Tasty Chicago

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Yeah, I have a new standard breakfast. It’s about a half cup of Milk & Honey Granola and some milk. Easy, tasty, local (I think), fast, and not bad for you. Notice that I didn’t say good for you; that would probably be stretching it given the amount of brown sugar I detect.

I first saw this at Stanley’s Fruit and Vegetables on North and Elston a few months back and grabbed the nice, resealable bag on a whim. Since then I’ve been a mission to find granola as good and I can’t match it. I like my breaky sweet, as you know, and they don’t short you on the sugar. But the grains are substantial and it’s pretty nutty, so it balances out the sweetness nicely.

It just feels right eating this. It’s granola, man. People in California and Colorado eat it all the time so it must be good for you. And it’s low impact. When I finish my morning coffee I just dump some granola in the same cup, pour some milk over it, and start shoveling. That saves me a rinse and some dirty dishes.

Now about it being local, I have to do some digging on that. Technically, to be local, I guess all the ingredients need to be from local farms. But I think most almonds come from California, which probably officially rules out this being acceptable as part of the localvore challenge put on by the Green City Market. But the oats and certainly the dried cherries could be local. I checked their granola specific website and it does not speak to the localness. Oh well. Hopefully there is a caring, conscientious, born-and-bred Chicago starving artist in the Milk & Honey kitchen bagging it and loading up their VW van for delivery to Stanley’s. However, if that was the case I doubt they could keep up with the demand from all of the local Whole Foods and Treasure Islands. I’m just NOT going to ask the question for fear of taking some of the local luster off of my granola. Ignorance is bliss.

The Milk & Honey Cafe itself is pretty good. Here’s what Yelp has to say about it. When I go I usually get an egg dish of some sort. I’ve never had the granola live, in-house.

It’s a great atmosphere in the summer with the outdoor patio and such, but it gets crowded fast on weekends. It’s Division Street, so what do you expect?

Alright, you’re the first to know, Gail and I are moving to Italy. ‘Twas nice knowing you. We may actually be settled in by the time you read this. If we didn’t say goodbye, well, goodbye. Visit lots.

Why, you ask? Well, mostly because we were inspired by the beauty and simplicity of the polenta at Enoteca Roma, 2146 W. Division ($12). It’s served just “like they do in the Northern Italian countryside.” Yeah, so that’s where we’re moving, to the countryside. Gonna purchase us a farmhouse, bring in some running water, get a bunch of flat screens, and furnish the whole thing with Ikea furniture. Pinch me, I must be dreaming.

It’s quite a production at this polenteria (yes, I do say that in my head with an Italian accent and I roll the rrrr like a madman). First, they bring a slab of marble out to your table. They set it there about five minutes before the actual polenta comes. You look at the marble and say to yourself, “are you actually going to just pour the polenta on that, or set a bowl of it on that…what gives, my fine romance language-speaking friends?”

Well, they pour it. The wait staff brings a ceramic vat of steaming polenta and just pours it evenly in the center of the plate and smooths it out with a wooden spoon. Then the toppings come out, also in a ceramic vat, and also poured evenly across the top of the polenta. You give it a few seconds to set up and then use the spatula to serve it on your own plate.

They have three versions of the polenta, we ordered the four cheese version. It was a delectable sauce made with Gorgonzola, Taleggio, pecorino Romano, and Parmesan. They have one option with sausage and another with venison bolognese. We had already had a sausage and lentil appetizer, so we went with the four cheese. Something special my friends…something special.

But that’s not it. You have so many options here. The bruschetta is really original and one could actually refer to this place as a bruschetteria without fear of reprisal. They have pizza, soups, great appetizers, and pasta. Plus, it’s right next to Letizia’s Natural Bakery (they are connected) so you can just wander over there and get some dessert. Finally, the outdoor patio is easily a top 20 patio in town.

This is a slice of sausage pizza from Pizza Metro. I think I paid $2.85 for it. It’s a decent size, but not huge. It followed the pre-meal cappuccino that I talked about a few days ago. And right on its heels was a post-meal cappuccino. That, my friends, is known in my brain as the cappuccino-pizza-cappuccino combo (CPC combo).

First, the pizza. What they do here for the by-the-slice pizzas is have a few sheets of crust already half-made. Upon your order, they add the sauce, cheese, and other toppings and heat it up. It takes about eight minutes. I love the way they cut it into the six mini squares. I usually take about three bites for each square. It’s a joyous piece of pie. Quality ingredients all the way around with a tangy sauce.

Now, let’s talk about the post-meal or dessert cappuccino. If you recall, the pre-meal cappuccino went down unsweetened. Not so with this one, I use two solid spoonfuls of sugar (it’s kind of a small spoon). I stir it in nicely so that I have frothy, sweet, espresso flavored, warm shake-like drink. What a capper, no pun intended, to this Italian feast.

You’ll see more from this place because their menu is massive and I aim to try it all. My wife usually gets the minestrone. You should see how they make that. No pre-made vat of minestrone at this place. The break out a small skillet, pour in some stock, throw some veggies and beans in, then just heat it up right on the stove. Good stuff.

All in, my cappuccino-pizza-cappuccino combo meal was $7.85 before tip. Do you believe that? That’s living the high life my friend, living the damn high life I tell ya’!

Why is it that my favorite cappuccino in town is from a pizza joint? I will answer that in a few, but let’s first talk about this so-called pizza joint. It’s called Pizza Metro, and there are actually two of them, only about a half mile from each other. The original is at 1707 W. Division, the other is at 925 N. Ashland. It doesn’t matter which one you go to, they are both awesome, and they are actually much more than pizza joints. In fact, I’m doing this in two parts because all the greatness in this place cannot possibly be crammed into one post.

So, back to the cappuccino. How mouth-watering does that look? And, it’s only $2.50 (I think they decreased the price, because the website says $2.65). The froth has a perfect curvature and I think it actually tops out about a half inch above the top plane of the cup. This is actually my pre-meal cappuccino. For the pre-meal cappuccino, I don’t sweeten it at all. I slowly eat away the cocoa-topped froth then sip the milky bitterness before the main course comes. Mmm, mmmm. We will get to the main course and dessert in a few days with the next post.

Why is this cappuccino so good? Well, I can think of two reasons:

• The guy behind the counter making it drinks them himself. Hey, if it’s good enough for the guy speaking Italian behind the counter, it’s certainly good enough for me and my primitive tastebuds.
• The guy behind the counter making it as been making them since he’s been about 3 years old. Which is about 15 years before your average Starbucks barista even learns how to pronounce espresso.

If you’re going, depending on the time of the year, you may want to choose one location over the other. The Ashland location has much more indoor seating, so I have anointed it the winter-time Pizza Metro.

The Division Street location has hardly any indoor seating, but has a classic outdoor dining area, thereby making Division Street the summer-time Pizza Metro. They basically just commandeer the sidewalk in front, right in the heart of all the action on Divison street. It’s quite a scene.

Stop back in a couple of days for more details on the rest of the meal.

This is my top thin-crust pizza in town. This is the Piece white pizza with banana peppers and mushrooms. In case you are not familiar with white pizza, it just has a little garlic and olive oil in place of the red sauce, then some mozzarella, and the toppings. I add parmesan and crushed red pepper. Simple, basic, but oh so tasty.

Let’s talk a little about randomness, a trait I like in my food. This pizza has a certain randomness to it. It’s not really round and it’s not really square. The toppings are not spread uniformly throughout the pizza. And the slice sizes range from bit-size to big. This allows you to have several different food experiences in one sitting. I like that. We are going to talk more about randomness when I have a certain north side burger in a few weeks.

It’s reasonably priced, but not cheap. This medium ran me $18.95 takeout, with tax. My wife and I chowed on it during the Rose Bowl and still had enough for a small meal the next day. Piece is such a cool place though, so it’s worth a little extra. I describe it as “hip sports barish micro brewery with pizza.” You are not overpowered at all by the bank of TVs behind/next to the bar and you can avoid that scene altogether by sitting on the wall opposite the bar. The beers are truly something special. A friend of mine had a buddy in from Santa Barbara and they went to Piece. They loved the beers and the guy from Santa Barbara happens to be a member of the Santa Barbeerians, so he is a serious beer authority. He actually wrote about it in the Follow Your Beer section of the Santa Barbeerians November 2006 Newsletter. Check it out and get to Piece soon for a thin-crust and beer fix.