The weather forecast was originally pretty bleak (I had been checking all week), but it turned out to be quite lovely; it sprinkled a bit when we first arrived, but otherwise it was just cloudy and breezy, so we were able to walk around without any trouble.
We went to breakfast at Xoco, one of Rick Bayless' restaurants. We've been to Frontera before, and absolutely loved it, so we were excited (and hungry, as we had been up since 4:30!) for Xoco. It was really good, but we both think it would have been better for lunch. The coffee drinks, though, were amazing. Andrew had a chocolate espresso, and I had a wonderful chocolate cafe con leche: thick, just the right amount of chocolate, and so smooth.
We walked around the city all day, visiting our favorite spots and discovering new ones. We've been to Chicago four times now since we've started dating, and it's the city where we got engaged last October. It's really a special place to us, and we're so excited about how close by it is.
One of the reasons we love Chicago so much is the fact that there are so many incredible restaurants. On our last trip, we visited Cafe Spiaggia, Q, The Publican, and The Purple Pig, and all were amazing. We knew we only had one day for this trip, so there were certainly fewer meals to plan, but we still made sure we ate well. For lunch, we decided to try Bar Toma, Tony Mantuano's new restaurant. We had guanciale-wrapped sweetbreads with sage and shared the Calabrese pizza, topped with sausage, Calabrian chilies, and mozzarella. The crust on the pizza was the best I've ever had. You could taste the smokiness of the wood from the oven, and it was perfectly soft and crispy at the same time. Amazing.
We also walked around the Fulton Market District, west of downtown and set in between the highways and the Chicago River. It smells like chocolate, but I'm not sure why. From the outside, it doesn't look like the posh and luxurious neighborhood that's home to some of the country's best restaurants, but famous names like The Publican, Next, Aviary, Blackbird, Avec, and others have found their place and are thriving in the warehouses and brick alleyways of Fulton. During our afternoon walk, we stopped in to Publican Quality Meats, which sells all sorts of local products, from smoked beef heart to artisanal honey (from MN!). Andrew was definitely in his happy place.
We returned to Fulton for dinner, to a restaurant called g.e.b. The menu had smaller plates to share, which we really like because then we are able to order several dishes and and try more than one. We had calamari with green hummus, oxtail lasagna, a saffron risotto with clams, blueberry cake, and gianduja-filled beignets. Realizing we had some time before our train was to depart, we decided to try RM Champagne Salon, a new champagne lounge we had read about (and which happened to be next door to g.e.b.!). I can't wait to go back! I had a champagne cocktail and Andrew ordered a whiskey with cherry notes; it was the perfect way to end the night.
We took the train back to Kenosha, and made it back to Shorewood by midnight. We're quite tired today, but already planning the next visit to one of our favorite cities!
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