CHICAGO-STYLE BASEBALL & FOOD

the husband & i have a bucket list of things we'd like to do together. they're mostly travel, sports, or food-related and categorized as pre-baby and post-baby. but, if things fall into the post-baby category, we're not opposed because the future babies get to have a fun story to tell themselves as their lives develop, but we'll see what happens when we cross that bridge. for now, we're keeping pre-baby bucket list items in that category.

in our sports/travel-related bucket list, we wanted to see historic baseball fields, one being wrigley (we'll plan on fenway next year, probably). what's fun about my marriage is having these similar interests, which is obviously great for any healthy, happy relationship to have. san francisco giants baseball is something we can root for and enjoy together. when i looked up the next time the giants would be facing the cubs in chicago so we could go to wrigley, i knew we had to make it happen!

i've been told that you can fall in love with chicago, especially during the spring and late summer, when you're not being attacked by blistering, humid heat or severe cold winters. but, it happened, i love chicago. the fans at the game were mellow and enjoyed friendly competition. the field is amazing and old-school and the giants won! we definitely will be back and probably stay in the city (we were staying with family friends an hour away, so we didn't really get the whole chicago experience).

SLURPING TURTLE
interestingly, the first thing we wanted to try was the slurping turtle that was suggested by my friend, hannah. her sister lives in chicago and when visiting stops here. i looked up and the menu and knew we had to try it out! it's the type of food we love, so we knew it'd be a winner!

[seared big eye tuna] the husband loves seared tuna, so this was a must! it was done perfectly and had a great acidic flavor. the avocado added a nice texture and flavor to complete the dish (honestly, if it was lacking avocado, i would've been upset).

[pork belly snack] ah-may-zing!!! we got another order of them before we even finished the dish. this was a great modern twist on the pork buns i've grown up with. the pork belly was so succulent & tender, the flavor combinations were sweet, salty, & tangy, and the silver of bun was fluffy & sweet! i dream of this dish...

[duck fat fried chicken] how intriguing, right? frying one bird in another bird's fatty fat! it was good, nicely battered, but a little overcooked and not as juicy as chicken usually gets when deep-fried correctly.

[grilled foie gras] ever since california banned the sale of foie gras, it has become something i think about every once in awhile. it's that "you always want what you can't have" mentality. anyway, i was so ready for this fatty, gamey treat and the slurping turtle did a great job in cooking it perfectly.

GIORDANO'S
so, we did end up getting our deep-dish on since you can't go to chicago without trying it! we have a couple deep-dish places in san francisco (patxi's & little star, which i have yet to try), but it is definitely necessary to go to the source and the experts.

there were some serious recommendations on which one would be best: giordano's, lou malnati's, gino's east, and if there's a key one i'm missing - please send it over...because i will be doing a deep-dish face-off on the next visit!

anyway, we chose giordano's because it sounded like the most traditional chain and was near the house we were staying in and was the pick of another friend who had also tried gino's east, but preferred giordano's.

so what did i think? i felt like i needed more salt or something on the stuffing. the sauce was nicely seasoned and the cheese to crust ratio seemed well proportioned. overall, i imagine that this is what a classic deep dish pizza is. i can't wait to do a face-off!

SF STREET FOOD FEST

i am known for going to big food events, so if you've ever wondered which one i look the most forward to...it has to be the sf street food fest!! where else can you find san francisco's best in one area, where there are 5 blocks of the best each place has to offer that you pay for with monopoly money! between regina & i we spent $50 and really had to stretch on where to spend that last $10 since we had tried most places here already and because we were utterly full! if you're ever in san fran in mid-august, make a stop here so you can get a taste of sf!

[STATE BIRD PROVISIONS - hand pulled burrata on garlic bread] this was incredible and i was so happy we started off with this and got before the rush (we got it later in the day because we loved it so much and the piece of burrata was much smaller and the bread was a little stale)! the bread was perfectly flaky and the burrata was well-seasoned. i cannot wait to get a reservation at the actual restaurant!

[PINX - sweet potato pie waffles] i loved the enthusiasm of the people behind pinx! it's always great to see how much pride chefs have for the food they present. the waffle was lightly sweetened and had a good crispy outside, fluffy inside effect that you look for in a waffle. the salted bourbon caramel sauce was also nice and light, not overwhelmingly sweet!

[AZALINA'S - chicken kaya penang chilaquiles] what a great combination of flavors! it had a nice kick, the chicken was tender, and had a nice penang flavor! the crushed raspberries gave a good break to the spiciness and the chips on the bottoms were nicely soaked in the juices.

[ZELLA'S SOULFUL KITCHEN - jacked up hush puppies] these were yummy deep-fried goodness. there were whole kernels of corn, which i love, especially in cornbread, and melted cheese in the middle! i think the melted cheese and jalapenos is what made these "jacked up".

[TACOLICIOUS - grilled squid veracruz] i actually really love tacolicious tacos - they're great! i also love squid (we were actually having a conversation of our love for squid ink dishes). so, when we saw this offering at a well-known restaurant booth, we went for it. sadly, it was pretty disappointing and lacked some serious salt!

[CLAIRESQUARES - deep fried caramel pops] oh my goodness! this was amazing! pure gold! we had been splitting everything up until this point. we really felt we needed our own pop, which turned out to be a good and bad idea. good because they were so yummy, bad because they were so rich! i would definitely get this again!

[15 ROMOLO - chicken wing boriquas] tasty little things covered in coconut milk & lime! the batter wasn't too think and the chicken was moist. i didn't really care for the plantain, but this was great!

[GOOD FOODS CATERING - pork belly sandos] i love seeing the word pork belly and am a sucker for tasting anything with this succulent meat in it! i really wish i wasn't too full, but the bites i took were super delicious - the pork belly was perfectly tender and that's all that matters!

[MISSION STREET CART - diabolito rasposado] i don't know if it's the spanish-influence in my culture, but i love chili and tamarind things! i was initially going to this cart for the chili mangoes, but was very intrigued by what the people in front of us were ordering, which was this amazing concoction! it was shaved ice, tamarind, strawberry puree, and a chili tamarind stick. i would've easily preferred just the chili tamarind stick, but was okay drinking this incredibly thick thing. i don't know that i'd ever get it again, but it was an interesting experience.

overall, another successful event! i can't wait for next year. i hope there's definitely new places to explore.