1) Chicago dog: Honestly, this sounded disgusting to me -- not going to lie. definition of a C-dog consists of: all beef hot dog on poppy seed bun with yellow mustard, chopped onion, dill pickle, tomato, relish, celery salt (pretty much... every item i hate). that was Kyle's must-have try though (when in Rome...) ... he was happy as a clam to have one at the Cubs game, tho verdict was "too weird" tasting and not something he would order again. i had a modified version: dog with poppy seed bun, but only with a heaping pile of caramelized onion on top. DAMN that was good.
2) Deep dish pizza: After experiencing this MASSIVE brick of pizza, i realize that we have been misusing the term "pie" for pizza here in NY for a long time. it is exactly that - a colossal heavy crust of inches of cheese, sauce, toppings, cheese sauce, holy jesus. we got it from the original Gino's East which was next door to our hotel. it was an amazing mouth party, but... if i was going to do the inevitable NY vs. Chicago pizza hands-down i gotta go thin crust NY. deep dish pizza is not something you casually order on a Friday night and expect to move afterwards... we walked a few miles that night, and i felt like a fat piece of garbage. not sexy.
3) Italian beef sandwich: We had seen these bad boys on a few travel shows (Adam Richmond, Anthony Bourdain...); i wanted to try the Bourdain reco of Johnnie's Beef, but it was a bit out of our stomping ground, and Al's Beef (Richmond reco) kinda had a spot niched out in every little neighborhood. it was messy as hell, and a tasty sloppy treat. the hot pepper topping was a little weird (it had celery in it -- what is with the celery everywhere?), but it was still a well received meat treat on a hot summer afternoon.
4) David Burke's: Here's where things get serious. If you're not familiar with David Burke's, beyond having the title of the best steakhouse in Chicago, it has a Himalayan sea-salt tiled room where they dry-age their beef. after going through this process for anywhere from 30 to 75 days, the result is an uber-concentrated meat flavor. i ordered the 35-day aged rib eye (K the 55-day aged), and we split truffled mashed potatoes and asparagus served with poached egg, citrus, and parmesan. everything was as amazing as expected, with the surprise delight being the truffled mashed potatoes... i've never had my socks blown off by mashed potatoes (they are an amazing comfort food, but can only be "so good" on the scale of "yes I want that" foods").... these were effing ridiculous. i've had straight truffles before, but this... aah i don't even know. they have a touch of magic in everything here. including the bread, which looked like a gigantic loaf of hearty bread but turned out to be a light fluffy bread puff. served with pure extra fatty butter. F. i want to go back.
5) burger! This city is a city of 592380810983092834 amazing burger options. selecting one location was so stressful. we ended up going with Butcher & Burger. all the ingredients are the finest quality, local, etc as a base. they love cows. they love cows that eat delicious things. which leads to the happy result of them loving to eat delicious cows. the menu is a pick & play of patty types, patty spice blends, roll selections, toppings, cheeses, sauces. it's stressful to say the LEAST. i think i came out with the most fantastic combination of all time - 1) natural & local house blend beef patty; 2) salt & pepper spice blend; 3) swiss cheese; 4) griddled mushroom & caramelized onion; 5) black truffle aioli & 6) pretzel bun (which notably was pillow soft, not firm like most pretzel buns... over the top pleasant surprise). AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH one of the best i've ever had. amazing meat, amazing juicy patty, amazing every other ingredient added that made the most perfect flavor combo ever. STRONGLY RECOMMEND. if you are in Chi-town, GO. i went halfsies with K who did a bison burger with traditional toppings (cheddar, thick-cut bacon, fried egg)... also amazing. unread.
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