Chicago om nom nom.

[amanuensis1]

Terminus in a couple of days, yay! I was actually just in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, so my list of non-fan things I want to accomplish is short. And everything involves food and everything's within walking distance.

-Weber Grill. This was a great casual restaurant, with terrific steaks and burgers, a menu with a lot of variety, and one of the best chocolate malts I've ever had. And not too expensive! Reasonable prices and great steak don't always show up together. I'm not making any big group dinner plans because there are enough planned events as it is, but I'll be hitting this place for dinner at least once, if anyone would like to join me.

-Vosges Chocolates. My favorite of their bars all involve salt. I think I've eaten everything I brought home. Must get more truffles. Mmmmmm.

-Chicago-style pizza. This might be good for carry-out. I love Uno's but I can get Uno's where I live, so, more likely it'll be Gino's East or Giordano's. Or whatever else pops up within walking distance and sounds yummy.

-Argo Tea. Like Starbucks for tea. Creamy sweet tea drinks, both cold and hot.

-Wow Bao. Chinese steamed buns and other goodies. Great for portable food. Their homemade pomegranate ginger ale is fantastic.

Comments

[sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com]

Vosges chocolate with the grey sea salt in it? It's a little piece of heaven. GOD. I love that stuff so much.

And Argo tea! I love Argo - they ship their tea blends, and they're really cheap. Their Armenian mint is out of this world.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yup. Vosges has, like, four or five different bars with four or five different kinds of sea salt in it. Love 'em all.

[pxr5.livejournal.com]

Note: if you want to make more of a meal out of the pomegranate ginger ale, try Ben Pao just over the river. It's the parent of wow bao (well, it's all lettuce entertain you, but it's a more direct line parent) and it has mostly tasty chinese food.

Although best chinese is still to hop the red line down to cermak and eat in chinatown :-)

(ditto for dim sum, actually.)

Alas, I cannot make Terminus as I'll be at the Worldcon in Denver, but I hope you have fun here!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Ben Pao? Why, we were there too! Nifty! Yeah, very chi-chi American-type Asian cuisine, but tasty.

And, yes, if I were in need of serious Chinese food/dim sum it would be Chinatown. But sometimes it is great just to grab a box of bao and a beverage and munch.

[pxr5.livejournal.com]

Yep, and Ben Pao has the same ginger ales. mmmmm, tasty.

Dim sum is my favorite breakfast, i think, as no one makes it to chinatown early, so no lines, and mmmmm, tasty food.

(btw, if you need any good sf/f to read while here, my hubbie stocks the SF over at the B&N at jackson and state, and it's pretty fully stocked for a chain :-) )

Believe it or not, but I've not yet been to the weber grill. Might stop by, now that I have a rec.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I looooove dim sum, and, yes, best to go at 10:00 am and eat it for brunch that way!

I have the latest Kushiel series and Lois Bujold books for reading, but if I devour them too quickly I'll check out the B &N! Hell, I'll check out the B&N anyway. Can't have too many books!

[pxr5.livejournal.com]

I can rec _The Phoenix_ (just off archer in chinatown) pretty highly for dim sum, or the main three happiness at the corner of cermak and wentworth if you want more greasy street food :-)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, great! If there's interest for dim sum while I'm there I'll definitely remember these recs.

[hpstrangelove.livejournal.com]

Do you know if anyone has plans for dinner before Quimby's? Weber Grill sounds like it might be an option - if you'd like to go, I'd be happy to go with.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I wasn't aware of any! I'll be getting in late afternoon Weds., though, so, I don't think I'll have time before Quimby's for a serious sit-down dinner. I was expecting just to check in, freshen up, go down to lobby meet-up. Unless I get in early or am willing to be late for Quimby's I don't think I can count on it. But maybe we can come up with another time, 'cos it'd be fun!

[hpstrangelove.livejournal.com]

Sounds good - I wasn't sure how much time there'd be before Quimby's.

Are these places near the Hilton? I'm not very familiar with that area of town - at least not recently; I use to go there back in the 70's, but I imagine it's changed quite a lot since then! And I love deep dish Chicago pizza. They only have NY style in San Antonio - yuk.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

The closest Gino's East that I know of (though there might be one I've missed?) and the Weber Grill are both what I would call "a nice long walk" in the Chicago downtown, about a mile and a half from the hotel. Downtown walking distance always feels shorter to me than "across fields and valleys" distance, because there's so much to see. Giordano's and Wow Bao and Argo Tea are closer. They have multiple locations too.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, and--I love Brooklyn style pizza myself, too! It's so hard to find. I have to rely on Domino's and that's about it, where I live.

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

I massively heart chashu bao. :D When my husband and I were vacationing in San Francisco a few years ago, we found a little place in Chinatown that had them for a quarter each. From that point on that was about half of what we ate until we left, LOL! Soooo good!

Angie

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Bao are nummy and so portable. Keep 'em in hotel room, take 'em on the plane. Yay!

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh, you're making me hungry.

Re: OM NOM NOM NOM

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I'm making me hungry! :D

OM NOM NOM NOM

[coell.livejournal.com]

I've been all over the US, and never had better food than Chicago. I miss living 4 hours away; I used to drive down as often as I could afford. The one restaurant I would actually consider buying a plane ticket from Nevada?

Flat Top Grill

Re: OM NOM NOM NOM

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've been to something like! They're novel and fun.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I have half a Barcelona bar staring at me as I type. Vosges is heavenly.

See you at Terminus!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Ah ha ha, that's the one here in my purse!

Yes, see you!

[beckaandzac.livejournal.com]

Chicago is my favorite city ever, and just reading this is making me miss it. (And I'm bummed that I couldn't go to Terminus.) If you like old books and have any time to spare, check out O'Gara and Wilson on 57th St in Hyde Park, because it's fabulous (and not just because I used to work there). :)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

What is it? Food? A bookstore? I could google it but it's more fun to ask!

[beckaandzac.livejournal.com]

It's an "antiquarian" bookstore, so they mostly deal in books, but they sometimes buy up estates, so they also sell weird assorted knicknacks and things like pulp magazines from the '30s (I had to inventory those once, which was hilarious).

[slumber.livejournal.com]

VOSGES CHOCOLATE WITH BACON IS A MUST-TRY! Omg, thank you SO much for reminding me, I'm gonna have to buy a few bars to share with Terminus goers. :D

And Argo Tea is awesome.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Isn't Mo's Bacon Bar fabulous? All smoky-crumbly!

[slumber.livejournal.com]

mmmmmmm,yes. it's the only flavor i've really liked, though. what were the others that you like?

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Let's see...the goji bar, the almond bar, the bacon bar...I also love the curry bar, just discovered that one. The ones with chilies are also great; nice little bite in the back of the throat and good when you want your chocolate really dark that day. I still haven't tried the Wooloomooloo bar, though.

[slumber.livejournal.com]

Perfect, I'm gonna go try those out too!

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

I am so jealous of everyone going to Terminus. I will have to learn astral projection so I can go and haunt you all.

No hp_darkfest for you?

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Astral projection! Teach it to me once you've got it mastered. ^_^

Love, I'm not cut out for exchange fests. I've learned this. They are work. Being told, "I'd like a story with these characters and these kinks" leaves me O_O in regards to plot, and when I've anonymously queried recipients as to a storyline they would like, I've either been told, "Oh, whatever you want is fine," or given vague concepts that don't inspire me. I can't put myself in that situation again.

The fest format I enjoy is when people submit plotbunnies and writers come along and choose plotbunnies out of the list. The plotbunnies that make me say, "THAT one," and make me sit down that minute and start to write--those are pure pleasure.

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Makes total sense to me. Darkfest is not an exchange, just so you know. :) It's prompt based.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

*is puzzled* I looked at the sign-up post...I didn't see any prompts?

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

You leave a word and preferred pairings in your sign up post. After sign ups close, you will be sent a measure of verse, poem or quotation as your prompt. If the first one doesn't work for you, you can request another.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see! My bad, assuming it was an exchange fest.

Yeah, I do better with a big list of "X/Y trapped by Z, must work together to escape, hatesex, biting a must," "X is brokenhearted when Y leaves, Z offers comfort; breathplay preferred," etc., and I get to pick and choose. ^_^

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. :)