GREG WROTE:
I’m sure this happens to you: There’s a person reading a book right next to you while you’re trying to concentrate on something else, and that person keeps gasping or sighing or saying “What?” or “Oh my gosh” or “Can I read you this?” or “Would you please just move over a little bit? You’re on my bad leg and you smell like someone poured chili on a gym mat?”
Claire has been reading a lot of social- and health-conscious books lately like “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “Skinny Bitch.” And quite often she’ll read me an excerpt or paragraph about the horrors of the meat and dairy industries. I mean, she’ll read me some real disgusting shit about steroids, force-feeding, slaughter house conditions, farming practices, pesticides, dyes in milk and government secrets. She has practically given up eating all kinds of meat, not just the scarlet kind.
I’m more conscious now as a result, and I think twice about where I buy my chicken and steaks. I’m also more aware at restaurants and don’t mind asking if their beef is grass-fed (or if they could turn down the fucking Cubs game).
So when Claire asked if I wanted to try The Chicago Diner, a restaurant in Boystown that boasts being meat-free since 1983, I was more than ready. Not only is it vegetarian, but it offers a vegan option for every dish on the menu. All their wines and beer are organic and clarified using clay (as opposed to using egg, bone or fish) and the desserts are dairy, egg, and trans-fat free. And they don’t have a dozen flatscreens playing the Cubs game.
We started off with the “chicken wings,” which are tofu strips in an organic BBQ sauce that feel like boneless ribs in your mouth. Pretty good. Not enough kick for me. Here’s a dark picture of them:
I ordered the black beans and rice topped with tofu for my entree, and surrounding those items on my plate were nice helpings of sauerkraut, sprouts, steamed kale and carrots. Again, I apologize for the dark picture (we were on the back patio at night):
Filling and delicious.
I’d totally promise Claire to eat here on a regular basis, but that’s only if she’d stop interrupting me all the time with facts about the puss and blood from the cow’s udder that’s in my dyed milk.
Chicago Diner
3411 N Halstead
773.935.6696
CLAIRE WROTE:
I’ve been thinking about the way I eat for a long time. And, unfortunately, not so much in a calorie-counting way. More in a “Is this good for my body or is it filled with chemicals, steroids, pesticides, hormones?” kind of way. Watching two parents die of cancer will make you really suspicious of the microwave. And the beef industry. And the pesticides used on produce. And the hormones that are probably lurking in your milk. And the cancer-causing flavor-enhancer BHT (that was banned in Europe eons ago but not in the States of course) in your pack of Orbitz gum.
But even as much as I refuse to put things in the microwave, am somewhat suspicious of Saran Wrap and would, under no circumstances, ever eat at a McDonald’s, I still find it challenging to maintain a diet that is completely free of all the dangers our foods are filled with. And I’m not neurotic enough to be really diligent about it either. I simply stick to not using the microwave (yes, I’m serious about this one and won’t even stand in the same room if it’s on), buying mostly organic products and not eating red meat.
Lately though, I’ve been toying with the idea of going vegetarian. Although I can easily go a whole week, and often do, on a vegetarian diet, I’m thinking of getting pretty strict about it. I do still enjoy fish and chicken and BACON but the more I read — and I’ve been reading a lot lately — the harder of a time I have putting these animals in my body. I’ve recently read two books — The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Skinny Bitch — which both elaborate heavily on the atrocities of the current US food industry, particularly the beef, chicken and pork industries. And while I won’t repeat the facts and statistics (if you’re really interested then you can read them for yourselves), I will say that I think I’m ready to begin making a major diet change.
All of this is leading up to say how Greg and I had dinner at The Chicago Diner the other night. One of Chicago’s best and oldest vegetarian restaurants. Now, I’ve eaten at a fair amount of vegetarian restaurants, and although he likes his vegetables, I think this was Greg’s first time really trying faux meat dishes. I’d actually eaten at The Chicago Diner once before and when I lived in Los Angeles I went out for vegetarian food quite a bit. Fairly often I’d visit Real Food Daily in Santa Monica and Native Foods in Westwood — two fantastic vegan and raw restaurants.
Early on in these vegetarian forays, I discovered that eating a meat-free meal leaves you feeling much different than its alternative. I feel lighter and more energized after a vegetarian meal than I ever have consuming even just a basic chicken dish. I also discovered that I really like tofu and seitan (made from wheat gluten) and I think the reason I haven’t gone vegetarian sooner is because I haven’t really learned to cook with these things yet. (My next adventure).
Anyway, we had a great dinner. Greg will probably tell you that our service was lacking (they were really busy!) and that his margarita wasn’t awesome (it’s a vegetarian restaurant, not a Mexican joint!) but, overall, I thought it was great. We started with some fake chicken wings, which could have spicier but which I still enjoyed, and then I had and loved…
… The tender sun-dried tomato polenta, topped with oven roasted sweet potatoes, garlic sauteed spinach & onions, melted cheese, with spiced black beans & Spanish rice & marinara. ($12.95)
The polenta was perfect and the heaps of sauteed spinach and black beans left me feeling full but not heavy.
For dessert we had a really fantastic vegan carrot cake. I actually know the baker for the Chicago Diner, Malissa Winkowski– she’s the best friend of a good friend of mine and we’ll be bridesmaids together next year so I’ll probably get to know her a lot better then — but I’ve had her desserts at parties before and never doubted that whatever we ordered would be out of this world.
Our dinner at The Chicago Diner just reinforced my budding desire to go vegetarian. There are so many good reasons…and not really any bad ones.
