GUD BLOG: SINGLE POST
Quintessence
Chicago’s personality is so lovable. Part of why I find that to be the case is that it’s always felt to me like it has more in common with Michigan than with more cosmopolitan locales. Obviously, it’s bigger than any cities here, and it offers the type of diversity, transit, and culture of a place like New York. But at its core, it’s a big, sprawling Midwestern city with ample neighborhoods full of pleasant, Midwestern people.
I always understood that on an intellectual level. But my most recent trip there felt so completely different from any other I’ve made.
For my thoroughly awesome job, I was sent to Chicago to interview two of its finest chefs – Rick Bayless and Stephanie Izard – for a couple of upcoming magazine articles. I tried to prepare the best I could, of course. But no amount of pre-work could have readied me for how genuine and personable they are. I suppose I should have expected it – I’m sure there’s a bumper sticker somewhere that reads “Chefs are people too” – but for whatever reason, their celebrity had sort of created this mental distance between me and the notion that they had, you know, actual personalities. Duh.
These chefs could open restaurants anywhere, I’m sure, but they fit in Chicago.
We’d arranged to have some photographs taken of both chefs, so I was also meeting our photographer for the first time, a Chicago-based food and lifestyle specialist named Huge Galdones. All I knew previously was that I liked his portfolio and my colleague had chosen him for the project after comparing him to others.
It turns out he’s one of the friendliest guys pretty much ever, and we grabbed some dinner after our work was done. Interestingly enough, it turns out we also had a mutual friend via food and wine circles.
Along those lines, when dining at Girl & the Goat the night before, I ran into a former Detroit area resident who had moved to Chicago two years ago, who in turn introduced me to a couple of the bartenders at Goat, both of whom were knowledgeable, interesting, nice people. While aggressively consuming their alcoholic wares, I also got to know a woman at the bar who had friends in southeast Michigan and who, upon learning why I was there, shared all of her dishes with me so I could try more of the menu.
After returning from my dinner at Girl & the Goat on Monday night, I wrote on Facebook, “So it turns out that all the hype for Girl and the Goat in Chicago is not only justified, it may very well be under hyped. Four hours of eating and drinking. Maybe the best desserts I’ve ever had. It’s perhaps needless to say, but I’m a fan. Big time.”
In retrospect, each of the two desserts I had are the best desserts I’ve ever had. No equivocation on that. One and two, or maybe one and one-a. I mean, who the hell puts lemon-infused eggplant with doughnuts? Or gooseberry compote, foie “fluff,” and chocolate? Chef Stephanie Izard. That’s who. She’s a damn genius.
It’s pretty impossible to really say what my absolute best meal is of all time – after all, how can I compare her lamb heart skewers to Japanese marinated raw beef tongue, or how can I compare my first ever bite of pulled pork to fluffy agnolotti filled with seasonal root veggies? – but it’s safe to say this ranks right up there.
So after two days, all the people I’d met – from bartenders to world famous chefs – were universally kind, thoughtful people. And the whole Small World thing was in full effect. I might as well have been hanging out at Astro in Detroit for how at home I suddenly felt.
After Huge and I had eaten dinner, I closed out my trip by hiking out to Bar DeVille on Chef Izard’s recommendation. I’d already been to the great cocktail bars that are decorated by interior designers. I wanted something a bit simpler, and she came through with the perfect suggestion. I drank (a Vieux Carre, a Weller 12 year, two beers, and two unnamed cocktails) while He-Man DVDs played on the TV and Nirvana and Raekwon blared over the speakers. A local liquor rep sat down next to me and unloaded a day’s worth of bad luck and a few jokes as though we were Norm and Cliff in some sort of weird hipster reboot of Cheers.
The whole night was like a big blanket wrapped around my soul. A bourbon soaked blanket. But a blanket nonetheless.
Having a better time on that trip would have been pretty much impossible. Unsurprisingly, it heightened my appreciation for Chicago. But after some reflection, I realized that (aside from the exquisite, incomparable food experience at Girl & the Goat) all the things that I really loved about my trip are exactly the things I love about Detroit and about Michigan – the people I’ve met, the small town feel where everyone somehow knows everyone else, and sharing good drinks and good food with good people, whether they become friends for a night or a lifetime.
2011.09.01 Evan Hansen at 9:23 pm
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One Response to Quintessence
Awesome post. As a former Chicago resident myself, I completely concur. There is something about a booze soaked Chicago night…