We're going to give it to you straight. There once was a time—not too long ago at all—that the north side Chicago neighborhood of Andersonville was known as an area where girls who like girls settled down and raised their kids and altogether made the area a desirable and safe place to stay forever. We're happy to report that the spirit of inclusiveness prevails, but a bloom of craft beer bars and brunch-happy restaurants have brought in a more mixed crowd and—dare we say it—tourists way tired of the Michigan Avenue crap.

Andersonville is where to come if you want to leisurely stroll while window shopping, sipping some excellent coffee and reminiscing about college with a friend you haven't seen in years. There will be occasional breaks to coo at babies in their strollers, pet Dachshunds in quilted tartan coats and impulse buy entire pieces of vintage furniture. God it's just so great when you really need to be in or are already in a warm and fuzzy mood, no matter the season.

Without further ado, our personally picked top spots to hit in Andersonville:]]> JetSetCD 2011-12-13T12:38:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/6/7/223548/3176
Foie Gras mousse and Cassis Gelee at Paris Club

For the last five or so years, Chicago has had the most tempestuous relationship with Foie Gras. This controversial foodie favorite has been lauded, officially banned, served in secret, officially unbanned, and again celebrated. What is Foie Gras? Well, Google it. We don't want to be the ones to potentially ruin your appetite, especially when there's so many Chicago restaurant serving up excellent appetizers featuring it, like these three...

· Paris Club
This place is newer to the scene, but with a huge dining room and lively bar scene, you shouldn't worry too much about snagging a table. Of our three recommended restaurants for Foie Gras, Paris Club offers the most affordable option, and the most easily shareable. It's a $9 Foie Gras Mousse with Cassis Gelee, and it's scrumptious. That's it in the photo above, being spooned onto little triangles of toast. This Foie Gras option is quite tasty, and there's plenty of it to lump a huge spoonful onto each toast bit. Ideal for first-foie-gras-timers.]]> JetSetCD 2011-06-08T15:20:08-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/5/31/201432/482

This is a call to action. Get your ass up and out to eat, and order the lobster roll, because it is on the menu and it is gooood. 'Tis the season and all that jazz, but for real: summer is the time of the year when you may get away with all sorts of usually outré things, like drinking Rosé before noon or paying $22 for a buttery roll stuffed with lobster salad.

Yesterday we bit into what will be the first of many lobster rolls of the next few months, and although we weren't anywhere near the Northeast, it was tasty as all get-out. The victim was the $22 "Lobster Roll and Fried Onions" at new Chicago seafood hipsterspot G.T. Fish and Oyster. The excitement the Windy City had for Big Star last summer has shifted, from tacos to oysters (although G.T. placed fish tacos on the menu). ]]> JetSetCD 2011-06-01T15:43:05-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/5/2/23530/34698

Two words: PRETZEL BEER. Do we have your attention? Good. You see, there's a new restaurant in Chicago and from the moment you pick up your menu—an origamied cube stuck with a miso soup shooter—things are not what they seem. This is iNG Restaurant, the newest joint from the windy city's infamously creative chef Homaro Cantu. Now about that pretzel beer...

Just like with everything else on the menu, the drinks to accompany your baozi buns and pork belly la mien are something of experiments. Order the beer flight (we highly recommend it) and what golden samples appear in front of you purely depends on what's brewing downstairs in 5-gallon jugs—iNG's "nanobatch" beers. When we stopped by in March for a meal with friends, we sipped (from left to right, above):

· India pale ale with Indian spices
· Brown ale brewed with ingredients found in an old fashioned (the cocktail)
· Pale ale brewed with mustard seeds and pretzels
· Vienna lager from Chicago's Metropolitan brewery
· Belgian blonde ale with lemongrass, ginger and coconut ]]> JetSetCD 2011-05-03T11:37:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/4/13/43918/1579

Tax day is coming, and you are excited not because you look forward to sifting through receipts and credit card statements, but because you're getting a fat refund...probably. The economy may be on its way back up, but you should try to stretch that tax refund as far as you can.

You will need to scrape together every single dollar that Uncle Sam is giving you for your tax refund this year to hit up Chicago for a trip. Not because Chi-Town is super-expensive—though like any major U.S. city, it's certainly not cheap—but because you'll want to get into famed chef Grant Achatz's Next restaurant. Tickets to the molecular gastronomy expert's new eatery are going for as high as $3,000 a ticket.]]> Jennifer Kester 2011-04-14T10:50:24-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/30/11518/7470

It was about this time last year when we caught on to the fact that Chicago's foodies were all a-Twitter about nothing other than Queso Fundido, specifically as served at Big Star in the Wicker Park neighborhood. This year, the focus has decidedly shifted from cheese and hipster Mexican cuisine to a truly carnivorous focus. That's right; everyone is digging into bone marrow (also Welsh Rarebit, but that's for another day).

Chicago Magazine actually has little story about it this month, but we've been wanting to talk about this since we ate our way through some of the best bone marrow dishes a month ago. Here they are:

· Purple Pig:
"Roasted Bone Marrow with Herbs" $9.
This was our favorite (pictured above), and perhaps the least threatening of the bone marrows, if you're experiencing it for yourself the first time. Simply scoop the marrow out from the bones and onto the crostini, sprinkle some sea salt, and enjoy. No touching the bones required, but do know that one bone per person is probably necessary because they are so good.
500 North Michigan Avenue, around to the side of the building. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-03-30T16:19:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/10/13623/3338

Who needs a drink after this week? Well, we wish you were here with us, sitting at the bar of Longman & Eagle in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. We decamped to the Second City this week because once we called it home and it forever remains a favorite of all our international destinations.

To speak more of Logan Square, however, we must first say that there once was a book called The Hipster Handbook and in it was a character—the perfect hipster girl—and she resided in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago. Well, that area has jumped the shark in its hipsterdom over the last few years, and now it's increasingly the dominion of what Chicagoans slangily call the "Trixies" and "Chads," or as everyone would call them, the Yuppies.

These days it's Logan Square's time to shine. The rents are still affordable, the restaurants are grabbing Michelin stars (just as Longman & Eagle did), and the music venues remain true to their indie cred...for now. Heck, Longman & Eagle has whiskey and bourbon lists longer than their food menu options, so you know it'll be a while before the area gives in to the J. Crew set. If you know what we mean.

[Photo: Jaunted]]]> JetSetCD 2011-03-11T17:02:56-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/