The Taste

So today is the last day of The Taste of Chicago. Its a food festival where a lot of Chicago restaurants have booths so you can sample their wares, lots of product promotions occur, and on occasion a vendor or two.

As always I made it out specifically for Vee Vee's African cuisine. They have a curried goat with fried plantains dish that is so tender and delectable that it makes the Taste worth it for me. Sure the Taste has its naysayers citing lots of children, too many people, not great prices, the heat - all of which is valid. But Vee vees....


One of the first times I went to the taste was with my then boyfriend. I was feeling nostalgic for home having just missed an annual summer festival that always celebrated making it through another year. We had vee vees for the first time, had a little shark kabob, enjoyed the summer, the beer, the fancy dining/ famous chef stand thats been done away with in recent years, and made our way to this lone jewelery stand by the Buckingham fountain. The product looked so familiar that I asked the vendor if he ever works festivals in California, he said yes, I asked him about my home summer festival Whole Earth. Sure enough it was the same vendor, Sean's Celtic Creations! He was excited to have someone recognize his product halfway across the country and I was excited for the reminder of home. I left with a ring, courtesy of the then boyfriend. It was a wonderful, carefree, joy of a day.

Later my cat would knock the ring down the sink in the two seconds I left it on the counter then turned back for it. An omen?

The Taste always brings back that summer festival joy and really I just love goat.