Camacho Watcho » Chicago

5 Courses for $20 at Han 202 in Chicago

katiejocannon — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:53:12 +0000

While visiting Chicago recently, I had the opportunity to check out Han 202, a tiny Chinese restaurant with an amazing meal deal. For $20, you have your choice of five courses: soup, salad, appetizer, entree and dessert. Better yet – it’s BYOB. I love that about Chicago!

All the food was fantastic, but I did have my favorites. For appetizer, absolutely do not miss the Salt and Pepper Calamari. Its crispy salty/peppery flavor is positively addicting in the best way possible.

Another of my favorites is the crispy beef with orange extract – a lovely orange flavor that is surprisingly balanced for what could be an overly sweet dish.

Last, but definitely not least, is the lovely, lovely dessert – vanilla ice cream with tomato mango sorbet. I am head over heels in love with it…*sigh*.

PS – Did I mention that this deal runs every day of the week?

Eating Chicago Style

katiejocannon — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:47:54 +0000

I spent a couple days in Chicago last week and I got to eat some of my favorite kinds of foods – Chicago style. My original plan was to do a tour of Chicago style hot dogs (four hot dog places in one afternoon). Unfortunately the plan didn’t work out – I definitely must do it next time in town. Regardless, I did get the chance to eat at three great places – casual, classic, tasty food.

The first place is called Bari, an Italian deli and grocery store on West Grand. My sister wrote about it on her blog, that I’ve linked to here. (She’s much more familiar with Chicago than me, so check her site out.) The only option for eating Bari’s food is to order and take it to go – so we grabbed sandwiches and headed back to my sister’s place.

I ordered the nine inch Italian sub – capicollo, genova salami, mortadella, provolone, and Bari hot giardiniera. The bread is crispy and the toppings are a lovely blend of Italian flavors and seasonings. I wished I could have eaten it all, but I could only do justice to half…in fact, I think my other half is still in my sister’s fridge. Wish I would have had those leftovers for lunch today!

The second place we hit was Hot Doug’s. Although the tour de dogs didn’t work out as planned, I still had my mind set on a Chicago style hot dog, so we headed out to experience the dogs that Anthony Bourdain had visited. Although it was 2pm on a Thursday afternoon, the line was out the door and wrapped around the sidewalk. But, we weren’t to be deterred – we took our place in line.

Hot Doug’s menu is extensive – traditional and gourmet dogs featured every day along with their crispy fries (which are cooked in duck fat on Fridays and Saturdays). I decided on The Dog and the Keira Knightly, both with Chicago style fixin’s (electric green relish, pickle spear, tomato, mustard, onion and celery salt). Although both were fantastic – soft, poppy seed bun and fresh toppings, I preferred the Keira Knightly (pictured above on the right) because of the subtley spicy meat. I’ll definitely be back to Hot Doug’s – who wouldn’t love a place whose tagline reads “The Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium”!

Our final treat in Chicago was the delicious pizza of Pequod’s, in Lincoln Park (I think). Located in a small, dark bar with exposed brick and cozy booths, Pequod’s pizza is the ultimate in deep dish pizza enjoyment. It’s thick and doughy with a crispy, fried cheese crust and a fresh, chunky tomato sauce. And if you go, you must try the sausage – huge chunks of seasoned sausage make for the perfect pizza topping.

Cold and Hungry in Chicago

katiejocannon — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:36:07 +0000

Growing up in central Illinois, I have been to Chicago many times. In fact, a couple years ago I traveled to Chicago for work every week for a year. I flew in, took the train to the Sears Tower, stayed at a hotel a couple blocks away, occasionally took a cab to one of the many unique neighborhoods for dinner and then flew home. I had seen and done many things in Chicago over the years but I hadn’t really opened my eyes to it for a really long time. With this in mind, on my recent Chicago visit my sister and I planned a whole day for taking a photo tour of Chicago. The day we chose was Tuesday…which ended up being a drizzly, overcast, cold day. It wasn’t ideal, but we set out anyway.

The same year that I was traveling back and forth I read a book by Erik Larson, “Devil in the White City.” If you haven’t heard of it, it is a book that follows the architect for the World’s Fair of 1893 as he planned and built the “white city” and a serial killer who was loose in Chicago at the same time. I found the history completely fascinating and it made me appreciate the architecture of the buildings that were created for World’s Fair, such as the Museum of Science and Industry, that still stand today. The train ride from Midway to the Sears Tower had a whole new meaning for me, but I still hadn’t visited any of the Fair’s buildings. So on our photo tour, an obvious choice to visit was the grounds of the Museum of Science and Industry and the Osaka Japanese Gardens which were built as part of the Wooded Island for the Fair.

After the Osaka Gardens we headed downtown to Grant Park and the Agora structure, which is 106 headless hollow structures that appear to be wandering about and to Millennium Park to view the “Cloud Gate” structure, or the “bean” as most people call it. I didn’t know the history of the “bean” before, but I am now so amazed by it. It is a seamless structure designed to showcase clouds floating among the Chicago skyline from every angle viewed and is also meant to be a gate by which visitors could pass under and view their reflection floating much the same as the clouds. Amazing.

Our intentions were to tour and photograph the whole day, but we found ourselves very cold and very hungry and after a couple hours sought warmth and nourishment at Penny’s Noodle Shop. Fresh ingredients put together to create subtlely spicey and flavorful food. Although it wasn’t the day we had planned, we had a great time and, of course, you can’t go wrong with a day that ends with Thai food.

To view more pictures from Chicago, click here.

Getting back in the swing of things…

katiejocannon — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:46:58 +0000

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Iowa City and Chicago so I’m trying to get back into sorts. It was a great trip and I had a great time catching up with family and friends!

I also used this trip as an opportunity to break in my new camera that I am totally in love with. With this in mind, my sister obliged me by taking me on a photography tour of Chicago. We had overcast skies and drizzles while we toured but it was fun nevertheless. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to photograph the “bean” in Millennium Park on a Tuesday with no other tourists around. So I was able to get this shot of me, the bean and the Chicago skyline. I hope you enjoy!