Food Deserts

After presenting in Indiana at the Food in Bloom Conference, I was requested to write a guest blog for Indiana Public Media's blog 'Earth Eats' about my senior tutorial research.

You can read it here or copy and paste http://indianapublicmedia.org/eartheats/farmers-markets-bring-life-cities-food-deserts/ .

You can also "like" it at http://www.facebook.com/eartheats if you scroll down to find the post with my blog.

Would love to hear your feedback.
-Tierney

What a quickidink!

So one night, while enjoying the company of a friend and 1/2 way through a bottle of Matsu (very delicious), the appetite for dinner struck us later in the evening. We opened GrubHub and ordered sushi, which we've learned in our short time Chicago, is excellent idea. It took us some debating to decided but the food was at our door shortly and the pig out session soon begin. See photo below (excuse the mess; we were still unpacking):

(Side question: Why is it that we always order far more sushi than is sufficient?)
Happy and full, life moved on.

THE NEXT MORNING (no joke) Alex and I came across this billboard on the L.

A billboard for GrubHub. Ordering Sushi late at night. Yes, Alex did get the Spicy Tuna Roll...

A Special Favorite: Point Brugge Cafe

I would have never pegged Pittsburgh to win my heart with excellent mussels, but Point Brugge Cafe is the most delicious concoction of mussels, beer, and brunch. Brugge is really tucked back off 5th Ave where I'm very jealous of the neighbors who could sleepwalk to morning treat. They're very loyal to their regulars too as they don't take any form of reservations including a reservation of 20 for me to celebrate my graduation! The often 45 minute waits, I think, are well worth it. Sip your beer on the curb and enjoy the company.

THE "MUST HAVE" dish and i'm sure almost all agree: Red curry, coconut creme, cilantro and lime juice Moules Bowl. If you're familiar, it essentially is a very tasty Tom Kah soup. 

The full bowl is big, but if you're hungry or willing to share, go for it. Otherwise, the smaller bowl is good for one. If you're not scared of french [read: belgian] fries, then they are a MUST order. fried twice in duck fat + a homemade basil mayo = TO DIE FOR. And if you eat too much it might be 'TO DIE OF' too because that would not be the worst way to go. Please don't be wasteful; finish those soupy juices with the fresh baguette.

(No photos of this one- you need to go see and taste it on your own! Please report back.)

Here are some photos from a random brunch we had there.

Belgian Waffle: How very traditional of you, Alex!

Onion Fritta Maybe?

Chocolate Croissant worth even the longest trip to Brooklyn

Colson Pastisserie has the best chocolate croissant! Make the trip to Park Slope to feast.

 No pictures of the actual croissant- it didn't last long enough.

Ladles: Homemade Soup

Ladles is a soup bar down here on Kiawah Island, SC. We found the place last year and my family and I immediately fell in love- especially the Italian Wedding. Alas, the soups are rotating, and Italian Wedding was not on the rotation this year, but by the looks of the photos you can tell that we've tired nearly every single other soup in rotation.
These soups include

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  *Loaded Potato 
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  *Turkey Chili 
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  *She Crab 
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  *Greek Lemon Chicken 
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  *Broccoli Cheddar 
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  *Tomato Basil 
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  Garden Vegetable 
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  *Buffalo Chicken w/ Blue Cheese 
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  *Gazpacho (Summer) 
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  Chicken Noodle
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  (* = what I've tasted)

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There's sandwiches and salads, you and mix and match, get a 6 soup taster, or the UNLIMITED BOWL. Apparently the record is 13 bowls = insanity.  The trick is to get 1/2 bowls so you can taste more soups.

Above is the bowl collection Alex, Evan and I after we all got limitless bowls. Ouch.

Soba Experiences

So I'd like to go back in time and look at past food eaten too, since we just started this and all. Those of you in Pittsburgh, will probably love this because we've got a lot of those pictures.

This dinner was a delicious and gracious "good-bye Pittsburgh" dinner from Alex's parents at Soba on Ellsworth the night before we took off for Chicago.

Irina's fish. (too long ago to remember what kind)

My total bomb scallop and soba noodle dish that I could probably eat for the rest of my life.

Alex's filet which he claims is one of the best he's ever eaten, which is saying a lot since he is the Global king of beef.

Yuri's ramen dish that I've had 2 other times. It's amazing with 3 spicy sauces to add as you please with a light ramen soup (the real kind, not the college kind) with chicken light meat, dark meat, and a egg over easy that you're supposed to break into the soup. If you like check and noodles this is an very very good choice for you.

Also, look into some of the drinks soba has because they're interesting and worth a taste.
-Tierney

My Birthday Dinner

Alex surprised me for my birthday and had Miss. Alex Cage come up to Chicago!
Look at a couple of the Italian tapas (whatttt?!) that we ate for my birthday dinner at Quartino at the corner of State & Ontario.  

Veal meatballs w/ raisins.

   

Gorgonzola, pear, walnut pizza. Three people couldn't finish but we had like 6-ish tapas.

 A pasta dish that was so good I barely got a picture, but FRESH ricotta! ( I forget the name)

So like I said, ~6 tapas for 3 people has us STUFFED.

We also got a beef dish that was yum but the scallops dish you could pass. I though it was over cooked.

So we took the remaining pizza home and it turn into alex's lunch:

(+ apple chicken sausage [pork free!] from Trader Joe's)

+ one Delirium to seal the deal

Cheers!

-Tierney