Baby, it’s cold outside. I won’t deny it. I will, however, object to holing up in my home for days. So I trekked out to brave the bitter cold and find warm, inviting urban pockets that are more than 50 feet from my home furnace.
MORNING
Start your day with brunch in bed courtesy of Ritter’s Breakfast Delivery (www.123breakfast.com). Specials change weekly, and we opted for a variety of sweets and savories, such as the quiche Lorraine, which stars delish gouda cheese and tomatoes, a chocolate croissant, fresh fruit salad, juice and a couple of flavored lattes. Those two shots of espresso each provided a needed jolt to shake us from our blissful food coma.
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Deprived of the usual greenery in our neighborhood, we headed for the Garfield Park Conservatory (300 N. Central Park Ave., 312-746-5100) to cozy up to the cacti … well, not literally. Those hearty fellas are housed in one of the warmer rooms at the conservatory, so we traipsed around to check out the tropical flora and exotic plants and trees while enjoying a controlled and comfy atmosphere, nearly unaware that it was still frosty February beyond those walls.
AFTERNOON
Not 10 steps out of our building and we were reminded of the season with a few whips of icy air. We figured we’d thaw our frozen bods from the inside out with a stop at Soupbox (50 E. Chicago Ave., 312- 951-5900) for a light but nurturing midday meal. That did a lot to melt the icicles on the inside, but our fingers and toes were still looking a little bluish. The easy solution? Hot stone pedicures ($45) were in order, and River North’s Eucalyptus Spa (353A W. Chicago Ave., 312-202-1118) did our tired, frozen feet right with toasty massages, paraffin wax treatments and a pretty polish application.
EVENING
Quick to punish our pampered tootsies again, we decided to pound the pavement around Wicker Park. Francesca’s Forno (1576 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-770-0184) beckoned to us, so we dined on comforting, hearty Italian small plates for dinner. The patate alla calabrese, a crispy baked potato drowned in tasty cheese fondue and linguine with shrimp in a spicy marinara sauce hit all of our tortured cold spots particularly well.
Finally, we ran across the frozen street for a seemingly necessary nightcap of hot cider and baked treats at the smoky, charmingly decorated — and surprisingly bustling for such a cold night — Marshall McGearty Tobacco Lounge (1553 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-772-8410). All in all a hugely successful, highly entertaining and not altogether unwarm winter’s day out in the city.