Ottawa Citizen

A TANTALIZIN­G TASTE OF CHICAGO

Array of tours highlight food, sports, history and architectu­re in Windy City

- JIM BYERS More informatio­n: www.choosechic­ago.com jim @jimbyerstr­avel

A story-filled tour of one of the most hallowed shrines in sports. A classic, calorie-laden trip to some of the city’s most iconic food spots. Not to mention a kayak trip past some of America’s most brilliant architectu­re and a history-laden cocktail tour.

I recently spent three days in Chicago, eating, drinking, kayaking and celebratin­g the sports history of this classic U.S. city. Here’s a look at the highlights from four different tours, with some food, activity and hotel highlights mixed in.

Iconic Chicago foods: We’re about to begin our Best in Chow tour with Chicago Food Planet Food tours, but guide Jaci Entwisle has to set one thing straight.

“If you’re on whatever diet Oprah is on this week, stop it. There’s none of that ‘I can’t have carbs’ nonsense in this city.”

With expectatio­ns firmly set, we walk into Lou Malnati’s for delicious deep-dish pizza. The legend is that deep-dish pizza began down the road at Uno Pizzeria & Grill — or what was once Pizzeria Uno, where Malnati worked for many years. Malnati now has a few restaurant­s and serves up a deep-dish pizza that manages not to be overly dough-y, thanks in part to a butter-heavy, flaky crust. The tomatoes go on top of the cheese so they don’t seep into the dough, which is clever.

From Malnati’s, it’s over to Xoco, where legendary Chicago chef Rick Bayless churns out crispy, not too sweet churros dusted with sugar and cinnamon. We go back to a lunch menu around the corner at Al’s Beef, a famous Windy City spot that began serving slow-cooked, shaved beef on pieces of bread in the Great Depression. The bread gets mushy pretty fast, but it’s got a wonderful au jus or gravy and lots of beefy taste.

As we loosen our belts, we make our way down the street to Portillo’s, a wildly popular food spot that serves everything from Italian sausages and cakes to Chicago-style hotdogs in a restaurant festooned with sports memorabili­a and Disney-like characters on the walls — or, in one case, resting on a swing that hangs from the ceiling.

In case you’re not aware, a true Chicago hotdog is always and only served one way: with mustard, relish, a dill pickle spear, onions, tomatoes, hot peppers and celery salt. Don’t even think of asking for ketchup. The dog

at Portillo’s is pretty weighted down with condiments but the casing has a nice snap and the flavour is terrific.

Entwisle points out some glorious architectu­re at the Ransom R. Cable House as we make our way to Garrett Popcorn, where we sample the famous Chicago mix of cheese popcorn mixed with caramel corn. I don’t see the appeal of mixing such wildly divergent flavours but each variety is excellent on its own.

Our last stop is at the Hotel Cambria Chicago for brownies. Entwisle tells us that the brownie was invented for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, something I hadn’t heard before. She also said the original version had walnuts and, odd as it sounds, an apricot glaze. Oh, other items that made their debut at the World’s Fair that year include the ferris wheel and Juicy Fruit gum.

The Chicago Food Planet group does tours in other parts of the city, including Wicker Park and Chinatown. So you’re not limited to the places where I overindulg­ed.

A baseball wonder: Wrigley Field is one of the great sports stadiums on the planet, a facility that dates back to 1914. Our tour guide, Bryan Clouthier (his parents are from London, Ont.), did a marvellous job weaving stories about the ballpark and showing us iconic views from behind the plate (several hours before the game started) and out in the bleachers.

Apparently, there was no outfield wall when the stadium was first built, so fans were charged with holding up a rope as a pretend wall. If the ball rolled under the rope it was a ground-rule double. If a batted ball flew over the rope on a fly, it was a home run. It’s said that fans would hold the rope high over their heads and move backwards 20 or 30 feet when the opposing team was hitting. When the Cubs were up to bat, they’d move in closer to home plate and lower the rope to make it easier for the home side to hit a homer. Clouthier also talked about the famous ivy on the outfield wall, which can grow up to nearly a half-metre deep. A Cubs player reached into the ivy not long ago and found a ball they believe dates back to the 1940s.

Not only is the history great, but a Cubs game is an entertaini­ng affair with great grilled bratwurst and cold, local beers on tap. The area around the park is filled with fun bars and shops selling Cubs gear, and the stadium is only a one-minute walk from the city’s elevated public transit line.

Paddle on a river: One of the great ways to see Chicago’s worldrenow­ned architectu­re and get some exercise at the same time is a Chicago River trip with Urban Kayaks. We did a 2 ½-hour trip up and down the river, taking in great views of the Wrigley Building and other early skyscraper­s and gliding past a point that was once home to the Wigwam Hotel; noted for being the place where Abraham Lincoln earned the Republican nomination for president in 1860.

Tour guide Andy Laverdiere tells us that the Wrigley folks started off selling household goods. People didn’t like the products much, but they liked the chewing gum that Wrigley included in the packaging, which is how one of the city’s great business empires began.

Cocktail life downtown: Our final tour was billed as a “walking bar tour” with Chicago Detours Tour Company. We didn’t visit any classic Chicago bars, but we did learn a good deal about the city’s architectu­re at the magnificen­t Tribune Tower and learned about Chicago’s musical and theatrical history while toasting the end of Prohibitio­n with a local beer at a downtown hotel.

The best part was stopping in at the legendary Billy Goat Tavern, which is where the Saturday Night Live crew from the 1970s came up with the famous Cheeseburg­er, Cheeseburg­er

sketch that helped propel John Belushi to worldwide fame. It’s a marvellous old place that has a ton of history and good, basic burgers.

We finish the tour inside the glorious Interconti­nental Hotel on Michigan Avenue, which was built as a pleasure palace for the Shriners and features a stately enclosed swimming pool and sweeping staircases outside the Michael Jordan Steakhouse, which serves a good steak sandwich and fabulous crab cakes.

Dining: Quiote is a relatively new, upscale Mexican food place near the hip Logan Square neighbourh­ood. The food is as good as I’ve had anywhere; luscious crab tostadas, perfectly seared tuna, tasty sweet corn with cotija cheese and excellent chicken mole topped with a type of granola for a nice crunch.

Bang Bang Pie and Biscuits is another fun spot near Logan Square, with flaky biscuits, great coffee and good pie.

Harry Caray’s Italian Steak House serves up lovely steaks and Italian specialtie­s, including a veal chop the size of a catcher’s mitt. The kale salad with raisins, apples and Parmesan was very good, and there’s a ton of photos

showing the former major-league announcer with famous ballplayer­s. There also are photos of visiting celebs, including Cameron Diaz and Barack Obama.

City Winery serves nice sandwiches, excellent salads and a variety of good wines on a lovely stretch of the city’s ever-expanding Riverwalk.

Doing: The American Writers’ Museum is a relatively new spot on Michigan Avenue that does an amazing job highlighti­ng such great authors as Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway and Willa Cather. You’ll also find bits about famous Chicago authors, including Ring Lardner, Mike Royko, Carl Sandburg and L. Frank Baum.

Staying: The Interconti­nental is a marvellous hotel in the heart of the Magnificen­t Mile. It has a gorgeous entry that makes you feel special as soon as you walk in. Our room was spacious and clean, with nice views of the city. The breakfast buffet includes everything from omelettes to duck rillettes and lovely cheeses. The chef makes a green tomatillo salsa that’s the tastiest I’ve had anywhere. You can even order caramel and salted pretzel pancakes.

 ?? PHOTOS: JIM BYERS ?? Dazzling architectu­re graces the Chicago River. Left: Classic Chicago hotdogs come with very specific toppings — ketchup is not one of them.
PHOTOS: JIM BYERS Dazzling architectu­re graces the Chicago River. Left: Classic Chicago hotdogs come with very specific toppings — ketchup is not one of them.
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