One Year Anniversary!

Background:

It all started when I was 10. Though knowing I was a picky eater, my parents decided to take me to Shogun 22 to celebrate my birthday and introduce me to sushi. But, why would I eat raw fish? Until that point, I was a horrible eater. My mother would have to prepare me a homemade eggnog with every meal just to make sure I would get enough protein. Regardless, they took a gamble and drew pocket aces in this hand of culinary poker. To this day, my mother retells the story of how on her son's 10th birthday, he ate a little over $100 of sushi. Is she exaggerating? I'm not sure. I was 10, and didn't get a copy of the bill. However, what I do remember is that there were two business guys in dark suits sitting at the bar. We sat about ten feet from them and watched what they ordered. As they consumed more and more sake, their orders got more and more adventurous. We followed suit minus the sake, and joined in their uncooked antics. I ended up eating and loving all of the standards including jellyfish, sea urchin, and quail egg. Exactly... eggnog to quail egg. Sure they're both raw egg, but at 10 years old, the former should definitely be more palatable than the latter. Did I hit my head earlier that day? I have no idea why I made this u-turn, but it was to the rejoice of my parents. My father moved here from India in the 70's, and my mother is as an adventurous eater as they come...think female Andrew Zimmern. Out of nowhere, their son could eat whatever heavily spiced, crazy sh*t they ordered at a restaurant or cooked up at home. Before I left home for college, my stomach had already claimed chocolate covered insects, venison, wild boar, rabbit, kangaroo, frog, and most everything else that hopped, leaped, burrowed or scavenged.

Thirteen months ago I thought, "all this just to prepare me for our honeymoon", where I ate squid ink soup that dyed my tongue black in Athens, and lobster sashimi that was cut-at-the-table-and-still-moving in Rome (btw, both Michelin star restaurants). I lamented, "I guess it's over. It can't get better than three weeks in the Mediterranean".

Then, a couple weeks later on August 1st, 2007, my wife and I moved to Chicago.

A year to date in the Windy City, and it has hands-down been the best year of eating in my 27 years. What better way to commemorate this glorious year of indulgence, than with a list?

Here are the restaurants I've been to since we moved to Chicago in no particular order:
*denotes return visits

Hop Leaf*
Bon Soiree
Le Bouchon
Blackbird
Les Nomades
Kiki's Bistro
Deleece*
Coast
Blue Fin
Hot Doug's*
Twisted Spoke*
Sultan's Market*
Julius Meinil*
Uru-Swati
Coal Fire*
Duke of Perth*
N(enn-yay)*
Tango Sur
Hachi's Kitchen*
Calvin's BBQ
Tru
Lula*
Jane's
Hot Spot*
Toast*
El Barco*
Vermillion
Shaw's Crab House
Brown Sack*
Jitlada
Sticky Rice*
Smoque*
Babylon*
Cafe La Guardia*
Bhabi's Kitchen
Think*
Kuma's Corner
Weiner Circle
El Nandu
Sol de Mexico
Azucar
Borinquen*
Feast*
Arturo's*
Feed*
Thai Eatery*
Silver Cloud*
Northside Tavern*
Piece*
Pontiac Cafe*
My Pie*
Art of Pizza*
Taqueria Moran*
Frontera Grill
Pot Pan
Penny's Noodles
Cleo's
Poncitlan
Mixteco Grill
Lucia Ristorante
Al's Beef*
Billy Goat
Once Upon a Thai
Ginger's Ale House
Cafe Iberico
Armitage Fast Food
La Bomba
Armitage Shrimp House
Morton's
Hop Haus
Black Beetle

If I forgot any, I'll make an edit later.

Many of the above were based on LTH recommendations...so thank you LTH, and thank you Chicago!

Congratulations! With a list like that, I think you have every right to call yourself a Chicagoan. I'm very impressed at the breadth and depth of the list, and wish I could claim to have eaten at half of those places in the last year. What's on tap for the next 365 days?

I think this post should be renamed how much weight have you gained since you discovered LTH? I am very impressed with your list.

Yes, incredibly impressive! Thanks for sharing.

My question is, which one restaurant do you recommend to a new visitor to town? Cuisine, price, location don't matter. Only requirement is that it has to be on your list. (Or, put a different way, if you were moving out of town, which would you return to for your last dinner?)

chgoeditor wrote:What's on tap for the next 365 days?

Off the top of my head: Trotter's, Schwa, Avec, Arun, Spring and many others.

iblock9 wrote:I think this post should be renamed how much weight have you gained since you discovered LTH?

10 lbs over the winter due to beer+food. I've lost it since because I like to stay active.

Darren72 wrote:My question is, which one restaurant do you recommend to a new visitor to town? Cuisine, price, location don't matter. Only requirement is that it has to be on your list. (Or, put a different way, if you were moving out of town, which would you return to for your last dinner?)

Morton's Steak House.......just kidding. That's a tough question, but I think I'll go with the Hop Leaf. When friends visit, and I want to convince them to move here, that's where I take them. It draws a diverse crowd in terms of age and ethnicity, and has great food and beer choices. But if price really isn't a concern, then probably Les Nomades or Tru.


Darren, this emoticon is for you b/c your question is pure evil.

One last dinner in town....ouch. That almost brings me to tears. TAC Quick, Avec, or Schwa. All hard to duplicate elsewhere.

Congratulations on your year in Chicago. You still have many delights ahead of you. Among them:

Johnnie's Beef
Renga-Tei
San Soo Gap San
Hai Woon Dae
Uncle John's
Khan BBQ
Edwardo's
Superdawg
Mario's Italian Lemonade
Margie's
David Burke's Primehouse
Bistro 110