Thanks guys. I had a chance to go to Mirabell's and knock off most of my German and Hungarian items. So far I've gotten 41 of 83 items and after a nap I'll go try to round up some more before heading to indy tomorrow.

I like how one of my team mates has updated her list of items with only one thing... she managed to fit Panera into her eating schedule this week...

filbertman, if you win the $100, all of us fully expect you to buy lunch.

And next time, I think you'll know where to go to find worthy teammates...

Please let us know how the contest comes out.

whiskeybent wrote:

Rene G wrote:

whiskeybent wrote:I'm almost positive there's a sign near Belmont & California advertising the World's Best Hash Browns? I thought there was a thread about this but I can't find it right now.

Clara & James (3159 N California, at Elston & Belmont) modestly claimed only "Best Hash Browns in Town" but they closed last year.

That's what it was! I remember reading that they had closed, but I'm pretty sure the sign still remains, modest as it is.

I'm sorry to say that the sign is gone-- indeed, all trace of this charming diner has been expunged from the storefront. We drive by daily on our way to school.

Jen

Well I was totally beat today and had a pounding headache after cooking lunch for my church, so I didn't end up heading to the city, just drove around the burbs and got 5 more.

"World's Best" (which is worth double points) at "World's Best Barbecue" 758 West Euclid Avenue Palatine, IL 60067-7396 (award for ribs won in London, Ontario)

The last three Thai items at "Taste of Thai" 1029 West Golf Road, Hoffman Estates

Made a Caprese salad myself (< $3 in supplies from Caputo's vs. $6+ at a restaurant).

And if I do win $100, then i'd be happy to share it. After taxes (yes, they make us pay taxes) that's like $60 to share...

Ok, I'm up to 51 items.

My group has left it to me to find Balut as our most unusual item... anyone know a sure fire place to find Balut in Chicago? I've found these potential leads:
Hoa Nam (1101 W. Argyle)
Tai Nam 4925 N Broadway Ste J (between Ainslie St & Argyle St)

Hi,

I have bought balut at: Viet Hoa 1051 W Argyle 773-334-1028

There once was a storefront shop devoted exclusively to balut, but it is long gone.

Regards,

Just to let you know Lashbrot now has a Google entry

Glad to see another person out there trying their hardest to get these knocked off the list... Should be interesting to see how this ends up, I see the leader has about 124 pictures uploaded now... And I think every team is going for Balut... We have a lead that we are trying at lunch today.

crap, i've been discovered! I knew i should have flown to Tokyo for some squid ink ice cream.

You from Chicago or no?

I was born in Joliet at least... but live in Pittsburgh now.

Reading the rules it says there are up to 10 winning teams, so we should both be good at winning, only a few teams w/ more than 60 pics up now.

HI,

I was wondering how long this honeymoon would last.

If not balut, how about fried caterpillars? Or eyeball tacos? The caterpillars can be found at Sticky Rice on Western Avenue near Irving Park.

Regards,

Eyeball tacos can also be found at Birria Horneada at 1738 W. 47th Street (at least tacos de ojo are advertised on the sign on the window.) If penis qualifies as "most unusual", Tank Noodle has bull's penis pho.

Is balut really that unusual? Seems we have several threads about it here - I've seen it at Tai Nam as well; kind of depends when you're there. Last time, they had both duck and chicken (I was amused to find that somehow the idea of duck balut freaks me out, but not the chicken...go figure)

Seriously - if you're looking for unusual, I'd go for higher-end sci-fi stuff. Alinea, Moto, places like that. Every town is going to have an offal/bug/baby animal culture somewhere - but not every place has a mad scientist in the kitchen. Of course, your $60 winnings won't quite cover it...

filbertman wrote:South African – Prawns Peri-Peri

I know Coobah's at least used to have shrimp piri-piri on the menu. It's not on the current online menu, but you can call in and check to see if they still offer it.

Coobah
3423 North Southport Avenue
Chicago, IL 60657-1419
(773) 528-2220

LAZ wrote: The carpaccio -- almost certainly meant to be beef carpaccio -- is an Italian dish of thinly sliced raw beef. The Francesca's chain makes a specialty of it.

Well, there certainly is a dish called beet carpaccio, too. I don't know either beef or beet carpaccio to be particularly associated with Hungary, so it's anybody's guess which this item refers to.

Hi,

There was once a Peri-Peri stand at the Thompson Center. I still have the punch card for eating a number of sandwiches, get one free. I have never heard anyone mention it and a quick search didn't have it pop up, either.

I learned about it from a Monica Eng ethnic eats column.

Regards,

Mhays wrote:Is balut really that unusual? Seems we have several threads about it here - I've seen it at Tai Nam as well; kind of depends when you're there.

Tai Nam had both chicken and duck balut as of 3/17.

Binko wrote:Well, there certainly is a dish called beet carpaccio, too.

That some chefs here and there have created recipes involving thinly sliced beets and dubbed them "beet carpaccio" is undoubtedly true, but to say there is an established dish of that name is stretching the point. I can shape meatloaf into a ring shape and call it a "beef doughnut," but that doesn't make it a real dish.

Is balut unusual? Among foodies, perhaps not, but for the general population yes. I personally don't think the organizers are big foodies so to them it may be unusual. However, since credit is only being given to one team, if multiple teams submit balut, then it's no longer the most unusual . So, I've decided to submit something a little different... though perhaps not quite as interesting.

A Topeka search for beet carpaccio does bring up several pictures and recipes. Since carpaccio was named in honor of the deep red colors used by painter Vittore Carpaccio, I'll buy it. That dish was also specifically called out as an example in one of the communications for the hunt so beets it is.

Last night, after arriving back in Chicago, I went to Little Bucharest Bistro, 3661 N. Elston Ave http://littlebucharestbistro.com/ for their beet salad. Nice little place, but completely dead.

Next I went to Lincoln Park and hit up the recommended Bistro Campagne for the french items Boy they were fast, soup, appetizer and entree all out within 5 minutes (I requested it be served whenever ready).

I stopped by Murphy's but it was already closed. I went to Devon for some more Indian items, then out to Lombard for Brandy's Home of the Gyro (sort of on my way home). I'm sad to say that my list was still fairly long so I ended up copping out and buying some poor frozen dinner versions of a couple items at Dominick's

Also, thanks for the tip about the Federal buildings in Indy, except security informed me that cameras are not allowed in ANY federal building anymore, so I'm not sure how anyone is going to get those pictures without breaking the law... I also called several senators and representatives in IN and IL, but no luck, everyone seems to be out of town for something.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how good my chances are. I heard a team sent 3 members to get one of the bonus items "eating a sandwich at the geographical center of America (Lebanon, KS)" and that'll give them a serious advantage. I bet there are teams that also got someone "eating a sandwich at the geographical center of India (Nagpur, Maharashtra)" Maybe there's a consolation prize for most items by a single individual...

LAZ wrote:

Binko wrote:Well, there certainly is a dish called beet carpaccio, too.

That some chefs here and there have created recipes involving thinly sliced beets and dubbed them "beet carpaccio" is undoubtedly true, but to say there is an established dish of that name is stretching the point. I can shape meatloaf into a ring shape and call it a "beef doughnut," but that doesn't make it a real dish.

Sure. But the point is, what is the photo scavenger hunt looking for? I think either possibility is equally likely. It's plausible whoever drew up the photo scavenger hunt once went to a Hungarian restaurant and ordered a beet salad (which is common in Hungarian cuisine) that was described as "beet carpaccio" on the menu. Or, as you say, it's a simple typo. But I think either option is plausible, and I actually lean towards "beet carpaccio" as being the intended spelling, given there is something that resembles it in Hungarian cuisine.

Well, the results are in and my team (Chowcago - The Savory City) was an overflowing gravy boat of slacker weak sauce and utter disappointment.

Based on my calculations, my team earned 541 points, assuming some pictures aren't disqualified. One team mate submitted a picture that doesn't include the food and a picture for Einstein Bros. that is clearly from Au Bon Pain. Another team mate took pictures and never submitted half of them. I submitted 69 of 83 possible items, the nearest person on my team submitted 22, but only b/c I dragged him with me half the time.

Details on items and scoring available on google docs.

The top team scored over 2000 points, with the top 5 earning $200 each and 6-10 earning $100 each.

The most unusual item was Camel’s bone marrow, but that team did not place either.

BTW, it WAS supposed to be Beef Carpaccio but they said they'd accept Beet Carpaccio as well.

filbertman,

Too bad you didn't have like minded team mates.

From what I saw, you did great. Too bad you couldn't break away from the dead wood and submit as yourself.

Regards,