Catching Up After Chicago

I am dreaming of this big mug of coffee that I had in Chicago like you can’t imagine.

Oh, right. I should probably mention to those of you who didn’t already see on Instagram that I was in fact in Chicago over the weekend.

Even though there is only a one hour time difference between New York and Chicago, I felt the jet lag and still feel like I am struggling to get back to normal routine.

It was a whirlwind of a weekend (to say the least) but I managed to squeeze in my favorite foods while leaving my running shoes at home.

Yes, I do think that some trips warrant a break from running.

I had this delicious bowl of muesli at Pierrot Gourmet which was topped with apples and bananas. The muesli was made with almond milk and a vegan protein powder too. I really enjoyed it.

We really need to talk about pizza. Deep dish pizza.

Over the years I have come to appreciate the charm of Chicago style pizza.

As a kid, I thought that any pizza that wasn’t New York pizza wasn’t good at all but I’ve learned that my former viewpoint was just a sheltered New Yorker viewpoint.

While I will admit that I am still a sheltered New Yorker at times, I actually really like Chicago deep dish pizza. I’ve been to Chicago several times in the past but hadn’t been there in almost twenty years!

I couldn’t wait to return to Gino’s East for the pizza this trip.

We ordered a spinach margarita deep dish pizza and it was as good as I remembered.

I need to know how they make the crust.

But we couldn’t stop at just one pizza location while in Chicago so we also went to Pizzeria Due.

I think we liked Pizzeria Due’s deep dish even better than Gino’s East although years ago I would have said the reverse.

The tomatoes and the crust were on a whole other level in this deep dish pizza from Pizzeria Due. I can still taste it, that’s how good it was.

Saturday night I was in need of chocolate fudge cake which wasn’t an easy find at first.

Chicago is great but it’s no New York.

Like, at 10:30 pm in New York, life is hopping. If you want cake, you can find cake at any time within steps from wherever you are.

In Chicago, it doesn’t seem to work that way. Some restaurants were already winding down while bagel stores, diners, Bodegas and delis are basically nonexistent.

Not to worry, after trying five different places, we found chocolate cake at Grand Luxe Café. May I add in though that Grand Luxe seemed to be winding down to close for the night too.

I wish I had more time to spend in Chicago but honestly, I struggled crossing the city streets. It was hard for me to figure out when to walk and when not to walk.

It seems that people in Chicago actually obey the traffic laws. Even when cars weren’t coming, if it said DON’T WALK, they didn’t walk! If cars were coming and approaching stop signs, the people waited for the cars to pass.

I was the only one looking to keep walking which means I must have looked really funny. Or rude. Or like I was from New York. 🙂

[bctt tweet=”Let’s talk deep dish pizza! #Chicago #weekend #pizza #deepdishpizza #deepdish” username=”cookiechrunicle”]

How are you? What have I missed?!

Do you always travel with your running shoes?

Do you like deep dish pizza? Is the pizza good where you live?