Hello It's Cheese

We spent a great deal of time in and around Chicago. It wasn’t as windy as people make it out to be so if you plan on going to fart and have it immediately blow away think again. Our casting director required us to go to Giordano's to get a made to order deep dish pizza and we were like k. This deep dish pizza B is modeling is my first impression of Chicago, and a pizza I will remember forever. Part of me says two slices is enough but the other part of me says I will never be satisfied/the limit does not exist. The sauce. The cheese. The depth. Luckily, Giordano's delivers NATION WIDE.

As I was walking through Old Town in Chicago I heard something wonderful. Someone was  screaming Adele's “Hello” out a car window.

Bakersfield in Indianapolis got the Papa’s salad which is everything you could want in a taco but on a salad and hard shell.

Look at this Vietnamese iced coffee from Egg Roll #1. I wasn't even planning on eating here but Sarah and Meredith asked if I wanted to and it just happened and I'm glad because culture. 

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! We were once again in search of live music, but so was everyone in Chicago. The Kerryman was crowded and had no live music but it also had the shortest line and served Magners. You’ll be surprised how many bars and pubs don’t have Magners. It was quite some time before we were seated so we had many toasts before we got shepherd’s pies all around. “Like a ghost, I’ll be gone.” -Shepherd’s Pie to drunk me

Jess and I were running around Chicago doing idk and we took a bathroom stop. That’s when I found Protein Bar. The best smoothie I will ever have. Maybe we’ll meet again. Maybe it was just a moment in the woods.

Look at this big ass spoon at Blueberry Hill Pancake House. I ended up here after church one day and brought the goods home to Red Roof to eat on my bed and make a mess.

Go

This was a ratchet travel day and we were all very hungry for no reason. Here are some fried cheese curds. Deforest Family Restaurant.

This is the first time I ordered veggies at a Chinese restaurant and they were served raw. It was a nice surprise! We were all missing our families extra this week so it was nice. I can't find the Bansa Express website or a Yelp page but it's in Grand Rapids.

I’ve been blessed with a number of life changing potatoes on this tour. Here are some of the potatoes from BLD Diner in Larchmont, NY.

JV Hot Bagels II. I don’t know where the father is, but this establishment has very moist banana muffins. Oo daddy.

The Old, the New, the Best, the Haha I Don't Write About The Worst That Makes Me Blue

Based on the few human encounters I had in Scranton, it makes a lot of sense that The Office was set here. This does not apply to Thai Rak Thai Restaurant which served the cast a glorious feast. I saw the opportunity to have bubble tea and I took it. I’ve only had a few encounters with this tapioca delight before, but Danny tells me to “try everything three times” so I did it and I still regret it because I will never have a mango bubble tea this good again (I know this because I’ve tried.) This was a drink I will remember for the rest of my life, similar to the blue velvet cake I had at the cabaret afterparty of 2013. 

I really don't know where this is but I'm trying to figure out now.

Danny and I tried to go to Absolute Bagels on the Upper East Side one Sunday morning but the line was out the door and it’s February so cold. Instead we went to somewhere else and I got this. All those fluffy white mounds are cream cheeses that I didn’t ask to sample because I was nervous they would judge me.

Danny and I did make it to Absolute Bagels with Jenna and Sarah. Sarah and I just returned from a long day and needed big ass bagels asap. I had an egg bagel with sun dried tomato cream cheese. I almost got a second bagel but this place is cash only. I’m still amazed that restaurants in New York are allowed to be cash only/not have bathrooms. That’s not going to stop me from going here again though.

On another day when Sarah and I were ravenous we went to Mel’s Burger Bar and feasted on sweet potato fries with sweet dipping goodness. The other food is good but go for that DIP. Also check out this bathroom breezeway. 

I found myself in Pittsburgh without my cast and was asked by my stage manager to pick up a sandwich from Primanti Bros. After exiting the Megabus I was joined by another actor who had the same destination as me. I told her I had to take a detour to the studios, and she came along for the sandwich adventure. Once I was given the box of sandwich I understood the allure, and what Jess missed most about Pittsburgh. The sandwich sat with me through callbacks and an hour long uber ride to Ohio (life choices) before it was delivered. I had a bite. Oh yes.

Sarah, Meredith, Zach, and I went to Better Health Market after one of our daily trips to Planet Fitness. It was also a two show day. I’m telling you all of this so you understand why I finished the Elvis Juice shake two minutes after it was handed to me. There are a number of Better Health Markets out there, I’d never heard of them, so if you like peanut butter you should stop by to get an Elvis Juice and maybe think about ordering a second one before your friends drag you back to the hotel. 

I don’t know the name of these purple things but maybe you do. They appear on the tables of Baba’s Grill before your meal along with bread that is pillows. I ordered the Shish Tawook and it delivered.

I liked the Hopcat that opened up next to Lexington Children’s Theatre in KY, so I was excited to go back, this time in Ann Arbor. Just look at the size of the apple slices and croutons. While you’re waiting for the bathroom or avoiding people you can look at this map that details the breweries they use. Jess liked Hopcat so much she bough a hoodie which became a tour staple. I was fortunate enough to have several opportunities to take it and use it as a disguise while walking through incoming audience members on my way to water fountains. 

Meredith

While we were in Detroit we saw The Who. It was my first concert and I wanted more live rock. From then on the cast was always in search of live music to wash down the beer/ice water. One night we were in this basement called Mash. I ordered these sliders mainly because of the biscuits. I’d do it again.