Issue #18 June: Eating My Way Through Chicago Like a Bear 🐻

Plus where to grab coffee with your chic coworker, places to check out at the Transamerica Pyramid Center, and a fun new store for video game fans

Happy Pride! 🌈 June kicked off this summer in a big way with a food trip to the Windy City. 💨 The Bear is one of my favorite shows and I have been wanting to visit again and try all the restaurants featured on the show. Back in SF, Green Apple Books started their Summer Reading Challenge specifically for adults. 📚 I’m also training for the SF Half Marathon 👟 coming up next month. Training has been quite brutal, but it makes all the delicious things I eat in between that much more rewarding. 😊

Eat 😋

Shoji (FiDi, SF)

There’s no shortage of fancy cafes in SF, but Shoji’s chic vibes are next level. It’s a cafe during the day that turns into a bar and restaurant in the evening, serving a Japanese-inspired menu good enough for California's very own Kamala Harris. I went on a weekday afternoon with my coworker in need of a break. As we saddled up to the sleek bar, our server explained that even though the matcha einspanner 🍵, a cold matcha drink with sweet cream and kinako powder, is what made them viral on social media, their speciality is actually coffee. I can’t drink coffee after 9am so I opted for the matcha einspanner while my coworker ordered the yuzucello, an espresso mocktail with hints of yuzu that sounded weird, but was perfectly balanced. I can’t wait to go back for dinner!

Cafe Sebastian / MadLab (FiDi, SF)

As part of the Transamerica Pyramid revitalization project, a few new restaurants have popped up in the complex. I love a civilized brunch where I can just walk in and sit down comfortably and catch up with a friend without it being a whole thing. That’s exactly what Cafe Sebastian offers in addition to great food. I had the maitake mushroom philly, while my friend had the Spanish tortilla. After brunch, we walked over to the other side of the space for kakigori (shaved ice) at MadLab. We had the OG Itameshi with pistachio gelato and cherry lychee syrup covered in fancy sprinkles. 🍧

Shop 🛍️

Nintendo (Union Square, SF)

Like many, I took up new hobbies during the pandemic, including playing Animal Crossing New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch. 🎮 For about a year, I painstakingly built my island, cared for my villagers, shook trees, dug up fossils, planted flowers, and occasionally visited my friends’ islands. Once real life started back up, I abandoned my island and didn’t really think about it until the new Nintendo store opened in SF last month. The crowds have settled down quite a bit so I went recently to check it out. It’s two floors of the cutest merch from Nintendo's most popular games like Super Mario, Animal Crossing, and Zelda. There’s also a play area where folks can try out the newest Nintendo Switch. The staff who clearly love video games as well are helpful and knowledgeable. As for my island, I did check in and besides a few roaches and guilt trips from the villagers, everything was fine. 😌

See 🖼️

Past as Prologue at Transamerica Pyramid Center (FiDi, SF)

This new exhibit by the Eames Institute debuted during SF Design Week this month. It showcases archival furniture and other artifacts from Charles and Ray Eames’ extensive collection. I wrote about our visit to the Eames Institute in March, but for those unable to make it out to Richmond, this exhibit is a great introduction to the collection. While you’re there, stop by the Time Capsule Exhibition next door and learn about the rich history of the Transamerica Pyramid. 

Visit ✈️

Chicago, IL

Chicago is such a cool place. It has all the hallmarks of a world class city: beautiful architecture, delicious food, modern infrastructure, scenic water views, clean streets, plus the added bonus of Midwestern hospitality. The only downside is the intense weather. 🥵

Eat 😋

• Mr. Beef 🥪 (River North) : Where it all began. The restaurant and surrounding area is pretty much exactly how it appears on the show, including the “elegant dining room” sign. The Italian beef is a solid sandwich packed with flavor and generous amounts of beef. No wonder it’s been around for 30 years. Napkins required. 
• Avec 🫓 (West Loop): This is the scene where Sydney visits the chef at Avec for advice, which makes sense since Avec has been serving their Midwestern-inspired Mediterranean classics for over 20 years. Highlights from our meal included the wild shrimp with fluffy pitas, cucumber salad, and roasted cabbage. Also popular are the stuffed dates and focaccia. 
• Kasama 🐷 (East Village): First Filipino restaurant to receive a Michelin-star. They serve breakfast and pastries during the day and a tasting menu for dinner. The line can be several hours long in the hot summer heat so we ordered for pickup instead (which also took several hours) and ate outside on their benches. The famous breakfast sandwich with egg, cheese, and longanisa sausage was good, but definitely not worth waiting hours in line for. We also had the mushroom adobo and ube & huckleberry cake.
• Ever  🍽️ (Fulton Market): This is the fancy restaurant owned by Olivia Colman’s character on the show that ends up closing in the Season 3 finale. In real life, this restaurant is still very much thriving. The beautiful food and expert attention to detail highlighted on the show was our experience. They even gave us “The Bear” kitchen tour after our meal where I got to geek out at the spice jars and the expo station. Another fun thing is that they play Matthew McConaughey’s audiobook in the bathrooms. 
• After 🍸 (Fulton Market): Right next door, a beautiful bar to enjoy an after-dinner drink and people-watch. 
• Monteverde 🍝 (West Loop): Another favorite show of mine is Top Chef and one of this season's finalists, Bailey, is a chef at Monteverde, an Italian restaurant making fresh pastas behind the bar. Highlights include the burrata e ham, arancini, and chicken ravioli.
• Lou Malnati’s 🍕 (various locations): No trip to Chicago is complete without some deep dish pizza and Lou Malnati’s is the local favorite. What sets it apart is their buttery cornmeal crust, which I can happily enjoy as a cracker. 
• Akahoshi Ramen 🍜 (Logan Square): We got caught in the rain when we arrived in Chicago and arrived completely soaked with our luggage. Luckily, the staff was chill and I think it made the ramen taste better.  
• Tortas Frontera 🥪 (ORD): If you find yourself delayed at O’Hare, don’t fret, eat a torta instead. Created by Chef Rick Bayless, this spot serves up tasty Mexican food using local ingredients. I grabbed the Cubano torta to-go and it was probably the best thing I’ve eaten on a plane. 

Shop 🛍️

• Blake (River North): A real IYKYK women’s boutique with no website or social media presence. You either know about it because you’ve been shopping there for decades or you’re Gwyneth Paltrow. I only found out about it from a sales associate at another store. Their selection is the most extensive I’ve ever seen from an independent boutique (it reminded me of Barney's). They carry everything from luxury houses like Bottega and Celine to contemporary brands like The Row, Dries, and Khaite. 
• SVRN (Fulton Market): After checking out the SF store, we wanted to see what the original store was like. It’s a much bigger space, but a similar amount of merchandise, mostly Rick Owens and Issey Miyake. 
• Space 519 (Gold Coast): Cute boutique attached to a cafe, carrying women’s fashions, home decor, beauty, and gifts.  

See 🖼️

• Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago Loop): One of the country’s oldest and largest art museums, you can easily spend the entire day here. We checked out the Frida Kahlo’s Month in Paris exhibit, which was fine, but could be skipped if short on time.
• Millennium Park / The Bean (Chicago Loop): Right across the street from the Art Institute, the park is a great place to enjoy a nice day in Chicago. And yes, I know it’s touristy, but a selfie in front of The Bean is obligatory. 
• Art on the Mart (River Walk): Chicago comes alive during the summer evenings as locals and tourists alike pack the River Walk to hang with friends and enjoy the sights like a digital art projection on the Merchandise Mart.  
• The 606 (Northwest): A 2.7 mile-long park with biking and running trails built from an abandoned rail line. 
• Navy Pier (Streeterville): A massive waterfront destination with an amusement park, a shopping and dining complex, concerts, events, and fireworks shows twice a week during the summer.