Chi West. Kim and Kanye were really onto something.
While the graffiti identifies this gem of the city as West Fulton Market, this neighborhood of Chicago has a rich history in manufacturing. Northwest of the Loop, tucked between West Town and East Garfield Park you'll find the Kinzie Industrial Corridor. While the name might instill visions of fork lifts and refrigerated cargo trucks (yeah, you'll see plenty of that too), the area is booming with trendy coffee shops and breweries.
The breweries in the area have actually leveraged this identity crisis by referring to it as the Chicago Brewery District.
Goose Island Beer Company: Just steps from the United Center, catch a game and take a tour of Goose Island's West Side facility.
What I drank:
Fulton Street Blend Coffee Ale - Golden Coffee Ale
This beer is aged with Intelligentsia coffee beans. Since they share the building with Intelligentsia Roasting Works, it's only natural for them to partner...but more on coffee later.
The brewery tour costs $12 and offers an hour of walking + tasting. You'll get to experience the entire brewing process from fermentation to bottling. You'll also learn about how they make and test their new beers in the innovation room. The tour wraps up by taking a jaunt across the street to their bourbon barrel storage room.
Haters give me them salty looks — Lawry's.
Throughout the tour, we were given samples of the following: Honkers - English Bitter, Sofie - Farmhouse Ale, and Madame Rose - Sour. Plus, you'll get a pint glass at the end of the tour to take home!
All Rise Brewing Company: This is a good place for a couple drinks and a show. We saw a psychedelic rock lineup, which reminded me of my preteen angst days at The Taste of Chaos.
What I drank:
Temporary Solution - Robust Porter
Fools Golden Ale - Golden Ale
3 Orange Wit - Witbier
On Tour Brewing Company: By far my favorite brewery in the area — they have an option to order food from a vendor (tacos when we were there) and has ample seating with a private room available for booking.
What I drank:
Lazy Lightning - Berliner Weisse (MY FAVORITE!)
Great Central Brewing Company: This place has only been open a few months, so they're still working out the kinks. The taproom is very spacious, but with only 2 bartenders on staff when we went, you might need to wait a while for a beverage. Food is not served here, but you can order in from local eateries — we saw pizza being delivered.
What I drank:
GCBC German-Style Helles Lager - Lager
GCBC German-Style Hefeweizen - Hefeweizen
They have a little community shelf with Cards Against Humanity and other games — they also do trivia on Thursday nights. This is one of the only breweries where we saw quite a few kiddos running around.
You fixed me up something good for my soul.
A couple honorable mentions for the neighborhood include Finch Beer Company, which is across the street from Great Central. They don't currently have a taproom, but their website indicates it is in the works. Next, Forbidden Root is located about a mile North of the brewing district — their Strawberry Basil Hefeweizen is spectacular and worth a visit.
After all that beer, you may need a caffeinated pick-me-up. There are several coffee houses in the neighborhood that are serving up some killer cups of joe.
Metric Coffee: This itty bitty place has roughly 6 barstools and a glass partition where you can actually see the coffee roasting. They serve all coffee beverages with a chaser of sparkling water — and if you read my previous blog post, you know I love sparkling water, as I shared my Sparkling POM recipe.
Metric recently partnered with Pilot Light, a non-profit that provides nutrition knowledge and educational tools to Chicago Public schools.
Boujee behavior.
Hero Coffee Bar: Hero now houses the cute little space that used to be Asado on Jackson in the loop — I used to call it my special alley coffee — Instagrammers love that place. The West Side coffee bar has a hip, clean vibe and makes for a perfect remote office.
Dark Matter Coffee: The Star Lounge Coffee Bar is located down the street from the main roastery. THIS PLACE WAS PACKED! It was like sports bar during the Super Bowl packed. With Kanye's Late Registration playing in the background, I was super happy while I sipped on my Chocolate City draft iced coffee.
It's clear that beer and coffee go so well together, and Chicago is passionate about both.
What goes better with coffee than sweets?
This special treat was inspired by a recipe in "French Country Cooking" by Mimi Thorisson. Rather than a lime and strawberry tart, I swapped out with lemon and raspberries.
This has been by far the most challenging dessert I've made, and it really tested my patience. I contemplated throwing it all away (several times) and driving over to Bang Bang Pie instead. I am SO glad I stuck it out, because it was incredible!
Sweet Tart Dough:
The original recipe calls for 1 large egg yolk — I ended up using 3 because my dough was so grainy and hard to work with. Cue up mental breakdown #1.
- 1 1/2 cups AP four
- 1/3 cup sugar
- Pinch of sea salt
- 3 large egg yolks
- 7 Tbs unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)
Form into ball and cover with plastic wrap — place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
Mental breakdown #2.
Roll out the dough into the base of a 12-inch tart pan. Prick the base all over with a fork + cover with plastic wrap to freeze for 30 minutes.
Line the tart shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights (I used dried black beans.) Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F — remove pie weights and return tart shell to the oven and bake for 5 more minutes, or until the base is golden. Set aside to cool.
Tarte aux Framboises:
- 2/3 cups sugar
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbs lemon zest
- 3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
- 4 cartons of raspberries
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg yolks, and whole egg. Whisk in the cornstarch.
In a saucepan, bring the milk to a low simmer over medium heat.
Mental breakdown #3.
SLOWLY pour the milk into the egg mixture, whisking like CRAZY. Add the vanilla and lemon zest at this point.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and whisk in the lemon juice over medium heat. Continue to whisk without losing your mind. Full disclosure, this is where I got nervous. Wisk until the mixture magically thickens. Yay science! When it happens, you'll know. And then you can continue to breathe.
Pour the cream into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressed directly to the surface so it doesn’t form a skin. Let cool and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours or overnight.
If you can't tell, time management is HUGE for this recipe.
Mental breakdown #4.
Spoon the custard into the tart shell and smooth with a spatula and decorate with raspberries.
Red Currant Glaze:
I doubled the recipe that was in the cookbook, because I really wanted to drench every bit of the tart crust and fruits with more flavor. I used 6 Tbs of red currant jelly and 2 Tbs of fresh lemon juice.
Simmer and set aside to cool. Once the tart is fully assembled with raspberries, use a pastry brush to apply the glaze. Top with mint leaves and serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.
While I claimed I would NEVER make this tart again due to the aforementioned mental breakdowns, I think I'll give it another try when my dad comes down to visit for the Chicago Auto Show in a couple weeks. At that point, I will officially announce my retirement from tart making.
Pour a little champagne, cranberry vodka.
Now that you’re stuffed with carbs, caffeine, and sugar, it's important to spend an entire day reading — at least that's what I did. I just finished up Little Soldiers by Lenora Chu — an extraordinary view of the Chinese education system. After the Women's March in Chicago, I started reading The Power by Naomi Alderman. Thanks for the reco, Barack!