Chicago: Art, Music, and Chocolate with Bacon

A few things about Chicago:

There is an incredible art community. Maybe it's because of all of the huge, beautiful lofts, or the The Art Institute there. The art in Chicago strikes me as delightfully unselfconscious. My favorite museum is there too. The MCA on Chicago Ave.

Then there is the music scene. It's the most supportive and cohesive I've ever seen. Evidence of that can be found in the local record labels that are still going strong (Touch and Go/Quarterstick, Thrill Jockey, Drag City to name a few). There are wonderful recording studios, as well (Electrical Audio is the greatest place ever).

Public transportation is really good in Chicago. Travel tip: to get a nice view of the city, take the Brown Line.

And I love the chocolate made by Vosges, which is based in Chicago. They make these really crazy chocolate bars -- and not the dumb kind of crazy. I mean the brilliant kind of crazy. They actually make a chocolate bar with BACON! Is there anything yummier?

Comments

[JohnnyQueue]

Public transportation is really good in Chicago??? WRONG! Less service, more expensive. That is almost tolerable...what isn't is the lack of leadership at the management level...the frequent service stops (read: disasters) where people are scrambling for emergency exits underground...the unsafe trains...UGH!

Yes Chicago is an absolutely wonderful city. I imagine how great it would be for all classes of people if we had a new municipal regime (autocracy) where corruption didn't run so wild.

[dgsweet]

HuffPost's Pick

A Chicago site, and still not a decent column on Chicago as one of the world's great theatre centers? The birthplace of Second City, which is the dominant influence in American comedy? The home of Steppenwolf, where the latest Pulitzer Prize-winning play (AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY) was developed before conquering Broadway? The home of the Goodman, Victory Gardens and Chicago Shakespeare which (like Steppenwolf) have won the Tony Award for regional theatre making Chicago easily the town most populated with Tony Award-winning theatres? The place where David Mamet got his start? And Malkovich and Joan Allen and Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and Stephen Colbert and Steve Carrell and Rachel Dratch and Howard Ramis and Alan Arkin and Barbara Harris and John Mahoney and John and Joan Cusack and Jeremy Piven and Melinda Dillon and Bonnie Hunt and Laurie Metcalf and Amy Morton and Deanna Dunnegan and Jeff Perry and Frank Galati and Dennis Farina and Dennis Franz and Robert Falls and Rebecca Gilman and Mary Zimmerman and Kevin Anderson and William Petersen and Gary Cole and John and Jim Belushi and Bill Murray? The birthplace of THIS AMERICAN LIFE? And GREASE?

There is some strong coffee brewing. Someone at Huffington please get a whiff of it and put on some bloggers to highlight one of Chicago's most distinctive scenes. (I could be persuaded. I wrote a book about Second City and am a resident playwright at Victory Gardens.)

[itolduso]

Along with world-class museums, Lincoln Park Zoo, Kingston Mines for the best Blues, China Town, and the greatest 'bar food' anywhere..... Chicago is what dreams are made of.