So we are in a temporary, furnished apartment while we have some serious work done on the house. We decided to take this as an opportunity to live in a neighborhood in which we wouldn’t otherwise live: Old Town. One of the interesting architectural features of the neighborhood is the number of old worker’s cottages (all of which have been expanded and spruceified, of course) from the period just after the 1871 fire. It’s a quaint yet very urban neighborhood, with leafy streets, good restaurants, and good proximity to Lincoln Park and the lake.
Last night we did what we considered to be our rite of passage into Old Town: we had a ribs dinner at the Twin Anchors pub. If you are ever visiting Chicago, you should eat there if you are a ribs connoisseur. The sauce is slightly sweet, a little vinegary, but definitely tomato-based with a touch of cloves and cinnamon. Yum-dilly-icious! And the history and atmosphere of the place is great — it’s an old Prohibition-era speakeasy, as is my favorite bar (although here’s a better picture of the exterior).