As
an homage to Ferris Bueller, we spent last week/end in the windy
city, Chicago.
This
was a business trip that morphed into a holiday as I was presenting
at a conference at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and
decided to make a very long weekend of it. The conference was good
and I managed to get this North America Association to agree to host
its 2010 conference in Toronto (all right, it helps I sit on their
Board of Directors, yes).
Cousin
Ora and Blee flew in on Friday to join us in this adventure and we
managed to grab dinner with Karen and Paul at Bin 36 on Wednesday
night before they headed off to Alaska.
4) Paul hunts for something, my guess is not more wine; 5) the Marina Place buildings at night
6) our room at W Lakeshore; 7) the view from our room up on the 20th floor of Navy Pier
We
also decided to try several hotels while in Chicago, which – the
commuting aside – was a great way to see more of the city and its
neighbourhoods. On this trip we stayed in four (yes, four) hotels,
including:
- W Lakeshore Chicago (which was located within a 5 minute
walk to the Institute); - Sheraton Chicago Centre (which had a fabulous view of the river);
- Westin Chicago Michigan Avenue (perfectly located immediately beside the John
Hancock Centre); and, - W Chicago Downtown (located right downtown in the Loop).
We
have stayed at both W’s before and W Downtown remains my favourite
(though I had to say I preferred the old lobby layout).
This
trip was also a food extravaganza with several outstanding meals at:
- Bin 36 (twice; are we addicts for wine flights or what?);
- David Burke’s Primehouse at the James Hotel;
- afternoon tea at the Drake Hotel (home to Salvador Dali many years
ago); - tapas late one night at Mercat de la planxa on Michigan Avenue (omg,
good); - Giordanos (twice; but of course!);
- Hot Doug’s;
- late night drinks at the Redhead Piano Bar ; and,
- probably the best tasting menu I’ve ever had, period, at L2O in the Belden
Stratford Hotel up in Lincoln Park that set Blee, G and I back some
US$800.
Let’s
start with that meal. We tasted Laurent Gras’ 12 course summer menu of
seafood. Laurent is a devotee of molecular cooking and we tasted
things that night I have never tasted before. It was extraordinary and if you ever get the opportunity, GO! With the amuse-bouche, two
pre-desserts and other snacky items, it actually ended up as 17 courses in
total and we paired the dinner – not with his wine pairing flight – but
Veuve Cliquot Champagne Rose and Ichishima Shuzo Silk Deluxe sake from Northern Japan. Can you say divine!
For you foodies out there, Laurent maintains a great
blog of his creations and methods here.
9) Looking over to City Hall and the Chicago Tribune buildings; 10) the John Hancock Center
11 & 12) our view from the bar at the John Hancock Center
13) Donna and I; 14) Blee and Cousin Ora at David Burke’s Primehouse
15 & 16) wagyu beef tartare at David Burke’s Primehouse
17) G’s crabcake at Primehouse; 18) my steak and sides at Primehouse
19) for dessert at Primehouse, I ordered a root beer float!
were fortunate as well to visit the Chicago Art Institute alla Ferris
Bueller and that the Chicago Jazz Festival was in town (who loves jazz
more than Brent?!).
20) we visited The Art Institute of Chicago on Friday night; 21) inside the new modern wing
22) Blee commanding attention
On Thursday, G made his way, way out into the Chicago suburbs to try the famous Hot Doug’s … this guy makes some awesome hot dogs!
25) Hot Dougs
On
Sunday, Cousin Ora and I hauled our way out to Oak Park to see Frank
Lloyd Wright’s home and studio (and wander past the birth place of
Ernest Hemmingway). Imagine these two guys both had roots here!
32 & 33) the view of the river from our hotel room at the Sheraton Centre
38) me being American Gothic; 39) City Hall
40) a street in Chinatown; 41) the view from our hotel room at the Westin Michigan Ave North
42) Welcome to Chinatown Chicago; 43) the L2O tasting menu
44 & 45) afternoon tea at the Drake
46) Blee at tea; 47) me at tea
60) late night tapas at Mercat; 61) mmmm great food
69) tuna; 70) diver scallop
71) kampachi; 72) pork belly
73) Hiramasa (shabu shabu style); 74) raspberry dessert with gold leaf
75) tofu; 76) praline souffle
Finally, a shout-out to mom and dad who made their way from London to condo-sit while we were away and who kindly left our wine cellar stocked with more wine than when we left!
AppsScraps 