H and I came up with (what we think is ) a great idea the other night...
We don't really take the kids out to eat much and when we do, it's usually more of a hot dog/kid menu type thing. That said, they are all pretty adventuresome, healthy eaters...and relatively well-behaved at restaurants (remember, they are 5, 7 and almost 9).
So - here's the idea. To make an ethnic restaurant calendar and pick a night (say, Sunday) ... then do a monthly tour of all the great ethnic restaurants (and little towns) that Chicago has to offer. We live in an amazing city that truly offers oustanding original cuisine and characters. What a learning opportunity?
We could do full-on dinner, just appetizers or even just dessert depending on the month and the food and our hankerings. We could spend the prior month looking up videos on You Tube, Googling information and casually teaching the kids about a new culture.
Sample Calendar:
- July-- Chinatown (Chinese New Year)
- Aug-- Little Italy
- Sept-- Greek Town (Halsted)
- Oct-- Vietnamese (Argyle Street)
- Nov-- Indian (Devon Avenue)
- Dec-- Middle Eastern (Clark Street?)
- Jan -- Ethiopian
- Feb -- Thai
- March -- Polish
- April -- Mexican (great museum in Pilsen to add to tour)
- May -- Spanish (tapas?)
- June -- French (?)
And then you could go "deeper" or rotate through again or pick something else to discover. I mean, really -- is this a great idea or what?
