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Your Favorite Chicago Blogs and Bloggers?

   
Even though I lived in this city for eight years before I moved to London in March of 2004, I still need to rediscover it. So much has changed! For example, the 2nd tallest building in the U.S.--the Trump Tower--was constructed in my absence. Talk about a different skyline!

For me, there's no better way to learn about a city than through its bloggers. So I've been valiantly Google'ing away, trying to find some of the best Chicago blogs. Now here's the rub. There's this perception in the U.K. (or in London at least) that blogging is much more popular in America. (Look at Mommy Bloggers, in particular.) So I expected to find an abundance of high-quality blogs here in Chicago. I've found a few, for sure, but I must be looking in all the wrong places because there just aren't as many as I would have hoped. So I need some help. Know a good Chicago blog? Do you follow a plethora of Chicago bloggers? Please tell me by leaving a comment!

Plum & Radish: A girl after my own heart! She writes about food. And bicycles! (She just bought a Pashley--a UK bike no less! And I just bought a big Dutch bike right before I left London.) And photography! All around Chicago.

Let's Go Ride a Bike: Two gals, one in Chicago, one in Nashville, writing about biking in their cities. Lovely photographs. I CANNOT wait until my shipping container arrives and my two bikes get delivered.

Chicago Gluttons: A Chicago restaurant blog. Would love it it was updated more frequently. Their latest review--The Girl and The Goat--is the restaurant that everyone in town is talking about. I tried to get a booking but the only tables available are at like 4:30 pm. (Welcome to America, folks. Yes, we sometimes eat dinner that early.)

Chicago Bites: Another Chicago restaurant blog, but this time with podcasts!  (Although I don't see any recent podcasts. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough though.) Good use of whitespace. A very clean and neat blog. I'm hoping to meet up with these gals soon as we've corresponded in the past.

312 Dining Diva: I'd compare Audarshia's blog to Guide Girl's site, but with more frequent updates. She's got the inside line on everything going on food-wise in Chicago.

The Chicago Bucket List: A relatively new blog, but a city explorer like myself. Check out the full list of everything he is trying to accomplish. (At least, I think he's a he.)

City Girl Chicago: Part food--both restaurants and recipes. Part blog about things to do in Chicago. 

So if you know of a good Chicago blog--whether it be your own or someone else's--please do let me know by leaving a comment as soon as you can! 

On Caviar and Heathrow's Terminal 5

One of the difficult things about being a repatriating expat is the final flight home. Normally, you'd buy a return ticket because it's cheaper. But as you're getting ready to book your ticket back to your old home country, you think..."Hmmm...do I think I'll ever be back in the UK? Can I use this return leg at some point in the future? WHEN?" But then you get all caught up in farecodes and the endless cycle of having a return ticket back to the UK that you can ever quite figure out what to do with. So you never use it.

Me? I had another idea. A part-cash, part miles one-way ticket on British Airways should be cheaper than round-trip. And in Club World no less! Might as well go home in style, huh? Done!

As part of this whole booking process, I remembered an old e-mail in my blog inbox. It was an offer to go on a food tour of Terminal 5. (Did any London bloggers ever do this? I never saw any posts.) I got back in touch with the PR, told her I'd be in Terminal 5 around noon on Friday September 3rd, and asked if the food tour was still available.

Well...it was...sort of. I could at least go to the Caviar House & Prunier (only my favorite place to eat in airports) and get a walk-thru of the menu there. That sounded just about perfect to me, so I headed off to Heathrow Friday morning, eager to stuff myself with smoked salmon and also maybe get a beauty treatment at the Elemis Spa in the Club World Lounge in T5.

Foursquare warned me: Elemis books up early. So I went straight there as soon as I'd checked in (around 12:15 pm) and took the first available slot at 2:20 pm. (See...they weren't kidding.) Sorted. Now it was time for some smoked salmon. And maybe some champagne.

 
Although there was a slight mix up about my arrival and what I was exactly there for, it all worked out more or less for good. The team at Caviar House whipped me up the Balik Salmon selection, which goes for £32.50. The selection features nori, dill, and orange salmon filets (I liked the orange the best), deeply lovely Balik tartar, some Balik smoked salmon, and deliciously salty Balik pearls (roe), accompanied by a green salad and toasted brown bread. I could have eaten the tartar all day, seriously. Balik salmon is some of the most renowned in the world and is smoked in Switzerland based on the original smoke ovens used in Imperial Russia.

 
For me, they also threw in 10 grams of Prunier Caviar, made in France, but in the Russian style. Just doing the math based on on 30 grams, I think the 10 grams retailed for about about £30. It had me thinking about the story Leonid from Bob Bob Ricard tells...about the time that he threw all the extra caviar down the sink and it blocked up the pipes and he had to tell the plumber "Um, the sink is blocked with caviar." (Leonid throws my kind of party.)

Not really knowing the proper way of eating caviar, I asked Caviar House & Prunier the best way to do it. They responded as follows:  "The most natural way of tasting caviar is by eating off the back of your hand, at the junction of the thumb and forefinger. To preserve the full flavour of caviar use a mother of pearl spoon. Caviar is never eaten with a silver or stainless steel spoon, as this can distort and taint  its taste. At Caviar House & Prunier at Heathrow, a popular dish is to serve caviar with crème fresh, egg whites, red onion and toasted blinis."

All of this was washed down by the house champagne (£8.75 a glass) which was crisp and light. It had me wondering...how many bottles of champagne do they go through a day in Heathrow? How many salmons? And most importantly...HOW MUCH CAVIAR? I'm dying to know.

So I asked them. And here's what they said:

"Approximately over 350 units of caviar is sold over the course of a week at Caviar House & Prunier. Additionally, over 250 glasses of champagne and over 50 bottles of champagne are consumed on average a day."

After my caviar gorge-fest, I headed up to the Elemis Spa in the Club Lounge for an awesome 15 minute facial. I'm sad I only just realized that Club World gets free spa treatments; I flew Club World to Dubai in Januaryand just sat around in the lounge for ages during the blizzard. (And then 7 hours on the plane while we waited for de-icing, but that's another story.) The Elemis staff sent me off with a few free samples which was kind of them. I also learned through them that Elemis and Bliss are now one company (along with a cruise ship spa company). Marcia Kilgore must be very rich now.

 
And after THAT, I just hung around in the Club World lounge (that's the B concourse lounge pictured above), drinking Sauvignon Blanc, thinking...seriously, if you are going to leave, leave in style. Full of Caviar House & Prunier smoked salmon, caviar AND champagne, and with a few beauty treatments thrown in for good measure. I don't think I'll be able to duplicate this sort of afternoon anytime soon, but if you've got the resources, I can recommend it most highly. Goodbye, London! 

Yes friends, I was a guest of Caviar House. What can I say? There was champagne involved.

Some Photos around Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London

 
I miss Shoreditch. I miss street art. We don't get much in Chicago. (At least, none that I've seen.) Luckily, last week, I stayed at the Shoreditch Crown Plaza and Rivington Street was my daily commute. "Scary" is under the bridge by Shoreditch High Street. (Anyone know what it's supposed to mean? Maybe it's just branding for some agency?) Here are some of the other things I saw.

 
iPhone art

 
At the old Foundary, by Great Eastern Street.

 
I cut the R out of this photo. It just didn't fit. Going east on Rivington Street from Old Street.

 
Love the sign for the Diner on Curtain Road. This is the sign on Rivington Street. Technically not street art, but I still liked it.

 
Just some characters.

 
Funny blue plaque. Going west from Shoreditch high street. South side of the street.

 
Hello, Einstein. (I saw another one of these on Brick Lane, as I was walking north from the Truman Brewery.)

And goodbye, London.

Virgin Mobile MiFi, My New Best Friend

 
This is not a food-related post by any means. But if you're a blogger or Internet afficiando of any sort, it's an important post nonetheless. Because it's about the Internet and what to do when you don't have access in America. I will cut right to the chase and tell you now: the answer is the Virgin Mobile MiFi.

But here's how we met. I flew in from London Friday night (i.e. yesterday) and got to my temporary apartment around 8 pm. I stayed in the same building last month, and I had a T1 line, which was awesome.

Not so with this flat.

Despite looking and looking and looking, this new flat had NO INTERNET ACCESS AT ALL. AT ALL. (Thank you, Bridgestreet. Thank you. Yes, I'm looking at you.)I even looked around to see if there were any random unsecured access points and NO LUCk. 

If you know me at all, this is a problem. Big time. While others might be able to live off their local Internet cafe or Starbucks, I need all access, all the time. For all devices. (Work laptop, personal laptop, iPhone, iPad.)

Thank you to Facebook and The New York Times. I posted my desperate plight on Facebook late Friday night, and by the time I woke from my jetlag coma, a friend had suggested I check out the Virgin MiFi. (Courtesy of a very recent article praising the Mifi in The New York Times.) The Virgin MiFi doesn't require an annual contract or a credit check. I basically walked into BestBuy, walked out, and was online less than an hour later.

And even better? I've got all my other devices attached to it. Wirelessly. Seriously, all this is done by this one tiny credit card-like device. And what does it cost? Well the Virgin MiFi itself is $150, but after that, UNLIMITED Internet is just $40 a month. And if you don't need the MiFi next month, you don't pay for it.

The only downside right now is that I'm staying in a rather large hi-rise at the moment, and I think there are a lot of people with their own hot spots going on (the USB drive sorts of hotspots--not the supercool up-to-five devices-wireless-cards sorts of hotspots). This means that speeds are awesome in the middle of the night when no one is awake but my jetlagged self, but come 9 am, speed slows to a crawl. (Think Steve Jobs, iPhone 4 launch catastrophe.)

This all reads quite like an advertorial for the Virgin MiFi, but if you could only imagine me at 8 pm last night, faced with the prospect of a few weeks without home Internet, you'd understand. Thank you, Virgin. Thank you Facebook. Thank you, David Pogue of the New York Times.

Weekend in Amersham

Last weekend, my friends Kellie--American--and James--British--got married in the area around Amersham. Lee, Matt, Ali, Bryan & Stacey (back in from D.C.), Julie (back in from Chicago), Anna & Stephen, Jen & Leigh and many many others headed out to Amersham, where many of us stayed at the quaint but still modern Kings Arms. (As featured in Four Weddings and a Funeral!)

My room at the Kings Arms was nice, although the artwork bothered me. As did the fur throw. And the safe in my room was broken so I had to be relocated. (Yes, I'm that guest.) The hotel dates back to the 1400s and I should have taken some photos of the bar because it was one of those snug sorts of places that makes you want to bed in for the night. (Although they could have had a less prominent display of Walkers Crisps.) The Kings Arms also offers an EXCELLENT breakfast--particularly in comparison to the Covent Garden Hotel-- I'm sorry I didn't photograph it.

There was a little market going on in town where you could buy flowers and eggs and jams.

The sky was a lovely shade of blue and the grass really was that green.

Kellie and James got married in St. Peter's Church in nearby Rickmansworth. I think my lens is still dirty.

In the church, all the kneelers were hand-crafted and unique. This was lovely.

 The Love Bug whisked Kellie & James away from the church to the reception. It only stalled a couple of times.

 The reception was held on the grounds of Micklefield Hall. Mickelefield Hall was designed by Sir John Soane in the early 18th Century.

 After dancing for what seemed like hours, we headed out into the night (which was an adventure in itself). But not before taking home James' mom's lovely home-made marmalade.

Thank you, Kellie & James, for a lovely weekend. xoxo

The Covent Garden Hotel, London

 
The Covent Garden Hotel
10 Monmouth Street
London WC2H 9HB

I am still thinking in pounds. This is a bad thing. Because when I saw I could stay at The Covent Garden Hotel for £255, I was too easily swayed. I did it.

And you know what...after "living" in the hotel for 26 hours, I have absolutely no regrets. This is an amazingly lovely property.

Let's start with the location. It's on the edge of Covent Garden, so you're close enough to be a tourist if you want to, but far enough away to avoid the madness if that's more your style. For the most part, I avoided the madness with the exception of the short walk to Covent Garden tube. 

Secondly, the staff. Lovely lovely lovely. You might recall that I had to schlep three suitcases up to my room at The Hoxton Hotel all by myself. Not so at The Covent Garden Hotel! I was met at the door and relieved of my bags, and then upon my departure, the bellhop flagged me down a taxi and loaded me and all my belongings into it with a smile and a jaunty wave as we rolled away. (This is not to say that The Hoxton Hotel is not without its charms. I loved The Hoxton Hotel. Just differently.)

Thirdly, bed linens. The nicest bed linens I think I've ever experienced. You wouldn't think that bed linens could make a difference to sleep quality, but here, they really did. (As do did the little spray canister of lavender water they left on my pillow.)

 
Fourthly, they left me lip balm. Lip balm! Really! Do they know I'm a sucker for this sort of thing or what?

 
Fifthly, the awesome honesty bar in the library. (See Sixth.) You pick your poison and write down your name and that's it. There was also ice cream and crisps.

 
Sixth, there was the lovely library. I passed a few hours in here, checking my e-mail (more about that later) and enjoying some Honesty Bar champagne. Really really lovely. Full wood burning fire going and everything.

There were other things I loved about The Covent Garden Hotel. The gym was small but had everything you needed...cardio machines, free weights, weight machines, bottled water and on my second visit, there were granola bars. And fruit. In my hotel room, the closet was perfect--with a full-length mirror-- which is something I think no good hotel should go without. It may seem odd to compliment a hair dryer, but if you've ever stayed in a hotel with those basic hair dryers attached to the walls that eek out just the tiniest puffs of air, you might understand why. The Covent Garden Hotel hair dryer felt like a professional hair dryer. Serious stuff. Ah, and Miller Harris bath products. Lovely. Heck, I even liked the LIGHT SWITCHES.

On the down side, The Covent Garden Hotel is still charging for Internet (30p a minute--thank God my UK Vodafone dongle still works). And I thought the food in the restaurant was only okay. (I had breakfast each day there and on Day One, my corn fritters were flavorless. On Day Two, my omelet was anemic-looking.)

Despite those two flaws--and risky flaws at that--I still loved The Covent Garden Hotel. The price, of course, will have me thinking carefully before I book again, but if I need a central location and a great night's sleep, it's a done deal.

Gauthier Soho, Soho

Gauthier Soho
21 Romilly Street
W1D 5AF

Date of Last Visit: Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The Victims: Rutton, Kainaz, Richard, Mireia, Al

The Damage: 65 quid each. (Sorry, new American keyboard doesn't have GBP symbol!)

The Background: Less than 48 hours to go before I leave London. The movers and my sea container left earlier that afternoon. It's an odd feeling.

So we meet up at Gauthier Soho to celebrate my impending departure. I ring the doorbell. They let me in. I use the ladies, and then they try to seat me at the table. The table, however, is shoved up against the wall. And they don't seem to think this is a problem. So I start to move the table out myself and they come over to help and inch the table out. Literally. An inch. Not far. I'm perplexed.

I'm even more perplexed when, once we arrange the table to my liking, I sit down at the table and it rocks. Severely. They move the table around again a bit and it seems to be better but not really.

The rest of the gang arrives and it becomes abundantly clear that the table is very unsteady. The staff first tell us that it's impossible to fix because "the floor is old." Um...I think a napkin underneath one of the legs will work acceptably well. The staff prefer to move the table around a bit to find a more even spot of flooring and it's better, but Richard can't put his elbows on the table or all our dishes will go flying.

Odd.

And then things get worse. After all that, the staff ignore us. For a very long time. The only staff member who doesn't ignore us is the water girl and she fills my glass so many times when I've barely had just a sip that I've had to tell her to go away and not come back until I ask her to.

Odd. 

But finally we place our orders for our starters. Chilled broad bean soup for me. And I'm glad the soup is cold because it takes 45 minutes for it to arrive anyway.

Odd.

And then I have the fillet of angus beef, and it's nice. It's good. No complaints.

There were some bright spots to the evening. We put Richard (Italian) in charge of the wines and the wines he selects with the Italian wine steward are unbelievably inexpensive. I was expecting to spend 80 to 90 quid a head, and our meal came to 65 per person. And the summer truffle risotto was amazingly lovely. I should have gotten that instead of the chilled broad bean soup. Oh yes, and we liked the cheese plate. It was very well done. A lot choice. Ah...and they boxed up the sweets at the end of the meal and sent us all home with them. That was VERY nice.

The Verdict: Eh. Too many issues and the bright spots were too few in comparison to the odd spots.

Number 10, Szechuan in Earl's Court

 
Number 10
10 Hogarth Place
SW5 0QT

Date of Last Visit: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

The Victims: American in London, Mr. American in London, Su-Lin, Mr. Noodles

The Background: American in London was on the lookout for General Tsao's Chicken. Apparently, this in an American staple. Despite my American-ness, I don't think I'd ever had it before. In my house growing up, our choices were pretty much limited to chicken and broccoli or beef and broccoli. I was never a sweet and sour fan, and I tend to gravitate AWAY from the deep fried dishes. (You've got to, with a hobby such as mine.)

Number 10 had been on my radar for a while because of a Chowhound thread or two. The Chowhound folks rave about the Szechuan items on the white board, and we probably should have thought about that as we ordered. Because in the end, it was the Szechuan items that really stood out.

 
The spicy aubergines were deliciously (surprise) spicy and melted away into cool hotness. I love when aubergine is cooked so perfectly as to not be too mushy. Let's face it. Eggplant gets mushy. It's a good cook that can make this work.

 
The boiled beef was AWESOME. This is one of those dishes that I think I could eat every day for a very long time. I might kill some tastebuds in the process, but that's okay.

We had some other dishes but really, they paled in comparison and I can barely remember them. The only other dish I do really member was a sliced pork of some sort. The pork tasted old. I wouldn't recommend it.

The Verdict: I don't know if I'd go out of my way to go to Number 10 again, but if I did, I would definitely have the boiled beef and the spicy eggplant. And I would stick with the Szechuan dishes. The rest is just not very interesting.