Leena Eats, Gourmet Communication ... Food, Travel, Gastronomy

********We now interrupt your regularly scheduled Leena Cooks for a well-deserved week of Leena Eats. What can we say? This bitch can EAT!********** It is no secret that I love me some ribs. Smokey, charred, meaty, slightly sweet and spicy and sticky as hell–what is not to like? Put a crap ton of delicious ribs in within a 3 block radius, and look out. There is no mountain I won’t climb, no elderly citizen I won’t hip check, no frat boy I won’t shank to get me a taste of that sweet, sweet pork. And there were hip checks a-plenty, thanks to an unbelievably ghetto-packed festival. Seriously, city of Chicago. Could you shove any more clowns into that car? It took a solid 20 minutes just to walk the length of a city block, and that was only if you were aggressive and willing to get a bit of ribs on your shoulders. Unlike last year, this year’s Ribfest made several attempts to cater to vegetarians and vegans, proving that we carnivores do in fact care. Reasons for vegans to go to Ribfest: 1. Vegan ribs and vegan pulled pork sandwiches from de.li.cious coffee shop, along with corn, black bean burgers, and various fried things from other vendors. 2. The thick smell of smoked meats that perfumes the air and almost makes those vegan ribs taste real. 3. Funnel cakes. You’re welcome, vegans.

Nothing says Ribfest like a scalding hot plateful of funnel cake.

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It take a bit of kungfu to start off a girls night right! 2008 Kungfu Girl Washington State Riesling.

It has been a loooong couple of weeks here at Leena Eats, so it was high time for a gals night. Nothing makes me feel better than a night out with my bitches. Rules for being one of my bitches: 1. You must be awesome (no exceptions here) 2. You must like food so much, people sometimes give you weird looks 3. You must own stock in bacon OR have a great love for 80s tv shows. Preferably both. Read the rest of this entry »

Sweet potato pancake with pear chutney @ Mana food bar.

You can never have enough delicious vegetarian food in your life. I like to swing vego from time to time. Whether you are a vegetarian or a carnivore, a little vegetarian never hurt nobody, ok? It also makes you feel a lot let guilty about indulging a bit later in the week. Sure, I can swing a 50 ounce steak. I had a vegetarian lunch! Right. Read the rest of this entry »

The delicious tomato soup from Otom that I could barely eat.

What could possibly be worse than a bad meal at a fancy restaurant? a.Seeing kittens run out the back of a Chinese restaurant you just dined at. b.Finding out your grandma just hit on the head waiter in a fancy restaurant. c.Getting sick in the middle of a delicious meal at a fancy restaurant. For my evening at Otom, a restaurant I was highly anticipating, I got stuck with letter c, and got sick in the middle of a delicious meal at a fancy restaurant. As in, BEFORE the dessert and port. I awoke the next morning clutching myself in a fetal position, chanting, “Why? WHY?” Yeah. You don’t wanna fuck with my food. I’ve been known to cut a bitch. Read the rest of this entry »

A slow-starting Chicago spring bringing you down? Drown your sorrows in PIE!

Not too long ago, I was browsing some local Chicago food blogs and podcasts when I came across an article about a Chicago pie shop. The shop itself had only been open for a month or so, but the pie company had been selling delicious and popular seasonal pies for a few years. In spite of the cupcake shop craze, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that such a shop existed within the city limits. Then I saw a photo of the owner and pastry chef, and it turned out to be the pastry chef I used to work for years ago! And the name was Hoosier Mama Pie Company. I knew I was gonna like this place. I also happen to like me some pie. I’ve been known to take a few down without breaking a sweat. It’s very impressive, let me tell you. Sort of an homage to the hard boiled egg scene in Cool Hand Luke. Read the rest of this entry »

There are very few things I would do bad things for. Okay, maybe there are more than a few, but I think most of them can be summed up to all things pork.Chorizo is one of those things. Case in point–the queso fundido ($7.50 USD) @ Frontera Grill.

Queso fundido @ Frontera Grill

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Wine. Red. NOW, damn it. Thanks.

Our lovely Pinot Noir from California’s Santa Maria Valley.

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The cart that makes dreams come true…and wicked good tamales.

Whoa. WHOA. I’ve been eating. A lot. Some might say I am regularly eating my weight in food, which is sort of my job. Other might say that gastric bypass surgery hurts. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. Come friends. Come see what I have eaten. Read the rest of this entry »

Reasons why Australians rock #1: The Lamington.

I am sad to say that Americans know very little about Australians. To us Yanks, being Australian means throwing another shrimp on the barbie while drinking Fosters beer and wrestling with a crocodile. I am happy to say there is at least one woman working to change that image one delicious Australian baked good at a time.

Go to this bakery! Deliciousness will ensue!

Naomi Levine is the owner and pastry chef of TipsyCake, Chicago’s only Australian bakery. I first had the honor of meeting Chef Naomi at a Culinary Historians of Chicago meeting about Australian food. Chef Naomi spoke about Australian baked goods and made pavlovas (meringue topped with whipped cream and fruit) and lamingtons (yellow cake rolled in chocolate and coconut). I ate more than my fair share of pavlovas and lamington. And she still liked me. Read the rest of this entry »

The breakfast sandwich’s cooler, more compact cousin, the Burglaur.

While looking for doughnuts to buy for my food studies class last week, I stumbled upon Dinkel’s, a German bakery that been in Chicago since 1922. Their doughnuts are definitely divine, but it was their version of a breakfast sandwich that caught my eye: the Burglaur. I liked immediately for two obvious reasons: 1) It looked delicious and 2)It’s name made me think of that lovable McDonalds character, The Hamburglar. In fact, every time I think of this breakfast bit of goodness, I called it the Hamburglar. Read the rest of this entry »

My meaty lollipop.

Once upon a time, Leena’s awesome and fabulous husband got to eat at a fancy restaurant without her. He ordered an aged steak the size of approximately a half of cow (supposedly the best in Chicago), and gorged on his beefy goodness. Read the rest of this entry »