I’d like to thank Matt Gierhart over at JoshSpear.com and company for featuring Eat Feats on their site as well as Johannes Kleske, an art director for Razorfish in Frankfurt, Germany, on his blog. This is inspiration for me to continue working on this not just for me but for anyone who continues to read EF.

It’s that time of the year again, and this year’s Thanksgiving is going to be an even bigger deal since I’ve moved away from home. More to be thankful for and certainly more to celebrate as this is a homecoming of sorts back to the Dirty South. My family usually does it up big for T-Giving. Being Filipino-American, we have both cultures on the table— your traditional turkey, ham, stuffing, etc. AND Filipino goodies such as pancit (noodle dish), embutido (FIlipino meatloaf of sorts), and everyone’s favorite, lumpia, to name a few.

There’s no real ‘tradition’ for us, just routine events. Although, my younger brother, Neil, and I have been in charge of deep frying the turkey the past two years. Lots of fun. Parade, cooking, football, eating, and of course, a nap at some point during the day. I will be sure to document all the eating I do over the course of my holiday… my good friend Kim has planned a ribs & steak night and there is a wealth of new restaurants that have sprung up since my departure from Arkansas so I’ll have plenty to write about soon.

Happy Thanksgiving, folks, and as always, “EAT IT.”

There are a million other places that I still need to check out, but I keep going back to the burgers at Kuma’s. It’s a straight-up addiction. Lauren called me up on a rainy Thursday and told me to get ready beause she’d be outside in a few minutes. BURGER SURPRISE! After that Kuma’s visit, I wrote a confession. Here’s how it went:

Dearest Mastadon,

I never meant for things to be this way. The thought that there could ever be another had never crossed my mind, but when I met the Pantera, I knew it was real. That beautifully roasted pablano pepper, the crispy bacon, a combination of cheddar AND monterey jack cheeses, ranchero sauce ALL topped with crispy tortilla strips. It was a dream that I couldn’t pass up  fulfilling. I’m sorry. You’ll always be my first with a special place in my tummy.

Hungrily,
Shane

Don’t plan your entire day around eating Asian food.

Or do. We did.

Lunch started out in Chinatown at the Seven Treasures with sliced pork & green beans in a great garlic sauce served over rice, lup cheong (Chinese sausage) & noodles, and a pair of egg-drop soups. So we did some work on that while Josh shared stories from his Bali trip just the week prior.

Seven Treasures is your quintessential hole-in-the-wall place to get some cheap Cantonese food. Too legit to quit.

The highlight of the day came at dinner. Josh and I agreed that Korean would hit the spot, and he knew of just the place in Lincoln Park. Cho Sun OK is a gem of a Korean restaurant, small and located on a corner. I was convinced that it was about as traditional as it could be, none of the staff spoke and you put in your order and that’s that. To add to that, I’m fairly certain that we were the only two non-Korean folk eating so that’s a pretty good sign that it’s authentic, amirite?

There’s an unexplainable joy that I feel when I watch my food being cooked in front of me. Hibatchi, sushi, dishes that require the waiters to light on fire before serving, AND.. our Korean beef dish. Each table has its own portable, gas-powered range. Moments later, our waitress came out wielding this huge stone pot, called a dolsot, set it on our burner and poured some oil in… “Awesome.” After it had enough time to heat up, she threw in the marinated beef that was sitting next to our side dishes, banchan. You may be familiar with the most popular banchan, Kimchi or kimchee. These delectable dishes were awesome to snack while we watched our main course cook away. My favorite was a tie between the boiled sweet potatoes and the Musaengchae, “Noodles” of white radish in a sweet vinegar sauce.

One observation we had about Korean food is that a large portion of time is spent on preparation and not the actual cooking process. The fresh vegatables cut, the sauces and marinade for the beef, slicing the beef, etc. No fancy frying, baking, or grilling. It’s in the flavor, son.

Our waitress came by to stir up our beef and another 10 mintues and we were scarfing down this delish beef and white rice. My only complaint? Not enough rice… I literally could’ve eaten a whole pot of white rice. So bellies filled, we started to head out and there was a line out the door and around the corner.

It’s that good.