To Market, To Market

I think there’s a distinct difference between hitting the nearest Kroger and going to a market. A grocery store is a place where you can quickly buy Little Debbie snack cakes and gallons of Sunny Delight; a market is an experience where the bright colors come from bundles of radishes and crates of blood oranges as opposed to the packaging of processed foods. A market invites you to be creative, try new things, and relax.

And with this mentality, I have discovered my personal Mecca: Fox and Obel, Chicago’s premiere gourmet market. I can spend an entirely delightful afternoon salivating over the extensive cheese counter that covers everything from an Epoisses (a fragrant cow’s milk cheese washed with marc de Bourgogne) to a Pleasant Ridge Reserve (a semi-hard Wisconsin farmhouse cheese). In the charcuterie department I can find the saucisson I fell in love with in France, and at the Fox and Obel bakery I can enjoy the BEST cupcakes in Chicago! All I’m saying is that the red velvet cupcakes are amazing. The cake is moist and perfectly dense and the buttercream icing is delightfully thick. Any cupcake connoisseur would agree…

Not only does Fox and Obel have an extensive supply of foodstuffs, they also offer catering and food classes. The last time I happened in, they were holding a wine tasting with one of their wine suppliers. It was fun and informal as well as educational; I actually enjoyed learning about the winemaking process and the different qualities the wines possessed. If there is a tasting going on while you’re there, don’t hesitate to join in. At the very least, you get free wine, well that and the chance to arm yourself against the wine snob you will inevitably be seated next to at a corporate function, and that my friends, is priceless.