Chicago

I love Chicago. Love. There is just so much going on and so much to see and so much more I want to do when I am there. Unfortunately  I rarely get to Chicago for fun and vacation. I am usually there for ALA conferences and never have the time I wish I did to explore.

But when I am there for ALA, I always find the chance to have some fun and eat some good food.

Food

Vermillon, 10 W. Hubbard
The first night we ("we" being Frenchie and I) were in Chicago we had plans so we needed to find someplace for dinner that was close, convenient, and vegan-friendly. I searched Google maps for "vegan" and Vermillion popped up.

Holy crap was it good. Indian-Latin fusion, they had a separate vegetarian menu and the waiter was able to tell me which items were vegan or could be made vegan. Being this was the first real food either of us had eaten that day, we were very hungry. Starting with the Lime Ginger Martini, everything just got better. My pictures aren't that great because it was kind of dark and I had to use the flash.

I started with the Verdent Medeley Salad (minus the queso fresco)

Then I had the Chili-glazed Blackened Eggplant with avocado Pakoras.
This was fucking spectacular. 

Chicago Diner, 2333 N. Milwaukee Ave (Logan Square)
I have wanted to go here for awhile and it never worked out. The Chicago Diner is an all meat-free restaurant that is veggie and vegan. They recently opened a new one off Logan Square and it was much easier to get to from the Loop than the original one on Halstead. And to make up for not getting there in the past, I went twice.

Sunday night
I went one night with some library friends and I had the Radical Rueben and a chocolate shake. It was pretty much perfection.

Radical Rueben. So good. So messy.
Paired with kale, a pickle, and a chocolate shake. 

Tuesday morning
The Logan Square location is on the Blue Line (of the el) which is the el train that goes from the Loop to O'Hare. So... since my flight left mid-afternoon I checked out of the hotel earlier than normal and stopped off at the Chicago Diner for breakfast where I had a cinnamon roll and the Country Benedict -- basically fake eggs benedict with faux sausage gravy instead of faux hollandaise. Spectacular.

Country Benedict

Russian Tea Time, 77 E. Adams St. 
I've blogged about this place before and about the same dish I had this weekend, but whenever I am in Chicago, I try to get here. I love the atmosphere and the food. And it is vegan-friendly. I emailed ahead of time to see if the Domlama (Uzbeck layered stew) was vegan but was told it had butter in it. In the past I was told it had margarine. When I was there this time I was told it didn't have butter and that they used vegetable oil. In many cases I wouldn't get it because of mixed messages and go with the Mashkitchiri (Uzbeck Mung Bean Stew) which I have been told many times is vegan. But I wanted the Domlama because I love it. My waiter, Sergei, was great and checked for me on both the Russian Black Bread (they didn't make it there so couldn't vouch for it's vegan-ness) and assured me the stew was vegan. I decided to believe him. And it was awesome. Add bottomless Russian tea--so good, so comforting.

Domlama

Fun

Big Star
So, Frenchie brought the Big Star Third Tribute to my attention--not just the tribute but the fact that it would be in Chicago the evening we arrived. (This is where we needed to be after eating at Vermillion.) For very little money we got to see musical legends (Mitch Easter, Jody Stephens, Ken Stringfellow and others) perform Big Star's Third--and more. Mike Mills is usually part of the core band but wasn't able to be there due to a family illness. While he was missed, the show was awesome. And I got to shake Mitch Easter's hand afterward. Mitch fucking Easter.

Left to right: Mitch Easter , Django Haskins, Ken Stringfellow

Friends
As always, it is good to see friends at ALA. I room with Frenchie becuase we understand each others idiosyncrasies and various weirdnesses. And then I see library friends, and this time I actually had the chance to catch up with my replacement at Ye Olde University (although he has since moved on). We had a good time takling about former coworkers and laughing. A lot.

I also got to see some college friends, one in particular who wasn't able to make it to Bruce's memorial. He only had a couple hours, but it was enough time to drink a couple of scotch on the rocks in Bruce's name and catch up on the last twenty years.

This is also when I found out I can't hold my scotch. "Scotchy, scotch, scotch."

There were other things, like walking past out hotel in a downpour because the hotel changed it's name and no one told us. Being put in a single when we requested a double. Again. Me losing my shit at the front desk of a hotel. Again.

And so on and so forth.