u s e y o u r h a n d s

My new thing is to ask both myself and others, “What’s the best thing that happened today?” I think it helps cease complaints and reframe your day. And it works, mostly. But of course there are the days that finding even one good thing is a struggle. And on those days, I reach into my desk for a fancy bag of fancy chocolate and break off a square. That bag, just its existence, makes me happy because I know that it’s a ready-made answer to my daily question.

That’s the Fiddlehead Cafe in Chicago’s Lincoln Square Neighborhood. That’s the FIDDLEHEAD CAFE. Let me say it again so it’s sure to get picked up on search engines. Fiddlehead Cafe.

It’s awful. Here’s why:

- There were no vegan options on the menu. And while I don’t expect much, I think it’s sort of stupid not to have something when you run a restaurant in a yuppie neighborhood. I’m sure it’s come up a few times before.

- Anyhoo. So I ask for a veggie frittata without the eggs or cheese. And the waittress says, “Um, how’s that going to happen?”

- After Miss Snottypants walks off wiht my order, she returns 90 seconds later and says, “Um yeah, the chef won’t make anything not on the menu.” Chef, you are a dick. It wasn’t that busy in there and I wasn’t asking for anything you wouldn’t have done in making the whole frittata anyway.

- So then I ask for a fruit bowl. “I know it’s not on the menu,” I say, “But can you see if the chef will acquiesce? Otherwise, I’m not eating here.”

- And then it took 20 minutes to get the check.

- I still tipped a decent tip. But I will never go back to the Fiddlehead Cafe. It was way, way better when it was Square Kitchen. Dear Fiddlehead, Suck It. Love, Me.

Usually, I go to The Grind. I love The Grind, and even went there the day it opened. It is friendly and cheap and has vegan brownies.

But you know how you forget how much you love something and start looking for other, newer cafes? A few months ago, this place, cafeneo, opened north on Lincoln. Its pretty, slick logo attracted my design sensibilities, and today, my coffee buying dollar.

And it’s not as friendly as The Grind. It’s not “my place.” It’s a place to come drink a $4 16 oz. iced coffee with soy and eat nothing because there’s no vegan options except some wilted mesclun. The chairs are weird and there’s not enough outlets. I don’t life cafeneo and will not come back.

But I’m glad I went, because otherwise, I wouldn’t have a renewed fondness for The Grind. And sometimes you have to be reminded of what made a place special in the first place.