Farsighted Fly Girl

I've been writing for a slew of new publications this year, including a few international sites. I was excited to be contacted by Brilliant Noise Media to craft a story about the best places to hear classic Chicago music for London's Heathrow site, Good to Go . You know I was pumped about sharing Windy City sounds! I supplied details about where to hear signature Chicago blues and jazz. Check out my post here.

It's a cute idea. Gourmet hot dogs add a little style to this basic fast food and Chicago boasts quite a few eateries offering their take. Frank N' Dawgs ' adventurous menu intrigued me the most. Smoked tofu? Scallop sausage? Kimchi?  These aren't your typical hot dog ingredients and I was fascinated to discover if they actually  tasted good. So I headed to Frank N Dawgs with my skeptical hubby. I laughed at this sign that greeted us, above. In case we didn't know, there'd be no typical dogs with peppers and relish here. Who can think about humdrum dishes when there's triple truffle fries?  Slathered in truffle butter, truffle oil and truffle salt, we almost forgot about the hot dogs as we (mostly hubby) gobbled them down. I opted for fried green tomatoes to accompany my dog. I liked the idea of crunchy, cornmeal covered tomatoes to offset the heaviness of the dog but the cornmeal didn't quite stick to the tomatoes. So I ended up eati...

I like to be daring. I enjoy new adventures. So when I saw people flying over Lake Michigan on huge trapezes, I got excited. How fun would it be to fly through the air with the greatest of ease, the lake breeze wafting over me?  Turns out, that wasn't exactly the experience I had. The Trapeze School of New York in Chicago  appeals to everyone's sense of fun. Lots of people watched as we took turns on the trapeze and asked about classes. Of course,watching and doing are two totally different things. Caught up in the thrill of actually flying on a trapeze, it's easy to overlook the details. The most significant detail that I wish I had known before the class, is that you need to be coordinated. Guess what? Coordination has never been my strong suit. My life is extremely focused on the mental sphere so my command of the physical is relatively weak. Even my trainer gets puzzled with my ability to mix up the simplest routines. So you can imagine my panic when I realized ...

You know I love the blues. Besides being a part of my heritage, I really respond to the tangible emotions that run through the music, from joy and raunchiness, to melancholy and regret. You have not experienced the real Chicago until you have felt the embrace of live blues late at night, in a dark room filled with liquor fumes and laughter. You can catch Chicago blues on any night of the week in many neighborhoods but all blues clubs are not created equal. Beer selection and a convenient location don’t make a great blues club, the music and the atmosphere does.  I often get asked about the best Chicago blues clubs to visit so here are my  personal picks for the best spots to hear high quality blues, like sets by blues divas Deitra Farr, Nellie Travis and Peaches Staten, above. 1.   Rosa’s Lounge The warmth of this small neighborhood joint extends from the gregarious Italian-born owner Tony Mangiullo, to the musicians and regulars who greet visitors like long ...

I knew something was horribly amiss when I heard about the lines.  Lines snaking down long city blocks. In the rain, the cold, the snow. People waiting for HOURS, only to be turned away when the meager supply ran out. Chicago is a foodie town. Not in a highfalutin, Michelin star kind of way but in a it's- the -Midwest -and- we- like- to -eat, kind of way. We will jump on the latest foodie trends. We will sample newfangled ingredients and down weird beverages. But we do not do lines. All that New York, LA, velvet rope/insane waits because it's the hot spot has never worked in Chicago.  Many a New York or LA outpost has found their hipster dreams shattered in Chicago because we will shut a place down before we wait in unnecessary lines. It just insults our practical Midwestern sensibility.  So when I heard tales of crazy lines at the Doughnut Vault,   a closet-sized shop with a 1/2 in its address and a rotation of only five flavors of $3 doughnuts, I...

As a born and raised Chicagoan, I’m pretty persnickety about what passes for essential Chicago tourism. Yes, the Magnificent Mile is pretty but  this glitzy stretch crammed with designer shops really doesn’t define the Windy City or its sensibilities.  So I’ve compiled a list of the top 5 things that in my opinion, truly reflect Chicago history and attitude.  1.  Pizzeria Due:  Deep dish Chicago style pizza is an absolute must. You may think you’ve tasted it before but if you’ve never been to Chicago, you’ve never experienced true deep dish pizza. It is dripping with cheese, it weighs about 5 pounds and it neatly reflects brash Chicago style and heavy Midwestern palates. The iconic Pizzeria Uno chain is credited as one of the first to serve the delicacy. Pizzeria Due is just as iconic and is my personal favorite because it’s slightly less crowded than the original. 2. Untouchable Tours:  No matter that Al and the most notorious hoodlums are gone, thi...

This is a historic Chicago weekend.  For the first time since 1941, the Chicago Bears will play the Green Bay Packers in the NFL playoffs. Although I'm not really a sports fan, as a Chicagoan I feel intense allegiance to our teams. Does that mean I'll be at Soldier Field watching the Monsters of the Midway in snow and 5 degree wind chill? Umm, no.  What I have been doing is handing out advice to pitiful travelers trying to figure out how to stay warm on a  January Chicago Bears weekend. Besides the obvious, (a real coat not a light jacket or hoodie, a hat to cover your ears, gloves and boots.) I recommend a secret weapon I actually discovered in Door County, Wisconsin. I was snow shoeing in 8 foot drifts and 2 degree temperatures and despite doubled-up insulated gloves, my fingers were cold.  My guided offered me a pack of hand warmers. I had seen these stacked up in Chicago drug stores but never took them seriously. Surely, somebody who's never lived through a Ch...

I am recovering from a chocolate hangover. Like a love hangover, it has no cure.  It all started when I grabbed a Groupon for  Chicago Chocolate Tours . Chicago boasts a long candy history and naturally, I'm very familiar with most of it but my husband isn't ( he just likes chocolate, not sugar in all forms). So we signed up for the Gold Coast Chocolate Tour and met are tour guide Jenny, above in the lobby of Bloomingdale's. Even though I possess a serious sweet tooth, I confess that I was not equipped to down pounds and pounds of chocolate over 21/2 hours. We started at More cupcakes, a tiny gourmet cupcake boutique aimed toward cupcake snobs, which includes me.  As you can see from the display above, the shop carries a dazzling array of flavors, including savory versions like maple bacon, goat cheese basil and blue cheese walnut praline. We sampled a tasting size of the chocolate fudge cupcake that was rich and moist. We planned to head back to stock up on red ve...

What's a meal created by a top chef master taste like? Does it transcend mere earthly dishes? Does it haunt your dreams and inspire drooling? I headed to Rick Bayless' newest restaurant creation Xoco, to discover the answer. You might have heard of Rick Bayless. He hosts some cooking shows. Wrote some cookbooks. Won a fancy top chef title. Known for his innovation with Mexican cuisine, Bayless' Xoco, (SHO-ko)which means "little sister" in Aztec slang, focuses on Mexican street food. Now Rick likes to take his liberties with Mexican food. He whips up traditional dishes with flourishes and twists, to appeal to the American palate. His take on Mexican street food involves a small selection of tortas or sandwiches, caldos or soups and most importantly, freshy ground, hot chocolate and churros or fried dough. Most of the ingredients are locally produced and organically grown. My favorite part of the experience was drinking aguas frescas , fresh fruit j...