The original spot for torta de chilaquiles, the line-up to La Esquina Del Chilaquil was down the block by the time I arrived at 9:30AM. Workers ran back and forth from their corner pop up tent to an indoor kitchen out of sight to refill bins of red sauce, green sauce, fried meat, and chilaquiles. Only operating for about 5 hours a day from 8:30 to 1PM or whenever they sell out, the hype was strong, and the hype was real. While a torta is your run of the mill sandwich, chilaquiles is a popular breakfast dish of fried tortilla chips served with hot salsa. Some have called this dish a soggy nacho, but I don't think that this description does justice to the level of salsa involved. Yes, the chips are soaked in salsa, but if the salsa is fresh and deeply flavourful, then what's the problem? Apparently, this was the first place to load the torta with a heavy helping of chilaquiles. In my mind, this would be a mess, and in my hands, it was one of the messiest wettest sandwich exper
This blog has been neglected. I'm sorry, but not sorry, as life took me in a different direction for the last several years, and compounded with the global pandemic, I did not travel for about three years. Homemade sandwiches were made and enjoyed. Many a thick cut bacon and equally thick cut seasonal tomato sandwich on artisanal whole wheat was savoured with a cut of mayonnaise. I became my own favorite lunchtime deli counter, out of necessity. But of course, one tires of familiarity, and eventually, new flavours and textures are desired. In my first 24 hours in Chicago, a night was spent at the redesigned Chicago Athletic Association, formerly a private gentlmen's club. A decadent steak dinner was enjoyed off premise, but breakfast was sampled in its distinctive Cherry Circle Room . As the original name for the private club's longstanding lounge, the redesign of room and menu plays off the old boys' vibe of exclusivity and Chicago's love for wood paneling, and to