Color me unimpressed... Blah hotel restaurants.

[politicat]

So the great Amtrak trip is off to a shitful start... The train was 5 hours late coming into Denver, so I missed my Chicago connection, so Amtrak is putting me up for the night at the Swissotel in Chicago. (and the fact that it would cost Amtrak far less in the long run to just repair the tracks and run the damn system on time than to appease late passengers is another story altogether, one which all three of my congress critters heard last night in GREAT detail. Cambodia has better trains than we do. I have a serious case of India envy right now.)

I have a lovely view of Navy Pier and other than a disgustingly early call that won't let me go drool my way through the Field Museum, it's a nice enough place to stay. But the hotel restaurant leaves much to be desired. It's one of the Palms, and I'm so disappointed.

The midwest is known for two things: the quality of its meats and the quality of its produce. I don't expect the fish to be great -- it's inland, after all -- but I do expect fabulous produce in season. Illinois and Indiana tomatoes are platonic ideals of tomatoes... so why the hell are they using California baseballs in their ensalata caprese? In JUNE? This is the best time of year to be using local produce. But when I asked about why my caprese tasted like cork, the sous chef came out and told me that he likes the color of the Californias better than the color of the locals.

Um... it's food?? Taste trumps appearance, right?? No. (Let's leave aside the fact that local tomatoes, in June, are beautifully red and regular...)

And the peppering of the meats.... not so much, please. Some food with my pepper is a good idea. (By the way, peppercorning does not mean dredging the filet in the contents of a cracked pepper jug from Costco. Just so you know....)

The bread basket was nice. The grape bread was a little... breakfasty, but the baguette was nice, and they use a good quality olive oil.

Oh, and banish the smokers. Cigars and good food do not, contrary to popular opinion, go together. There's a reason the Victorians had SMOKING rooms and didn't do so at the table. Duh.

I need more gin.