Chicago Foodies

Eating Gluten Free is Hard! Or is it?

I was tested years ago for food allergies and the blood tests proved to be inconclusive so I never pursued it further. On a recent trip to my doctor she was reviewing some of the old lab results as reference for our conversation and noted that although I tested negative for Celiac Disease my scores were on the higher end of the range. She recommended eliminating gluten from my diet for a couple of weeks to see if it made a difference. She said, “Really, how hard could it be?” How hard could it be? My initial thought was extremely hard. I had been eating wheat at every meal every day of my life. It took me several weeks just to mentally prepare myself for the task. I decided to start the diet on a day that I went to The Loving Hut in Edgewater for lunch and noticed gluten free symbols next to several dishes. I was encouraged to see that I could go gluten free and still enjoy going out to eat.

The Great Leap Forward: Acre Restaurant's Killer Taps

I've been to Andersonville's Acre Restaurant a handful of times and during each visit it has increasingly grown on me. It's a pleasant space, having taken over the for the former inhabitant, Charlie's Ale House, whose beers were sometimes good but usually lacking.  At Acre, you can stay out on the street until at least 11 on a Friday and still get service there.  (Hello, City of Chicago.)  The food, as I understand it, is sourced from local, sustainable growers.  The pork burger was exceedingly fresh. 

But the heart of the matter here is beer and Acre is nailing it in that department.  The first few times I ventured in there I didn't see a lot of impressive handles.  They featured a lot of the best stuff that you can find at many Lincoln Park sports bars.  Well, that has dramatically changed.  Several weeks ago, Acre held a Stone tap takeover.  While there have been a number of these since Stone's 2010 Chicago arrival, few that I recall have featured such unique beers. 

14-Course Underground Valentine's Day Dinner

Chef Iliana Regan is trying something a bit different from her usual for Valentine's Day. Instead of a communal table, seating is by couple.

Not only that but wine pairings are included courtesy of Tracy Kellner from Provenance. If you're looking for something unique, this may be it. Of course seating is really limited so be quick.

It's $110 per person again for 14-courses and wine pairings. Not really beat-able. Email for reservations.

 

Chicago Foodies Weekend Dining Deal! 12-Courses for $75

Now's your chance to experience underground dining at a discount. This weekend Friday and Saturday, One Sister is offering a special rate of $75 a person for 12-courses of hauté cuisine on a first come basis. There are only a few seats left so quickly grab a friend or two and take advantage of Trio, Alinea and Schwa alum, Chef Iliana Regan's fantastic gastronomy. You'll get to experience foie gras ice cream, fish taco bubble tea, scallops, sweetbreads, buffalo tartare, and 7 more courses.

It's a deal even without the discount. To snag a seat, call 773-598-0602 or email onesisterinc@gmail.com

Turkish Cuisine and Bakery in Andersonville

I walked in to this place at 6:30 on a Thursday night, and the first thing I noticed is that the large BYO restaurant was empty.  The second thing is that I looked around for the bakery and didn't see one, so I assumed the bread given to our table was the product of the "bakery".   Not being extremely hungry, I only ordered one main course, something called the Hunkar Begendi, also known as the Sultan's Delight.

Apart Pizza

    After a night of holiday drinking we came home to find nothing in the fridge and a hankering for pizza.  Knowing that our favorite deep dish from Guillivers in Rogers Park would take much longer than our hunger could stand we decided to go in the opposite direction (both in location and pizza style) and order traditional Italian style pizza from Apart Pizza in Andersonville.  Since we had never ordered from there the guy on the phone was very helpful in making recommendations as they have 24 different varieties on the menu to choose from. 

en•Thai•ce – Ya get it?

I've driven past en•Thai•ce several times and shaken my head. It always reminded me of a hair salon's attempt to be funny. In any case months later I ended up getting delivery and it was terrific.  

The Little India Restaurant

I first heard of The Little India Restaurant on Bryn Mawr at the Edgewater Dinner Crawl.  After sampling their samosas at the event I decided to head back to the restaurant to try more but unfortunately, was not as impressed the second time around.

Big Jones

Big Jones on Clark St. in Andersonville has only been open for a couple of months but it has been getting write-ups and rave reviews everywhere you look.  My interest was definitely piqued so we decided to skip the crowded dinner rush and check out brunch instead. 

For a Saturday afternoon at 1PM the restaurant was not over-crowded and we were seated immediately.  This scored big points with me as one of my pet peeves of the weekend brunch is the hour-long wait.  The restaurant has a very pleasant, relaxing décor reminiscent of New Orleans but not overbearing.  The waiter brought us menus and right away we noticed the ample variety of southern style egg dishes with savory meats and gravies.  Hot beignets were brought to the table right after ordering and satisfied my sweet tooth, especially with coffee. 

Edgewater Dinner Crawl – This Thursday Night

Sorry I didn't get this up sooner. Tomorrow night Thursday the 26th is the Edgewater Dinner Crawl.
Tickets are $25 each and if you order online you get a free subscription to Timeout Chicago.  A portion of proceeds also goes to a charity that you specify online as well. In addition to food local theatre companies will be entertaining as well as historic home tours and hand/chair massages. Not to mention free Red Bull.

Participating restaurants:

Apart Pizza // Anna Held // Ben's Noodle & Rice //Bryn Mawr Deli // Cotes du Rhone
Flourish Bakery Cafe // Francesca's Bryn Mawr // Pepitone's // Sabai-Dee // Shinobu Japanese
Starbucks // Sweet Occasions & more // That Little Mexican Cafe // The Little India Restaurant

Order by phone: :  773-856-5191 or 773-506-4016 Or HERE on line

The event is put on by the local Edgewater Development Council

Furama's Dim Sum Menu

Here's the Dim Sum menu from Furama. Click here to see full size.

Furama – Dim Sum on the Northside

Just across from Thai Pastry on Broadway in a part of town that's known for Vietnamese and Thai is a nice Chinese spot to get Dim Sum. Lots of the enormity and pomp you expect from Chinatown is right there. From the huge dining room to the linoleum and throwaway plastic tablecloths to the validated parking, it's an experience that I'd expect from Chinatown. Granted the decor, if you even call it that, would be subsistence-non-porous... cheap-o but the food was pretty good and in a pinch it's Dim Sum without the drive and it's legit.

Alice and Friends

Alice and Friends is a vegetarian restaurant on the north side in Edgewater. I've been there several times and have never had a bad meal. I'll go as far as saying that it's not only my go-to veggie spot, it may be my favorite restaurant in Edgewater. It's also almost entirely vegan.

The un-meat selection consists of beef, duck, chicken alternatives and my dinner companion questioned how it was possible for someone who doesn't eat meat to make food that tastes like meat. How can the chefs be vegetarians? Who knows but the bottom line is that the different pseudo-meats are disturbingly close to the genuine article.

East Africa Restaurant: My Somali Breakfast

It's nice being off on President's Day. So what to do for breakfast? With M. Henry just down the street on Clark what should I do? Get my car washed and have some Somali food. As my car filled up with gas at the Marathon station I noticed, as I've noticed for a long time, East Africa Restaurant and decided on a quick bite.

They make no effort to hide the nature of the spot. It's a cabbie place and to be honest they seemed surprised to see me stay to eat. It's not a pretty restaurant. But the food is pretty cheap, the menu is sparse and the decor consists of a pool table that is covered with plaster and a computer for internet access.

Viet Bistro

There's always something fun about going to a new restaurant. I'm always hoping it will be something new and when the place is 3 blocks walking distance all the better. Viet Bistro is a new restaurant just off Broadway on Devon from the owners of Pasteur, a really nice French-Vietnamese restaurant on north Broadway. Viet is their bistro. Entrees are priced from $8 for veggie options to $18 for a whole red snapper that was recommended but not tried.

Indian Gourmet

One of the perks we envisioned upon moving to Edgewater was the proximity to Devon and all of the Indian and Pakistani restaurants that we'd be able to order delivery from.  Shortly after we moved in we went to Devon and started collecting menus from our favorite places, as well as from those on our list of places to try.  Unfortunately, to our great disappointment, none of them would deliver.  They claimed it wouldn't taste as good.

Spacca Napoli

A nice walk to a new pizza place would be a good appetite stimulant and help digestion on the way home. The only problem was when we realized that Spacca Napoli was on Sunnyside, not Summerdale. So we stopped at Joie de Vin, next to Pauline's on Balmoral, had a glass of wine and then started our additional mile-long march for pizza.

A total of 2.7 miles usually means eat like a pig but somehow we didn't. We simply ordered the four cheese pie, two more glasses of wine and the antipasti plate. While it's not enough to really judge this place, it was a tasty evening and delivered on the artisanal wood-fire style pizza where we were disappointed by Pizza D.O.C.

Hamburger Mary's

We finally got to Hamburger Mary's after driving past its sign many times. It's a big sign and, hey, you always want a burger, don't-cha? I settled for splitting a burger, rings, and coleslaw. But that's okay, the burger's are huge.

The name of the place and the style of the menu seem to say diner with burger's defined by Mary's Special, Proud Mary, etc. however the velvet curtains, loud club music videos (of people who likely skip the burger) skew it some which I think is a good thing. Another Johnny Rocket's/Ed Debevic's type place isn't as needed.

Taqueria Uptown - Tacos al Pastor

Tacos al Pastor is something some people crave. Like good french onion soup or the perfect pastrami sandwich... the perfect burger even. It's the type of thing that takes kitchen space and a rotisserie, not to mention a big hunk of pork.

On a weekend walk about where we found ourselves on Ridge and Broadway we looked at El Norte but it seemed really empty and there, across the street, was "Taqueria Uptown" a more non-descript name I could not invent. It's a bar counter and a few tables and sits on the North East corner of the Broadway/Bryn Mawr/Ridge corner.

Jin Ju

Aside from Korean BBQ, I've really only eaten Korean food once. It was at a restaurant that I could recognize and return to without knowing the name (which is written in Korean on their rather large sign). Jin Ju is nowhere near that type of environment. It's not quiet. It's not predominately Korean and I could figure out, or was told exactly what was what.

It's a Korean restaurant for Americans... easy enough. But oddly it's pretty unique in that respect. From myriad plates of Kim Chee and other "items" to the phonetically challenging dish names Korean food is pretty unusual and has not really been geared to Americans in any major way.

So while we have adopted Thai food as the Asian fare de rigueur and Vietnamese pho is more unusual, Korean is pretty much off the map. But maybe Jin Ju will help to change that.