Both of the kidlets have some sort of chest cold thing going on. Again. I tell ya, we sure grow some feeble bronchi in this household. It's probably the radon. I think we live over a radon sinkhole. Do they have those? I don't know. Anyway, it's that precarious day to day "are we going to have to keep them home from school tomorrow" deal. In the AM we assess the phlegm-level and act accordingly. So far we're maintained an acceptable phlegm-to-school ratio. We'll have to see what tomorrow holds.
On a positive note, a brand, spanking new eatery just opened up down the road. This is a big event in our town. Being transplanted Chicagoans, the dearth of even mildy acceptable, sub-par restaurants is a constant cloud over our heads in this town and when I saw some work going on in the strip mall between Payless Shoes and Ye Olde GolfPro Shoppe, or whatever the hell it's called, I was giddy with anticipation. I mean, for a college town this place blows, food-wise. Bennigans, Ruby Tuesdays, Olive Garden, Old Chicago (I'm afraid of what goes on there), it's all crap.
So this place opened today and it's called "City Eats." Okay, not the greatest name but at least it doesn't have kooky initials or a weekday in it's title. I walked in and it seemed very pleasant. Open cooking area, maybe 8 little booths lining the walls and it smelled good. Not like lettuce and farts, like Subway. They have a bunch of soups, some salads and a list of sandwiches with names like "Chicago Italian Beef," "Baltimore Crab Cake Sandwich," and "Gloucester Lobster Roll." Not bad.
A woman, who must have been the owner, welcomed me in and asked what I had a hankering for. She offered me a little sample cup of the Chicken Sausage Gumbo and "dirty rice." Normally, I'd be wary of dirty rice in this town, but I think this rice was dirty on purpose. Anywhich, it rocked. I ordered me up a cup of that and the New Orleans Blacken Chicken Sandwich. Is it really "blacken" chicken? That kinda sounds like what the owner would tell the cook. "Hey you - blacken chicken, now." I gave them the benefit of the doubt and ordered it.
I think I finally realized that I really don't like chicken sandwiches. A big ol' chicken breast is really not meant to be in a sandwich. Slice it up and put it in a salad, rip it up and put it in a pulled pork kinda deal. Throw it in some soup. It's just never any good when you plop it on a bun. But it wasn't awful. The gumbo, though, was scrumpdillyumptious... ness... ment.
I'm going back on Friday to see what else they've got going. Perhaps I'll try the "Halifax Brie and Lox Baugette" (their spelling, not mine). Hey, maybe I could get a little freelance work editing their fucking menu. Apparently "City Eats" but "City Doesn't Like to Use Spellcheck."
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