The Sandwich that Changed My Life

I’m a person that can appreciate good, clean design. That’s the first thing that drew my eye towards Hannah’s Bretzel with their bright red awnings off of LaSalle. I was on my way back from a small victory so I needed to celebrate, and with the slogan "the Über sandwich makers" how could I resist?

You may ask about the victory in which I'm referring to so I'll quickly share that I passed my Illinois driving test without even studying, acing the vision test and walking away with my new license while shedding a tearful goodbye to my last bit of legal Texas identity which recorded a weight my Illinois ID will probably never see.

I walked in alone and overheard the group in line behind me chattering about their sandwich of choice. One recommended the Italian Parma + Goat Cheese which reaffirmed my sandwich choice when she said she had never even tried anything else. The formula includes baby arugula, rosemary infused asparagus and white truffle oil on an organic bretzel baguette. I don't quite know how to describe the bretzel and give it justice, but just know it has a history of its own. I was initially sold with the truffle oil because I can pretty much drink that stuff and at 463 calories for a fairly decent sized sandwich it seemed like a no-brainer.

And not only does your sandwich taste good, it's also good for you and the environment. My particular sandwich was 47.1% organic, whatever that means. But, I can appreciate a restaurant that wants to serve "fast" food in a healthy manner. You have your choice of healthy sides, fresh soups, salads and good for you desserts with an array of every kind of chocolate bar you can imagine from all over the world.

I sat watching the city life pass me by as I savored every single bite of that sandwich. It was amazing: fresh, full of flavor and the perfect prize for my successful feat. I look forward to making my way down the menu.

It's ok to take your baby to a bar... if you order a burger

As we near March, an exciting and stressful time of year for my husband (a severe college basketball fan), Saturday had left us in a bit of a lurch as we had intentions of lunching somewhere new. Then, Brian realized he couldn't get the Arizona game on television so he left for the nearest watering hole while Nelson and I went to explore the streets - a house divided.

Currently, we are renting in River North so we can easily get to the heart of the loop in an easy 15 minute walk. I headed to Hannah's Bretzel for a quick sandwich, which deserves a post of its very own so I'll get back to you on that soon. Post lunch I was in close proximity to the Bull and Bear where Brian was watching his Cats pull one over on the Bruins. We met up and began to stroll. We headed down Hubbard towards Michigan to attempt a visit to The Purple Pig. Don't know much about this joint, but I passed it on a run and it looked interesting. I fear due to its proximity to Michigan, it may be a bit touristy. It was packed, so we continued on winding our way through the side streets headed northwest.

Did I mention we had a stroller and a 10 month old? Our quest to find an appropriate venue to have a cocktail and not ruin someone's urban vacation was becoming quite a challenge. We walked through a few doors and quickly u-turned. Just as we were about to throw in the towel, we thought we'd give Clark Street Ale House a try, because I've been admiring its neon-lit sign and its simply stated directness "Stop and Drink". Unfortunately, it couldn't be camouflaged as anything other than a bar. So, we went a few doors down to 25 Degrees where they advertise the slogan - not just another spot to grab an ordinary burger. We stuck our head in and it fit the bill. At 4:00 the restaurant/bar, more of a bar was not too crowded, had ample TV real estate to watch my alma mater the Missouri Tigers vs. the Kansas Jayhawks in their last conference game, and they even had a high-chair. This was meant to be. We sat in a circle booth, checked out the cocktail menu and placed our orders.

One of these things is not like the other.

Brian and I have been very much into whiskey this winter, probably a tad too much. I quickly made dibs on the Kentucky Brunch which includes egg whites, apricot marmalade, and R-1 Rye. It did not disappoint. It was a pure cup of frothy, refreshing goodness. The Tigers were up 15 before the half. Nelson was enjoying the modern vintage decor, and our server was polite, willing to please and ready to take our food order.  That is until we told him, "oh no thanks, we're just here for cocktails".

It didn't take long to change our mind as we watched burger after burger pass us by. Brian always says, "a bun makes the burger". This burger was indeed good. We got the #3 with mezzo secco jack, hatch green chili, chipotle and avocado - a little bit of Texas on a burger. We shared fries and the chopped salad, an interesting combination of avocado, grapes, tomatoes, beets, pine nuts, white beans, parmesan reggiano and buttermilk vinaigrette. I'm not sure who came up with that colorful combination, but it was a nice surprise that even Nelson could appreciate.

Well the game went into overtime, ended on a sour note and the bar was filling up fast. We considered ourselves lucky that Nelson had more than cooperated in our afternoon adventure so we decided to get out on a good note. A perfect unplanned, surprisingly pleasant afternoon, except for that Tiger loss. In bed by 8 o'clock feeling accomplished we had found our burger joint just a skip, hop and a jump away from our new place.