"I had a lunch meeting at the Ralph Lauren restaurant. I ordered the chopped-vegetable salad with chicken. Obviously regretted and was eyeing my neighbors’ burger and lobster roll. Won’t happen again. I am still thinking about that burger."

"I was supposed to meet a friend for dinner but finished work too late. We were going to go around the corner from my house. There is this neighborhood bistro that I like, Gemini. I don’t like it only because it is my astral sign, they have a lovely outdoor space, it’s simple, not too loud. And they have the best chocolate sorbet in the world. I can’t even describe it."

"n Paris, I spent three years going to Déviant like three times a week. I would take everyone there. It really became an extension of my dining room (probably because I had no dining room). It was just a tiny bar and they served delicious wine and Pierre Touitou’s exquisite food. In Chicago there is a place called Verve that reminds me of that a bit. Their chef, Ryan Epp, is very talented."

"On the South Side there is Virtue, a neighborhood staple with the best cornbread I’ve ever had."

"I’ve been eating a lot of strawberries lately. I was spoiled in L.A. because you can find Harry’s Berries pretty easily, but I can’t find them here. The strawberries I get at the Lincoln Park Sunday farmers market are pretty good. I’ve been eating them a lot. It’s just good summer food. I’ve been able to find good produce in Chicago."

"My friend Julia who works for Blank Forms texted me that genius musician Angel Bat Dawid was playing at the New Mt. Pilgrim Baptist church on Chicago’s West Side. I jumped in an overpriced Uber and went there. Definitely worth it. It was amazing, Cornel West was there."