Chicago




I'm sure some of you were wondering where I've been. I've been in the lovely city of Chicago for a week. I've been to Chicago a couple of times and each time I fall more and more in love with the city. I could live there if it wasn't for the weather. It's just a great town with enough hustle and bustle and great local culture. There is delcious food and shopping just waiting around every corner. The city does have it's chain stores but there are many local spots to find that unique thing that you have been waiting for. Here are some reviews of what the city has to offer.

Yoshi's
Tuesday night we headed out to the Lakeview area for dinner. Out of our list of reccomendations we decided on Yoshi's. Given the name you would think it was an Asian place however, it serves "contemporary American" cuisine. I started off with a tuna tartare appetizer. On my plate I found a generous mound of tuna sitting a top a large dollop of guacamole with freshly fried tortilla strips on the side. The dish also included an oyster shooter flavored with jalapeno. The oyster shooter was orgasmic so I asked for another. For my entree I had the spaghetnni with shirmp and scallops. I was nearly full from the appetizer but I ate every last bite of my pasta. Yoshi's is a must eat if you like great interesting food. Entrees will run about $20-$25 dollars but it was well worth it. Also Tuesday is half price martini night.

Frontera Grill
Chef Rick Bayless is midly famous as celebrity chefs go. He is rarely on the food network but had a show on PBS. He is known as the best chef that does Mexican cuisine. I shared appetizers with the group to sample more of the food at Frontera. The ceviche was very fresh as the squid was very tender without a hint of chewiness. The guacomole was just okay and with it's high price it should have been much better. My entree of carne asada came out cold but I excused that because we ordered around the time the fire department and the EMTS showed up. They brought a delerious looking employee who may have been burned. The second plate of carne asada was much better than the first one. The meat was actually medium this time and the black beans and plantains were very flavor full. I didn't think the food lived up to the hype. I've had better Mexican many other times from less expensive places.

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me

For some intellectual stimulation, go see a taping of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. It's a very funny weekly news quiz they record every Thursday at the Chase Auditorium downtown. They have celebrity comedians every week who participate in the news quiz and they are hilarious and very politically incorrect. This week they had the very funnyMo Rocca who often does commentary for VH1's I Love the...(70s, 80s, 90's). I'm sure 90% of my taping was edited because they were so raunchy. It was very very fun.

Funky Buddah

Funky Buddha known as "The Buddah" to insiders is always a very fun club. People in Chicago dance their asses off. They don't care they just have fun. The Buddah plays a mix of hip hop, rnb, chicago house, oldies, rock. You name it they just might play it. A very mixed crowd comes to The Buddah and there isn't a hint of pretention. Be sure to shake your body when you are in town. Friday and Sunday nights are the reccomened nights for this place.