Places that make us fat: Chicago

Chicago is one of Emi and my favorite places to visit. We love Chicago for the opportunity to visit Emi's friend from childhood Anna, the great shopping, and of course the food! I was recently in Chicago for work and wanted to share a few photos of great meals from a past trip and also from the most recent one.

Calvin, me, and Emi at Bin 36 in September of 2008. Bin 36 is an upsale wine bar similar to Purple Wine Bar in Seattle. We had a delicious cheese plate with assorted flights to start off our trip.

Fresh fruit infused vodka martinis at a neighborhood restaurant Anna took us to in Wrigleyville.

My monster steak and eggs breakfast at the official "Ohio State Alumni" bar in Chicago. Gotta love that midwest beef!

Our favorite part of the trip was enjoying the Bloody Mary bar. Each of us got a small bottle of vodka and a pint glass along with multiple options of Bloody Mary mixes, olives, cheeses, salamis, celery, and spices. This great idea we have brought to our Husky tailgates.

On my most recent trip we enjoyed an amazing meal at A MANO which an affordable, yet delicious Italian restaurant located underneath Bin 36.

The "Trio of Brucshetta" which was split up into three sections: fava bean, mint and pecorino sardo, oven dried tomatoes and basil, , and chicken liver mousse.

The baby octopus was the chef's special appetizer. I've never had anything like it before. The octopus was smoky and very tender. It tasted like the world's most tender steak.

My A MANO Lasagna Bolognese which was described as "Best in the Country" by Details magazine. Made of beef, pork & veal, and Basil Pesto.

My pizza sandwich from Potbelly Sandwich Works to end my gluttonous trip through Chicago. This beauty came with pepperoni, tomatoes, provolone, marinara sauce, mushrooms, and Italian seasoning. Everyone in the Chicago office highly recommended this place for lunch.

We hope to have the opportunity to travel out there again in the near future. Also the last two times I've been to Chicago my fat ass has consumed an authentic deep dish pizza, but I guess I never took a picture so that's why no pictures were posted.

If anyone is out there in the near future and wants to check out a few of these places let me know!

- Kyle

Places that make us fat: 24 hours in Portland

Emi and I wanted to do something simple, yet unique to celebrate our one year anniversary. We decided on a quick trip down to Portland and of course planned on eating our way through the city. The weekend was amazing, the weather couldn’t have been better, and we sampled many new places in the 24 hours we spent down there. The trip also reinforced why we were meant to be together because we both have the exact same eating habits. If one is hungry the other is hungry, if one isn’t satisfied or full the other isn’t as well.

Portland has been a place I’ve wanted to visit for awhile since seeing the city highlighted on the Travel Channel, the Food Network, and most recently the Travel section of the Sunday New York Times.

We wanted to share some photos from our trip with the food we ate (of course) and recommendations for places to check out if you ever find yourself in the Rose City.

Emi's Canadian bacon ham eggs benedict

We left Seattle at 6am Saturday morning so that we could enjoy breakfast at The Stepping Stone Café. This place came highly recommended by my friend and former Portland local Kenny. The best way to describe this place is delicious, greasy, hangover food. Emi’s eggs benedict with Canadian bacon ham was cooked perfectly and was a great way to start off our day.

Happy Hour at 23^rd and Hoyt

The restaurant had a very modern, sophisticated feel highlighted by a very affordable happy hour menu. We decided to sit outside to enjoy Emi’s house red and my Woodland (bourbon, honey, and lemon).

The charcuterie plate I ordered was one of the highlights of the trip

It came with Prosciutto di Parma, Toscana, salmetti secchi, house pickles, olives, and two varieties of mustard. All of the meat was thinly sliced deliciousness and was not as salty as I expected it to be. When combined with the sweet pickle and some mustard over the bread it was an awesome way to start off our eating adventure. Also for $4 it was a steal.

Emi ordered the Steamed Clams with white wine, garlic, and a brushette. You can’t go wrong with white wine and garlic. The clams were amazing, but the broth was even better. Emi sopped up the soupy broth afterwards with the remaining bread.

Raspberry Berry Infused Collins from Paragon

After heading back to the hotel to change and to enjoy a bottle of champagne, we took a cab to The Pearl District and enjoyed some cocktails at the very fancy Paragon. I love me some infused vodka, especially with real fruit so we couldn’t pass that up.

Acai Caipirinha

Next we went to Andina a Peruvian restaurant that was absolutely packed. We found a table in the bar and decided to order some tapas and cocktails. Emi enjoyed an Acai Caipirinha and I ordered my first ever pisco sour; not bad, but very sweet. We ordered a few tapas dishes as well and of course didn’t take a photo of our favorite dish. We highly recommend the Anticucho de Pulpo – which is grilled octopus kebobs with rocoto and caper chimichurri. The octopus was amazingly delicious and tender. Being Japanese we are used to tough, flavorless tako (octopus), so I had never had grilled, tender, salted octopus.

After happy hour and tapas we were still starving. Starving like “let’s immediately drive to Dick’s to order two Deluxe’s, two fries, and a rootbeer float”. So instead we took a cab to the Koi Fusion Korean taco truck that I had read about online.

For only $12 we ordered a bulgogi taco and a short ribs taco and the short ribs K-Sliders. Finally we were satiated and headed back to the hotel to pass out.

Sweet, refreshing raspberry Italian sodas, a great way to start off the day

The next morning we hit up Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Basically it’s like every major cities, “eff you” Starbucks coffee shop. If you are ever in the area it’s a nice place with a line out the door.

Pork tamales served w/fresh pico de gallo, sour cream, and beans at the Portland Market

All in all it was a great trip and a memorable way to celebrate our one year anniversary. We look forward to another year of eating adventures together!

- Kyle