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Store Wed Feb 07 2007
Touring the City's Markets
A year and a half ago, I moved into a neighborhood rife with opportunities for adventurous eating. The problem was I had no idea where to start. So when I heard about Evelyn Thompson’s Ethnic Grocery Tours, I couldn’t believe my luck.
A friend and I embarked with Evelyn on our culinary journey one Sunday morning last January, and we proceeded to sample our way through various Uptown, Andersonville, and Rogers Park food markets. We hit Patel Brothers on Devon, the Middle Eastern Bakery on Foster, a Vietnamese market on Argyle, two Mexican markets, one Cuban market/fast food joint, and one Bosnian almost-supermarket. Along the way, we tasted cactus, yucca, plantains, sour oranges, freshly-baked bread, feta, crispy Indian cornflakes and coffee beans. At the end of the day, I was brimming over with plans to cook all kinds of exotic dishes. I swore I'd never go to Jewel again. Obviously, I didn't exactly follow through on that pledge. I do, however, feel much more at ease walking into any one of the myriad food markets in the city that are more off the beaten path. They're often far cheaper and carry higher quality products than the big chain stores. I highly recommend getting in touch with Evelyn and letting her introduce you to some of the city's hidden food gems.
