The Monday after Christmas we took the train into the city. Really the only plan we had was to go to the aquarium, so it was a relaxed go-with-the-flow kind of day.
Have you ever seen a train station where you can just walk across the tracks!? Johnny thought it was normal, but my parents and I were
shocked. In New York all the stations have an underground tunnel, or huge steps that go up and
over the track. I guess they're not worried about lawsuits here?
After arriving in the city I had a quick eggroll at Union Station because I turn
quite bitchy when I'm hungry and we hadn't decided on lunch plans yet. I'm glad too, because lunch turned into a little bit of a wild goose chase! On a whim we decided to take a cab to Frontera, only to realize duh- it's Monday and they're closed, plus they're closed over the Christmas break. This is Rick Bayless' restaurant and he also has Topolobampo, a high end, and Xoco, a casual walk-in eatery. Of these three (all right by each other) the only one open was Xoco - thus they received all the traffic. The line was out the door and my mom went in to ask and it was a minimum of 45 minutes! Sorry, Rick, but another time!
We looked through the guide book and I recognized
Gene & Georgetti's! I totally forgot I'd asked Johnny to take me there after seeing it in a lot of airline literature while flying in and out of Chicago and also on a Travel Channel steak special. It's a Chicago Steakhouse - famous since 1941! We talked to a few locals and the mail lady to track it down. It's tucked beneath the "el" and walking in the door is like stepping back in time!
The waiters were all male and wore black pants with crisp, white shirts and bow ties. In the corner by the kitchen (no lie!) was an Italian man working with two phones and had all his food and wine brought to him without even asking what he wanted. Every waiter and staff member stopped to talk to him in Italian. The walls were filled with pictures of famous visitors that have eaten there over the years.
It took us awhile to order because we arrived for lunch, but could order from either the lunch or dinner menu so we had a lot to contemplate. Basically you order the steak you want (which comes with cottage fries), then the rest of the food is ordered "family style."
I ordered a medium-rare petite sirloin strip and it was delicious! I love when restaurants cook steak correctly and they really knew what they were doing. The outside was charred and tasted exactly like a smoky grill.
My 2nd try of cottage fries! These were
SO much better than the
ones in D.C. from the Irish pub!
As a table we decided on spinach, which was garlicy and tender.
Also, the fungus eaters had mushrooms! I tried one and it was not as
mildewy as usual, but I still didn't help myself to anymore!
We spent a few hours at the aquarium seeing the main area. It's so big you could easily spend a full day there, (even more than one day if you're like me)! My
favorite are the seahorses! Luckily they have a whole section devoted to them!
The last thing we did was venture to the top of the Sears Tower!! (Notice at the top, those clear little boxes protruding from the building!?)
103 stories above the city! What a view! I've been both during the day and night, and I have to say I really like night time with all of the city lights!
Ok, remember the little clear boxes!? Well - those are new! "
The Ledge" just opened this summer with 4 plexi glass boxes extending 4 1/2 feet from the building. They're
1,353 feet above the streets below!! This my parents' first time atop the Sears Tower, as well as both Johnny's and my first time seeing this new addition!
The first step out was a little terrifying - really disorienting to step out onto a clear floor and see the ground so far beneath you! I was gripping Johnny's hand (who was standing on "solid ground") in case it fell, he promised he'd catch me!
Then I got a little braver and went for it! It really looks and feels as if you're floating above the city!
A view straight down, the side of the building is along the bottom of the picture, for reference.
Then Johnny had the idea to lay flat and look down!
I wanted to see it from that view, but I wasn't that brave to lay all the way in the box - so I layed with my body on "solid ground" with just my torso looking down! Freaky!!!
Have any of my fellow Chicagolanders been to "The Ledge" yet!? If so - what did you think of it!? I thought it was such a unique experience, I could have stayed up there for hours more!
A slurpee!! Ahh, when was the last time you had one of these? It'd been way, way too long for me!
We went to Ikea one weekend to look at bathroom stuff for the re-do. My dad got Lox.
I got the Swedish meatballs and 3 bars of chocolate that we all split!!
An apple I ate as a snack had a bellybutton!
Dinner out one night featured a not so appetizing sounding drink menu ..
And this past weekend we went into the city to meet with Mara for our engagement photos! She took us to Old Town Social where we drank Prosecco.
And I ate these delicious poached eggs over spinach and artichoke hearts with Hollandaise!
In addition to splitting these sausage and gravy biscuits with Johnny! (He had his own plate of Banana's Foster french toast while Mara let us sneak a taste of her Waffles and Sausage.)
We drove into the city and visited Lincoln Park Zoo! This was the first time either of us had been there and I really loved it. It was smaller than other zoos I've visited, which made it easier to get from habitat to habitat. The animals were also closer to you for viewing than other zoos, which was exciting! We saw a lot of animals I had never seen before like vultures, a sloth, a hedgehog, and many others! I fell in love with and made best friends with an adorable gibbon who sucked his thumb (I did too when I was little!). He stayed glued to the glass right in front of me, stroking with his little hand and squeaking at me. It broke my heart to leave him and I've been missing him the past two days!
After the zoo was something we'd been looking forward to for weeks! *drumroll please* Rick Bayless's Frontera Grill!! I've mentioned before that both Johnny and I are huge Rick fans, watching him on Top Chef, owning his Mexico: One Plate at a Time DVDs, and even have a signed cookbook!
The menus change every few weeks to feature local produce, meats, and sustainable seafood. Tuesday just so happened to be the first night of this new menu! (I apologize in advance for the dark, fuzzy pictures - it wasn't ideal lighting for pictures!)
Johnny's choice for appetizers was Sopes Rancheros - crispy corn masa boats with savory shredded beef, roasted tomatoes, avacado, and homemade fresh cheese and they were to-die-for!
Johnny's entree was Carne Asada - natural black Angus rib steak marinated in spicy red chiles and wood grilled. Sides were black beans, sweet plaintains with homemade sour cream, and guacamole. (Overlook his redness, he gets that way if he drinks!)
My entree was Fiada Asada Brava - grass fed flank steak with a handcrushed fire-grilled tomato salsa. The sides are what convinced me - grilled knob onions and sweet corn tamales topped with homemade sour cream and homemade fresh cheese. The tamale was amazing, like a sweet corn bread, probably my favorite item of the night!
For dessert we split a duo flan plate. One was original vanilla, the second was a lime flan with star fruit and tangerine salsa on top. Johnny preferred the vanilla and I preferred the fruit one, so we each had a try of the other, but mainly ate our favorite.
We also both shared a mug of delicious frothy Mexican hot chocolate! This was dark-roasted chocolate brewed and frothed with steamed milk. Really rich and creamy, with a bold flavor almost like coffee - the perfect end to the meal!
The Monday after Christmas we took the train into the city. Really the only plan we had was to go to the aquarium, so it was a relaxed go-with-the-flow kind of day.
Have you ever seen a train station where you can just walk across the tracks!? Johnny thought it was normal, but my parents and I were shocked. In New York all the stations have an underground tunnel, or huge steps that go up and over the track. I guess they're not worried about lawsuits here?
The waiters were all male and wore black pants with crisp, white shirts and bow ties. In the corner by the kitchen (no lie!) was an Italian man working with two phones and had all his food and wine brought to him without even asking what he wanted. Every waiter and staff member stopped to talk to him in Italian. The walls were filled with pictures of famous visitors that have eaten there over the years.
It took us awhile to order because we arrived for lunch, but could order from either the lunch or dinner menu so we had a lot to contemplate. Basically you order the steak you want (which comes with cottage fries), then the rest of the food is ordered "family style."
I ordered a medium-rare petite sirloin strip and it was delicious! I love when restaurants cook steak correctly and they really knew what they were doing. The outside was charred and tasted exactly like a smoky grill.
My 2nd try of cottage fries! These were SO much better than the ones in D.C. from the Irish pub!
As a table we decided on spinach, which was garlicy and tender.
Also, the fungus eaters had mushrooms! I tried one and it was not as mildewy as usual, but I still didn't help myself to anymore!
We spent a few hours at the aquarium seeing the main area. It's so big you could easily spend a full day there, (even more than one day if you're like me)! My favorite are the seahorses! Luckily they have a whole section devoted to them!
The last thing we did was venture to the top of the Sears Tower!! (Notice at the top, those clear little boxes protruding from the building!?)
103 stories above the city! What a view! I've been both during the day and night, and I have to say I really like night time with all of the city lights!
Ok, remember the little clear boxes!? Well - those are new! "The Ledge" just opened this summer with 4 plexi glass boxes extending 4 1/2 feet from the building. They're 1,353 feet above the streets below!! This my parents' first time atop the Sears Tower, as well as both Johnny's and my first time seeing this new addition!
The first step out was a little terrifying - really disorienting to step out onto a clear floor and see the ground so far beneath you! I was gripping Johnny's hand (who was standing on "solid ground") in case it fell, he promised he'd catch me!
Then I got a little braver and went for it! It really looks and feels as if you're floating above the city!
A view straight down, the side of the building is along the bottom of the picture, for reference.
Then Johnny had the idea to lay flat and look down!
I wanted to see it from that view, but I wasn't that brave to lay all the way in the box - so I layed with my body on "solid ground" with just my torso looking down! Freaky!!!
