So, this whole “rainbow cuisine Chicago” thing, right? I’d heard some folks talking, or maybe I just got the idea stuck in my head after seeing too many colorful food pics online. You know how it is. Anyway, I figured, Chicago’s got everything, so why not track down some seriously vibrant eats?
My first few tries were, well, not exactly groundbreaking. I’d wander into a place, look at the menu, and everything was, you know, normal food colored. I even asked a couple of servers, “Got anything… like, rainbow?” Mostly got blank stares. One guy politely pointed me to the Skittles at the checkout. Not quite what I was after, mate.
I started thinking, maybe this “rainbow cuisine” isn’t a specific type of restaurant, but more like something you gotta hunt for. So, I changed my game plan. I just started looking for the brightest, most colorful dishes I could find, wherever I happened to be. It became a bit of a personal challenge, see?
First success? A little Mexican spot over in Pilsen. They had these amazing fruit cups – mango, watermelon, kiwi, pineapple, all sprinkled with chili lime salt. Looked like sunshine in a cup. Simple, yeah, but definitely a win. Then I hit up a farmers market. Found some bakery stall selling these macarons, every color you could think of. Pink, blue, green, yellow. My kid would’ve gone nuts. They were pretty, I’ll give ‘em that, though maybe a bit too sweet for my old taste buds.
- Those amazing layered smoothies from that health food joint in Lincoln Park – bright purple, green, orange. Looked wild.
- A poke bowl place downtown that let you pile on a crazy amount of toppings. Edamame, corn, pickled ginger, bright pink fish roe, shredded purple cabbage. It was a real mishmash, but colorful as heck.
- Even found a place doing these technicolor bagels. Swirls of color baked right in. Toasted one up with some cream cheese. Tasted like a bagel, looked like art class.
But here’s the deal: it wasn’t like I found some magical “Rainbow Cafe” that served everything in seven colors. It was more about finding individual items that popped. Sometimes it was a salad bar where I could go wild with red peppers, yellow corn, purple onions, and green spinach. Other times it was a really vibrant cocktail with different colored layers and a bunch of fruit sticking out of it – more for the look than the taste, if I’m being honest. Some of those things are just sugar bombs in disguise.
I remember trying to explain my quest to my brother. He’s a real steak-and-potatoes kind of guy. He just sort of scratched his head and said, “So, you’re just… eating pretty food? What’s the point?” And yeah, maybe he had a point. It’s not like I was discovering some ancient culinary secret or anything.
For me, though, it was just a fun way to explore the city. Gave me a reason to try new places, to really look at what I was eating instead of just shoveling it down. And sometimes, that bright color just makes you feel a bit more cheerful, you know? Even if it’s just a really, really red tomato soup or a bright orange curry.
So, “Rainbow Cuisine Chicago”? I guess it’s not really a thing you can just find on a map. It’s more about keeping an eye out for those colorful bits and pieces all over the place. You piece it together yourself. And hey, I ate some good stuff, saw some cool things. Can’t really complain about that, can you?
