Milwaukee Specialty Food and Coffee

Chicagoland: Snapshot: Starbucks (Lake Cook & Deerfield Rd.)

After an effortless, reasonably fast drive using my handy shortcut, I'm in Chicago's exurbia--fortunately, one of its nicer stretches.  I'm down here to make a deposit to my bankrupt bank (don't worry, folks, my checks are good because it has since been bought out by Chase, but you may remember that WaMu was one of the institutions brought down by the subprime mortgage crisis).  

Like many Chicagoland locations, this one has the expanded food menu that's not available in Milwaukee at all to my knowledge.  I sampled a Power Protein Plate ($4.95 or $4.45 with my Gold discount).  It's basically a light, healthy snack, albeit one that doesn't fit into my personal austerity program.  Heck, two bucks more buys me about 10 times as many calories at Pizza Shuttle.   Though the expiration date label indicates that the Protein Plate was still eligible to be sold tomorrow, the mini bagel was so stale as to be borderline inedible.  I buy day-old bakery at almost every opportunity, and hardly ever notice any degradation of quality.  That goes to show how old the bagel must have been.

Snapshot: Metropolis (Chicago)

I'm at Metropolis Coffee in Chicago.  The need to make a WaMu bank deposit finally motivated me to brave the traffic.  I thought this would be a decent drive compared to Intelligentsia a couple miles south on Broadway, but that was not to be.  As always, I found myself getting off 41 in Skokie, driving through ever-denser inner-ring suburbs, then driving east on W. Devon St. through the international bazaar (Yulinka Cooks has blogged about it), which was hopping on this warm Sunday and thus hellish to drive down. 

I must confess that the logistics were enough of a pain for me to think: "This better be good!"  And it was.  The espresso (pictured above) had racing stripes down the side of the cup.  Look at that crema!  The espresso had a lighter-roasted taste than Alterra's, but was either equally good or just a hare better.  Currently playing on the sound system is Simple Minds' "Promised You A Miracle", which followed U2's "With or Without You."  That's a one-two punch I would never expect to hear in a coffeehouse.

Chicago: Intelligentsia Millenium Park Video

Chicago: Clovered at Last in Chicago

I'm at Intelligentsia Millenium Park, where I've just had my first cup of Clover coffee, to wit the Finca Matalpa El Salvador ($2.40+tax for a 12 oz.).  Now I don't know how to separate brewing method from coffee, but my verdict is that I am glad to have tried it, but wouldn't go out of my way to have it again.  The cup was very clean tasting, rather ueber-filtered.  My favorite brewing method is cupping, so if you know anything about cupping you know that that's pretty much the opposite.

Surprisingly, I'm on free Wi-Fi (surprising because this must be an absolute madhouse in summer), though it may be unofficial.  An unsecured "linksys" network was availabe in addition to the Webbeams service (which, I think, is the official Wi-Fi).

I made a little video that I'll post later.

Growing Power Staves Off Growing Produce Costs

Karen Herzog of JSOnline reported Sunday that, despite rising food costs, Growing Power, the nonprofit urban farming organization and land trust with operations in Milwaukee and Chicago, is still offering their Farm-City Market Baskets for just $14 each.

Filled with seasonal fruits and veggies grown with sustainable methods, one basket can provide a weekly supply of fresh produce for up to four people.

Part of Growing Power's ambitious mission is offer a fair food price to all, but particularly to those city dwellers at low income levels who often have limited access to fresh produce and who may otherwise go without.

Link