Hold On, Hold On... Let Me Explain...
I am about to tell you what I had for lunch today, but first you need to know the origin of the title of this blog, "365 Lunches", before you get the wrong idea.
We lived in Chicago for about seven years, ending this past summer. A couple summers ago, in 2003, I thought it would be interesting to keep a journal for a year that was centered simply on what I did for lunch. Who I ate with. What was going on in our lives at the time. What kinds of things were front and center in my consciousness at lunchtime on any given day. I think it started one day when I was wandering around in the Loop looking for a new place to try a burger or whatnot. I found a little pizza shop on the NW corner of Wells and Van Buren, took a seat, and started watching people. A cop came in and got lunch on the house. Some crazy guy was walking around outside. I was ruminating about some upcoming something-or-other. It somehow seemed like a lunch-centered diary kept for one year would provide an interesting "core sample" of life as a young-ish lawyer in a big firm in a big city.
I kept mediocre notes for a while, and the project had its merits, but there were too many things I didn't feel I could put to paper in good conscience. I of course couldn't record, in this fashion, anything at all about the fascinating transactions and matters I was working on in the office. And I didn't want to be the creepy guy who was writing notes about what he and his buddies discussed over lunch. So I quickly abandoned the idea. If it could be done, I'd do it, but it really just can't be done properly within the ethical and social parameters I think apply. It would have been very interesting because, among other reasons, that turned out to be my "wrap-up" year at that firm and in that city, since we quite suddenly decided to move to this entirely different part of the country right about the time the 365 Lunches would have ended.
So, this blog got its name from that defunct project. It is not a resurrection of the project. Also, more to the point I first made above, the title of this blog isn't meant to suggest that this is a food-centered blog. There will be some of that. But that's not the "charter".
Lunch today was at another one of the smartest choices in Copper Square: Seamus McCaffrey's. This cozy, homey spot seems a continent removed from the cactus and mountains of Phoenix. It's a slightly smokey, solidly self-confident, been-here-forever-and-here-to-stay-till-doomsday, check your BMW keys in the bucket by the door type of place. Seat yourself. Don't mistreat the staff. Enjoy ESPN on the tube. Relax and eat.
The past two times I've been there I had the Irish Stew, which is good enough to be a default, standby choice on any return visit. It is rich and hearty, loaded with beef, potatoes, carrots, onions and peas, and tastes like it was served right off the stovetop. But the last time I was here a friend ordered his usual, a steak boxty, and it looked so good I made a point to try it on my next visit, which was today.
Cribbing from the menu itself, the boxty is "a potato-based grilled pancake" rooted, if I am reading the menu correctly, in a traditional recipe unique to Galway, in the west of Ireland. The boxty at McCaffrey's is offered in four versions: Chicken, vegetarian, corned beef and cabbage, and steak and Guinness Stout. I tried the steak version. The small chunks of steak are marinated in the Guinness, then combined with seasonings, mushrooms and onions and poured into the plate. The potato pancake is set in the middle. The dish was excellent, with very strong, well-balanced flavors. The ingredients seemed to be fresh and of good quality. The sauce was a bit heavier on the mushrooms than I would like (the waitress noted that I left some mushrooms to the side and confessed she does the same).
Bottom line: add Seamus McCaffrey's to the list with Focaccia Fiorentina for great food, no-frills, down-to-earth lunch options in Copper Square.
We lived in Chicago for about seven years, ending this past summer. A couple summers ago, in 2003, I thought it would be interesting to keep a journal for a year that was centered simply on what I did for lunch. Who I ate with. What was going on in our lives at the time. What kinds of things were front and center in my consciousness at lunchtime on any given day. I think it started one day when I was wandering around in the Loop looking for a new place to try a burger or whatnot. I found a little pizza shop on the NW corner of Wells and Van Buren, took a seat, and started watching people. A cop came in and got lunch on the house. Some crazy guy was walking around outside. I was ruminating about some upcoming something-or-other. It somehow seemed like a lunch-centered diary kept for one year would provide an interesting "core sample" of life as a young-ish lawyer in a big firm in a big city.
I kept mediocre notes for a while, and the project had its merits, but there were too many things I didn't feel I could put to paper in good conscience. I of course couldn't record, in this fashion, anything at all about the fascinating transactions and matters I was working on in the office. And I didn't want to be the creepy guy who was writing notes about what he and his buddies discussed over lunch. So I quickly abandoned the idea. If it could be done, I'd do it, but it really just can't be done properly within the ethical and social parameters I think apply. It would have been very interesting because, among other reasons, that turned out to be my "wrap-up" year at that firm and in that city, since we quite suddenly decided to move to this entirely different part of the country right about the time the 365 Lunches would have ended.
So, this blog got its name from that defunct project. It is not a resurrection of the project. Also, more to the point I first made above, the title of this blog isn't meant to suggest that this is a food-centered blog. There will be some of that. But that's not the "charter".
Lunch today was at another one of the smartest choices in Copper Square: Seamus McCaffrey's. This cozy, homey spot seems a continent removed from the cactus and mountains of Phoenix. It's a slightly smokey, solidly self-confident, been-here-forever-and-here-to-stay-till-doomsday, check your BMW keys in the bucket by the door type of place. Seat yourself. Don't mistreat the staff. Enjoy ESPN on the tube. Relax and eat.
The past two times I've been there I had the Irish Stew, which is good enough to be a default, standby choice on any return visit. It is rich and hearty, loaded with beef, potatoes, carrots, onions and peas, and tastes like it was served right off the stovetop. But the last time I was here a friend ordered his usual, a steak boxty, and it looked so good I made a point to try it on my next visit, which was today.
Cribbing from the menu itself, the boxty is "a potato-based grilled pancake" rooted, if I am reading the menu correctly, in a traditional recipe unique to Galway, in the west of Ireland. The boxty at McCaffrey's is offered in four versions: Chicken, vegetarian, corned beef and cabbage, and steak and Guinness Stout. I tried the steak version. The small chunks of steak are marinated in the Guinness, then combined with seasonings, mushrooms and onions and poured into the plate. The potato pancake is set in the middle. The dish was excellent, with very strong, well-balanced flavors. The ingredients seemed to be fresh and of good quality. The sauce was a bit heavier on the mushrooms than I would like (the waitress noted that I left some mushrooms to the side and confessed she does the same).
Bottom line: add Seamus McCaffrey's to the list with Focaccia Fiorentina for great food, no-frills, down-to-earth lunch options in Copper Square.
posted by Genki na Pengin at 10:27 PM
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