“What do people do who don’t live in a place that celebrates craft beer on any given weekend?” I wondered this aloud entering the Chicago Craft Beer Festivalbut had no time to consider such a fate – there were too many beers to be tasted.
Chicago is in the midst of Chef Week, and if you haven’t had the chance to dig in there’s still room to make a rezzie through this Friday, March 23. I’ve just barely had time to digest last month’s Chicago Restaurant Week, but here are my four favorite bites.
Drinks at Chicago q
Chicago q may have had the week’s best menu. Yet while the hominy, smoked corn and black bean salad and slab of St. Louis baby back were as mouth-watering as expected, it was a cocktail that ultimately won me over. Fusing rye, lemon, OJ, and cinnamon-infused simple syrup, the Orange Blossom Martini offers a spicy, citrusy way to enjoy whiskey that’s all-together too drinkable.
Apps at Bistrot Margot Old Town’s Bistrot Margot is a mainstay of all classique French fare with charming décor and très generous portions. Simmered in garlic and butter, the satisfyingly briny escargot had me snatching every crumb off the table to soak it up even after the snails were inhaled.
Main at Blackbird
There’s no wrong way to do Blackbird, but the special five-course Restaurant Week tasting menu ($65 rather than the standard $33 or $44) seemed most fitting for my first visit. Choosing a favorite course at Paul Kahn’s gastronomic powerhouse is like choosing the most flavorful movement of an eloquent symphony (or mashup in a dubstep remix if that’s your thing). If you insist, I’ll favor the pekin duck breast. The savory fowl was aged for a week and its slight saltiness rounded out with fuyu persimmon, red wine braised radishes, black beans and sesame.
Dessert at Tapas Valencia
Tapas Valencia may have had somewhat nontraditional tapas service, but in addition to four-course menu the dessert was accompanied with a complimentary glass of cava. After devouring everything set in front of us, the decadent dessert platter of warm chocolate cake, cheesecake, almond pound cake with pear, strawberries, and ice cream drizzled in caramel seemed daunting. Thankfully we had that cava to wash it down.
“Why?” It’s a question Chicagoans often encounter regarding the choice to trudge through each inhibiting winter (all 5 months of it) for a few short summer weeks. Why? Because we make it count. Between miles of beaches and the Lakefront Trail, outdoor sports, massive summer concert festivals, and alfresco dining or drinking on every rooftop and slice of sidewalk that can be called a patio Summertime Chi makes even the worst blizzard worth it.
Street festivals in every neighborhood are another warm weather fixture, and with over 400 to attend in Chicago you have to set your schedule wisely.
Here’s a recap of the best fests of June 2011.
Do Division: June 4 – 5, 2011
Perhaps my favorite summer street fest, Do Division is a great way to kick off Chicago’s festival season. Wicker Park is packed with craft and artist tents, food & booze booths, interesting live music, and prime people watching.
Printer’s Row Lit Fest: June 4 – 5, 2011 Each June, the Printer’s Row Lit Fest attracts booksellers, bibliophiles, publishers, authors, performers, and organizations to the historic neighborhood for a celebration of all things literary.Read more…
Chicago Blues Fest: June 10 – 12, 2011
Chicago’s largest music festival has featured the world’s most renown blues musicians for nearly thirty years. This free fest is a great way to take in the city’s skyline from Grant Park while enjoying the best blues has to offer, whether seated on the lawn or dancing with fellow fest-goers.
Old Town Art Fair: June 11 – 12, 2011
Art booths are a staple at many summer festivals, but the Old Town Art Fair boasts 620 of the best from all over the country. The featured artists are judiciously selected by a panel of professional artists, gallery owners, and museum curators. The inspiring array includes mediums from painting, photography, and 2D- and 3D- mixed media to sculpture, metalworking, ceramics, and jewelry, so ensure you allot enough time to explore it all!
Block prints by Kreg Yingst capture the imagination of music.
The intricate sculptures of Ted Gall open to reveal worlds within.
Ella Richards captures life with her paper cut art. Kyle Fokken‘s sculptural self-portrait is “Difficult to Fathom.”
There are no cosmos in sight at this meeting of three girlfriends. We opt for IPAs with sides of Polish sausage, spicy duck wings, and smoked paprika chorizo at Old Town Social. Surrounded as we are by booze and cured meats, we wonder why no men have approached us?
