Everything you’ve heard is true. There were fancy-pants hot dogs, there were plays, and there was lots and lots of House, viewed with a hunger. Let’s look at a few highlights.
Saturday: Brunch at Hot Doug’s Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium. I was actually trying to keep this place a secret until the next time the Gurgling Cod pays a visit to Chicago, but the cat’s out of the bag now. At Hot Doug’s the line on a Saturday afternoon bends around the southwest corner of California and Roscoe and practically out of sight, but I’ve seldom stood in a more cheerful long line. It’s as if the length of the wait guarantees the transcendent goodness of the meal to come, and the patrons take an added pleasure in being part of a little community of good taste and adventure. Of course, the culinary adventures offered at Hot Doug’s come with all the comforts of the familiar, presented in the usual trappings of the most quotidian of Chicago foods. Beyond the casing, bun, and toppings, though, anything goes–last weekend it was bacon-cheddar elk sausage with spicy bourbon mustard and stripey jack cheese for Terry and saucisse de Toulouse with anchovy aioli and fromagier d’affinoise for me. The blue cheese pork sausage with pear cr