Kelly's kitchen in Chicago: Best Chicago bites of 2009

I know this is a little late but since I am still writing 2009 on things accidentally, I figured it was a sign that it was still ok to write about this!

In 2009- I focused most of my recreation time on running: Soldier Field 10 mi race, Bank of American Chicago Marathon, Chicago Half Marathon, Rock and Roll Chicago Half Marathon, Rock and Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon, Chicago Woman's 10k, Pumpkins in the Park 5k.

I realized that most of my my fun food this year was with Steve and other friends post race or after a Saturday morning long run. With getting up every Saturday morning at 5:30 AM to run, I usually spent my Friday nights cooking pasta at home rather than going out. My list seems to have more burgers, ice cream and cased meat than usual!

So here's a top 10 list of the best things I ate in Chicago in 2009! * indicates running was involved.

10. Hot dog and Old Style beer on Wrigley Field:
Ok, this wasn't the best food ever but this was pretty cool. Each year, Wrigleyville Neighbors holds a lottery to allow a group of people onto the field for a tour and lunch. It's sort of a "thanks for letting us screw up your traffic 81 days per year" gift.

*9. Strawberry milkshake @ Stella's Diner
Stella's is an old fashioned diner with a little updated feel. It's practically across the street from me. We went here with friends after the Chicago Half Marathon. This place has huge and delicious milkshakes, as well as great burgers and other diner foods. Eating an entire huge milkshake is a rare treat for me.

8. Hot Pot @ Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown
If you haven't tried hot pot before, you're missing out! You drop in every imaginable vegetable, meat, noodles, tofu, meatballs...etc into a huge boiling pot of spicy or mild broth and then fish it out when it's cooked. I stayed away from the tripe (not my thing) but this is an incredibly fun dish to enjoy on a cold evening with friends. Photo courtesy of flickr user alvxyz.

7. Berry Chill
This year the tart frozen yogurt grew in popularity in Chicago. I have searched far and wide for the best frozen yogurt but it was under my nose all along on State and Erie. My favorite combo: original flavor with blueberries, raspberries, and fruity pebbles.

*6. Char dog and fries @ the Weiner's Circle
I finally made it to the ubiquitous late night junk food spot- the Weiner's Circle. Famous for it's foul-mouthed, back-talking staff, we went in the daytime and found only curtious and hard working folks and delicious char-grilled goodness after the Soldier Field 10 mi race.

5. Rockit Burger- This is my favorite burger in Chicago. I had it twice in 2009! Pretzel bun, roasted fig spread, brie cheese, Wagyu beef, truffled fries on the side- totally worth $20.

4. Bobtail peppermint stick ice cream w/hot fudge- This is the best ice cream known to man. This year, I had this combo instead of birthday cake. This ice cream shop has a knack for the right amount of peppermint flavor and puts in huge chunks of peppermint candy. Another fantastic flavor is their chocolate chip merlot. It has a very mild merlot flavor with thin dark chocolate shavings and a touch of salt. Delish!

3. Tomahawk chop ribeye steak@ Rosebud Steakhouse- This is one of the classic Chicago Steakhouses. We had clams casino, martinis, table size caesar salad, creamed spinach, and thsi Flintstone-size steak. The tomahawk chop is a french-style bone in ribeye steak. A very "Chicago" cut. There are lots of fabulous steakhouses in Chicago. Maybe I will get to try out some more in 2010, such as Gene & Georgetti's or Tramanto's Steakhouse.

2. Eggplant stuffed dates at Green Zebra- This is my favorite Chicago restaurant. We went here for the first time in 2008. When we went back, I have to say, I was afraid that I would be disappointed because it wasn't as good as I remembered. Thankfully, it knocked my sock off again. This dish in particularly was amazing. Salty eggplant wrapped around medjool dates was a vegan version of chorizo or bacon wrapped dates. A creamy coconut custard and tabbouleh pilaf on the size created a perfect balance of flavor and texture. At this restaurant, vegetables take the main stage in a way I have never experienced before.

1. Lamb Mole at Topolobampo- Rick Bayless IS the Top Chef master! After he won the grand prize, Steve and I made a reservation for his fine dining restaurant: Topolobampo where he was offering his award winning tasting menu. While it was delicious and moving to enjoy the meal that told the story of his life of a chef, the best thing came off of Steve's seasonal menu. The 27 ingredient mole negro was deep, smoky, spicy, and complex over succulent and tender perfectly cooked lamb. My menu came with the mole over rare tuna, which was very good but it was absolutely divine over the lamb. Photo of rabbit mole is courtesy of flickr user DrewVigal

Kelly's kitchen in Chicago: Best Chicago bites of 2009

Eric's Kitchen in Jersey City: Top 10 Jersey City eateries

TOP 10 JC RESTAURANTS/EATERIES

I've been living in downtown Jersey City now for about a year and a half and one of my favorite aspects is the wide array of great places to eat and all the different types of cuisines available. I think Jersey City often gets overlooked since many people that happen to be in the area would probably go to Manhattan first or even to Brooklyn or Hoboken before coming to here but they would miss out on many amazing places by skipping over Jersey City. Keep in mind I am only covering the downtown area around the Grove Street PATH stop where I live and that Jersey City is a large area with many places I have never been.

I found many of these places through kannekt.com, which is a fantastic site dedicated to the Hoboken and Jersey City areas. They rate and review everything from car washes, barber shops and of course, restaurants.

So these are my 10 favorite places in no particular order:

Taqueria: Anyone who lives in Jersey City should already know that this place is amazing. It's authentic Mexican cuisine at its best. You can choose from many different soft tacos including fish, pork, lamb, chorizo, steak, ground beef or even cactus. All of them are delicious and reasonably priced. It's also got a great little garden area that's perfect for a summer brunch. Some of my favorite brunch items are the pork soup and scrambled eggs with chorizo sausage and cheese. Don't come here expecting chipotle and taco bell style food as they don't often add cheese or sour cream.
Google Maps

Madame Claude Cafe: This is one of my favorite brunch places in Jersey City and a great place to get some amazing crepes! My favorite is a crepe with spicy lamb sausage, mushrooms and creme fraiche. They also have a fantastic crepe with smoked salmon and cream cheese! I've never been for dinner but I hear it's excellent as well. Plus it's BYOB!
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Marco & Pepe: This is an all-around great restaurant although one of the more pricey options in downtown Jersey City. My girlfriend and I ate there for lunch once and had probably the best mac & cheese either of us had ever had and one of the best risotto dishes as well.
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Nha Trang: This might be the best food for your money in Jersey City and possibly the best Vietnamese cuisine I've ever had. Granted I don't think I had really tried all that many dishes other than pho before I went to Nha Trang but their Pho is better than any I've had before and many of their other dishes are pretty amazing as well. I highly recommend their cubed beef entree!
Google Maps

Ibby's: This is an excellent place to get falafel. It doesn't look like much and there isn't a ton of room inside to sit (although when it's warm it's a good location to eat outside), but they are very quick, affordable and again, have great falafel. I often order the falafel sandwich combo with lamb as I love meat. It's kind of like taking the best of both a falafel sandwich and a Gyro and combining them.
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Brownstone Diner: This is a downtown Jersey City institution. It calls itself a diner but it's much cleaner and better decorated than most diners I've been to. They serve amazing pancakes and breakfast platters in almost any combination or style imaginable and the portions are huge. Most weekends there will be a line to get in but the place is also very large and the turnover is fast since it's mostly breakfast food.
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Torico: I feel pretty lucky to live only a block away from this place! They have a ton of different flavors and do both traditional ice cream as well as soft serve. They are closed for a few months during the winter but the rest of the year usually finds this place with people lining up for their high quality ice cream.
Google Maps

Hard Grove: Downtown Jersey City has a few different Cuban restaurants and the ones I have tried have all been excellent in their own ways but Hard Grove is still my favorite. It has a great location on Grove Street near the PATH entrance, the decor is fun and inviting and so is the staff. Their food might not all be worth the price here but they also have excellent drinks and I had a seafood special once with a whole lobster and it was one of the most perfectly cooked lobsters I've ever had. Which is saying something as I grew up along the coast of Connecticut most of my life and have worked at multiple seafood restaurants.
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Amiya: Jersey City also has a number of Indian restaurants and this is the best one that I have been to so far. My girlfriend and I went for their lunch buffet and it was quite good. Great atmosphere and attentive staff and the food was very tasty!
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Bar Scene: Skinner's Loft/Iron Monkey/White Star/ Zeppelin Hall: Downtown Jersey City has many great bars and these four just happen to be my personal favorites. Skinner's loft is a little more pricey but they have a great rooftop deck and their food is excellent. Iron Monkey also has a rooftop deck and live music occasionally and possibly the best beer list in town. Their food is excellent and their prices are much more reasonable than Skinner's. I used to live much closer to the White Star and that place could be the best place to watch sports in the area as long as you can find a place to sit. They also have a very solid beer list and decent food with great specials for both every day. Zeppelin Hall is Jersey City's first 'biergarten' and was a huge success as soon as it opened last summer. Great beer and brat's and a fantastic atmosphere. And it's the only place I've been where you can get a cheese-filled bratwurst. It sounded odd when I first heard about it but the more I drank, the more enticing it became and it didn't let me down. Overall I think Jersey City has a very fun and friendly bar scene.

Eric's Kitchen in Jersey City: Top 10 Jersey City eateries