Traveling Palate

I have been so blessed with all of my travels lately. In the month of March, I went from California to Chicago and then to New York. One of my favorite things about traveling is the opportunity to experience food from the different cities.

I was in Chicago for the 2011 International Home + Housewares Show. I was honored to have been asked to do a cooking demo on the main stage.

http://www.encodi.com/quickview.jsp?fileId=969f47f43b0c1b5176b60337c85c5fd8
Click on the link above to view my demo!

Other chefs doing cooking demos were Rick Bayless (Top Chef Masters), Paula Deen, Michael Symon (Iron Chef), Cat Cora (Iron Chef), Guy Fieri (Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives), and Curtis Stone (Top Chef host, America's Next Great Restaurant). I was very star struck at meeting Guy Fieri and Curtis Stone. I was among many women waiting in line to get my cookbook signed my Curtis. He is so CUTE!
I was even able to go to Curtis's premiere party for his America's Next Great Restaurant show.

So back to restaurants I visited in Chicago. Graham Elliott (one of the Masterchef judges) set my family and I up to a 19 course meal at his restaurant. I enjoyed the Caesar salad- gem lettuce+ brioche twinkie + white anchovy and "lobster" atlantic monkfish + cheddar hushpuppy + slaw vinaigrette.

Chicago pizza oh my! How I now love Chicago style deep dish pizza. I ate at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria. My favorite pizza was the "Malnati Chicago Classic". The crust was crisp and crunchy, tomato sauce was so fresh and flavorful, and the sausage was surprisingly, to me, good. I am usually not a sausage fan but I could tell their sausage was homemade and it was good.

Art Smith's restaurant Table Fifty-Two was really good. It was a comforting Southern style meal that reminded me of home. I felt like a celebrity in which the table we sat. I was told Lady Gaga and President Obama had sat at the table we were seated. His fried chicken was delish! I tried the side of three cheese mac which was served piping hot out of the wood-fired oven.
Now on to dessert, my favorite part of the meal which I always save room for ha ha!
We were treated with real Southern Hospitality. We were given a taste of every dessert on the menu. They were as follows Art's Hummingbird cake (huge slice, really good), Southern Pecan Pie (loved it & I'm not a pecan pie fan), 12 Layer Chocolate Cake (my dad's favorite), and Bananas, Bourbon & Bacon (very unique).
Thanks Chef Art for a wonderful meal!

One suggestion for Chicago travelers, go in the summer! I know I will be making another trip.

Well I have ran out of time and room to include all the wonderful restaurants I ate at in New York so this blog post is to be continued......