The Windy City blew me away- cullinarily speaking

Darren and I have decided that we are going to take some sort of trip every year for our anniversary. Some years it may be a week-long extravaganza to a breathtaking international destination, and others it might be a simple weekend getaway. This year we went for option B and spent a weekend in Chicago. Sure we saw some shows, went to the aquarium and took our picture with the Bean, but anyone who knows us knows the real reason we planned this vacation, or any vacation really: the food.

Every meal was carefully planned so that we would be sure to hit up all the local favorites. We knew we had to get at least one hot dog, deep dish pizza, and steak. Two of the three were actually worth all the hype.

For our hot dog, we decided to head off the beaten path to Hot Doug's Encased Meat Emporium. We rode the El out of the Loop, then hopped on a bus and rode through neighborhoods that were anything but touristy, until we arrived at a tiny shop on the corner of a fairy residential street where the line to get in already reached around the block. Two and a half hours later we finally made our way to the counter to order. Now don't let the name scare you. When I first read the words "encased meat", I too almost gagged, but there was nothing gag-worthy about these savory sausages. Aside from basic Chicago-style dogs, this place specializes in crazy concoctions and gourmet toppings. Their sausages range from pork, beef and chicken to alligator, venison and duck. Toppings like raspberry-cherry mustard, truffle aioli, fois gras mousse and mango-passionfruit mayonaisse set this place apart from the run-of-the-mill hot dog carts in the heart of the city. And if that's not enough to tempt you, how about some duck fat fries? Let me slow that down for you: duck...fat...fries. Only served on Fridays and Saturdays, these fries were like a good man (hot and rich!), but not overly greasy. I have a slight french fry addiction and these certainly didn't help. Restaurant choice number one was a success.

For our pizza, we went to a classic. Gino's East with writing all over the walls and a big, gaudy sign out front looked like tourist heaven, but when we went inside it wasn't particularly crowded. We ordered a deep dish with pepperoni and spinach (had to throw a vegetable in there to make ourselves feel better after the duck fat fries). The pizza was everything I had hoped for, and the crust almost tasted like a funnel cake. It was easy to see why this place is a Chicago staple.

As for the steak, biggest disappointment of the trip. We went to Gene and Georgetti, which is always listed in American Way Magazine as one of the top ten independent steakhouses in America. I don't know if they are just taking Gene or Georgetti's word for it, but certainly whoever put them on that list never actually ate there. The waiter was rude, the bread was stale, the mashed potatoes tasted like they came out of a box and the steaks had absolutely no flavor. It's generally a bad sign when the waiter brings out bottles of ketchup and A1 before the steaks even come out. It's basically like an apology up front. Apology not accepted.

We made up for that unfortunate experience by eating at two wonderful local restaurants that I put in a class called "Top Chef-y". It's a technical term, I know. The first was called MK. We sat under a beautiful skylight which filled the room with sunshine for our pre-show dinner. They immediately brought out some sort of first taste served in a tiny ceramic spoon. It was light and citrusy and meant to prepare our palettes for the meal to come...I guess. Whatever it was, I liked it, I loved it, I wanted some more of it. I had roast duck with artichokes and Darren had grilled salmon. Both were very tasty, but our appetizer/sidedish stole the show so much that just now I had a hard time recalling what I actually ate for dinner. As mentioned before, I have a french fry addiction and I have no plans for recovery any time soon. As an appetizer, we ordered french fries (pommes frites at a place like this) which came with truffle cream. This truffle cream is one of the top three foods I have ever eaten. I'm a sucker for a good dipping sauce anyway, but I still have dreams about this truffle cream. I almost asked for a refill, which apparently is common because the menu even lists the price for "extra truffle cream". I think Darren expressed our feelings best when he said, "I want to grow truffles in our backyard so I can make this every day!"

After we saw a show (Jersey Boys, MUCH better than I was expecting), we hopped the bus out to a dessert restaurant called Hot Chocolate. Again, very "Top Chef-y" where the presentation is just as important as the taste. My dessert came with a tiny shot of peanut butter milkshake and different drizzles of all sorts of sugary creations. The portions were tiny but the flavors were intense. They also serve, as you might expect, several versions of hot chocolate. Milk, dark, white and various combinations of the three served warm, iced or with a shot of liqueur. This restaurant is dedicated to those who love chocolate and is open late, when the chocolate cravings usually hit. It's a few steps off of a major intersection of night-life, so we didn't feel all alone but we didn't feel over crowded either, although the tables in the restaurant were very close together and I'm pretty sure I put my elbow in someone's drink while trying to sit down. But in a place serving so much chocolate, everyone is so happy that no one seemed to notice or care.

As our tastebud adventure came to a close, we felt pretty good about our choices. Since we walked everywhere or took the El instead of taking cabs, eating our way through Chicago wasn't too bad on our wallets or our waistlines. But next time we'll know better: skip the steakhouse and order that second round of truffle cream.