New York Times columnist David Carr is in Chicago right now, and he told our sister blog Grub Street New York that while he’s here he’s giving up his epic pork bun consumption in favor of the Chicago-style hot dog. Which is all fine and good, except for this part: “I’d be happy to eat another pork bun right now, but in Chicago there’s really no reason. I think of the pork bun as New York’s iconic food.”
Silly David Carr! First of all, the disgusting dirty-water street hot dog is New York’s iconic food. Second of all, there are so many wonderful places to get pork buns in Chicago. Despite Carr’s near-blasphemous preference for buns of the baked variety, we’re still going to do him a favor and tell him where to eat: Chiu Quon’s are among the best in the city, the dim sum versions at Furama and Won Kow do the trick just fine. If you’re willing to stray from traditionalism, the version at Wow Bao transcends the mini-chain’s glossy setup, with intensely flavorful overstuffed fillings. And you know what — we’re pretty sure if Carr asks nicely enough, Hot Doug’s (or maybe Phil Foss at Lockwood?) would make a hot dog pork bun just for him. All steamed bun with the weiner buried under a mountain of finely-chopped char siu. Can’t you see it?
[Photo: David Carr’s Twitpic]
