I would say that I do really care about food, though my focus has been elsewhere as I only moved back to the States in the past year. I'm glad that people are paying more attention to what they're eating and the quality of what they're eating, but the whole "foodie" thing kind of bugs me sometimes. I remember as a kid, buffalo wings were just gaining traction, but not many people were preparing chicken wings at home. Thus, the price of chicken wings was dirt cheap. Now they're as expensive as anything. Same goes for soup bones. Now everyone and their ma is suddenly into eating marrow on toast points and what used to be $1.50 now costs $8. It's one thing to enjoy a nice selection of cheese, but it's quite another to look down one's nose at an establishment for serving what that blog/TV show considers to be a poor pairing.

Anyhow, thanks for the recommendations. It's kind of up in the air at the moment, but I just might have a long term thing developing in Chicago, so I'll definitely keep your words in mind.