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The Infatuation's National Traveling Food-Focused Street Fair Hit Town Sunday
The Infatuation, a publication that focuses on restaurant news and "best of" lists for cities around the country and around the world, brought its touring EEEEEATSCON food fest to The Salt Shed venue in Chicago this past weekend (July 13 and 14). Well-planned to avoid long lines and provide a diverse selection of mostly Chicago restaurants, the event registered as a success during my Sunday visit.
Officially branded "The Infatuation’s EEEEEATSCON Chicago, Presented by Chase Sapphire," the event benefited from the lovely backdrop of the Chicago skyline 3-1/2 miles away, as seen in the photo above.
It benefited even more from the fact that while most of the action took place outdoors, The Salt Shed's air-conditioned indoor facility was open for attendees to escape from the heat-wave weather conditions. It was an option of which I took full advantage, spending more time inside than out.
It even looks hot in the above photo.
Since I publish something called Local Food Forum, the main attraction of attending was that most of the restaurants represented at EEEEEATSCON were in fact based in Chicago.
Many food festivals such as this charge a hefty ticket fee that provides either unlimited small samples or a certain number of samples. EEEEEATSCON puts a twist on this by charging a modest ticket price to attendees, who then pay as they go at the restaurants' stands.
It's kind of like a food truck rally, only with tents instead of trucks.
And much like Chicago itself, the curated restaurant selection was highly diverse, with choices that included Southern BBQ, Chinese, Thai, South Asian, Italian, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Nepalese, Jamaican, Jewish (New York bagels), Filipino, Japanese, and of course, good old American burgers and sandwiches. (Click here for the full restaurant list.)
Now, I'm going to make a couple of confessions. First, given that the vast majority of meals that Barb and I eat are home-cooked using fresh, locally grown ingredients, we actually don't eat out often. I only have a close personal connection with two of the participating restaurants:
Soul & Smoke barbecue restaurants, based in suburban Evanston with an outlet in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood. Chef-owners D'Andre Carter and Heather Bublick are regulars on the Chicago culinary community's philanthropic circuit.
Tribecca's Sandwich Shop. The restaurant is closely connected with the popular Honey Butter Fried Chicken, where Tribecca's owner Becca Waron got her start. I wrote one of the first articles about Honey Butter, well before they opened in 2013.
My other confession is that I just can't scarf food down like I used to. That's a good thing for my health and waistline, as in my youth I had a voracious appetite. I used to joke that an "all you can eat" buffet wasn't a bargain, it was a challenge. But that was a long time ago.
So, alas, I limited myself to two main courses that, unlike much food fest fare, were plenty ample themselves.
Soul and Smoke makes remarkable pastrami, so I couldn't resist starting out with their pastrami burnt ends with mustardy Carolina Gold sauce.
I'd also heard a lot about Tuk Tuk Thai Isan Street Food. The bowl of green curry with fried tofu was tasty, with a spicy bite, and served in a dinner-sized portion.
I had just enough room to cool off with some of Ciao Ciao's pistachio gelato. I then capped the day with a specialty cocktail from Apotheke, which takes a wellness approach by including herbs, botanicals and tinctures in its recipes.
I went with the Broad Shoulders, with its bourbon base and strongly Chicago theme, in part because one of the ingredients was Malört, Chicago's signature cringy bitter liqueur, to see if you could use it in a mixed drink without having it taste like some weird potion from the Harry Potter series. It is a credit to their mixologists that they truly succeeded.
I sipped on the drink while watching an interview with Crissy Tiegen, whose high profile as a model and television personality (and wife of music superstar John Legend) prompted her to launch Cravings by Crissy Tiegen, which has included cookbooks, cookware and baking mixes.
She was the featured guest on Sunday, after a Saturday session that included chats with Chicago-launched music stars Chance the Rapper and Common.
That was plenty for one hot day. This was the second year for EEEEEATSCON in Chicago, so we'll keep our eyes open for a 2025 event. There were two others earlier this year, in Miami in February and Los Angeles in June, and there is one planned for New York this fall on a date to be determined.
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