Wacky State Fair Foods are On Their Way [and I get nauseated just looking at the photos]

Reading the local news at Indystar.com this morning, I came across the news article that is written every year at around this time…an article I LOVE to Loathe.

It’s the article that begins the announcement of the “wacky & weird” State Fair foods for this year. This article reaches the paper mid-July each year, without fail, and will be the 1st in a series of 3-4 articles on this topic. They are the articles that anticipate the booths that will have the forever-ly long lines, serving up crazy concoctions that look & sound like something some stoned college student with severe munchies cooked up after a night of partying. “Hey, I know what sounds like a good idea, lets fry Eggos in Captain Crunch & throw a fried chicken breast on it, man!”

Now I’ve been to the Indiana State Fair almost every year since I moved to Indiana when I was 5 years old.  My dad & I usually make a father-daughter date out of it & have a grand old time (one of my favorite traditions).  We walk around & look at the different animals, scope out the old tractors, play a price-guessing game on the new, HUGE farm equipment, watch the Percheron & Clydesdale cart competitions…things like that.  And yes, we have our meals at the State Fair while we are there.  For our meals we do things like grab a pork chop sandwich at the Pork Producer’s Tent, or maybe get a rib eye Sandwich from the Beef Producer’s Tent.  We’re known to grab a simple meal early in the day of a Swiss cheese on rye grilled cheese sandwich & a COLD glass of milk from the Dairy Bar concession stand.  And, self-admittedly, the state fair is one of the few times each year that I cave & have a genuine, mystery-meat, nitrate-loaded hot dog, but I take it a step farther and get one that has been dipped in corn batter & fried to golden deliciousness.  Mmmm…corn dogs.

Photo courtesy of the Indiana State Fair

But rarely in my 20-something odd years of going to the State Fair have I tried the “state fair foods of the year.”  To me, they frequently sound either a) disgusting, b) like a heart attack on a paper plate, or c) too gimmicky to possibly be Any Good.  Combine that with long lines & ridiculous costs…you can count me out.  (Also—see my vent on Taste of Chicago…depending on the day at the state fair, the “perfect storm of misery” can occur there too).  

I can say that 2 years ago, my husband convinced me to try one of the Gimmicky Fair Foods—chocolate covered bacon.  I love chocolate, I love bacon…it wasn’t that difficult of a stretch to get me to try it.  It was “ok”…but I could have made it better at home by using crispy bacon & using a higher-quality chocolate as a base for the dip as opposed to the limp bacon & waxy bland chocolate used by the food vendor.  I definitely don’t think it was worth the $3-5 dollars we probably paid for it.  If you want a delicious bacon chocolate option, get a Mo’s dark chocolate bacon bar (oddly, the only place I have found them locally is Whole Foods.).  Want to talk about the best PMS food ever?—forget chocolate covered pretzels…go with the dark chocolate bacon bar.

So in my usual status of skepticism/sarcasm about these types of wacky fair foods…Grab your gall bladder and join me as I break down the first 5 announced “2011 Indiana State Fair Foods.”  All 5 items were created by concessionaires Dennis & Cheryl Reas of Corydon, IN, who are the same people who brought the Krispy Cream Doughnut Burger to the Indiana State Fair last year.  

The first 5 announced “2011 Indiana State Fair Foods”

(Feel free to express or defend your position in the comments below…I’m open to wavering on my opinion about a couple of these)

1.  The Deep-Fried Klondike Bar

Photo courtesy of IndyStar.com

Indystar.com description: “The chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream is dipped in batter, then added to hot oil. Sprinkle on some powdered sugar, just in case it’s not sweet enough.”   

So deep-fried Snickers, Oreos, Reese’s cups, Twinkies, & cookie dough…those weren’t enough? We now have deep-fried Klondike bars?  Great.  The only positive I can see about this one, is that it might be the ultimate solution for avoiding little pieces of chocolate from flying off of a Klondike bar while you are eating it.  You know the plaques of chocolate that chip off, fall on your clothes & instantly melt, or fall on your off-white carpet & immediately mate with the carpet fibers?  Other than that, to me it sounds like a “Tempura Ice cream fiasco.”  You are going to get a super-melty slab of ice cream, coated in chocolate that is potentially runny/molten (because its meant to be consumed cold), covered in a doughy, most likely undercooked layer of batter that can’t reach a crispy, golden status without totally obliterating the ice cream slab underneath. To top it off, it looks like it comes on a stick.  No thanks, I’ll pass.

2.  The Chicken Eggo Sandwich

Photo courtesy of IndyStar.com

Indystar.com description: “It’s a chicken breast with a Cap’n Crunch cereal breading between two Eggo waffles.”

Ok…I get what they are going for here.  Chicken & Waffles are kind of a popular topic/dish in the part-time-foodie underworld right now.  I’m sure if you go to Chowhound.com you can find several posts from across the country debating the merits of various Chicken & Waffle joints.  This dish is potentially riding on the coattails of that trend before it fizzles out completely (if it hasn’t already?). This dish also appeals to the kids through 35-year-olds that were raised on the ready-made, out of the box breakfast delights of Eggo & Cap’n Crunch. Of the 5 dishes, this is 1 of the 2 I could potentially debate would maybe be worth trying.  From the picture, it looks like they pulverize the Cap’n Crunch into a mostly fine dust for the breading, & potentially add some herbs & seasonings.  While Cap’n Crunch breading has definitely been done numerous times before (anyone else remember the chicken tenders at the Indianapolis Planet Hollywood when it existed?), if done correctly & blended with other flour/breadcrumbs to knock down the sweetness…it can be good.  What kind of worries me in this photo is the way the Eggos look.  Are those fried?  I never had Eggos out of the box growing up that looked like that.  Dubious…

3.  French Toast Hamburger

Photo courtesy of IndyStar.com

Indy star description: “Toast gets the usual egg wash, plus a Cap’n Crunch breading, with a burger between slices. Add bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion and other toppings for added taste.”

This is the 2^nd of the 5 announced foods that I can see a little bit of merit.  Really, this sandwich has been done.  It’s a basically a Monte Cristo made with hamburger instead of ham.  The only difference is that they use the Cap’n Crunch batter (most likely out of the same pot as for #2 above) to give it a little crunch.  I’m guessing though, that instead of a griddle cooking, this toast gets tossed the deep fryer for a greasy finish too.  But overall, this one isn’t as scary to me…

4.  Deep Fried Kool-Aid

Photo courtesy of IndyStar.com

Indy star description: “Deep-fried Kool-Aid looks like red hush puppies, but tastes like the cherry-flavored drink mix.”

Ok…this is just craziness.  Just call it a cherry Kool-Aid flavored doughnut or do what the supermarket does & call it a cherry doughnut.  If you want to call something “deep fried kool-aid,” institute molecular gastronomy & find a way to encapsulate it and give it a crispy breading.  It reminds me of the “deep fried butter” craze of last year (which I’m sure all of the local cardiologists loved).  I personally did not have deep fried butter, but by all reports it was just a fried doughnut with a super greasy doughy center.  That irritated me—if you are going to proclaim it as “deep fried butter”…find a way to make it hold up as the center.  Maybe freeze-dry, powder & pellet-ize it? 

Want something fun to do with Kool-Aid that you could feed a dozen people with for approximately the same cost of what one serving of this fair food might cost?  Mix a packet of kool-aid-- cherry, grape, whatever you want-- into home-made milkshakes.  Delicious…and you get calcium. Win-Win.

5.  Ice Cream Burger

Photo courtesy of IndyStar.com

Indystar description: “From top to bottom, it’s a hamburger bun, Mexican ice cream coated with corn flakes and cinnamon, the sandwich toppings, a cheese-covered beef patty with the same coating, and another bun.”

And I thought the doughnut burger of last year was bad.  Back to the hypothetical college stoner conversation above, I’m pretty sure this conversation would go like this:  “Mmmm…you know what I bet is good?  Ice cream on a burger! Cheese is kind of like cream?—but lets put cheese on it too! Oooh…and let’s fry it! Dude—I think you’re on to something!”

Seriously.  When I first read “ice cream burger” before getting to the description & photograph, I thought—Aww, a playful twist on an ice cream sandwich that is reminiscent of a hamburger in structure & appearance.  Um no…they freaking put a scoop of ice cream on a fried cheese burger.  Blech.

Really…I don’t think I have to say anything for this one…it kind of speaks for it’s self.  I’m picturing an overly messy, overly greasy, muddled temperature, sickingly sweet burger that instantly makes you want to crawl under a rock somewhere & hide out of shame for eating it.  

What are your thoughts for these “culinary” offerings at the state fair this year?  I’d love to hear others’ opinions…

Chicago...Day 3

[Continued from Day 1 & Day 2...]

Warning--Super Long Post with No Photos (a post that contains a vent about bizarre parenting strategies & a horrid experience at "Taste of Chicago.")

Sunday morning we slept in a bit, got ready, packed up our stuff & headed out for breakfast.  Since we were on a slight time-crunch to meet the check out deadline at our hotel, we decided to just walk around the corner to Einstein Bros Bagels for breakfast.  It had been >5 years since I had had Einstein’s for breakfast, & the Hubs had never had one of their breakfast sandwiches.  Mission= successful.

After breakfast we walked back to the hotel, checked-out, & meandered back to the Millennium Park Garage to drop our suitcases off at the car.  Then we caught a bus down to the Museum of Science and Industry…because we had a date with some dead people. 

The Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago is my favorite museum, ever.  You know how when you were a little kid & you would dream about getting locked in a zoo, museum, theme park, etc overnight so you could play with everything & not wait in line? MSI was my “lock in” dream, and I still dream about getting to do that at MSI.  Honestly I think they should have “kid free” evening hours, so the adults get more chances to play with all of the things in there (“what do you mean I should give priority for this exhibit to kids?” whatever).  It is seriously awesome.  They had 2 new large exhibits there that were new since the last time we had visited 3 years ago.  The first one—“Science Storms,” was Amazing.  It was all about different storms & natural disasters, the science behind them, with some of the best hands-on demonstration exhibits I have EVER seen in a museum. Plus there was a 3 story tall “tornado” in the middle of the exhibit.  Incredibly fun—and educational. Everyone wins!  The other new exhibit was the “You! The Experience” exhibit, which was all about the human body, our perceptions, our “neat human tricks” & other things along those lines.  It also featured several plasticized human body parts & systems, like what you can see in the Body Worlds exhibit (read below). This is the exhibit I REALLY wished we could have kicked the kids out of so we could have played with everything…

The actual reason we went to MSI this trip was for the Body Worlds exhibit.  The Hubs & I had already been to one of the Body Worlds exhibits when it traveled through St. Louis a few years back.  We loved it.  While it is a really heavy thing to understand that what you are looking at are the physical bodies of people that once walked this Earth…it is still an amazing view into the complexity & artful-being of the human body. These are highly fascinating exhibits that I think most adults should see.

Notice I said “Adults” above…while I think there is a hefty percentage of pre-teens & teens that could handle viewing a Body Worlds Exhibit (& potentially some well-educated upper grade school kids), many younger children are not equipped emotionally/educationally to deal with the heaviness of these exhibits.

Parents, please do not take your kids that are <8 years old into a Body Worlds exhibit, unless you are 100% sure about their abilities to view, understand, & cope with what they are seeing.  

Parents, please do not take your minors that are >8 years old into a Body Worlds exhibit, unless you are 100% sure about their abilities to view, understand & cope with what they are seeing, and if you are 100% sure about your abilities to answer any questions or engage in the conversations that may result from their viewing of the exhibit.  For example, there were 2 parents (presumably doctors by how they were talking & their knowledge base) that took their approximately 7 & 10 year old sons through the exhibit while we were there.  It was obvious by how the kids were talking that the parents had talked about the exhibit with them in advance (& potentially investigated the website first).  It was also obvious that the 2 boys had a very strong understanding of the human body, diseases, & the “facts of life” walking into the exhibit, judging by the questions they were asking, & their speed of identifying organs/organ systems.  Those 2 kids were fine…but…

Parents, if you have a 3 year old in the Body Worlds exhibit with you who is hyper-ventilating, sobbing “no Mommy, no Daddy, no, no”, & trying to hide his face in your legs…take him out of the exhibit. How did these parents respond instead?--they physically forced the child to turn around & look at the plasticized dead people, picking him up so that he was eye level with the sculptures.  Seriously…true story. It was heartbreaking how upset that poor little kid was…and I would argue that those actions are on par with child abuse.

Parents, if you have a 12 year old with you who is isolating herself in the corner saying/screaming “No Dad, I don’t want to know what that is. You can’t make me look at that. No, I don’t want to know what that is! Let’s go” and looking seriously troubled/traumatized, as you are trying to point out cross sections of a human brain or the male genitalia to her…well…you sir are a horrible parent.  She will probably remember that event as she’s making the choice between a high-class or low-budget nursing home for you in the future…  Just saying.

But what if you want to view the Body Worlds exhibit…and you happen to have a kid along with you?  In both situations above, there were 2 parents in the exhibit with the upset children.  What is wrong with 1 parent viewing the exhibit, while the other parent takes the kid(s) to view an exhibit appropriate for their age? Then handoff the kid(s), so the other parent could see the exhibit?  Plus—you would save a good chunk of money that way too…

People amaze me sometimes…but at least their kids will be supporting the field of psychiatry for another generation?...

After we headed out of MSI, we wandered back up to Grant Park to see Buckingham Fountain.  I have been to Chicago several times in the spring/summer…but I haven’t seen the fountain while it was running (renovations, off-timing, etc).  So we thought we would do a quick dash by the fountain on the way back to the car…Wrong.  We found out that “Taste of Chicago” was still going on…Since we needed lunch, & because I know a few people that enjoy journeying up to Chicago to partake in “Taste of Chicago”…we thought that could be a fun thing to do for lunch since we were already at the park...

WRONG.  I’m pretty sure I can chalk “Taste of Chicago” to the top of my “Worst Experiences in Chicago” list (above any amount of time that I’ve spent on the Magnificent Mile).  It. Was. Miserable.  Granted, it was (1) HOT, (2) A Holiday weekend, & (3) The last day of the festival…and I’m pretty sure that those 3 factors align to create the perfect storm of misery for any outdoors festival/fair.  However, Taste of Chicago was a particularly miserable experience for me.

Picture this scenario…it’s hot. You are standing in the middle of a 4 lane road that has been closed down, corralled by tents lining the perimeter, the smell of grease & stale booze, and an endless swarm of sweaty, rude people.  People that are walking in large groups, 8 people wide, embodying the philosophy of a well-tuned NFL Defensive line--“We Shall Not Let You Pass.” Strollers ripping into your ankles & calves, you struggle to walk. You are a person who is not usually a fan of crowds, but you can tolerate them…until you catch the 4^th elbow to your gut. You are like a fish swimming against the current, but everywhere you turn is against the current.  Someone gets a free sample of cranberry juice, & then throws the half full glass at your feet instead of in the trashcan 5 feet away…making for sticky Tevas for the rest of your stay in Hades....

Do you get the picture of why I was not a fan of Taste of Chicago?

For $16.00, the Hubs & I had:  2 slices of sausage patty deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s, a taste portion of chicken & vegetable pot stickers from a Vietnamese food vendor, a taste portion of a Chicago-style dog from Vienna Beef, and a taste portion of beignets from a Cajun food vendor.  We also had several free samples of Sierra Mist, Pepsi Max, & Ocean Spray cranberry beverages to wash it all down with…

Oddly—we didn’t get that close to Buckingham Fountain during our “Taste of Chicago” experience (fountain = right next to festival).  By the time we finished the last bite of beignet—I was d-o-n-e with Taste of Chicago.  With the mental reserve of a star NFL running back, I broke the defensive lines of the sweaty mob (utilizing my crowd-parting skills I picked up in the Broad Ripple bars during college)…and high-tailed it back to the car.  Never. Ever. Again.  I’m glad to say I’ve been…but I won’t be back to Taste of Chicago.

We then headed out of downtown & towards Bolingbrook, IL.  Why?---IKEA.

The IKEA in Bolingbrook is the 2^nd closest IKEA to Indianapolis, after the one in West Chester, OH, by Cincinnati (IKEA—please build a store in Indy or offer online shopping?).  Unfortunately we only had an hour to browse IKEA this trip, which anyone reading this that has been to IKEA knows this is a pretty tight timeframe for shopping.  Luckily I had done a careful combing of the website to know what I wanted to look at and their approximate locations in the store.  The other good thing about IKEA right before closing time?—it is Empty.  No swarms of people, no waiting in line…Total Bliss after Taste of Chicago…

I walked out of IKEA $100 poorer…but had cookie cutters, pastry cutters, coasters, pots/pans, a lid, a double broiler, a wok, a sugar shaker, sleek condiment bowls, dishtowels, treats for the office & other fun stuff. (Anyone want some moose & hedgehog shaped cookies? :-P)

After IKEA we began the trek back to Indy.  The weekend before the 4^th of July is a fun day for interstate travel…there were fireworks going up about every mile at night on the way home.  It was a perfect ending to an overall great weekend.

Thanks for reading! 

Chicago...Day 2

[Continued from day 1]

Amazingly, considering we didn’t get to sleep until about 3:00am…we were “up & at em” by 9:00am on Saturday morning.  After getting ready, we took the Red Line up to Belmont Street to Ann Sather’s for breakfast.  Yum.  Ann Sather’s is a Swedish restaurant that has THE BEST Cinnamon Rolls in my opinion.  The rest of their food is fabulous as well.  The great thing is that you don’t have to choose whether you are going to have cinnamon rolls or breakfast food…cinnamon rolls come as a side with most breakfast meals.  Normally, we hit up Ann Sather’s on the last morning of a Chicago trip, so we can take our cinnamon rolls to go (& order more for our offices)…but that wasn’t going to work out this trip.  So for the first time ever, we ate them with our meal…Totally overly indulgent, yet fabulous.  The Hubs chose Steak & Eggs Benedict ($9.95) for his meal…which was 2 English muffins, topped with several slices of grilled beef tenderloin, topped with poached eggs & served with a side of Hollandaise sauce.  He also chose the hash browns as his 2^nd side.  For my breakfast I had the Swedish breakfast sampler ($9.95), which is 1 egg, 1 Swedish pancake with lingonberry sauce, 1 Swedish meatball, & 1 Swedish potato sausage.  For my sides I chose hash browns & cinnamon rolls.   Ann Sather’s also has delicious potato pancakes.  They also make a version of French toast that involves stuffing 2 cinnamon rolls with a mascarpone cheese mixture, & battering & frying them like French toast (this dish was featured on one of Rachael Ray’s shows).  One of these times I WILL try that for breakfast…because it looks delicious.

Gooey, delicious cinnamon rolls...

The place mat menu with their cute logo.

Our table packed with our breakfast fare.

After we had thoroughly stuffed ourselves at breakfast, we ventured over to the Lincoln Park Zoo to go hang out with the animals for the afternoon.  It-was-hot…but we had a fun time hanging out with the gorillas & chimps (something the Indy zoo lacks), laughing at the mountain lion that thinks it’s a giant house cat, & just overall enjoying the zoo.  Lincoln Park Zoo is by far one of my favorite zoos…and it absolutely amazes me that it’s free.  It also surprised me that it wasn’t PACKED with people since it was Saturday.  The heat must have kept a lot of people away.

After the zoo we headed back across town to Goose Island-Clybourn.  The Hubs is a homebrewer and frequently has a keg of some delicious beer in our basement.  Normally when we are road tripping, we try to hit up a brewpub for a tour/tasting.  We have wanted to go to Goose Island for awhile, since we love several of their beers, but it hasn’t worked out in our previous Chicago trips.  This time I made it a priority when planning our weekend.

The tastings during the tour at Goose Island-Clybourn

After a tour & tasting ($10.00 & you get a souvenir glass), we settled into their brewpub for dinner.  During our time at Goose Island we tried a few of their beers that we can’t get on tap in Indy & tried a few of their small plate food items as well.

Beers we tried:

• 312- American Style Wheat Ale- 4.2% alcohol. Goose Island Description: Hazy straw color, light orange hop aroma, fruity ale flavor, creamy body.  Ok…so maybe I can get 312 on tap in Indy.  But it was HOT outside and we had been outside all morning…I knew I loved 312 & that it would be a good “cool down” beer (along with the 2 glasses of water I consumed before drinking it).  312 was my beer of choice to drink during the tour. It’s crisp, refreshing & delicious.
• Smoked Helles- German Style Helles- 5.4% alcohol. Goose Island Description: Golden color, light lemon aroma, slightly acidic fruit flavor, dry body. This was the Hub’s choice of beer for drinking during the tour.  It was the first time I had ever tasted a smoked beer, and overall I was a fan.  I thought it would be a fun beer to pair food with because of its smoky undertones.  However, it’s not something I could ever picture myself drinking more than 1 glass of, because the smoke flavor really builds in the back of your throat while drinking it.
• Sofie- Oak Aged Belgian Style Farmhouse Ale- 6.5% alcohol. Goose Island Description: Champagne color, white pepper aroma, citrus and vanilla flavor, sparkling body.  This was my “dinner beer.”  I love Goose Island’s Matilda…but I know I can get that both on tap & bottled around the Indy area.  I decided to try Sofie because it sounded like an oak-aged version of Matilda, and was served in a chalice. What can I say…drinking beer out of a wine glass is fun.  I loved the flavor of the Sofie Ale. It had the same sparkling, fruity notes that I love in the Matilda, but it also had a deeper, more complex underlying flavor.  It’s kind of like Sofie is Matilda’s twin sister that likes to debate complex ideas & go out and have fun on the weekends…as opposed to her white glove wearing, prim & proper sister… [photo below]
• Fleur- Belgian Style Pale Ale- 5.2% Alcohol. Goose Island Description: Rose color, strawberry and hibiscus aroma, sweet and tart berry flavor, crisp body. This was the Hub’s 2^nd choice for his dinner beer (his first choice, the Maduro- English Style brown ale, blew/ran-out).  This one was also served in a chalice, because real men can drink rose beer out of a girly glass and still be secure in their masculinity. J  Overall, I didn’t see the “rose” color that the description implied, but it was a crisp bodied beer with delightfully complex fruity undertones.  I enjoyed stealing a few sips during dinner. [photo below]
• Honest Stout- English Style Foreign Stout- 6.2% Alcohol. Goose Island Description: Rich mahogany color, dark chocolate aroma, honey, oats and roast malt flavor, medium body.  The Honest Stout was my “dessert beer.”  We got a taste of it during the tour, and I knew I wanted a glass of it that evening.  I love a good stout…and this was a good stout.  It wasn’t overly in your face, & it didn’t sit overly heavy in my stomach.  It had a decent creaminess to it, without being overly bearing. Not to sweet, not too bitter…just good.  The one disappointing thing about this beer, is that I expect stouts to make great “beer animals” on the edge of the glass.  This one’s head didn’t cling as well as other stouts, making the “beer animals” less fun.  

Goose Island Honest Stout

• Patriot Red Wheat- Red Wheat Ale- 5.5% alcohol. Goose Island Description: Auburn color, banana aromatics, peach flavor.  The Patriot Red Wheat was Jason’s “dessert beer.”  This is another ale that we got to dry during the tour/tasting…and it was really good.  I was debating ordering it as my dessert beer, but was afraid the “banana aromatics” would strengthen while drinking it (which frequently can happen).  So the hubs ordered it instead, & we switched beer glasses back & forth.  It worked out well.  Overall, it was an excellent beer.  A little thicker of body than your standard red ale, yet still crisp & refreshing & not heavy.  Surprisingly…this beer made great beer animals.

Patriot Red Wheat

Food we tried:

• Malted Sea Wort Bread- $6.00- honey butter, bacon jam. Yes…you read that correctly, bacon jam.  Let’s begin with the word “wort”…for those of you that don’t live with a homebrewer, wort is the grain, malt slurry that later gets yeast added to it to ferment & become beer.  Apparently this can be used to make bread…which is now on my kitchen to-do list the next time the hubs brews beer.  According to our waitress, the “malted sea wort bread” at the brewpub is ever-evolving, based off what they are currently brewing.  The bread arrived warm, and it was tender, delicately-crusted & flavorful.  It was served with 2 condiment cups.  The first one contained a honey butter that was subtlety sweet, & tasted like it was made with freshly churned butter. Super creamy.  The other condiment cup contained the “bacon jam.”  I don’t know if I would have used the word “jam” to describe this topping, but I do know that the word “delicious” applies.  This description is not going to do the bacon jam justice…but it is a spreadable topping made of finely shredded bacon that has strong undertones of smoky & sweet. Yummy. 

Sea Salt Wort Bread, Honey Butter & Bacon Jam...
shown with a glass of Sofie.

• Spicy Siracha Wings-$9.00- wasabi aioli, scallion. The order came with 8 chicken wings coated with a spicy-sweet Siracha sauce. Overall, this dish was pretty good.  I am curious to experiment with how they might have made their wing sauce…because I think I can replicate it at home.  The wasabi aioli was also very good, and an interesting pairing with the wings.  Normally you expect a wing dipping sauce to cool down the heat of the wing, not add to the heat & the complexity of flavors.

The wings...a couple were missing by the point the photo
was taken...

• Sweet Potato Fries with Curry Catsup- $5.00.  We got these to pair with the chicken wings…overall, they were decent sweet potato fries.  Nothing special, but they did taste like they were fresh-cut, not frozen.  The curry catsup was ok, not the best I’ve had, but not bad.  

Sweet potato fries & curry catsup,
shown with a glass of Fleur.

We had intended on trying a couple more small plates because they sounded delicious…but given the huge breakfast, the heat, & the beer…we were done after the wings & fries.  Bummer…I guess that just gives us a reason to go back. :-P

After dinner we wandered down the block to the Crate & Barrel Outlet store to check it out & walk off part of our dinner…we found a couple of good small finds. Then we headed back downtown.  We decided to stop by the shopping district on Michigan Avenue.  I always forget how much I LOATHE the “Magnificent Mile.”  To me it’s magnificent if I can get out of there without strangling someone.  Over-commercialization & large masses of annoying people…not my idea of a fun time.  That being said, we browsed in a couple of stores in Water Tower Place, & stopped by Wow Bao for a couple of dessert Baos.  We tried the coconut custard bao, the chocolate-ginger bao, & their homemade ginger ale.  The bao were pretty tasty, and the ginger ale was tasty as well but very spicy/gingery.  It’s not something I could drink very much of unless I was severely nauseated (and I love ginger).  I honestly think they should sell it in 4 oz glasses it’s THAT powerful.  

We had the opportunity to go to fireworks Saturday night in Chicago, but decided to forgo the crowds, grab a bottle of wine, & head back to the hotel room just to relax.  I think we made a good decision, especially after the Magnificent Mile consumerism headache.

[To be continued...]

A Review: Hotel Monaco, Chicago, IL

This is an unsolicited, unprovoked, uncompensated review of a hotel we recently visited. If someone wants to solicit, provoke, or compensate me for reviewing their product or facility…that can be arranged. :-)

The hubs & I like to run away to Chicago a few times a year.  Sometimes we just run up for a daytrip, sometimes for 1 night, & sometimes for an extended weekend.  Each time we have gone, we have stayed at a different hotel.  It wasn’t that we disliked previous hotels, they just didn’t have enticing reasons to return for subsequent visits.  That situation has changed…

When I started researching where we were going to stay for this trip (4 months ago…because I’m a spaz with a planning-problem), I ran across information for Hotel Monaco on one of the hotel booking sites.  I was drawn in by the pictures on the site, and the appealing price given the 4-star rating.  I knew I wanted to know more…

Hotel Monaco is owned and operated by the Kimpton Hotel chain.  According to their website Kimpton specializes in boutique hotels that are “carefully selected to show off the unique energy and personality of each destination.”  They also are pet-friendly & eco-friendly…which are major positives in my opinion (even though our furry kids didn’t make this trip with us).  And while most hotel chains & hotel booking sites have member reward programs, I thought the Kimpton InTouch program was especially fun.  After every 7 visits or 20 nights (whichever comes first) that are booked through the Kimpton site, you earn a free nights stay.  That’s pretty standard.  But I love their options to set your preferences in advance, i.e. what type of pillows you want on your bed, if you want turndown service, etc & their reward program gives you free access to wireless internet during your stay (which still surprises me that ALL hotels do not offer this as a baseline? 2011, what?). Also, the first time you stay in a Kimpton hotel as an InTouch member, you get a $10 coupon to raid the mini bar.  Those $5 M&Ms that look so darn tasty at 2:00am could be yours!! Gratis! Not too shabby for a free reward system…

I also think it’s fun that Kimpton hotels give you the option to have a goldfish buddy delivered to your room for the course of your stay…as in an actual, swimming goldfish.  If you were traveling with kids that could be incredibly fun.  You can also get a yoga kit delivered to your room for use during your stay.

Through the Hotel Monaco website, I got a stellar deal on a “Mediterranean Suite” ($199.00/night on a holiday weekend, advance purchase special rate).  Sure, the suite was a splurge…but it had a jacuzzi tub.  Since we moved a year ago, I haven’t had a proper, long-soaking bath (small bathtub + finished improperly/peeling enamel= not a relaxing bath experience…hopefully that will be amended during a future home update).  I was due. It was worth the extra $40/night.

In the days leading up to the trip, I was nervous.  It’s always nerve-wrecking trusting online reviews & photos when it comes to hotel rooms.  In this age of bedbug-mania, traveling is especially scary.  

When we arrived at Hotel Monaco, we were greeted at the front desk by the concierge.  He was slightly aloof, but not unpleasantly/annoyingly so…he was efficient about checking us in, asking if we had questions, supplying our $10 minibar coupon, & directing us to somewhere we could grab a decent & quick late-lunch, and even provided us with an appetizer coupon for lunch.  It was slightly comical because he stated something along the lines of “I’m also the concierge, so if you need anything during your stay let me know.  But you might let me know soon, because it’s going to be really busy around here this weekend.”  No worries Mr. Concierge, you were talking to an OCD, vacation-itinerary-planning fool…I’m sure I could have taught him a few things…

The second we opened the door to the room, I was instantly happy with my selection of hotels & rooms.  It. was. gorgeous.  Apparently, the hotel had been recently decorated, and the room was a fun, eclectic array of colors, prints, fabrics & decorations.  Even though it was so eclectic, it somehow all meshed together.  The Mediterranean Suite featured a small sitting room that had a pull-out couch, a window seat, a working desk & a large flat screen TV.  It then flowed into the bedroom, which was HUGE with very tall ceilings (maybe 14 feet?!). The bedroom featured a king-sized bed in crisp white linens (4 foam pillows, per my request), a fun mirrored headboard, a bench, a chase-lounge style sofa, mirrors, artwork, and AWESOMELY huge window seats.  The bathroom in the suite was decently sized, with a walk-in shower stall, and a huge-normous Jacuzzi tub.  Seriously…it was lap-swimming quality.

Funny story—I didn’t remember requesting turn-down service (maybe I did?)  We got back to the hotel LATE Friday night after a concert, and discovered that someone had been in our room (temporarily freaked us out).  We were pleasantly surprised to find the bathrobes laid out on the bed, chocolates on our pillows, the TV turned to a soothing music/nature channel (unfortunately showing a creepy squirrel at the moment we walked in, adding to our confusion), the curtains drawn & the lights dimmed in our room.  It was a relaxing, peaceful, & Zen-like way to end our evening.

Quick overview of our likes & dislikes about the Hotel Monaco:

Pros:

• HUGE, spacious rooms with tall ceilings.
• Friendly staff
• Gorgeously appointed, large window seats.  Perfect for sipping a glass of wine & watching the city go by at night.
• Very comfortable beds, various firmnesses of foam pillows, with crisp linens.
• Aveda bath products. As someone who basically only uses Aveda products…this made me Very Happy.
• The huge Jacuzzi tub with the large footwell at the bottom.  It took a long time to fill (& I kindof felt bad about using that much water)…but it was sooo worth it.  They also have fizzy bath balls you can use for $7/pop (see con below).
• Easy access to the State & State/Lake rail stations.  Easy access to the numerous bus stops along State & Michigan (easy access to most places in the city).
• We couldn’t hear noise from other guests.  We know the hotel was quite booked…but we didn’t hear another guest during our entire stay.  This has been a problem with other hotels in this Chicago area.  Our bedroom was pretty isolated though, due to the suite layout.
• Fun, animal-print bathrobes to use during our stay.

Cons:

• Bathroom towels—only slightly better than interstate-side Holiday Inn grade towels. Smallish & rough.  At this sort of hotel, I expect plusher, softer towels. The perk to this—extra exfoliation…
• The bathroom shower stall was pretty small.  Thankfully I didn’t have to shave my legs during the course of my stay.  Also, the grout in the shower needed a little bleaching & some caulk needed replacing.
• Regarding the $7 fizzy bath balls…I moved the container to a shelf in the bathroom so I wouldn’t risk getting them wet…and was charged $21 for 3 bath balls upon checkout.  This was quickly removed from the bill upon explanation at the front desk (& informing that I had photo evidence that they were still intact upstairs).
•  Parking = $46.00/night.  This is on par with most hotels downtown Chicago…and we were charged for 2 nights of parking on our check-out bill.  However, we didn’t park at the hotel…problem.  Again, with an explanation at checkout, this was quickly removed from our bill.
• There is some train noise.  We were on the 9^th floor, but we could still hear the squeaky breaks & wheels of the trains as they circumnavigated the Loop. This didn’t bother us…but if you were a super-light sleeper, this may annoy the heck out of you.

There is a restaurant, South Water Kitchen, associated with the hotel…but we didn’t have a chance to eat there during our stay.  So I can’t comment on that establishment…

Overall, we loved our stay in the Mediterranean Suite at Hotel Monaco, and we hope to return for a trip in the near future.  You should check in & check it out on your next trip through Chicago!    

On to the photos:

View 1 of sitting room

View 2 of sitting room. One of the window seats in the back.

View of the bed & another window seat.

View of the sitting area in the bedroom.

The biggest of the window seats. Amazing
place to sit & watch the city go by...

Really fun mirror in the room... ignore my
purse & bag thrown on the bed.

The hubs checking out the view from one of the window seats.

View 1 of the bathroom.

View 2 of bathroom. Kindof a tight squeeze between
the shower door & the bathroom door.

Aveda bath products!  Love it!!

View 3 of the bathroom.  HUGE bathtub!

Look how deep this is!!

The dubious fizzy bath balls...

One giggle from the hotel.  Sometimes the only
options in life AREN'T "up & down."