after morning class and some quality time at the lib, i started off my celebrating with a walk over to the chicago city farm heirloom tomato stand. i was hoping to leave with heaps of large, juicy, colorful, misshapen heirloom tomatoes, but the walk over took significantly longer than i anticipated and this was all they had left:
worth it. these little guys accompanied me on the rest of the night's journeys,but only about half of them made it home.then i hopped on the train to meet daniel for dinner at xoco, (the name of which i mumble ambiguously and pronounce slightly differently each time i say it) a rick bayless restaurant which serves almost exclusively tortas. a whole restaurant just for sandwiches - how could it be bad?
i had the milanese:
both were crazy good. my new personal goal is to try every torta they make (except the one that has mushrooms on it). two down, eleven to go. also at xoco, we had fresh churros, ice cream, and the best damn hot chocolate i have had in my recent memory.
post dessert we met cara, aleck, kristin, and a few of my classmates at clark street ale house ("if you can't get into heaven, go straight to ale!"), which has one of the most intimidating beer lists i have ever encountered. our server was able to help me out with my selections, and in exchange we shared some tomatoes with her.
the night ended with a big surprise from cara and aleck:
cupcakes from more! i look sheepish because i basically ruined the surprise by breaking up the gathering before cara had the chance to reveal the takeout boxes she'd been carrying in her bag all night. oops?coconut mango and (i believe) chocolate chocolate:
three months into my chicago residency, i know a small but mighty contingent of kickass people who came out and made it an awesome birthday. and there were sandwiches. and tomatoes. i win.
Wish i could have been there to celebrate with you! When i visit that torta place might have to be on the to do list. Love you!
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