West Egg Wonderful

Savvy holiday shoppers know the place to go for the best breakfast on the Miracle Mile is West Egg. Located a few blocks off Chicago's Michigan Avenue, West Egg is one of those breakfast places that just makes you happy.

Having worked seven years in the restaurant industry, watching the machinery of West Egg is pure joy for me. It's one of those extremely busy breakfast places that gets a ton of people in and out fast, runs like clockwork, and is remarkably clean and polite for the high traffic it supports.

Breakfast diners like this are models of efficiency that make me long for those restaurant days when the people you worked with knew what move each other were going to make next and just flowed together like a single unit. Throw in some cozy restaurant charm and an actual u-shape diner bar and you've got the potential for breakfast heaven.

For anyone who's not worked in the restaurant industry (seems like most of America anymore) West Egg offers terrific, fast service and positively delicious breakfasts. I tested them all three mornings I was in Chicago and not a single one was a disappointment.

I started on the first day with a standard restaurant test. I like to order either a restaurant's signature dish or their simplest dish. In the case of a breakfast place, that's poached eggs (though almost no one offers them anymore) or sunny-side-up. These are simple eggs that can be fantastic given proper treatment or awful if they're just dished to you as an after-thought (eh... sunny-side up? f' this guy.)

I can report my poached eggs were both hot and lovingly treated; while not the best I've ever had (poached egg fans know what i'm talking about... the poached egg with a warm, creamy yoke , about the consistency of room temperature corn syrup) they were still pretty outstanding. The english muffins and tomato wheels served with most egg dishes at West Egg were a perfect match. I also had some perfectly cooked bacon (thick cut that's cooked to just below crisp, so it's that melange of crumbly and chewy), and french toast. God damn the french toast was good. Almost meaty and hearty.

The next day I found my sunny-side-up eggs to be equally delightful.

True to form (and I find this to be true at all great breakfast places, I wonder why?) the coffee was sub-par. I'll never understand why that is, but the most fantastic breakfast places are serving that awful bunn-coffee-maker-coffee that's either burnt to hell or tastes like the machine hasn't been cleaned since the Eisenhower administration. Thankfully, the food at a place like West Egg is simply so fantastic, you dump some cream in and really don't care.

A last item and this is the wonderful cherry on the sundae of this place... The orange juice was fresh squeezed. On a bracingly cold day in early December, West Egg kept me satisfyingly warm all day.

The Only Chicago Style Pizza I've Ever Liked

I've tried to like Chicago-style pizza for a long time, but I gotta be honest, the whole concept seems just awful to me. Though I know people who are, I'm not a dry texture person. The thought of acres of this cornbread crust and then boatloads of cheese... it's not only abhorrent to my personal palette (and an overly trendy menu item), but it also seems like a recipe for constipation. Not good.

The last time I tried Chicago style pizza was about six years ago rushing between flights in O'Hare. I was famished. I reasoned "if I'm ever gonna like Chicago-style, it's gonna be now." Ick. It was terrible.

Fast forward to tonight. I'm at a conference in Chicago with someone from work who knows the Chicago restaurant and bar scene much better than myself and he recommends we hit Pizzeria Uno for that very thing. Keeping to myself the above experiences, I indicate that I trust him and we head out for the original location of the original Pizzeria Uno.

We arrive early and get right in. The atmosphere is charming, small, and clearly well-worn. The staff is wonderful, and i'll get right to the point.

The pizza was fantastic. We had the Numero Uno - a wonderful everything-on-it pizza with these ENORMOUS sliced off HUNKS of sausage... dear god it was fantastic. It was so wonderful, I have a new "flavor-word" to describe this pizza: it tasted... sausagy. You heard it here first, if any other foodies or food critics are readin' this, that's my f'in' word - back off.

The cheese was pleasingly light; to me the bane of most attempts at Chicago-style is to create this glacier of cheese that adds an unnecessary heaviness to an already substantial dish.

The biggest surprise of all was the crust. I don't know how they did it, but they kept a cornmeal crust loaded down with meat and toppings remarkably light and even a little crispy (in fact, maybe it was the juxaposition of those two things that helped make the crust seem even more delicate). What a joy.

So good deal. I like Chicago-style pizza. From the one and only Pizzeria Uno.

Back to Fado

Ok, so remember that other Fado post? When I said if i ever go back there I'll get the bread pudding?

I did tonight and it was fantastic. A big cube of very moist bread pudding with apples and raisins, a side of whipped cream and orange slices, and topped with walnut ice cream. What's not to like?

My only regret? I just had to have some, but having come from P.F. Chang's, I'd had quite a meal already so only had a few bites. Thankfully, it was enough to say, it was wonderful!

PF Chang's Nails It

Yeah, I know, it's Chinese, it's a chain, fine. Whatever. Call me a hayseed. But P.F. Chang's is pullin' off some great Chinese food and doin' it in a fun setting not far off the Miracle Mile in Chicago. We've become so accustomed to Chinese food in America, it's become uninteresting to us- it's like Starbucks. I'm the first person to say that most Chinese food I've had isn't significantly different between any place I've had it. And while there are some places that arguably serve some of the worst Chinese I've ever had (like the lone Chinese restaurant in my hometown) there are those doing something really special.

P.F. Chang's claim to fame seems to be keepin' it simple. They do the basic Chinese dish flawlessly. The spring rolls are impeccably crisp, the mu shu delightfully tangy-salty (but not too much of either), and the chicken lettuce wraps are perfectly cooked - tiny pieces of chicken that are just done, not over-cooked. The Chang's Spicy Chicken ... so delightful; the most delicate coating of crisp tempura over perfectly cooked chicken (no powder-dry white meat here) and a thin, sweet Sichuan that is as spritefully herbal in its to the nose as it is spicy to the tongue. Each piece is like a delicately scented flower on a hot June day.

So sure, chain, yes. Fine. But what a delightful chain, and for those who travel, a sure bet for something good in many destinations.

Fado Fun & Food

Had a great dinner at Fado in Chicago tonight. Sure, yes, I know it's a chain, but they do a great job, not only at the food, but also creating the atmosphere of a warm neighborhood pub. A lot of it might have had to do with the good nature of Chicagoans and their genuine friendliness.

Being a pub, I had to get myself a pint and was pleasantly surprised to see that no matter what beer was ordered, it was served in the 'official' glass appropriate to that brew. For dinner I had traditional fish and chips. These were WELL worth noting. For starters, they carry a condiment little known in much of the states called 'Chef's Sauce' that is sort of like a thick version of malt vinegar. But the beautiful pieces of cod were the stars of the show; light and meaty, but most notably tender and not a bit greasy. It was like two pieces of battered heaven.

My only regret is that the restaurant had a pleasant, but bustling in flux of people just as the meal was nearing the end and I thought it best to pass on the dessert I was dreaming of: harvest bread pudding.

I'm here for a conference and if I make it back there, I won't leave without the bread pudding.

Best bites,
James