Taste of Chicago

This post is coming a bit late, but all good things come with a wait, right?

Let's pretend that's a legitimate saying and move on.

Well, last week my friends and I decided to check out something called Taste of Chicago. It's the world's largest outdoor food festival that combines local flavor, nationally popular music, and fun.
All you needed to say was largest food festival and I'm in.

So, I snatched up a few of my friends and we headed out on Saturday evening to see what all the fuss was about.

Neha and Hillary had their tickets in hand and were ready to scour the booths for something tasty.

And Tiffany gave a boost of enthusiasm.

While Neha and Hillary parted from the group in search of something spicy and delicious, Tiffany and I beelined for the Cafe Vienna German food booth.

5 tickets for a Schnitzel sandwich = well worth it.

Clearly a fried chicken sandwich was not enough for me, so I stopped off at The Green Room @ The Abbey.

Nothing like a steaming plate of curry fries to brighten up your evening.



We regrouped on the lawn to hide from the sun, relax, and enjoy our finds.

Neha grabbed what looked like the best purchase of the evening - a chicken, rice, and veggie mixture that I believe was chicken madras masala (but don't quote me on that.

Regardless, I want the recipe.

This is Neha's 'someone's been dating for over 2 years' face.

Of course, we had to finish our meal off with some dessert. Fortunately for us, there was a gelato stand very close by.

Bacio gelato a.k.a. hazelnut flavored a.k.a. Nutella flavored.

Definitely a successful food day.
If you find yourself in Chicago next summer, be sure to check out the taste! It's free to enter and costs $8 for 12 tickets (most meals are from 4-8 tickets). Definitely enough to get a good fill.

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La Frasca

You know those moments where you're scrolling through your phone pictures, searching for that one you wanted to send or upload, and you happen upon something that completely slipped your mind?
Well, that happened to me today. And what I found was something I meant to blog about weeks ago.
Remember when I said that Emily joined me in Chicago for the summer? Well, a few weekends ago she invited me for an impromptu dinner up on the north side to watch the Blackhawks game. She promised the restaurant we were going to would bring back joyous memories of scrumptiously authentic Italian food. It was called La Frasca, and I was happy to see that it was a short train ride away.

I also brought my friend Neha with me, but she was difficult to catch on-camera. 

I tend to snap when people least expect it. My bad.

We started with some Sangrias, which came in a generous serving for only $6.

I quickly perused the menu for the tastiest options. It was difficult to choose when the pizzas all looked scrumptious and the pasta menu included mouthwatering gnocchi.

We decided to start with some appetizers. La Frasca has an extensive and generous bruschetta menu. For $8, you pick 3 types, which gives you plenty of wiggle room to sample different flavor combinations.
We went with the traditional (basil, mozzarella, and tomato), mushroom & goat cheese, and apple with brie. They were even kind enough to cut the bruschetta into three pieces for us.

The grand finale, however, was the pizza.

Emily was exceedingly happy about her beautiful pepperoni pizza.
Neha kept it classic and went with a simple but chic margherita pizza.

As for me, I went with a fantastically delicious-sounding pizza called the rustica. Authentically Italian thin and crunchy crust covered with smoked cheese, prosciutto  pesto, and tomatoes. 

Let me just say it took all of my willpower to not eat the entire delicious concoction in one sitting. Just look at that fresh flavor.

If you find yourself in Chicago with a craving for real pizza, not the pounds-of-bread-deep-dish staple usually found in this city, I cannot recommend La Frasca enough. 

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