CHIGuide
The Best Things We Ate During This Snowy, Snowy Week
photo credit: Kim Kovacik
We eat a lot while researching the various guides and reviews you see on our site. This particular list is some of our favorite things we tried during this snowy week - the dishes that made us give a creepy smile to our plates, and helped us forget that it took two hours to dig our cars out of the snow. Hopefully, it serves as a source of inspiration the next time you’re deciding what to order.
The Dishes
Doro Wat
This Ethiopian restaurant in Uptown used to be one of our go-to’s before a show at the Riv, but now it’s one of our go-tos for takeout while being pummeled by snow. Because, it turns out, nothing goes better with “nature’s majesty” than the “Messob for Two” dinner from Demera. It comes with three vegetarian and three meat dishes. And out of the six dishes, there’s not a single one we’d want to replace. That said, the doro wat was excellent. But, so was the kik alicha, the misir wat, the lega tibs, the sig alicha, and the quosta - and of course the injera. Obviously, we’ll be ordering the other half of the menu next snowstorm.
Victoria Sandwich Cake
Last weekend was Valentine’s Day, so we wandered over to Good Ambler in the West Loop for a box of their fantastic handmade chocolates. And because we were hot off finishing a season of GBBO (the one with Liam) we picked up a Victorian sandwich petit gateau, which was a Valentine’s Day special. The not-too-sweet raspberry jam layered between Victorian sponge, and topped with vanilla mousse and a white chocolate glaze was perfect, and definitely earned a Paul Hollywood handshake. The cake is no longer on the menu, but it was a dessert one-night stand we’ll remember forever.
Jerk Chicken
We ordered a total of three dishes from Cocoa Chili, a new Afro-Caribbean restaurant in East Garfield Park. We tried the jerk chicken, Sengalese poulet yassa, plus their cocoa chili - and each one qualifies as a “best thing we ate.” It was all great, from the wonderfully tender and smoky jerk chicken, to the citrusy poulet yassa, to the spicy chili con carne that we wish we knew about before we wasted time making our own for the Super Bowl.
Shrimp Po’ Boy
The first time we ordered from Southern Twang was a few weeks ago while researching our list of New Black-Owned Restaurants. The second time was on Fat Tuesday, when we had a craving for a shrimp po’boy. Despite the snow, Southern Twang was still open, and luckily we have four-wheel drive. We paired our tasty po’boy with a side of mac and cheese, and for 15 blissful minutes forgot that we live in a climate that necessitates four-wheel drive.
Duck Carnitas
Taqueria Chingon has already made our Hit List. But what brought us back here this week (besides our love of tacos) was the duck carnitas, a new (and delicious) addition to their menu. The duck is paired with a date puree, topped with pieces of orange, chicharrones, habanero salsa, and wrapped in a chewy handmade tortilla. Unlike the weather, we really hope this taco sticks around.