Chicago Semester

Eating My Way Around The World, Without Leaving Chicago

Posted by Phil DeBoer in Around Town in Staff Stories | Jul 18, 2011

Even though I had only been living in Chicago for about a month when last year’s Taste of Chicago rolled around, I must admit I’m pretty embarrassed to have missed out on the iconic festival. Call it a rookie mistake, I guess. While my absence could be defended with my naivety, at the time, regarding the significance of this annual event, it’s difficult to consider yourself a true Chicagoan when the city you call home hosts the world’s largest food festival – and you have never experienced it. Therefore, ever since I realized what a grievous error I committed in dismissing my lack of attendance last year, I’ve been waiting for the next Taste of Chicago to arrive so I could finally “taste” what all the excitement is about.

                I decided to spend my day off on Friday in Grant Park, exploring the festival. Things got off to a slow start, however, due to formidable masses of Armageddon-esque clouds that loomed overhead and blocked out all sunlight. Seriously, the sight of these daunting clouds above the Chicago skyline, combined with the sudden gusts of tornado-like winds made me sincerely wonder if the end of the world was upon us. Fortunately, the apocalyptic clouds dissipated by mid-afternoon and I felt much more comfortable venturing outside my studio-apartment-suddenly-turned-bomb-shelter freshly stocked to capacity with bottled water and Wheat Thins. You can kind of get an idea of what the sky looked like from this picture:

                I knew I would be blogging about my experience, but I had no idea what to expect at the festival and didn’t go in with any sort of game plan, so to speak. I should also mention that I’m by no means a food critic of any type. I don’t even consider myself a “foodie.” In fact, truth be told, I hardly ever eat out and have little-to-no variance in my daily diet, so I’m hardly a worthy author of gastronomic activity. But, I am a human being with functioning taste buds and some time on his hands, so… I guess that’s good enough for me.

                The first thing I did when I arrived at the Taste of Chicago was take a quick walk around the premises – soaking in the sights, sounds and smells. After getting a vague idea of what kinds of foods were available for tasting, I still had no idea where to begin. Eventually, I chose a pizzeria stand nearby that touted itself as “America’s #1 Heart Healthy Pizza in America.” Now, I understand “heart healthy pizza” may sound self-contradictory in nature, but I’m a sucker for brash, unrealistic marketing claims, so I took their word for it.

                My sample slice of deep-dish spinach was enjoyable, but pizza is nothing new to me. I then decided I wanted to try something I’ve never had before, so when I came across an African restaurant called Vee-Vee’s that offered “Fried Plantain with Sautéed Goat Meat” I knew I had to check it out. I didn’t think the plantains had an especially distinct flavor, but I still liked it. The goat meat reminded me of pork and was broiled in a delightfully spicy sauce, but much of the meat was still attached to the bone, which made consumption difficult since they only provided me with a plastic fork.

                Again, ever the one to easily assent to bold allegations, I had to stop by Robinson’s to get some of their “No. 1 Ribs.” After tasting them, I’m not sure I’d consider them “No. 1” (after all, what exactly is the grading rubric we’re using? And who else is in this rib competition anyway?) but I thought these ribs were incredibly tender and juicy and had a rich and flavorful barbeque sauce.

                The Gold Coast Dogs stand caught my attention since I live in the Gold Coast and have never seen their restaurant in my neighborhood. Yet despite the irony of their name, I sampled half of a “Chicago dog” and thoroughly enjoyed it.

                As I confessed earlier, I don’t often eat out at many restaurants, but when I do eat out and see a menu item with crab in it, I will almost always order it. Therefore, when I saw the “Crab Cake Nuggets” offered at Polo Café and Catering I had to pause and ask for some. I can confidently say don’t regret this decision whatsoever.

                Next, I came to Smoke Daddy Rhythm and Bar B Que. Let me be clear, if there’s one thing I like more than a witty play-on-words, it’s a pulled pork sandwich, which is exactly what I ordered here. Win-win.

                As you can imagine, I was starting to get pretty full at this point, but I had waited a year for this day to arrive so there was no way I was going to wimp out on eating more food. Around this time I got the idea to try to sample a food item from every continent (excluding Antarctica and Australia for obvious reasons). I had already covered North America, Europe, and Africa with previous food samples, which left me with only South America and Asia. I was confused at first as to whether Texas de Brazil was considered Texan or Brazilian, but the “Brazilian Steakhouse” text on the stand’s sign quickly cleared things up for me.  Here I ordered the Garlic-Marinated Picanha, which I guess is a type of steak. It was bursting with flavor and very well may have been my favorite food sample of the day.

                My next mission was to find a restaurant representing Asia. The Noodle Vietnamese from Chinatown caught my eye, but I was so full, I could only manage to eat a few Crab Rangoons. (Conveniently, this decision allowed me to simultaneously adhere to my “see crab menu item, order crab menu item” rule I explained earlier).

                With my global tasting conquest completed, I was feeling pretty good about myself, but I knew I couldn’t consider the day a total success unless I finished it off with some dessert. I remembered our students have interned with Eli’s Cheesecake before, so when I saw their stand I had to get a slice. I ordered their Original Plain Cheesecake with Strawberries and, I must say, it was the perfect ending to the most epic eating adventure I’ve ever experienced. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find a treadmill to work off these extra pounds… just as soon as I wake up from my food-induced coma…