Tasty Travels: Chicago BAKERY Edition!

If you've been following along with my Chicago visit recaps {Parts 1 & 2}, you know that in the short 36 or so hours I've covered so far, I got to do, see, and eat quite a bit! {Would you expect anything different from moi?}

I left off yesterday on Sunday morning after a delicious breakfast with Emily. As it turns out, Emily had a friend's wedding to attend, so she asked her friend Alli to kindly entertain me until she could get back later that afternoon.

Alli loves to plan things of all kinds - parties, menus, itineraries... she's a girl after my own heart. Her plans for us on Sunday afternoon were no different. She had arranged {and mapped out, bless that girl} a walking tour of some of Chicago's finest bakeries! Be still my heart {except, not really because I have too many wonderful, sugary things to see}!

So, she picked me up at Emily's and off we went on a {5 mile} confectionery adventure of epic proportions.

Stop #1: Molly's Cupcakes

Oh, Molly's. Where have you been all my life? My eyes immediately went straight to the bakery cases, packed with decadent treats such as the Cookies & Cream {chocolate cake, cookies-n-cream filling, vanilla buttercream, cookie topping} and their signature cupcake, the Ron Bennington {chocolate cake, peanut butter filling, chocolate ganache, crushed butterscotch topping}, but I decided on a Peanut Butter Nutella Filled Cupcake with Nutella Frosting. {SO. GOOD.}

Molly's not only has a fantastic selection of sweets {and did I mention they have a Sprinkle Station?! *squeals!*}, but also has a super cute story: It was named in honor of the founder's third grade teacher who would often bake cupcakes for her students' birthdays. {Everyone all together: Awww!!} And part of their proceeds go to helping children in the community. Seriously, what's not to love about this place?

I devoured half of my cupcake immediately {we still had a lot of stops ahead of us!}, stared longingly at the rest of the desserts that would not be coming home with me, and pried myself away toward our next destination.

Stop #2: Sweet Mandy B's

We walked off a few of the calories I had picked up at Molly's, and made our way to Sweet Mandy B's. Upon entering the shop, you feel a bit like you've stumbled into a basket of Easter eggs, with it's pastel colored walls and springy "butterflies & birdies" decor. The bakery case continues the whimsical theme with jumbo cupcakes, oversized cookies, and various other sweet treats.

Though I was drawn to the Banana Caramel Cabinet Pudding {basically, bread pudding made with cake}, I opted for a large Snickerdoodle instead since we still had a ways to go in the blistering heat, and I didn't think the pudding would survive the walk until I had room in my belly once again to enjoy it. {I had a tiny nibble of the cookie just to taste test, but brought it home to Steve as a souvenir.} :)

Stop #3: Dinkel's Bakery

If Molly's & Sweet Mandy B's were personified into the girl {and teeny bopper} next door, Dinkle's would be the sweet old couple down the road. With it's old fashioned charm, Dinkel's has been a Chicago fixture since 1922. While many of today's bakeries bank on innovative & funky concoctions to impress customers, Dinkle's appeals to the kid in you that simply wants a tried-and-true treat.

The open space has a retro feel, with cases full of breads, pastries, cookies, and cakes. It was so hard to choose just one to sample... so I didn't. ;) The clerk kindly offered me a complimentary taste of two small cookies that I couldn't decide between {a German Chocolate cookie and a dainty little butter cookie with mocha creme filling}. Both tasted like a hug from a granny. While Dinkle's certainly isn't all about the bells and whistles, it's nice to know that the 4 generations that have run the business over the past 90 years have stuck to what they know works.

Stop #4: Bleeding Heart Bakery

So, you know how I said Dinkle's was like the old couple in the neighborhood that baked cookies for the kids on the block? Well, if we're sticking with that theme, Bleeding Heart Bakery is the pierced & tattooed punk rock kid that frightens the neighbors at first, but then offers to mow their lawn.

Don't be fooled by the edgy exterior, Bleeding Heart is just the right mix of sugar and spice. Upon entering, it's hard not to overload on the color splashed walls, skulls and crossbones, and tattoo paraphernalia. But once you get past the rebellious trimmings, the heart of the bakery is rooted in creating local, sustainable {even vegan!} goodies for all to enjoy.

Um, their whisk pendant lights? Totally amazing.

I had such a hard time deciding which of their baked goods I'd try out... I'm pretty sure that's a normal reaction when you are encountered with cupcake flavors such as Pancakes with Bacon & Balsamic Avocado, or something called a "Cake Bomb" {the BHB version of a cake ball}. They also had quite a selection of savory goods like quiches and croissants. But in the end, I went with a Vanilla Hazelnut Chocolate Chili Whoopie Pie. Holy. Moly. So interesting, subtly spicy... quite delicious!

{Does this bakery sound familiar to you? That's because the owners have been on several Food Network Challenge episodes with their rockin' cakes!}

Stop #5: Bittersweet Pastry Shop

If bakeries were all part of one family, and I had to make a connection between the last bakery I visited and this one, I'd say Bittersweet is Bleeding Heart's distant cousin who went to an Ivy League school, wears pearls and Ralph Lauren, and owns hundreds of monogrammed items. In short, Bittersweet was my {pinkies up} cup of tea.

Top left: Fabulous macarons. Top right: Teensy, mouth watering cake samples.
Bottom center: Me, a completely sweaty mess after walking 5 miles in 95 degree weather.

Bittersweet has the classic, striped awning, fine pastry shop thing down pat. The shop had a high end feel without being too presumptuous. The pastries and sweets were all delicate and gorgeous, and immediately made me feel like buying a few boxes full and throwing a dessert party at Emily's place. {Though I didn't!}

When I saw the rows of colorful macarons in their cases, I just knew I had to have them. So, I bought one of each flavor {Strawberry-Rhubarb, Passion Fruit, Salted Caramel, and Chocolate}, and had them package them up for me so I could share with the girls later on. {They were outstanding. Like the take a bite, pause, and mumble,"OMG" type of good.} It was evident that Bittersweet knows what they're doing, and does it with class.

Believe it or not, we had one more stop we were supposed to make, but there was a little confusion with the shop moving to a new address, so we brought the Tour de Bakery to an end and headed home where - I'm not gonna lie - we dove into those macarons immediately.

I don't know if it was the sugar high I was on, or that I was slightly delirious from pounding the pavement for 4 hours in the extreme heat, but I have to say that Chicago most definitely impressed me with it's bakeries, restaurants, and things to do. I'd highly recommend visiting any {and all!} of the spots I've mentioned because they each had their charm and unique appeal.

So... thank you Emily & Alli for showing me so much of what the city has to offer... there's just so much to do and see! I can't wait to come back for another visit! And you better believe we'll be sampling some more of Chicago's fabulous eats. ;)

For those of you who are considering visiting, I hope this serves as a good guide for a few things you might want to check out while you're there!

Tasty Travels: Chicago Edition, Part 2

Yesterday, I recapped my first 24 hours in Chicago. And a fun-filled 24 hours it was.

My second evening in Chicago, the girls had planned to try out a place called Benchmark for dinner. We arrived to find that it was pretty much packed wall-to-wall with 20-somethings that looked like they stepped out of an Abercrombie ad. {Not that I - a happily married woman - was looking or anything... but it was sort of hard not to notice.} The guy to girl ratio was way tilted in favor of the bachelorettes I happened to be dining with, so crowd watching was definitely entertaining.

When we finally managed to snag a table, we settled in and grabbed some drinks. Looking around, it was easy to see why the place was popular with it's open air seating {they have a retractable roof, which I imagine comes in handy during the blizzardy wintertime}and bustling bar scene. The Blackened Shrimp Wrap with orange, mango, & Asian pear and Sriracha-Citrus Vinaigrette I picked out for dinner was super flavorful {and I was semi-obsessed with the Sweet Potato Fries} and it went perfectly with the refreshing Summer Shandy I had to drink. Two thumbs up for Benchmark... one for the food & drinks, and one for the "scenery". ;)

After dinner, we wandered over to Old Town Social, a dimly lit restaurant and bar with tons of character. As I browsed the drink menu by candlelight, I could tell that they take their handcrafted cocktails and housemade cured meats seriously. {Um, take for example, the "Piggy Back"... a shot of Maker's Mark with a Bacon Consomme Back} I was sort of smitten with the brick walls, antique-ish decor, and how they managed to make the large space so cozy and comfortable. Definitely a place I'd want to visit again.

We were on a roll with picking fun spots, so we headed back towards Emily's neighborhood and stopped in at Galway Bay for a game of darts or two. Despite seeming like a hidden basement bar, I was surprised to find that it was buzzing with activity and full of young people. {Am I just used to going out in South Florida where the majority of the patrons are of Social Security check-receiving age??}

The girls showed me how it's done... and I almost got a bullseye! :)

Exhausted from all the fun, we called it a night and headed to bed since we had all of Sunday ahead of us.

The next morning, Emily took me to see the Wicker Park area, and we had brunch at a place called Feast. As much as we wanted to sit outside in the adorable patio area, we stuck with indoor seating since the temperatures were still on the warmer side. Luckily, the inside is just as charming as the outside, and we settled in to a corner booth in the back and enjoyed the air conditioning.

I ordered the Breakfast Croissant {egg, mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, prosciutto, and arugula on a buttery croissant} and it. was. awesome. So were the crispy "feast potatoes" that came alongside them. While I was most definitely satisfied with my meal {I actually only ate half & saved the rest for the next day's plane ride home}, I couldn't help but eye the stack of blueberry oatmeal pancakes on our neighbor's table and wonder if they were as delicious as they looked. Stuffed, we headed out to get our Sunday started.

{P.S. I did a TERRIBLE job taking food pics on this trip! I was just to eager to dive in, I guess!}

A few hours later, I was a little sorry I had taken Feast's name so literally, because as it turns out, I was about to embark on a foodie fantasy: A bakery tour of Chicago, hosted by Emily's good friend Alli. {P.S. Check out Alli's blog, Fetes, Food, & Fashion where she talks about... well... all three of those things!}

As fabulous as all of my meals had been during my trip so far, things were about to get taken up a notch and I was totally up for the challenge!

So... tomorrow, be prepared to drool a little bit as I share Chicago's sweetest stops. And, don't you worry, I definitely took some pics of all the goodies for you!

Tasty Travels: Chicago Edition

Hi! I'm back!

Is it weird that I missed you guys this weekend? Because I totally did. Even though I was having tons of fun gallivanting around Chicago and gorging myself with cupcakes taking in the sites.

But I am super excited to recount my {foodie} tales of the Windy City so you can feel like you were there, too, because if you haven't been before, you'll definitely want to add it to your list of places to see.

My first visit to Chicago was 7 years ago. My college roommate, Emily, moved there after graduation and had been living there for a whopping 4 months before my other roommate and I decided to bombard her for a weekend.

Except, we chose January {of all months} to take our little trip. Frigid, snowy January.

Roomies in Chicago, circa 2005.
I wasn't exaggerating, y'all. It was COLD.

Aside from the fact that I literally had to wear 6 layers of my Floridian clothing to equal 1 layer of Chicagoan clothing, we managed to have as much fun as a bunch of 23 year olds could in a city that they knew nearly nothing about.

Seven years later, and long overdue for a visit, I hopped a plane to see {a now well-versed in city living} Emily. Luckily, I thought it through and returned during the summer this time. I've got to tell you, Chicago weather is into extremes... it's hotter there than it is in Florida at the moment. But 'hot', my wardrobe can handle. Especially if there is the promise of sampling some of the city's best bites.

My first night in town, we headed out to Public House to grab pre-dinner drinks to celebrate Emily's friend's 30th birthday. The Friday evening happy hour crowd was still lingering making for a busy, crowded, and energetic atmosphere. With their extensive beer selection {over 103 types!}, taps built into the tables, and a slew of flat screens tuned in to the sports event du jour, Public House knows how to draw a fun crowd.

I took a clutch & didn't  have room for the gigantic honkin' camera,
so this is the only pic taken there, courtesy of Alli {left}. The beautiful girl on my right is my old roomie Emily.. :)

Next, we made our way to Sunda, a high end "new Asian" restaurant, for dinner. Sunda is what I expect for the city: Packed, trendy, loud. The menu featured some exotic sushi rolls {but not "I'm-not-so-sure-about-that" crazy} as well as some fancy entrees, cocktails, and dim sum. I went with Miso Soup and a Sweet Potato Caterpillar Roll. The presentation was beautiful, but I have to admit, I wasn't that impressed by the taste.

Sunda seems like the place to go to see and be seen {just check out their News page for a list of celebrity sightings}, and it definitely has atmosphere appeal. {I have to say, what really stuck out to me was the excellent service we received from our fabulous waitress. She handled the large crowd expertly and cheerfully, and made sure to highlight menu favorites, even though she had to literally yell above the background noise.}



Borrowed these pics from Alli once again... to the left, the interesting ceiling art. To the right, our fun birthday bunch.

We were up bright and early on Saturday to grab breakfast at a cute little diner called Stella's. The decor was retro-fun, and the patrons looked right at home, like it was second nature to start the weekend in Stella's cozy booths. The service was friendly, the food was standard - though generous - diner fare {I had hash browns & scrambled eggs even though I was dying to try the Challah French Toast with Strawberries and Creme} for great prices. Though my meal was nothing to write home about, there was something about Stella's that would make me want to visit again. {Sadly, no pics. You'll just have to use your imagination.}

With our tummies full, we were ready to take on the day. Emily decided a good way to see the city would be to take a Wendella Boat Architectural Tour, and I have to say it was a fantastic way to see the sights and learn the history behind many landmark buildings that make up the Chicago skyline. The tour starts on the Chicago River and makes it's way through the Chicago Lock to Lake Michigan and back, packing every second with tons of fun facts, city history, and picturesque views.

When our tour was over, we hit a few stores on Michigan Avenue to wait out the downpour that had started outside. {And here I thought I escaped Florida's afternoon showers.} Once it cleared up and we could shop no more, we headed home to get ready for another night out.

Tomorrow, I'll be sharing a few more of our stops that evening, including a bar that young singles wouldn't want to miss and a "piggy" cocktail treat... and then a detailed post on hitting Chicago's cupcake motherlode.

Yes, I said cupcakes. And no, you won't want to miss it. ;)

Have you ever been to Chicago? What were some of your favorite sites and bites?