Deconstruction of The Taste

 We had such a good time at The Taste last year, we decided to go again this year. 

The program.  It highlights the good, the bad, and the totally clueless.  Be patient - the 5 Ring Circus Taste of Chicago Awards are later in this post.

The friends.  These two have known each other since kindergarten.

The girl and the goat.  No, not the restaurant.  Goat isn't something I prepare at home, but Kelsey tried it at the Taste last year, and it was the first thing she went for today.

The ham.  We stopped to watch a dance troupe that was performing near Buckingham Fountain.  Drew was picked to be part of their act, and he totally stole the show!

There were 59 restaurants represented at The Taste this year.  I'm not going to lie and tell you we ate at all of them, but we certainly sampled our fair share.  Based on our experience, I present to you the 5 Ring Circus Awards for 2011 Taste of Chicago, Best and Worst.  In each category, these places won their awards by  a landslide:

Most Disorganized:  Starfruit Cafe.  Really?  You have only one person handing out the frozen kefir (it's like yogurt, but with an aftertaste) to seven servers, none of whom know what in the world they're doing?

False Advertising:  Tutto Italiano.  When you charge 9 tickets for something called Steak Burger with Blue Cheese, one assumes there will actually be blue cheese on or in the burger.  Not so.  The burger was slapped with a mustard sauce that had a slight hint of a blue cheese taste.  When Baird complained and asked for actual blue cheese on his burger, they hassled him.

Kelsey's Favorite:  Vee-Vee's African Restaurant.  See The Girl and the Goat picture above.

Baird's and My Favorite:  Vermillion.  We celebrated Valentine's at this place earlier this year, and we were excited to see them at Taste.  Their Grilled Chicken Kabab with Tomatillo, Potatoes and Charred Onion was fantastic, and their Ginger Dusted Crisp Apple Fritter with Mango Cardamom Sauce won the Best Overall Dessert category this year.  We agree.

Best BBQ:  Smoke Daddy.  The Pulled Pork Sandwich had a delicious smoky flavor with BBQ sauce the complemented, rather than competed with, that deep, smoky flavor.