USA 2015 Part 9: Chicago Diner

The one good thing about going to Indianapolis was that it is very close to Chicago, so of course I went to Chicago. And the reason I went there? Chicago Diner. I left Indianapolis on a 6 am train to Chicago, a five hour trip. It was about a tenth of the cost of flying! The scenery was certainly nothing compared to the beautiful Amtrak Cascades route in the Pacific North West, and the train was older and a bit bumpier, but I listened to podcasts, had a nap, ate some snacks...



It was raining when the train was coming into Chicago, but the skies cleared and I magically managed to get on the right bus to my AirBnB. I had chosen a room in a house in Lakeview, just a 9 minute walk from the diner. However due to circumstances I had to move to another of the host's properties, an adorable little one bedroom apartment in Lincoln Park, about 20 minutes walk to the diner. However a bit of extra walking was not going to do me any harm given my food intake! I dropped my bags and then hit the pavement.



And there it was! Years of dreaming, and I was right in front of it. I had spent the last few months carefully deciding what I was going to order when I arrived. It all starts with the Radical Reuben sandwich (without caspicum!)...



Add a side of Mac and Teese...



And extra side of Waffle Fries, because you should never have to choose between carby goodness...



And a Carrot Cake Milkshake (yes, I know everyone gets the peanut butter cookie dough chocolate shake, but I love carrot cake!)...



And it was GLORIOUS! Everything I had every hoped and dreamed, for years, and it lived up to every expectation!! The reuben was amazing, best ever! The sides were great. The milkshake was insanely dessert like but so very yummy. I will dream of this meal for the rest of my life, and be glad that I ate it. Group shot!



After this glorious moment in history, I waddled slowly back to my apartment and entered the most serious food coma of my life. There wasn't even any napping involved. I think I just sat and started for about 40 minutes. It was a lot of food. I'd recommend it. Once I roused myself from my torpor, I had the distinct joy of doing some washing in a washing machine rather than in a sink!

I am not sure how I decided I needed dinner, but I did. I took a long, meandering walk to the Lincoln Park Urban Vegan, a vegan Thai place I had heard good things about. It is kind of inconspicuous, I didn't see it until I was upon it!



They start by giving you some miso soup.



They had some set dinner specials, but I cannot say no to trying every Pad See Ew that crosses my path. Unfortunately I was a little underwhelmed with this one. The sauce was just okay, and I would have liked a better tofu and broccoli to noodle ratio.



Chicago also has several Wholefoods and Trader Joes. I visited two Wholefoods (one near Chicago Diner and one in Lincoln Park) and the Lincoln Park Trader Joe's on my travels. Going into a Wholefoods after visiting the mammoth one in Austin is a shock... they all seem so tiny! I also remembered why I don't like Trader Joe's, it is all confusing in there! However the fruit is much cheaper than at Wholefoods. I got a few things for early morning breakfast snacks from each of them. The cherry juice is amazing!



The next morning I woke up early, and after some fruit and yoga took a walk through a park to see the lake. It is the biggest lake I've ever seen! I know technically it is a lake, but I feel they need another word for it.







I was torn for breakfast between going to Chicago Diner or trying out one of the other places nearby. Obviously I need to eat at Chicago Diner at least once a day, however Chicago has many other places. I ended up at Pick Me Up Cafe, also a 20 minute walk from my place. Also, it opened earlier than Chicago Diner, which was good!



I decided to order their famous vegan French Toast. French Toast baffles me a little, I've had it a couple of times and been underwhelmed. Thankfully there French Toast is pretty damn good, because they came out with the largest plate of it ever. Five huge slices! I ended up taking the last slice home with me. Apparently on weekends they do it with fancy toppings as well.



On the way back to my place, I did end up stopping by Chicago Diner to get one of their famous cinnamon rolls to take away. I didn't eat it at this time, we will come back to this cinnamon roll later in my travels, and you will discover why it is the best damn cinnamon roll in the world.



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Another cute photo of my Dim Sim that my mum Instagrammed for me.

USA 2015 Part 8: Indianapolis

The next morning the conference started too early to go out for breakfast (this is an 8.30am to 6.15pm conference for the last two days), so I had a cherry choc oatmeal cup in my hotel room and some fruit before heading off for early lectures. Thankfully I had a nice, long lunch break today because I didn't go to the keynote speaker address before the actual lunch break, so I high-tailed it back to Three Carrots because Friday is Mac and Cheese day! And we all know how I feel about mac and cheese. I got the largest serving of mac and cheese (no side serving cups for me) with another side of kale salad and that delicious avocado dressing. My plans to try their other dressings crumbled in the face of needing more avocado dressing.



This is GOOD mac and cheese, and if you are ever in Indy on a Friday you should definitely get some! I also picked up a smoothie from Twenty Two. This is the Spinilla Thrilla, and it had almond milk, spinach, vanilla bean, almond butter, banana and date syrup. It was so good!



Here is a photo of the beautiful herb gardens I mentioned at City Markets.



Also, check out this friendly SQUIRREL!



I took a stroll back up to The Flying Cupcake to pick myself up a little treat for later in the day. This time, a lovely vegan chocolate cupcake.





On the way back to the hotel I stopped by Downtown Comics and found a very cool graphic novel version of Pride & Prejudice.

The afternoon was spent in a variety of lectures, where I learned some interesting things. Also, I got to say hello to Wallace again. You remember Wallace? Here he is doing a very important shoe inspection. Did you know that Wallace has his own Instagram account?



Three Carrots is open for dinner on Friday and Saturday, so of course I headed back down to try their delicious Country Supper Plate. This was a HUGE dinner! A gigantic, chewy seitan cutlet sits on top of some more amazing mac and cheese and some creamy and wonderful mashed potatoes, topped with gravy (I found the gravy a tad too salty), with a side salad (with avocado dressing, of course). This was giant, and nearly defeated me. It should go without saying, but I picked the capsicum out of the salad.



As I waddled back to my hotel, I stopped by Pearings and got a ginger plum iced tea, which was nice and refreshing, then went to my room, read my graphic novel and ate a cupcake.

I woke up early the next morning to go for a walk down by the river, as someone I was talking to the day before said they had seen raccoons and chipmunks on the trail that goes between the zoo (boo, a zoo) and the river, and I have never seen a raccoon or a chipmunk. Unfortunately being a Saturday morning there were lots of people out early for runs, and they were also setting up for a Colour Run thing, so I saw not a single raccoon or chipmunk. But there were lots of geese and other pretty birds, and it was a beautiful morning for a river walk!



On my way back I passed the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art, which had a beautiful deer fountain outside. I didn't have any time for site seeing in Indy, but there were several museums that I would have checked out if I had had an extra spare day.



Breakfast was a Cliff Bar and a granola packet turned into overnight oats, then it was off to a full morning of lectures. One of the lectures I went to was about Hospital Acquired Infection and the rise of superbugs and how many of these were coming from factory farming environments, so how about we all go vegan already, how many more reasons do people need? To cheer myself up about our impending doom, I went back to Three Carrots for lunch and got the Seitan Gyros (which was yum) with yet more kale salad and avocado dressing. I also had a Ginger Bomb juice from Twenty Two, but was a bit underwhelmed as the ginger was not a bomb and it was kind of warm.





On the way back to the hotel I stopped by Soupremacy and picked up a cup of their Black Bean Soup to have for a snack later on, it was a very nice soup. Sometimes they have other vegan flavours as well.



Cafe Patachou is another downtown cafe that has some vegan options. I didn't end up eating there, because often I was in lectures during their breakfast hours and at Three Carrots for lunch and then they were closed by dinner. I did stop by thinking I would pick up a vegan field roast sandwich to take for the train the next day, but turns out their bread isn't vegan so this sandwich is wrapped in lettuce, which would not keep very well for a train journey in the morning.

The conference ended, and because I am anti-social I went out for dinner alone, again. It was very tempting to go back to Three Carrots again, but I figured I should try out some of the other vegan options Indy has. A lot of these are a bit far away from downtown, so you would need a car, or a taxi or to spend quite a bit of time on a bus to get there, but I found one that was half an hour walk away so it seemed like a good opportunity. I also thought I would check out where the train station was on the way, as I had a very early train in the morning. I am glad I did because the entrance to the station is obscured with no signage, so I would have been in such a panic in the morning. If you are catching Amtrak from Indy, shoot me a message and I will let you know how to find it!

Eventually I made it to my dinner destination, La Margarita. I was told it would be an hour wait for a table, but as I was a single diner I was happy to eat at the bar. As soon as I sat down I was greeted with a mammoth plate of chips and salsa. The red salsa was too hot for me, but the green was nice and mild and the fresh tomato was very cooling.



For dinner I channeled my inner Austin and of course ordered some tacos. The vegan taco they can do is the Al Pastor, which has seitan, pineapple, coriander and onion and comes with a side of rice, salad and guacamole. These were really lovely!



The other reason I picked this restaurant was that the walk would take me past Rocket 88 Doughnuts, which have some vegan flavours. The day before was national doughnut day, but obviously every day is a good day for doughnuts. By the time I stopped by they only had almond glazed left, they were all out of cinnamon sugar. I am sorry to say but I was really underwhelmed by this doughnut, I am glad I only bought one. The actual doughnut part was just really flat and kind of smooshy, maybe it was a bit under? Anyway, it is a sad day when you have a bad doughnut.



Then it was back to the hotel for an early night, as I was leaving on an early train to my next stop - Chicago! As for Indianapolis, it didn't suck. It is still not a place that I would choose to travel to, but if you have to go there for work or for conventions (they do GenCon there) then you will be able to eat some good food still, especially if you have a car as there are several places that sounded fabulous but that I couldn't get to. The hardest thing was finding a place to pick up some groceries! However there is a Wholefoods under construction downtown, so soon you will be able to pick up all the fruit and vegan yoghurt you desire for your pre-conference breakfast!

The other contentious issue with Indianapolis was that Indiana had recently made changes that allowed businesses to discriminate and refuse to serve customers based on their sexuality under the guise of religious objections. I was very unhappy about having to go and spend money in such a state! However the mayor of Indianapolis wrote a letter for conference attendees saying that he opposed these changes, and there was signs of support for equality in many shops. From the 'Equality for All' badges at the convention center to signs on shop windows.





Finally, this sign. We all know that the greatest person to come from Indiana is the fictional in reality, but always real in our hearts, Leslie Knope.



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



I love this beautiful photo of Dim Sim that my mum Instagrammed for me while I was away. Anyone who shares their life with a black critter will tell you that cameras are confused by their glorious blackness and it can be hard to get clear photos of them.

USA 2015 Part 7: Indianapolis

Indianapolis? You heard that right. This year the vet conference that I was attending was held in Indianapolis. This made me sad, because normally it is held in awesome and exciting cities, and Indianapolis is certainly not a city that is on my 'must visit' list. But to Indianapolis I had to go.

First I had to get there, which meant I had to wake up at 2.30 am to get to the airport for my super early flight from Austin to Indianapolis via Houston. Thankfully I had visited Wheatsville the night before for plane food.



I'd had a So Delicious yoghurt before leaving, and with the early hour I wasn't really hungry again until I was on my Houston layover. There I munched into this delicious Peach Glazed Doughnut from Red Rabbit Bakery, why was I not eating at least one of these every single day in Austin?



On the tiny plane that flew us to Indianapolis, I ate the Tofu Po'Boy with Blue Cheese Dressing from Wheatsville. I was a little underwhelmed, as I found the whole thing quite salty and not really much blue cheese flavour came through. To be fair it had been sitting overnight in a fridge. This was the only time I tried their famous popcorn tofu, I would like to try it just on its own sometime. Or in a fresh sandwich!



I arrived in Indianapolis and checked into my room, then had a very poorly planned nap. I was just so tired after that early start and I couldn't sleep on the tiny plane of certain doom. I woke up groggy and icky, so headed out for a walk. I had read a blog that described Indianapolis as one of the prettiest and most walkable city centers in the US, which sounded good to me. Indeed, it is easy to walk around and there are some pretty buildings to look at!



First stop on my wanders was City Market, home of Three Carrots, Indy's downtown vegan place. I wasn't feeling hungry after my nap, but just wanted to check it all out. I grabbed a menu for future reference and had a chat. There was also a juice and smoothie place there called Twenty Two. There is a lovely herb garden outside the markets, and some of the staff were tending to it. We had a nice chat, and I wish I could have taken some of the bunches of herbs they offered me!





My next stop was a Marsh Supermarket... YIKES. I think this was my first time in a supermarket not of a Wholefoods or Trade Joes or Coop persuasion and it was kind of terrifying. This is where all those terrible American brands of trashy food live. I had wanted to pick up some fruit (managed, just, not good quality) and some soy yoghurt (no vegan ones available), but I also had a little walk around to see what else they might have for vegans. I did see a small selection Lara and Cliff barns, some Amy's frozen things, Justin's and Earth Balance nut butters, Vegenaise, Daiya, Light Life, Tofutti and Almond Dream products, plus limited options in the salad bar, so I guess things could be worse.

Like all sensible vegans, I had extensively Google mapped Indy's vegan options, and I was not too far away from a branch of The Flying Cupcake, which does have vegan flavours! I visited the Massachusetts Ave branch, they do have a larger bakery on N Illinois St that has a bigger selection of vegan flavours daily, but that was a bit too far out. I was perfectly happy to pick up a chai cupcake. I didn't eat it straight away, I ate it later in the hotel, so please forgive the photo because the icing got a bit smooshed in transit. It was a lovely cupcake!



On the same street was Sub Zero Ice Cream & Yoghurt, which had vegan options. I was starting to feel a bit peckish, so why not! The way it works is that you choose your base (almond and soy are the vegan ones), then your flavours and add-ins. Not all flavours and add-ins are vegan. I had a soy base with strawberry and coconut flavour and raspberries added in. They put it all in a bowl and nitrogen freeze it right in front of you!



After this refreshing treat, I went for a bit more of a wander and saw some more pretty buildings and also a pretty lady bug on a pretty flower.





Three Carrots was closed by dinner time, so I went to a Noodles & Company that was near my hotel and according to the internet had vegan options. I went with the Japanese Pan Noodles with Tofu and a Tomato and Cucumber Salad. It was a great dinner, the noodles were really chewy and delicious!



The next morning I woke up refreshed and with plans to go to Three Carrots to try their biscuits and gravy for breakfast. I was presenting a short oral abstract at the conference that afternoon, and public speaking is equivalent to death for me, so I was surprised I slept well and woke up hungry. However, going through the talk with my supervisor and all her changes left me a quivering, sniffling, nauseous mess. So no Three Carrots. Eventually I did manage to eat a little cup of Rosemary Thyme Sweet Potato Oats by Vigilant Eats that I had bought in Austin, which was really delicious even with just water added!

Thankfully my appetite was back by lunch, and I made a beeline for Three Carrots. I had the Seitan BLT, which was delicious but very messy! I also had a side of kale salad (which was lovely with fruits and nuts in it, I picked out the capsicum) with avocado dressing. I would just like to take a moment to explain how amazing this dressing was. Get a vat and drink it, you will thank me. It is THAT good!



The afternoon passed by in a blur of nerves and nausea. I know lots of people don't like public speaking, but public speaking triggers some pretty bad anxiety for me, so it was not fun. Especially with my supervisor making changes an hour out. However then it was done, it was adequate, it was over. Relief. I'd like to send a special shout-out to Wallace the corgi for assisting with pre-talk calming pats.



Indy has several chain restaurants downtown that have vegan options, so I decided to try out P.F. Chang's. I had seen a list of quite a few things on the internet that were meant to be vegan, but when I was talking to my server it turned out that very few things actually were. Reading on the internet later it seems like there is quite a lot of debate as to whether anything is at all! However the server checked with the kitchen and was quite specific on what I could and couldn't eat there, so hopefully at that one at least it was okay! I got the Buddha Bowl, steamed, with brown rice. It was okayish, the sauce was garlicky, but the vegetables were not consistent in temperature. I don't think I would go there again, even with assurances of vegan items.



After dinner I went for a walk to White River State Park, this was a pretty park, though didn't have the lovely wilderness areas I was hoping for. It did have some lovely outdoor works of art, and lots of pretty geese on the river.







Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



My mum used Instagram to share photos of my girls with me while I was away. Here is Sahara having a snooze.