Hard Habit to Break: The last hurrah in Chicago (this season)

So, I know I said that I was going to go to new places on this epic Chicago excursion, but sometimes you just need your creature comforts. That is what happened to me last Friday after my event. I worked all day, not having a chance to eat something. So by the time 4 rolled around and I was back in the city, I was starving. I knew exactly what I wanted, and my car took me there.

Kuma's Corner is a heavy metal bar and burger joint in the Avondale neighborhood. I first heard about it from my friend Kermit, who has in the past shown me the way of deliciousness in Chicago. Kuma's opened in 2005, and has been a staple in epic Chicago burgers ever since. Things to know about Kuma's: it is LOUD. The burgers are named after metal bands. They have whisky on tap. You may have to wait up to 2 hours. They do have veggie burgers. It is worth it.

Luckily I was going early enough on a Friday where I knew I could get in and out fast. I had to meet my friend J for a show at 6, so time was of the essence. Especially when you factor in Chicago traffic, which is some of the worst. 45 minutes to get 3 miles? Not unheard of. I rolled in to Kuma's at about 4:30 and bellied up to the bar.

I know in my heart of hearts I should try something I haven't tried on the menu. However, I am such a creature of habit when it comes to this place. The first burger I ever had here is the one I get every time. I almost buckled this time and got the burger of the month, but the bartendress came up to me and I ordered my usual. Jameson soda with a lime and the High on Fire.                                                

The High on Fire consists of a hand made pretzel bun (all of the burgers are on pretzel buns) a giant burger with sweet chili sauce, grilled pineapple, roasted red pepper, sriracha and prosciutto. This burger is not to be trifled with, sweet, spicy, perfectly medium rare. They have recently changed their fries, and thank Godzilla they did. They now have hand cut fries that are a perfect accompaniment to their burgers. I will say that they also have a fantastic side salad, the basil vinaigrette they make is to die for.

In summation: I can't say anything bad about Kuma's on Belmont. I will say Kuma's Two in Lincoln Park is way to clean and sterile for my tastes. I want my metal burgers METAL.                                

Post Script: #JBFA
So, I had totally forgotten that the James Beard Foundation Awards were taking place in Chicago this year. My girl Michelle is up for best chef (go girl go!) and she was flying down to Chicago on the last day I was to be in town. Uh-Oh. After work I met up with her and her girls Brennan and Shannon at GT Fish and Oyster. Everything kind of became a blur: but here are some photos from GT, Yusho, and the Soho House. My liver still hurts, but man was that fun. Kinda wish I would have stayed the extra couple of days to hang with these ladies. But I'll be back in Chicago soon enough.    

                              
     
                 

               

                 
             

   

God Bless The Biscuit Belt

When I told people in the Midwest that I was going to visit my sister in Durham, North Carolina the first thing they would say is, "oh, you have to eat biscuits". This I knew, as North Carolina is known for biscuits upon more biscuits. Within in city of Durham, there are 4 or 5 biscuit places I can count just off the top of my head, and I don't even live there. So it was my mission to get as many biscuits as I could put in my face for the 5 days that I was in the triangle (Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill). And biscuits were consumed.

I arrived on a Monday, starving. I left Chicago really early in the AM and didn't get a chance to eat breakfast. Jecca picked me up and we went straight to Rise Biscuits and Donuts. Jecca had never been there, but a friend of mine (Hi Alysia!) who used to live in Durham told us we should check it out. Located in a strip mall next to a nail salon, it is quite unassuming. We went in and the menu was overwhelming with fantastic selections. Jecca is a vegetarian, and Rise has a biscuit sandwich with fried eggplant "bacon". She got that, and I got a biscuit with fried chicken and bacon. Flaky biscuits, brimming with flavor. Jecca fell in love with the eggplant bacon, I tried it as well: delicious and crisp. My fried chicken biscuit was perfect, juicy chicken and bacon done just right. We also got a couple of donuts to bring home: a blueberry "wonut" with blueberry glaze and a pineapple basil with pineapple glaze filled the basil creme filling and pistachios. What is a wonut you ask? Well I'll tell you: waffle donut! So cute.

In Summation: The biscuits are out of this world. A must for the biscuit lovers. The donuts were good, but not our favorite in Durham. I want to try the fennel and pink grapefruit donut next time.

Tuesday brought us to Monuts. Now, I love monuts. I have been to their old location twice before, and I have been following their construction and new space on instagram for a while, and was so looking forward to checking it out.

It did not disappoint. Eli (my brother-in-law) and I got 2 donuts: apple cider cake donut and a maple glazed raised. Both were perfect. Jecca then met us for lunch and I had a biscuit and a beautiful salad of arugula, pea shoots, asparagus, a slow poached egg and fresh farmer cheese. They both had bagel sandwiches: the bagels at monuts are fantastic. I also had a crazy coffee: it was a combo of espresso and cane sugar cola. WHOA. BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ.

In Summation: a good biscuit, not spectacular. Probably my fault for not getting anything on it. However, everything else is fantastic here. The donuts are for sure the best in the city, as are the bagels. It's a great place to hang out, and they now have beer and wine! Bonus!

Wednesday Jecca and her friend Ben and I went to Scratch Bakery for breakfast. I have had the bread from Scratch, they have a booth at the Durham Farmers Market and I knew I was in for some good stuff.

I went with a biscuit with an egg and cheese. Keeping it super simple. It was perfectly lovely. Jecca got a buttermilk donut muffin that was to die for. I also had a fantastic iced vanilla latte, made with one of my favorite Midwestern coffees: Intelligentsia. However, everything we had was overshadowed by the pie. Oh yes, pie for breakfast: and what a pie it was. A perfect strawberry rhubarb. The crust was just the right consistency and the filling bright, sweet and tart.

In Summation: I really want to go back to Scratch for some of the savory offerings: but it's gonna be really hard when there is that pie staring at me. I mean, their website is piefantasy.com.

Thursday Jecca and I met up with the creator of sheelanumnum.com: Alex, and his kids Viv & Nick. We met at Parker & Otis, a favorite place of mine in Durham. It's part gift store, part wine shop, part cafe, all awesome (For Twin Cities folks reference: it's like if Cafe Latte, Patina and Surdyk's were all one store. With better food). A friend of Jecca's had told me to get the pimento cheese biscuit there, and of course I had to try that. Sadly, they didn't have it on this day, so I went with a cheese, egg and bacon biscuit. Totally good, not outstanding. I do love the pimento cheese here, so hopefully next time I am in town they will have that biscuit!

In Summation: I really like hanging out at Parker & Otis. They have great stuff for everyone and I will be hunting down that biscuit!

Friday, my last day in town. Jecca and I venture in to Chapel Hill to a place I had been hearing about forever. Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen is a tiny shack of a place on the main thoroughfare going in to Chapel Hill. It is a drive through place, and there was a line on the bridge as we approached!

The line was 100% worth the wait. Jecca had an egg, cheese and kale biscuit whereas I went for the pork chop. Yup, that's right. Chicken fried pork chop on a biscuit. This may or may not have been everything I had hoped for and more. Biscuit was soft and pillowy, pork chop beautifully seasoned. It's a good thing I don't live anywhere near here as I would be here every day.

In Summation: Run. Stand in line. Eat all the biscuits.

Phew! And that's just the biscuits! Next up: more Durham goodness.

Just You 'N' Me: An evening in Logan Square

After another long day at the shoe store in Andersonville, I was so looking forward to an evening with one of my favorite humans on earth. My dear friend Bridgid is from Chicago, lived in the Twin Cities for about 1 minutes 15 years ago, and we have been super close ever since. I love that when I am in Chicago for work I get to spend some time with her.

Bridgid is a bartender in Boystown (more about her bar next week: I will be spending the evening there and it's gonna get pretty real) and has been for the past 12 years. So needless to say she doesn't get out to new places very often, especially if they are only open for dinner. So we went through a list of places she has been wanting to try. We decided on a place in Logan Square: as there are also some great bars in that area we could hit up post dinner.


Analogue opened in 2013, mostly to be a cocktail bar and dance party, from the articles I have found about it. It has a New Orleans-inspired menu in an open and airy space. We were the first ones there, it was a super rainy Sunday evening and also pretty early. Bridgid and I snagged a high top and settled in.

We decided to start with a little bubbly: and a basket of biscuits. I mean, who doesn't want a basket of biscuits? I know I have been on a tear when it come to southern food, and it is about to get even more epic since I am now sitting in Durham, North Carolina. But why not start off my second southern adventure of April with biscuits in Chicago?

                                                                          

This basket of biscuits comes with 3 lovely biscuits, creamy butter that is made with syrup, and hot pepper jelly. Bridgid took one bite and said, "I want to drink this every day". Sweet, hot, flaky, spicy. All of the things one would want in a biscuit experience. Paired quite well with our dry cava.


We then shared a green salad and the mushroom french fries debris po' boy. Bridgid is a vegetarian (I know, so many vegetarians in my life) and these were basically the only vegetarian items on the menu.

The salad was exactly what I wanted, fresh and bright, lots of dill with a creole mustard vinaigrette. A little feta really brought the whole salad together. The Po' Boy was good: not nearly enough mushroom debris. The bread was tasty, and the flavors were all good but I feel like the filling was just lacking. It probably didn't help that I was just in New Orleans eating the true stuff, but I think if they just stuff that sandwich more, it would be a world of difference.          

                     


In Summation: A cool joint! Probably I would be back for cocktails and snacks, not for a full meal. Not when there are so many other choices in Logan Square for amazing food.


Bridg and I decided to hit up another cocktail joint about a block and a half away, The Whistler.  This is a super popular bar in Logan Square, and both of us had been here before. They make really inventive and delicious cocktails, and we wanted to see what they were up to this season. The bar that Bridg is a bartender at doesn't really allow her to flex her cocktail making skills: it's more a RUM AND COKE! BEER! JAG BOMB! kinda place. So she loves to see what other bars are doing, since there are so many interesting cocktail lounges around Chicago.

There were two cocktails I really wanted to try here, but I ended up with The Pastry War. I mean, how could I not get a drink called pastry war? It was tequila, cognac, apple, almond, cinnamon, beetroot and lime. WHOA. I was a little nervous, as that is a lot of crazy in one glass. It was pretty sweet, but very good. An ideal way to start our night off.

In summation: I will always go The Whistler. Better early when it is not wall to wall people, it does get completely insane in there. 

We then moseyed down the block to a bar neither of us had been to but have always meant to: The Owl. I have always loved the sign for this place, it is super old school and the eyes have lights that blink. So great. We went in and found a HUGE bar, and we were the only people in there (again, it was early: like 8pm on a Sunday night). We bellied up to the bar and checked out the cocktail list. 

Bridgid and I chose the same cocktail, not something that normally happens. It is called The Gem: sarsaparilla whiskey, rye, ginger beer, lemon juice and bitters. Welcome to my new favorite drink. This thing is perfection, warm and dark but with bright notes. We may or may not have had 3. Each. And a shot of four roses with the bartender for good measure. 

In Summation: New favorite bar in Chicago, now that Bonny's 4 a.m. is no longer. The Owl is homey like the bars in Milwaukee with cocktails and staff that are excellent. Thanks The Owl! 

See you in 5 days, Chicago! Off to The Triangle to Visit Jecca and Eli!