Trippin': Chicago - Fox & Obel

401 E. Illinois
Chicago IL 60611

Fox & Obel is similar to Whole Foods and big poppa and I headed on over there to grab a bite at their cafe around 10pm. I don't think I was hungry but I have this tendency to look at menus, see something I like, and then I'm miraculously hungry. It must be a gene only chubby have. I can't really remember what we ordered but I can say that it really wasn't all that great. I had this turkey, brie and cranberry sandwich. I asked for no cranberry but it still came with it. I had to send it back and I'm sure the workers were a bit miffed since it was late. Big poppa had a soup and some penne with marinara. His dishes came out room temp. That's never a good thing. The market itself is really nice and cute. There's a lot of fancy snacks, knick knacks and bric-a-bracs. Wow so RHYMY! This would be the perfect place to stop by to pick up things for a little picnic. Big poppa and I took a cab there and decided to walk thirty minutes back to our hotel. I wanted to stop by Millennium Park anyways to check out cloud gate at night. So pretty! I want one in my front yard. Isn't it funny how we're willing to walk anywhere when we travel but parking one block away from your destination in Houston is considered far.

Restaurant: Cafe Bello

Cafe Bello is where La Strada used to be. Big poppa and I had dinner with mini and cooper there in hopes of enjoying the fantastic weather. But the fantastic weather had quickly turned into something that was a bit windier and chillier than we would have liked so the upstairs patio area was enclosed in plastic tarp. The starters that we chose mos def out shined our entrees. The margherita pizzeta and pappardelle al telefono were so good that I wished I had just double ordered that and called it a night. Everything else was just eh. My pork chop came with lentils and I never knew what lentils were and how it tasted. Now I can say that I do not like lentils. Since I don't eat meat during the week, I always read that I should eat lentils cos they're a good source of protein. But forget that now. Blah! We skipped dessert there and went off to Empire cafe for some coffee and cake. It was a nice semi-progressive meal.


Food in order of appearance:
margherita pizzeta
pappardelle al telefono
sapori di mare
cernia
pork chop with lentils

Trippin': Chicago - Lou Malnati's

During my first visit to Chicago, I tried Uno's and Gino's East deep dish pizzas and was not a fan. At all. The sauce on both pizzas were really runny and the crust tasted almost like cornbread to me, and I hate cornbread. I had intended on giving it another try with the whole pizza battle but that pizza battle never happened. While reading up other deep dish places in Chicago, I saw the words BUTTERCRUST on Lou Malnati's menu and put Lou Malnati's at the top of my list. Since big poppa and I weren't super hungry yet, we decided to order a small personal size deep dish just to try it. Oh how I wish I had ordered a bigger one cos it was so good! That crust was delicious! We took the pizza to go and headed off to Grant Park to sit and eat our pizza. Our very tiny pizza. Haha. It's funny cos just this week the travel channel special on pizzas came on and Lou Malnati's was on it. They even have packaged pizzas that you can have shipped to wherever you are. When I came back to the states, two different people told me that their fave pizza place in Chicago was Lou Malnati's. And now it might even be mine. I still have to try Giordano's.

Trippin': Chicago - Caribou Coffee

Mmmm. Wut do I love. Coffee. As you may already know, when in a different city, I just gotta get my coffee fix at a coffee place other than Starbuck's. Just around the corner of our hotel was Caribou Coffee so big poppa and I went in and ordered some drinks and just hung out there for a bit. The coffee was okay. Can't beat Coffee Bean Tea & Leaf. While I drank my coffee, I noticed these reusable coffee collars or coffee sleeves and thought they were so cute! I bought some for my sisters and my co-workers since some of them had birthdays that same month. I use mine almost every time I buy coffee. I love hearing people rave about it. Haha.