the tuna fresh and delicious, but the creamy avocado and the sweet ginger dressing were applied delicately as to not overwhelm the delicate flavor of the fish. Such care is not always taken at restaurants like this, with it's dark club-like interior and rowdy crowd. It was an outstanding poke, with some pretty outstanding chips to boot! It was obvious that the chips were fried fresh to order, and they were served warm with a squeeze of lime, plenty of salt, and a hit of spice (paprika I think). Overall, SteakBar made a great first impression and I will definitely make another visit if I'm in Chicago again soon.
Sunday was spent back in the suburb of Oak Park, touring the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Not only was Oak Park the home of Wright, but it was also home to Ernest Hemingway, so there are quite a few attractions to be seen. Naturally, the attraction I was most interested in visiting was Hemingway's Bistro, the French inspired restaurant just blocks from Hemingway's birthplace.
Our first outing of the weekend was a Latin American dinner at Maya del Sol in beautiful Oak Park on Friday night. When browsing the menu, the cochinita pibil immediately jumped out at me and I couldn't resist!
I am a big fan of most pork-based dishes and, until last weekend, I had never had the opportunity to try the traditional Mexican dish. By slow-cooking the pork shoulder while wrapped in banana leaves, the meat remained juicy and tender and I knew I had made a great choice. Served with some delightfully acidic pickled onion and a salsa verde that would knock your socks off, all-in-all it was an excellent dish and a great start to my weekend away!
Psst - did you catch the live jazz performance that we were treated to at Maya del Sol on my Instagram stories? It was like we had a front-row seat at a private concert!
Saturday was the day that we decided to spend in downtown Chicago, given that the marathon was on Sunday and millions of people would be in the city. Between sight-seeing in Millennium Park and shopping on Michigan Avenue, we managed to stop into one of my favorite food destinations - Eataly. I have eaten at the Midtown location in NYC as well as the Boston location that opened last year, and in comparison to those two, the Chicago location didn't disappoint. We had a light lunch made up of charcuterie and fresh mozzarella (and crusty bread!), which ended up being perfect for our slow-paced day.
Of course, we had a couple of Aperol Spritz cocktails to accompany the Italian delicacies. 😊
Over the course of the afternoon, we made our way North of the downtown area into a neighborhood known as Old Town. My friend had purchased tickets for us to see Baby Wants Candy at the Second City theater, so we wanted to be sure to grab food somewhere nearby. SteakBar had large accordion-style doors that opened up onto the street and a lively atmosphere, both of which drew us into the restaurant for dinner.
The menu wasn't huge, but I still struggled with making a choice because everything sounded great. I ended up referring to the waitress for her suggestions and she had a couple great dishes at the ready! Although everything she mentioned sounded good, the stand-out star of the evening was definitely this tuna poke appetizer:
Now I've had tuna poke before, but this one stood out from the pack. Not only was the tuna fresh and delicious, but the creamy avocado and the sweet ginger dressing were applied delicately as to not overwhelm the delicate flavor of the fish. Such care is not always taken at restaurants like this, with it's dark club-like interior and rowdy crowd. It was an outstanding poke, with some pretty outstanding chips to boot! It was obvious that the chips were fried fresh to order, and they were served warm with a squeeze of lime, plenty of salt, and a hit of spice (paprika I think). Overall, SteakBar made a great first impression and I will definitely make another visit if I'm in Chicago again soon.
Sunday was spent back in the suburb of Oak Park, touring the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Not only was Oak Park the home of Wright, but it was also home to Ernest Hemingway, so there are quite a few attractions to be seen. Naturally, the attraction I was most interested in visiting was Hemingway's Bistro, the French inspired restaurant just blocks from Hemingway's birthplace.
The restaurant looks to be in a historical building, with thick stone walls and picturesque windows. Once you move past the beautiful interior and dive into the menu, you will see that the menu is a modern take on traditional French cuisine. I ordered the onion soup and it was everything you hope for onion soup to be: the broth was rich, the onions were soft and sweet, and the cheese on top was melted perfectly with irresistibly crispy edges. In addition to the soup, I ordered a warm goat cheese salad with sun-dried tomatoes. It turned out to be a simple lunch, but not simply made. It was obvious that the kitchen took care in the dishes and made our stay worthwhile.
This trip was definitely one for the books and I can't wait to return to the beautiful city of Chicago sometime soon!
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