\\\\\\ Chicago: The MidWasteland ////// - Page 3

Cro Burnham · #41 Posted **Jun 9, 2012, 4:40 AM**

Amazing monster city.

gatt · #42 Posted **Jun 9, 2012, 5:52 PM**

beautiful!very impressive city.

george · #43 Posted **Jun 12, 2012, 9:57 PM**

Great tour... you certainly made the rounds. Good food shots also!

cabasse · #44 Posted **Jun 12, 2012, 10:33 PM**

impressive set from on of the best photogs here as always. love whatever building that is in 56/57. what station is in 31?

kool maudit · #45 Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 4:41 PM**

amazing as always

10023 · #46 Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 4:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

Haha very true...though I've never gotten the PBR Breakfast. I usually get the Duck Confit Hash.

Speaking of, when is Au Cheval in the West Loop going to start doing breakfast? Mmmm... potato has with duck heart gravy...

BnaBreaker · #47 Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 9:29 PM**

I thought it had already started doing breakfast? Don't quote me on that though. I'm honestly not sure. I've only been there twice. I loved it both times, but neither time was for breakfast. I think that's about to change though after seeing the picture you posted. Good Lord. Stuff like that is just obscene, in a good way. Pornography for the mouth. Chicago, I think, similar to Montreal, really specializes in that absolutely over the top, indulgent, rich food that we all love and crave but can only have once every so often. Things like bone marrow, foie gras, duck confit etc. etc.

EDIT: You know what, on second thought, I'm wondering if I just thought that they did breakfast because there are so many dishes on their menu that are kind of a nod to breakfast. The last time I got was early evening and I got the foie gras and scrambled eggs, which, needless to say, were phenomenal.

ChiSoxRox · #48 Posted **Jun 13, 2012, 10:43 PM**

The best way to describe my feelings on this city is that I cannot wait to have an address ending in Chicago, IL 606xx.

Great photo set for a impressive, imposing city.

As for the winters, I'm a rabid booster of the Midwest and come most Januaries and Februaries, I wonder when warm will ever return (this last bizarro winter aside). But it always does, and our spring, summers, and fall tend to be beautiful compared to much of the rest of the country.

Marcu · #49 Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 9:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by destroycreate

I guess I was referring to the widespread thought that Chicago is ultimately the most American big city in the US. Whereas LA feels extremely hispanic-influences, the Bay Area influenced by Asia, and NYC being a melting pot of the world, I always hear that Chicago is unmistakenly American through and through.

Chicago proper is 1/3rd Hispanic, so outside of a few all white lakefront and all black south side neighborhoods, you'll be hard pressed to not notice the hispanic influence. In fact, when visiting Manhattan and Brooklyn recently, one of the first things I noticed was how much less Hispanic influenced it seemed vs. Chicago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Segun

Chicago is still #5 in international immigration in the US, despite its location. When they say its the most American, its not like you're going to walk around the city and find nothing but "Americans".....it refers to how it represents the good and bad of America. Diverse/segregated, safe/dangerous, cosmopolitan/provincial, friendly/corrupt. Also, its built environment has the greatest concentration and mixes of distinctly "American" forms. It was, for a long while, the largest, truly American-built city.

Exactly. Chicago saw over half a million international immigrants from 2000 to 2010.

Chicago still has more Polish speakers than any other American city. Its enduring linguistic stew ranks it among the top four cities with speakers of Arabic (4th), German (2nd), Greek (2nd), Gujarati (2nd), Hindi (3rd), Hungarian (4th), Italian (3rd), Korean (4th), Russian (3rd), Serbo-Croatian (2nd), Spanish (4th) and Urdu (2nd). "That's the story of Chicago. It's no longer No. 1 in foreign-language speakers, but it always comes in second, third or fourth," said demographer Rob Paral, a Chicago-based research fellow with the American Immigration Law Foundation. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-...bureau-foreign-language-speakers-chicago

10023 · #50 Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 11:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

Chicago, I think, similar to Montreal, really specializes in that absolutely over the top, indulgent, rich food that we all love and crave but can only have once every so often. Things like bone marrow, foie gras, duck confit etc. etc.

Michael White, a chef in New York (Marea, Ai Fiori, Osteria Morini) who is from Wisconsin and used to be the chef at Spiaggia in Chicago, is opening an East Village pizzeria. There will be bone marrow pizza. It will deliver to me. I'm excited.

Here: http://ny.eater.com/tags/nicoletta And here: https://instagr.am/p/LnurLaq_o0/

And I'm pretty sure Au Cheval still doesn't do breakfast, it's just got a lot of stuff on the menu that involves fried egg.

BnaBreaker · #51 Posted **Jun 14, 2012, 11:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10023

Michael White, a chef in New York (Marea, Ai Fiori, Osteria Morini) who is from Wisconsin and used to be the chef at Spiaggia in Chicago, is opening an East Village pizzeria. There will be bone marrow pizza. It will deliver to me. I'm excited.

Good God. That sounds incredible. I wonder what the black market value is for something like that?

Talbot · #52 Posted **Jul 10, 2012, 4:50 PM**

Wow, awesome set of photos!

harryc · #53 Posted **Jul 10, 2012, 5:58 PM**

Wow Loop, Logan Square, and Uptown - you hit all the great hoods, bit of the west side as well.

Great shots thx.

tallboy66 · #54 Posted **Jul 15, 2012, 3:57 PM**

They are trying to tear this down.

Great shots of some Greystones though I wouldn't say hanging out in Humboldt is fun but...

KevinFromTexas · #55 Posted **Jul 16, 2012, 12:37 PM**

Nice. You're killing me with that food.

A few of those shots around the elevated train looked familiar. Am I right in thinking that's anywhere near where they filmed the Blues Brothers?

ardecila · #56 Posted **Jul 17, 2012, 7:55 AM**

Wish I had the budget to be a gourmand...

To be honest, though, the whole competition among chefs to out-decadent each other is revolting. Duck confit hash? I like duck confit but can't imagine making it even more unhealthy.

I'm not averse to eating well but this is ridiculous and Chicago in particular takes it to new heights. Even New Orleans isn't this bad.

Centropolis · #57 Posted **Jul 17, 2012, 12:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

Wish I had the budget to be a gourmand...

To be honest, though, the whole competition among chefs to out-decadent each other is revolting. Duck confit hash? I like duck confit but can't imagine making it even more unhealthy.

I'm not averse to eating well but this is ridiculous and Chicago in particular takes it to new heights. Even New Orleans isn't this bad.

So what. It's not like baby kittens and children are being hacked and stuffed in deep fried cassoulets...........yet.

BnaBreaker · #58 Posted **Jul 17, 2012, 5:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

Wish I had the budget to be a gourmand...

To be honest, though, the whole competition among chefs to out-decadent each other is revolting. Duck confit hash? I like duck confit but can't imagine making it even more unhealthy.

I'm not averse to eating well but this is ridiculous and Chicago in particular takes it to new heights. Even New Orleans isn't this bad.

I work at a catering company and live in a studio apartment. My budget is shit. I just happen to prefer spending more of any extra money I might have than the average person does on eating well.

I've never encountered a person who thought it was "bad" and "ridiculous" to use your sense of taste and celebrate food. If you don't want to live life to it's fullest, then that is your prerogative. But don't criticize people who do seek out life's pleasures. You might as well start waging your finger at people who spend money to hear live music or look at beautiful art.

Oh, and something else you touched on that irks me to no end and is a giant misconception is the notion that you have to spend exorbitant amounts of money to eat high quality food. That is absolutely false. Some of the best food you can find in Chicago is in random hole-in-the-wall joints. But even things like the 'appallingly offensive and over the top duck confit hash in question is only like twelve bucks. People like spending their money on different things than you. Get over it.