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We had some time to kill before our early evening flight back to NY so we decided to drop our bags off at the airport and take the train into downtown Chicago. My original plan was to find Hot Doug’s but unfortunately they’re closed on Sundays. No duck fat fries for me, sadly, but I still wanted to try a Chicago style hot dog. The train ride from the airport into the city takes a while, so we had time to do some internet research on Josh’s iphone (seriously, what did people do before iphones?). We found Portillo’s, which is a chain restaurant but had good reviews and a branch that was conveniently located near a stop on the airport train.
We’ve been to Chicago once before and luckily the area where we got off the train was near the hotel we stayed in the last time; we were able to find the restaurant without any trouble. This particular branch of Portillo’s was an homage to Maxwell Street. There were fake building facades and mannequins hanging about. There was also lively jazz music playing over the speakers, giving the place a festive atmosphere. It was kind of like dining at Disney World.
The restaurant is set up cafeteria-style, with different stations for hot dogs and sandwiches, pasta and pizza, and alcoholic drinks. We were after the hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches so we only had to go through one line. After you order, you can watch the workers assembling your sandwiches through glass partitions.
Josh and I each got a Chicago style hot dog with everything, which includes mustard, relish, chopped onions, tomato slices, sport peppers, and a pickle spear, all served together on a poppy seed bun. The bun got a little soggy from all the toppings, but everything tasted really good together. Usually I like ketchup, mustard, and a little bit of sauerkraut on my hot dogs, but I liked the fresh ingredients on the Chicago style, and the pickled vegetables added a nice zing. We couldn’t taste the difference between a vienna sausage (which Chicago style hot dogs are made of) and a regular hot dog though.
We also shared an Italian beef sandwich with hot peppers. It’s like a Philly cheesesteak, minus the cheese. The thin slices of beef were topped with a mix of pickled vegetables, and the hot peppers were really quite spicy. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the hot dog because it was really heavy and greasy. I’m glad that we had decided to split a sandwich, as I could never have finished one by myself. It was really a gut bomb!
We also got an order of large fries, which were the frozen crinkle cut variety but freshly fried and tasty. They were so hot that I actually burned my tongue on the first one I tried.
Overall I really liked the Chicago style hot dog, despite the soggy bun. It’s definitely something that I would put together here. I might still add ketchup though. I’m not sure if Chicagoans would find that blasphemous but I missed the sweetness of the ketchup. I wasn’t a fan of the Italian beef, however, as it was just way too greasy and the meat was too bland. The pickled vegetables helped a bit but not enough. I don’t know how Portillo’s version rates against other places but it seems to me that most Chicago style dogs would be similar, as it’s just the ingredients that make it what it is. I’ll have to try the Shake Shack’s version and see how it compares.
Portillo’s (multiple locations)
100 W Ontario St.
Chicago, IL
After our lunch, we took a walk around the city. We only had about two hours before we had to head back to the airport but I think we covered a lot of ground in such a short time!
]]>We actually went to Lou Malnati’s two days in a row, but the first time was after we landed and we just wanted a snack so as not to fill up before our dinner at Alinea. Smart move. We ended up sharing two individual pan pizzas, one cheese and one deluxe, between three of us. The individual pies are only 6 inches in diameter and served out of the pan, which I think made them a bit colder and drier. They didn’t really satisfy my Chicago pizza craving so I was happy when we returned the next day for lunch.
We had time to kill after attending our friends’ wedding ceremony and before the reception, so a bunch of us headed to Lou’s to grab a late lunch. We ordered a few pitchers of Goose Island summer ale and some appetizers to start.
Lou’s bruschetta was surprisingly really tasty. Usually chain restaurant bruschettas are super oily and served on too-stale bread, but this version was made with fresh tomatoes and basil, lightly dressed with olive oil and well seasoned. The garlic toast was just the right consistency, crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle. It was really a delicious starter.
We also ordered a combination platter, which came with mozzarella sticks, cheddar cubes, breaded zucchini and mushrooms. How can you go wrong with a giant plate of fried food with ranch dressing and marinara sauce on the side? Everything was nicely crispy, and the cheddar cubes were a big surprise hit. They just exploded in your mouth with molten cheesy goodness.
We ordered three pizzas to share – one cheese, one Lou, and one deluxe.
The cheese pizza was exactly what one would expect from deep dish Chicago style pie. It had a nice cheese to sauce to crust ratio, and I liked the buttery brittleness of the crust.
The deluxe came with cheese, sausage, mushrooms, onions and green peppers – a classic combination. While I’m not the hugest fan of sausage, I thought it worked well with the overall pie. All the flavors played off each other, and it was a nice combination of salty and sweet.
The Lou had fresh spinach, mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, and a mix of mozzarella, romano, and cheddar cheese. It was a bit too “gardeny” for my taste, and lacked enough seasoning. I also prefer tomato sauce on my pizza rather than actual tomatoes. Tomato sauce provides a much needed sweet tang and helps hold everything together.
While I do like Chicago style pizza once in a while, I still prefer NYC’s thinner and chewier crust. It can’t hold as much toppings, but you don’t feel so heavy and gross after eating a few slices. I don’t know if Lou’s is the best of the Chicago styles, as I’ve only been to Giordano’s once, and to a few Pizzeria Unos that weren’t in Chicago. They all seem pretty similar to me but I guess if you’re from Chicago, you have pizza debates just like we have here in NYC. If I’m in Chicago again and someone suggests going to Lou’s, I wouldn’t shoot them down but I’d also like to try a few other places (Gino’s, for example), just for more comparison.
Lou Malnati’s (multiple locations)
1050 East Higgins Rd.
Elk Grove Village, IL
When we decided that we would make the trip to Chicago for Josh’s coworker’s wedding, I had Josh call up Alinea first to try and get a reservation. That dictated which day we would head to Chicago, and I ended up taking a day off from work just to have this meal. We asked some of our other friends who were also attending the wedding if they wanted to join in, and one by one we added to the reservation until we hit six, the maximum table size. I was very happy with our dinner company, as they were all people who appreciated good food and good wine, and they helped make the whole experience such a wonderful time.
We took a cab into the city for dinner and hit a lot of traffic on the way. We called Alinea to make sure they knew, and they held our table without any issue. When the cab pulled up in front of a of nondescript building with no markings, I thought to myself, this is it?
Someone asked if we were going to Alinea, we said yes, and were then led into the building, down a groovy-looking hallway with bright pink lights, and finally into the main part of the restaurant.
The restaurant was not what I was expecting, with multiple rooms on different levels and classically decorated. I guess I was expecting something a bit more modern, with more glass and steel and weird decorations, but nevertheless, the room that we were seated in was beautiful and comfortable.
We had opted for the shorter tasting menu (you have to let them know if you’re doing the tasting or the tour when you make the reservation), and one of our servers described a wine pairing that we couldn’t pass up. Basically, we were in their hands the whole evening, and it was a smart choice. They didn’t give us a menu before the meal, so every course was basically a surprise. There were courses that I had read about beforehand, but like I said earlier, the descriptions don’t even begin to give you an inkling of what is to come.
For most courses, there was a bread pairing and wine pairing, both of which complemented whatever dish we were having. The sommelier would explain each wine and tell us something about its origins or its history.
It was truly an experience, taking a bite of food, then taking a bite of food with the bread, and taking a bite of food with the wine. With every bite you discovered something new and a flavor you hadn’t identified before. We talked a lot in between courses, but while the food was in front of us, all I heard were noises of appreciation and all I saw were people with silly satisfied grins on their faces.
But enough of my blathering, here are pictures of all the courses.
Overall the meal was absolutely incredible. I did like some courses more than others, but it was a complete experience. The service was extremely attentive, but not overbearing. It was kind of amusing at times though. For example, they obviously clean up the bathroom every time someone goes in, as every time I went the toilet paper was folded into a triangle point, and there was no trash or used cloth hand towels in the waste baskets. Everything was clean and precise, just like the food.
Our main waiter was fabulous and very informative. One member of our party, Kevin, who has a blog about his experiments with sous vide, asked many technical questions, such as the temperature of the water for some meat components, and the waiter was able to answer easily, or would go to the kitchen and find out the answer for us. He could see that we were truly interested in the process behind the food that we were eating, and I think it was because of our appreciation that they gave us an extra course, the truffle explosion, which is not normally on the tasting menu. He also recommended that if we were to come back, we should go during the fall as the menu is seasonal, and the fall always has the best ingredients, in his opinion.
At the end of the meal, they presented us each with a copy of our menu for the evening, including the wine pairings. On the menu, the size and shade of the bubbles, as well as their orientation left and right, mean different things. The size of the bubble refers to the size of the portion (small bubble = small tasting portion, etc.). The shade of the bubble refers to the intensity of flavor for the dish (darker bubble = more intense flavor, etc.). The orientation of the bubble refers to how sweet or savory the dish is (bubble closer to the right side = sweeter dish, etc.).
As an extra special treat to cap off the wonderful evening, we were allowed to make a trip into the kitchen to watch the chefs hard at work. The kitchen was a bright, wide open space, and everything was done quietly and with precision. Chef Grant Achatz was there, presiding over it all. He not only plated a lot of the dishes himself, but he also checked every plate that left the kitchen. However, he still made time to come over to us gawking in the corner and greeted everyone with a handshake. We couldn’t do anything but gush at him in awe of the experience we just had.
This really was the meal of a lifetime, and I would happily come back, despite the expense. The wine pairing cost almost as much as the tasting menu, but was absolutely worth it. The wines each varied greatly, as did the dishes, and ordering just one or two bottles to cover all courses would not have done the meal justice. I sincerely hope that I will have the opportunity to eat at Alinea a few more times during my lifetime.
Alinea
1723 North Halsted
Chicago, IL