Chicago is my kind of town

Yesterday we left Cleveland for Chicago and arrived just before it began to seriously pour. I felt so sorry for all the bikers I saw who were sopping wet. It was not a good time to be riding at all.

But before we left Ohio, we had one last place to check out: the West Side Market . It was basically two indoor markets: one for produce, another for everything else, but mostly meats, cheeses and baked goods. Since there wouldn't be too many interesting places we'd pass along the way to Chicago, we ended up picking up a bunch of ingredients to make sandwiches for lunch instead. There were a few stands that sold some cool items, one of which is pictured here: home made "Slim Jim's." We got the Cajun (pretty good) and Regular (pretty basic).

I got so excited (I actually squealed a little) when I saw an Apple Fritter stand that I had to get one. But once we were in the car, I realized I'd been scammed.
As I tore into it (literally, I kept tearing off piece after piece until it was no longer in recognizable form) I saw that there were NO APPLES. None! And the edges weren't even crispy. The whole thing was soft and puffy. I was sorely disappointed. If it were labeled "cinnamon donut" then it would've been fantastic. But it wasn't. So of course I was disappointed.

When we were about an hour away from Chicago, we stopped at a rest stop with a Starbucks in it. It was time for my afternoon coffee. I couldn't believe it. The tall iced mocha was $4.00. $4.00! For a small! I got a venti iced americano instead, for $2.95.

Once in Chicago, we stopped by a former Kendall culinary school classmate's dog bakery in Old Town, The Furry Beastro, where we picked up a new blue harness for Gus and some dog treats (all baked in-house). He looked very handsome trotting out in his new "outfit."

By the time we arrived at Marsha's, we were starving. Dinner was at a sushi restaurant called Tank , which had a wide array of rolls, including a fried oyster one that was fairly unique. The best part, however, had to be the fried calamari appetizer, which had a light and crisp salt and lemon pepper battered crust and came with an aioli-like honey-wasabi dipping sauce.

This morning, we went to a cool new bakery in the Ukranian Village called Sweet Cakes. The baker is a friend of Charles's, and her father, who owns the place, rang me up. Both of them were incredibly sweet and friendly, and we had a nice conversation before Ivan and I enjoyed our iced mocha, brioche bostock, and blueberry scone outside while Gus watched. Everything was delicious and fresh, but I couldn't help but compare the scone to Kenji's, which have become somewhat ingrained in my mind/stomach (his are still flakier).

Next, we're off to lunch at Wishbone , a Southern-style joint. I'm probably going to wimp out and get a veggie burger! More later...