Return of the Satiated City Chick

Whenever I go out on dates, my friends want to know how the company was, but it seems like a good chunk of the experience can be shaped by the atmosphere. Wherever I may meet up with someone- whether it’s a hipster coffee bar, a Kosher-style deli, or my favorite brewpub- can influence the date almost as much as the conversation and chemistry (or, more often than not, lack thereof). With this in mind, I decided to explore writing about an evening’s juicy culinary details with my company in the background- instead of the other way around.

It's been almost exactly a year since I wrote my very first restaurant review for the Addison Recorder. I'm still single and still searching for that perfect, incomparable skim vanilla latte from a singular local cafe. I live in the Edgewater Beach neighborhood on Chicago's far north side, and it seems like my area in particular is ramping up in terms of dining options. I know of a speakeasy-style wine bar, a bakery, and an Indian restaurant that are opening up just two blocks from me in the coming months, and a Mexican place that just opened on Granville a few weeks ago. With all of these delicious new options in mind, I figured it was time to dust off my Satiated City Chick persona and get down to some dedicated dining...hopefully in good company. 

In the ten months since I wrote about my family's favorite Chicago pizza place I've turned thirty, gone tornado chasing (and the food options in the Middle of Nowhere, Kansas are pretty limited, let me tell you) and revisited a small town I lived in for three years- Waterbury, Vermont. Although Waterbury is home to paragons such as Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Ben & Jerry's, the dining options were sadly limited when I was in residence. Here in Chicago it's no big thing to be able to walk to the end of my block and devour the best tacos in the entire city; imagine my surprise and joy when I returned to Waterbury and discovered a new eatery at the end of my old street. I was able to pick up a delectable, homemade Bahn Mi sandwich! Even though it's been three years since I moved back, I still revel in the ready availability of ethnic cuisine in my city.

I hope readers will enjoy my culinary endeavors; rather than write solely about dining adventures while dating, I intend to bring some of my treasured friends along for the ride. There's one thing I can attest to with certainty: no one will go home with an empty stomach.