Our second day in Chicago was so much better! The sun was shining and the sky was blue, it was still really cold but the excitement of exploring kept us going.
We stopped at
Waffles Cafe for breakfast. Do you know how much I love waffles? It's amazing that I still don't own a waffle maker. I was excited to see all the different flavours on their menu and ordered the green tea waffle with lemon ginger cream and ground pistachio. Sadly, I didn't like this pairing at all. I found the waffle lacking in matcha flavour so much that I kept stealing bites from Howard's egg and chorizo dish.
We also tried the wonut - a waffle doughnut hybrid. Do they use doughnut batter in the waffle maker or deep fry a regular waffle? I don't know how they make it but I did like the light crispy shell that the wonut had before the soft interior. We tried the white ganache with chocolate sprinkles (second tray on the right on the photo above) since it is one of their bestsellers. And the chocolate turtle (bottom tray in the middle) with pecans and a caramel glaze - this was our favourite of the two.
With all that sugar in us, we walked and walked and came upon Maggie Daley Park that brought the kids out of us. There was a skating ribbon and small play areas filled with the coolest equipment.
There's a nautical theme in this play garden (at least I think that's what it's called after searching online).
I'm wondering if this is all new? Everything was still clean, shiny, and a delight to climb on - didn't risk going down the slides in case they were icy or wet inside.
I love this little boat. I want to take it home with me!!!
The beautiful BP Pedestrian Bridge. I loved the shiny plates of shingles and the curves, this is one sexy bridge. One bonus of Chicago in the winter is that there aren't many people out exploring in the cold with us. It felt like we had the bridge to ourselves!
The Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. Most sections are roped off to help preserve the greenery, but we could still admire the design and imagine the music here on warm summer nights.
The bean!!! Technically called Cloud Gate and as I got closer to it, I became captivated by the shape and reflections. I can see why photographers and tourists can spend hours here, just looking at it from different angles and different spots.
Howard sprouted off some facts that he read about, telling me that it was made with stainless steel plates that are welded together. And that it has seams that aren't visible unless you look closely. So we looked closely to see if we could spot the waves and bumps from the seams.
I love how it looks like a giant dew drop.
Crown Fountain in the winter becomes one of the many sculptures as the water is turned off.
Hmm, how about these tiles from Crown Fountain for a kitchen back-splash? Equipped with lighting in the back!
Walking around the park and the loop had us pop into Macy's to warm up and fill up on fuel. Luckily the food court on the seventh floor (Seven on State) had lots of great options. From
Frontera Fresco, I ordered short rib tacos filled with wild arugula, cotija cheese, and cilantro crema and a sweet corn and green chile tamale with ricotta and goat cheese, tomatillo salsa, queso fresco, and cilantro. That tamale is
so good, the corn tortillas were a bit too dry and rough for the tacos, but the short ribs were tasty and nicely braised.
Howard ordered noodles by Takashi Yagihashi, apparently a hot bowl of made-to-order ramen hits the spot in the winter. I still preferred my lunch over his. =P
CHICAGO, don't think that the Chase advertising was always there. Marina City, what's your take on the cob-like building? Yay or nay?
By the way, don't break in new boots that you bought the night before if you plan on walking everywhere. Ouch. Let's just say that my feet were throbbing for the next few days.
After some booth duty in the late afternoon, my boss and I went to
Graham Elliot Bistro for dinner. The place is long and narrow, dim and quite loud. We were seated along the wall, squeezed between two other tables with loud parties, so it wasn't the best place for conversation. I normally take whatever table the hostess gives, but here, we did try to ask for a quieter table to no avail.
We shared a starter called Milk & Honey which consisted of burrata cheese, raw honeycomb, and baby arugula. The salad was light and we wished there was more honeycomb crumbles. I tried the Salmon Filet served with whipped parsnips, brussels sprouts, and bacon lardon. My boss tried the Shortrib Stroganoff. The portions were larger than I expected and we skipped on dessert. Overall, we weren't very impressed, maybe we expected more unique and playful dishes. The food was decent but nothing special.
Howard, on his own, went for deep dish pizza that night because I said it was probably something I didn't want to try (the amount of cheese and sauce and crust looks so heavy, like it would just sink to the bottom of your stomach). So he ventured over to
Giordano's for his deep dish experience. From what I heard, he had to pace himself to eat it and then he had to walk it all off before meeting me back at our hotel.
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