The late Chef Anthony Bourdain came here for his show, Parts Unknown, in 2016 and spent most of the 42-minute episode ‘day drinking’ in the Old Town Ale House. He ventures out for mapo doufu with Chef Stephanie Izard, devours a breaded steak sandwich, and even shares a home-cooked meal with rapper Lupe Fiasco and his family. There's a cursory discussion of Chicago's history of racial division and the civil rights movement. There are a
few obligatory shots of the
skyline, the “L” train, the river, but the majority of the trip is spent in a northside dive bar with other old white guys.
After I finished watching the episode when it was first released, I felt stunned. While Bourdain was known to regularly proclaim his love for the city, the Chicago he visited was weathered, worn, and predominantly white. Not entirely untrue, but certainly not flattering.
Cut to the happy, hungry Phil Rosenthal strolling across the Michigan Avenue bridge in the intro to his Chicago episode. Phil’s Chicago isn’t perfect, but he is optimistic and giddy in his contagious, fan-of-your-thing way. He starts with Al’s Beef, where he gets schooled on ‘the Italian stance’ necessary to take on an imposing Italian beef sandwich. Next up, an evening at Jim’s Original with Julia Sweeney of SNL fame, where they ate Polish dogs and chatted with guys who rode from Gary, Indiana, on their Harleys to get fried pork chop sandwiches.
Phil and his daughter Lilly hit the Logan Square location of Bang! Bang! Pie Shop for a dreamy BLT biscuit and multiple varieties of their famous pies. They go on the Chicago River architecture tour, where my city was at its sparkling best. Phil says that “Chicago has the best architecture in America.” He’s so right.
Anthony Bourdain's Part's Unknown
Photo Credit Eater.com
Al's Beef Sandwich