Eat Right Around Chicago with Out-of-Towners

1.  Start the day right:  After sipping some coffee, the first stop is always breakfast.  As you know, breakfast can come in a variety of greasy, creamy, fatty forms, so choose wisely.  A greasy spoon start may not be the best choice if you are going to be out and about for the entire day faced with more food.  For our start, we chose Southport Grocery & Cafe.  Southport is a happy little place that prides itself in gourmet breakfast and lunch options made-from-scratch.  It's delicious, the coffee is bold, the mimosas are made with fresh squeezed oranges, but be aware, many items are rich, delish and full of fresh fat.  What I like about Southport, however, is that they care about fruits and vegetables - omelet options packed with veggies with an egg white option for a small fee - and they include a lovely steel cut oatmeal as well as whole grain bread.  I opted for the fresh fruit with a vanilla vinaigrette with a side of whole grain toast.  If you think this was a meager selection, you'd be mistaken, the vinaigrette is quite nice and the fruit is fresh and in-season.  And, if you are with a group, it is likely that someone will give you a bite of their cupcake pancakes. 

2.  Walk whenever possible.  Your guests want to see the sites, so walk to them.  Obviously you may need to hop on the train if point A is many miles from point B, but if it's within a couple of miles, put on comfortable shoes. 

Buckingham Fountain, no water

We walked the mile to breakfast and back, took the train downtown, walked from Buckingham Fountain to Millenium Park, snaked around the Pavillion, checked out the cloud (bean) and wandered around the sites.  From here we headed over the river, to the landmark Tribune Tower and to our next snack stop, Eno at the Intercontinental Hotel for a wine flight and cheese.  We also walked our way down Michigan Ave, to the John Hancock and all around the sites.  You'll see more from your feet than your butt, not to mention burn more calories.

 

3.  Moderate your libations.  When friends come to town, it is likely they are on vacation and when this happens, it is also likely that they want to eat...and drink.  Moderate your intake.  It can add unnecessary calories and put you in a hazy fog.  For our lunch break, we sipped wine - sipped - I recommend avoiding mid-day chugging. 

4.  Make dinner reservations in advance.  Eating is arguably the most important ingredient for a good trip, so plan to dine at a memorable, Chicago-based restaurant.  Avoid national chains (I do as a rule anyway) and pick a place that is easy-enough on the wallet and full of options.  One of my favorite picks is  The Publican on West Fulton Market. While this haven for farm fresh cooking may offer its fare share of pork belly, bacon and other buttery dishes, it also has exquisite oyster selections, world class beer list, amazing vegetable options and entree choices for anyone.  If you are vegetarian, don't be afraid of the pig pics on the wall, the vegetable dishes could fill you for days.  Granted, there are lower fat menus out there, but for entertaining out-of-towners, the impeccable service, communal tables and "simple lines and strong design" (I stole that from their website) are comfortable and archicturally inviting.  The staff knows each morsel of each meal and is happy to provide details and pair your wine or beer for you. 
5.  Have a sense of humor to stay active.  After a day of walking and eating, eating and walking, you can push the activity a little farther even.  During the course of our day, we saw the sites from the street and top, added a little luxory - John Hancock's Signature Room Lounge (by the way, the best view from JH is from the women's restroom near the lounge), NoMi and a night cap at C-View bar - but included some activities that were a bit silly, but kept us active.

 

After dinner, we did what anyone would do at 8pm...we went bowling at 10 Pin.  Bowling isn't like running, but it's still more exercise than sitting.

I'm a terrible bowler.

 
After a few strings of ridiculously low scores on my part, we walked to ESPN Zone to try our hand at air hockey, basketball, that dancing thing that makes you ask, first day on your new feet?, skiing, motorcycling and whatever else we could compete on.  We may have been a bit sweaty, but I'm pretty sure we got a workout.

Ski!

 

So one day in Chicago, in bed by 12:30am - this may not be a page out of a venerated travel guidebook, but we had a full, active, fun-filled day of site seeing, dining, wining and laughing.  Amazingly, through it all (even with a little cheese), I was able to eat right! 

Thanks for visiting!