Joh vs. Food – Chicago Edition 2015 – Day 2

I woke up on my 2nd day in Chicago with much anticipation.  The day would see us checking out Eataly Chicago and visiting the Navy Pier for The Great American Lobster Fest.

Eataly is the place to go for anything and everything Italian.  Two floors of Italian food and drink arouse the senses.  You can grab some coffee and a pastry or some pasta and sauce to make at home.  Or you can do what I did, sit down to some freshly made pizza.

A table at La Pizza & La Pasta.

Some warm bread and olive oil to start along with a glass of Bastianich Sauvignon “Adriatico”

Pizza of choice – Teanese – three cheese pizza with mozzarella, gorganzola, grand padano and prosciutto di parma.  I was worried I would not be able to eat it all, but it was too delicious to leave anything on the plate.

After some more shopping and a ton of walking, it was time for dinner at the navy pier.  Lobsterfest!!  Only in its 2nd year, this is a great event that brings a ton of people to the awesome Navy Pier for entertainment, food and drink.

Lobster dinner – before….and after.  Demolished.

Some sangria and a Blue Moon to go along a chocolate caramel funnel cake.

Gotta love Chicago at night.

I love Chicago at any time.  =)

Lunchtime Eats

As much as I would like to be good and bring lunch to work everyday, let’s be honest, I’m not that good.  I thankfully work in an area of the city surrounded by tons of restaurants and bars.  There is never a shortage of places to pick up a meal.

Fridays are typically group lunch days at work.  A few of us will go all in on some sushi or burritos.  The last couple of weeks it’s been pizza from Pizza Rustica.

http://pizzarustica.ca

I’ve had the pleasure of testing 2 different pizzas – The Rustica and the Steak and Gorgonzola.  The Rustica, this restaurant’s signature pizza, was topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, sweet roasted peppers, mushrooms, goat cheese, topped with fresh-cut prosciutto.

The steak and gorgonzola was topped with roasted garlic cream sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola cheese, seasoned AAA beef tenderloin, broccoli, caramelized onions & mushrooms and turned out to be my new favourite pizza.  

Loved the massive amount of toppings.  No scrimping at this place.  The crust is thin, a little bit crispy. These pizzas are full of flavour.

A second place I decided to try was the Corned Beef House.  I have had a crazy hankering for a roast beef sandwich.  My craving my satisfied fully visiting this restaurant.

http://cornedbeefhouse.com

First off, let me say that the sandwich proportions here are ridiculous.  My sandwich above was size huge.  I cannot imagine was sizes gigantic and colossal look like.  Tender roast beef with mustard on an onion bun.  Simple, classic and delicious.  I’ll be back.  =)

Someone Made It, I Ate It – Pizzeria Libretto

Thank goodness for Advil. Still suffering from a lingering migraine, but I wasn’t missing pizza dinner at Pizzeria Libretto Ossington location. The place was packed and there was a wait.

White wine – Inzolia “Normano” 2011 IGT. Smooth and light. Nice with my pizza.

Arugula and prosciutto pizza. Check out all that green.

This is what’s nice about going out in a group, you get to sample everyone else’s food too.

Dolci. Vanilla affogato. Gelato drowned in espresso. Loved this, the awesome contrast of bitter espresso cut with the creamy sweetness of vanilla gelato. Definitely would have this again.

Leaving my mark on the chalkboard. =)