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@hmlicata to each his own. but: while toasted rav has made its way to Chicago (& thank god for that), it definitely did originate in StL. & my husband, who'd never even been to St. Louis until he was 23 years old, was a fan of Imo's from day one. so even people who didn't eat it from infancy are capable of embracing its gooey deliciousness. :)

for me, my affinity for spiciness & beer kind of happened simultaneously: I used to be pretty wussy when it came to heat (although my highschool classmates in suburban St. Louis were impressed that I could handle "Fire" sauce from Taco Bell), & I also used to hate any beer that tasted like...beer. but my now-husband knew that I was missing out on worlds of deliciousness, & one night he convinced me to get a classic thin-crust Chicago cut-into-squares pizza with hot sauce & some Sierra Nevada to wash it down.

suddenly, with the beer to cleanse my palate, I could handle the heat -- & in contrast to the spiciness, I understand the appeal of a punchier beer's flavor. since then, I've never looked back, although my tolerance level was significantly raised by a roommate who kept liquid capsaicin in the fridge & made gumbos that were delicious but brought tears to your eyes.

re: the smell -- to me, it is IDENTICAL to that of Gak, that Nickelodeon-branded goop that was sold in the early '90s. that said, while I've never attempted to eat these with anything non-stirfry-esque, they're a pretty good low-cal noodle substitute for Asian dishes.

psilocybin mushrooms, eh? them's super-serious eats. will we ever get to hear that story???

my husband's mom has had really bad acid-reflux issues her whole life, & sent me this list of acid/alkaline foods a while back that you might find useful: http://www.rense.com/1.mpicons/acidalka.htm a lot of the foods you'd think are acidizing actually aren't (e.g., hot peppers) & vice versa (e.g., milk & dairy). I know she hates being on a restricted diet, so hopefully your period of abstinence won't have to last too long!

see, I was a relatively recent convert to whisky, but I love the smokey, sea-air taste of Islay malts. in fact, one of my first experiences drinking "real" scotch (as opposed to, you know, Dewar's or whatever -- not to hate on Dewar's, but it's not the same thing) was in a flight at a great bar in Chicago, the Duke of Perth. I don't remember the other two whiskies in my trio, but the Caol Ila 12 is now my favorite slow-sipping beverage in the world. I've never been to Scotland, but the smell & taste of that stuff is like standing on a seaside cliff surrounded by fog with a campfire burning nearby.

...oops, just saw the follow-up post. glad you guys are paying more attention to this story than I am :)

Carry me across the sea
Hold me in the Iberian breeze
Oceans away, the indelible taste
Reminds me of my beloved Spain.
If I should forsake my love, let my
Zest for life expire as well.
O! without thou, life is rain, my palate barren: a dreary hell.

happy birthday & congrats! :)

@KBestOliver -- I'll see your Snapple & raise you a Fruitopia! (although Snapple is actually still available for purchase, which probably makes it a more useful suggestion.)

@cyberroo -- we had a cheapo plastic peppermill that got semi-melted after we left it on the stove while we had the oven on. it still worked fine, but it looked like it was some kind of mutant that had survived a nuclear calamity. also, the cop couldn't be screwed on/off anymore, but that was fine; you could just add new peppercorns through the gaping hole in its side.

but my favorite (of many) kitchen disasters came from the first year my now-husband & I were dating. he'd bought me a bottle of mead as a present, & we decided to try warming it up with the enclosed package of mulling spices. not really knowing the best approach, we just put it in his teakettle & set that on the burner of the gas stove. it didn't even occur to us that alcohol might have a different boiling point than regular liquids.

in a bit the teakettle's whistle went off, so we went in to check on it -- but that was immediately followed by a stream of boiling-hot mead shooting out of the kettle through the whistle valve. we stood there for a second, with a deer-in-the-headlights look of shock on our faces, & then the mead hit flames from the burner & became a stream of FIRE. fortunately the stove was right next to the sink, & my husband managed to grab the kettle & dump it in there before either of us got hurt. but it was truly the most ridiculous sequence of kitchen-disaster events that I've ever witnessed.

does it count if it no longer exists? back when KC Materpiece had a restaurant in St. Louis, that was my favorite local place to go for BBQ. now, I just wander aimlessly without a go-to spot.

I was so excited to see that Piece had moved to Hyde Park! ...then I realized it hadn't. :) the actual address is: 1923 W North Ave
Chicago, IL 60622 (I think the one posted is the Edwardo's address from an earlier review). the walking/CTA directions are right though.