UrbanEater

Find your Beer Guy (or Gal) #CCBW

Whether you are a beer advocate or just as content slugging PBR tall boys on the weekends, there is something for everyone to celebrate during Chicago Craft Beer Week. This is the 3^rd Annual Chicago Craft Beer Week paying homage to more than 200 participating restaurants and breweries in the Chicagoland area. It gives patrons the chance to try out new brews, check out new neighborhoods, and to my purpose, find a beer guy. Drink, meet, and be merry. This week is perfect for wobbling around town a little tipsy and high-five the amazing dudes that put their blood, sweat, and tears in their craft. (Figuratively) 

Everyone dreams of being that person in conversation when your fellow party-goers say “Ugh, I don’t know what to drink!?” and you whimsically respond, “Don’t worry, I’ve got a beer guy”. The savior of the day, bringing everyone to their favorite watering nook and polishing off bottles of crafty goodness telling the story of how you had a beard length competition with the Brewmaster during #CCBW. You are a hero. Creating an experience like sipping a fine wine from the barrels of a Napa Winery and bringing back a few cases for your lawyer friends to try. Having a beer guy is a true testament of American culture and the value of keeping your community local. So please, join us for #CCBW and find your beer, find your guy, and support them and their craft.

#CCBW kicks off today Thursday 17^th and goes through the 27^th. Find out more information on the How To Participate Page including where to pick up your lanyard and how to make the most out of #CCBW.

Cheers Folks!

If you have any questions, comments, or dreams please email me, Jason Klarfeld at jklarfeld@urbaneater.co

How To Stay Svelte In A Big City

Big lights, big city, big guts. The city of Chicago is not necessarily known for its health conscious people and lean cuisine. I don’t know another city in the country where every block there are about 5 restaurants featuring some sort of beer, wing, or pizza deal. It is obnoxious at times, but it’s also one of the reasons that make this city so great. Everything is accessible, comfortably priced, and you better damn well believe its delicious. But how do you manage your indulgences in a city where every week a new restaurant opens up featuring a pork three way sandwich, chorizo calamari, or truffle aioli sweet potato fries? That’s what they are known for you have to try them! I bet you said to yourself “oooh, that does sound good” too. See what I mean? One of the reasons I was hesitant to move back to Chicago is because of how hard it is to stay in good shape year round. I feel like I am constantly working out everyday to stay fat and make sure I don’t have to take cholesterol medicine at 25. It is especially hard for someone like me in the line of work I am in and the interest I have in eating the best, tastiest, and unique cuisines in town. I happen to have a laundry list of restaurants I have been to that I should probably start selling. Last time I lived in Chicago working the stress induced 60-hour workweek, eating at the best restaurants, and not being phased that a Lou Malnatis pizza has enough density to crush a Fiat Convertible, you could imagine I was not feeling too good about myself.  This time ladies and gentleman it is going to be different. I have found a way to eat what I want at restaurants and stay in decently good shape. After all you have to enjoy life somehow, right?

Moving away from Chicago last March I picked up eating farm fresh local goods. Living in Southwest Florida for a split second I got a taste of the healthy life by visiting and becoming friends with the people at the farmers markets and some of the farmers themselves. We would grab our bok choys, Japanese baby eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, and herbs and really appreciate what we could create. I would go to my friend Simon’s surf shack, we would make our own roasted tomatillo salsa, grill some skirt steaks and tortillas, and listen to some reggae while enjoying the company of friends over some Modelo’s and ocean breeze. It was a good life. I remember there was one time I went to a pizza party at a mutual friends house who had a homemade brick oven in his backyard. We even picked the veggies and herbs we wanted on our pizza from his garden he started in the bow of a boat. It was awesome. Ever since, I have been supporting local farmers and highlighting their products in my own cooking creations. Little did I know, with a normal workout routine, eating this type of farm fresh food, cooking for myself even if it was pizza and some beer, I was starting to see some good results.

Moving back to Chicago, living in a high rise, and not having great weather year round, it is harder to find that product and make the most out of it. You can hit the gym, bikram yoga, and take a crossfit class, but not much progress is going to be made unless it starts with your diet. Now I am no David Zinczenko or follower of all of these rules, but I do know what it takes to get in shape in a big city.

Join a CSA

First order of business is to join a CSA (community supported agriculture). Community-Supported Agriculture is also known as “subscription farming.” You buy a subscription from a local farmer just like you buy a subscription to a magazine. But instead of receiving an issue each week, you receive a “share” of fresh, locally grown or raised fruit and/or vegetables. Some farmers also offer CSA subscriptions for farm-fresh eggs, and/or meats. This way you are almost forced to use your products to make your meals with and figure out what to make with what you are given that week. You are obviously not going to get tomatoes in May or avocados in December so you really never know what you are going to get. Not to mention it is less expensive then going to the grocery store every week.

Here is a link to CSA’s in the Chicagoland area http://www.familyfarmed.org/find-a-chicago-area-csa/

Save it for the Weekends

This is probably the hardest part for me. How do I keep my indulgences for the weekend when my weekends sometimes can start Monday night? It really is a double edge sword from what I am realizing. If you pass up on 25 cent wing trivia night at Kincade’s on Thursday you are considered a hermit, but if you go you are just going to pound pitchers and wings and ruin your streak. There is no right answer here but there is a way to control it. Beer is the hardest part about Chicago- we love our beer. With Craft beers popping up left and right it is hard to avoid a delicious brewsky during the game or just out with the boys. In order to minimize your intake, drink a nice dry stout like a Guinness. Dark is deceiving but it actually is one of the best beers for you. Try and eat beforehand and come a little late so your friends are already done eating so you are not tempted for round two. There really is no easy way around this one, but think of it as saving money by eating at home and still being able to enjoy a few beers out with the boys. Wait for the weekends to have your day trolley beer fests and Kuma burgers.

Find you Spirit and drink it straight

One of the biggest things for me is avoiding beer. It is convenient, cheap, and the best drink alongside a meal. I’ve noticed the largest difference in switching over to a spirit with less calories and drinking it on the rocks. My drink of choice is a Stoli on the rocks with lemon or a Glen 12 scotch straight up. Takes some real training to get use to but you will notice that you are not packing on the calories, having a much more clear headed buzz and really limits the hangover if you able to control your late night cravings. Which leads me into my next point of action.

Don’t eat late

This should be a no-brainer but if you are under the influence and don’t give a crap it is hard to avoid. If I am out on the town and need a quick bite I try not to walk. If I walk, I stop somewhere, enough said. Grab a cab or take a bus. When I get home and need something, I freeze peanut butter balls on parchment paper with a little chocolate chip inside. This is a sweet, protein packed, and delicious mouth popper for those types of nights. During the week, drink a lot of water and try and get to bed early. It seems to work for me.

Go to the Green City Market

Lastly, one of my favorites that does go on year round whether it is inside or out is the Green City Market. Farmers, artisans, and other merchants from the Midwest gather to provide the best craft goods from meats to fish to pastas to veggies. Eating this sort of pure, organic, and healthy food will instantly help with your diet and quality of food. Building relationships with the vendors will also give you more of an appreciation to what they do for a living and make you want to eat better and support them. It all starts with what you eat and if you can manage that in your own home, the temptation of everything else doesn’t seem that difficult.

 (Photo: Courtesy of Banksy)

If you have any questions, comments, or dreams please email me, Jason Klarfeld at jklarfeld@urbaneater.co

One Nation Under Hops

(courtesy of dailyinfographic.com)

Dogfish Head Randall Jr.

Whether you’re looking to improve the taste of some not-so-tasty beer or simply looking to infuse your favorite brew with a blast of added flavor, the Dogfish Head Randall Jr. ($20) can help. Based on the brewery’s Randall the Enamel Animal, Randall Jr. is a single-serving gadget that lets you place whatever ingredients you like — coffee beans, jalapeños, and yes, even cooked bacon — in the canister, then pour your beer over them and let the whole thing rest in the fridge for roughly 10 minutes to create your own custom concoction, which passes through a built-in strainer as you pour. Cheers! [Scouted by Ian], [Content and pic via Uncrate]

Dave’s Favorite Brewskies!

I know a man. A man of virtue, a man of voice, and a man with an angered appetite for the best. There are many facets to this man but there is one that stands out above them all.

Dave Brown knows beer.

Now I know this because I work with Dave, have had a lot of different beers with Dave, and each one I have consumed I received an education I could not get from Adolphus Busch himself. As stated in my previous post, reviews are just opinions. Take them or throw them right back at us, but I will tell you one thing I know about Dave- he is always right about beer. I recently sat down with Dave to chat about beer and like asking a four-year old boy what his favorite toy is, you can imagine how difficult it was to get a top five. Here is the list below.

Dave’s Faves

1. Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA – this beer captures the essence of IPA. Continuously hopped for 60 minutes, made in Delaware; what else can you ask for? Drink this beer alongside a burger or any other type of greaser.

2. North Coast Acme IPA – northern coast of California. Not too heavy in alcohol, erring on the side of a session ale. A swinging lady from the 1940’s on the label; this is daring and awesome and from California. I’m going, going, back, back to Cali, Cali.

3. Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA - Hoppy and from Michigan; something good from Michigan? That speaks for itself.

4. La Fin Du Monde – Canadian, eh? Smooth, awesome, deliciousness from north of the border that is sweet & spicy.

5. Dogfish Head Chicory Stout – Chocolaty, malty, roasted, nutty; even in the summer, this beer is fucking awesome.

My honorable mentions:

 Dale’s Pale Ale – it’s from Colorado, which means its gonna be great. It’s in a can, and its hoppy and very full of alcohol; who doesn’t want to drink it, and then smash it? I highly recommend you visiting the brewery and alehouse in Lyons, CO. 

If you have any questions, comments, or dreams please email me, Jason Klarfeld at jklarfeld@urbaneater.co