"It all started with a food blog..."That's honestly what I hope to say one day when I am in London talking to a customer that ventures into my Cafe & Bakery inquiring about my culinary journey as a successful business owner. Moving on from my wishful thinking about the future, let's talk about the past and where this passion for food all started. My memories from the kitchen, like many other stereotypical food lovers, began with my grandmother. Growing up, my parents were overwhelmed with the crazy hours of residency as doctors and would ship us off to Woodridge, New Jersey to my grandparents house for the summer. What I remember the most is my love of coffee at such a young age (which probably explains why I was such a spastic child...I was wired up on caffeine all the time!). Every morning I can remember my grandpa-mac making his Columbia roast and setting some aside for me in my little sippy cup with some sugar and ice. My exposure to caffeine at such a young age I swear is what inspires me to find that perfect latte every morning. My grandmother, on the other hand, was the master in the kitchen and exposed me to my love of culinary, mainly with her famous butter cookies and Irish soda bread. I always think about anxiously waiting for the freshly made cookie dough to be pulled from cooling in the fridge to be pressed into shapes from the cookie-press and decorated with the assortment of sprinkles housed in the pantry by my siblings and I.
Now for the present. Who is this caffeine-addicted, cookie-loving person with these big dreams and a passion for food? My name is Caitlin Reynolds, I am currently a sophomore studying Hospitality at DePaul University. I am a native to Cleveland, Ohio, but fell in love with the city of Chicago the second I made the six-hour drive with my dad to tour college campuses. Living in the city, I quickly realized the potential to experience a culinary adventure and expand my palette with visits to numerous diverse neighborhoods of Chicago. But who wants to wine and dine alone! Meeting Megan my freshman year, we knew that our shared love of eating out and finding those exotic-trendy-affordable-dives in Chicago would begin our food journey. Our obsession with finding those local culinary havens is what we hope find, blog about, and share with our foodie followers! We will tell you about the bad the good and the amazing. We will find the best bargains and best places to get that great morning latte to get you through that crazy homework assignment. Anthony Bourdain, chef, author, and world-traveler, says, “I’m a big believer in winging it. I’m a big believer that you’re never going to find perfect city travel experience or the perfect meal without a constant willingness to experience a bad one. Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss, I think, and I’m always trying to push people to allow those things to happen rather than stick to some rigid itinerary.” I hope that this food blog will inspire you foodies to not try and search for that perfect experience, but rather make your own adventures where ever you go and join Megan and I as we "wing-it" in our discovery of Chicago exotic food scene.
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