(no subject)
Blue Fairy has a conference in Milwaukee for the next few days, so I am accompanying her on her journey. We traveled the I-65 / I-94 dash through Chicago (ha ha) today, with a few more stops and a later start than originally planned, arriving around 8 Eastern / 7 Central.
If you've ever heard NPR's The Splendid Table (PRI actually, but who's counting), you've likely heard the "Road Food" segment with Jane and Michael Sterns. They have several books as well, in which they review out of the way diners with excellent food. Well, we read their books, and researched likely places locally to get good food off the beaten path.
We dropped our luggage in our room and headed off to one of the listings. It was a soul food restaurant much closer downtown than our hotel (but not a bad drive -- Milwaukee is not huge). We tried calling beforehand, but had not answer. Probably too busy to answer their phone on a Saturday night. So we trek off down the road.
Soul food. Inner city. My liberal guilt tells me I shouldn't jump to assumptions, but I did anyway.
Well, the book was published in 1999. And lots can happen in the life of a restaurant in 9 years, no matter how good it is or how well reviewed. Needless to say, it was long gone. So was the Serbian place which was in an even worse neighborhood. And we decided not to stop and ask the various gatherings of young black men in hoodies what local establishments suited their palates. I'm not prejudiced, but I'm also not insane.
We ended up at a Greek place we saw not far from our hotel. Not fantastic, but better than picking some chain. We finished close to 10PM/9PM by our slightly mal-adjusted clocks. Finally home to digest before bed.
There are more adventures from this little day, such as the emergency potty exit and the superstore stop. But those are for a different day, and I may just let (or rather make) Blue Fairy tell them.
If you've ever heard NPR's The Splendid Table (PRI actually, but who's counting), you've likely heard the "Road Food" segment with Jane and Michael Sterns. They have several books as well, in which they review out of the way diners with excellent food. Well, we read their books, and researched likely places locally to get good food off the beaten path.
We dropped our luggage in our room and headed off to one of the listings. It was a soul food restaurant much closer downtown than our hotel (but not a bad drive -- Milwaukee is not huge). We tried calling beforehand, but had not answer. Probably too busy to answer their phone on a Saturday night. So we trek off down the road.
Soul food. Inner city. My liberal guilt tells me I shouldn't jump to assumptions, but I did anyway.
Well, the book was published in 1999. And lots can happen in the life of a restaurant in 9 years, no matter how good it is or how well reviewed. Needless to say, it was long gone. So was the Serbian place which was in an even worse neighborhood. And we decided not to stop and ask the various gatherings of young black men in hoodies what local establishments suited their palates. I'm not prejudiced, but I'm also not insane.
We ended up at a Greek place we saw not far from our hotel. Not fantastic, but better than picking some chain. We finished close to 10PM/9PM by our slightly mal-adjusted clocks. Finally home to digest before bed.
There are more adventures from this little day, such as the emergency potty exit and the superstore stop. But those are for a different day, and I may just let (or rather make) Blue Fairy tell them.