Chicago's O'Hare Airport Goes "Animal"

Llama at O'Hare Airport
(Image:redeyechicago.com)

I fly in and out of Chicago's O'Hare Airport every so often. My arrivals and departures are typically uneventful affairs. I certainly don't expect to see llamas near the runway. Yet, according to a story in today's Chicago Tribune, live animals help manicure the airport's grassy areas that humans prudently avoid.

The creatures who feast on O'Hare's apparently fertile grounds include sheep, goats, and burros, as well as llamas. I'll admit that catching a glimpse of an animal associated with the Andes Mountains on the airport's restricted areas seems like a mirage. However, there's a resourcefulness in O'Hare "going animal" that I admire. The alternative -- dull, machine cutting -- hardly seems like an option at all.

Brand Name Chefs Fly Into Airport Restaurant Scene

Do you purchase a meal at an airport? There are three reasons I do:

• Getting to the airport at least two hours ahead of departure to accommodate security clearance often leaves time for at least a quick meal.
• Layovers for connecting flights provide time for something to eat.
• Airplane food either does not exist or is dreadful.

Some airports, such as Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International, are the culinary equivalent of the Gobi Desert. If you're lucky, they offer vending machine snacks or exorbitantly priced mystery meat sandwiches. In my recent journeys, I observed the more experienced travelers didn't take chances on finding sustenance at an airport. Well, sometimes it's best to go hungry.

Sign outside Tortas Frontera/O'Hare Airport
(photo by Tim Hoey)

Sensing opportunity, commercially savvy "brand name" chefs are starting to open airport restaurants. My introduction to this welcome phenomenon was at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, where Anglo chef Rick Bayless opened Tortas Frontera, a variation on his Mexican restaurants. The food is handmade, freshly prepared, has soul, and is good quality. On my most recent O'Hare layover, I made it a point to allow extra time to linger at Bayless' storefront-style restaurant/bar and enjoy food I can't get in the New York-New Jersey area, where I live.

Today's online edition of the Chicago Tribune published an LA Times video segment showing food empire builders Wolfgang Puck and Masaharu Morimoto talking about the opening of their new LAX restaurant. They discussed their rationale for launching the venture, which essentially paralleled my own experience. Of course, what they didn't discuss was the brand extension and profit making aspect of the business. They also didn't illuminate the high rents airport authorities charge for commercial space. Travelers don't care about the business details, but they do want airport dining options that are steps beyond dog food.

Expect more from this trend, especially once "branded" chefs come up with a winning business formula for airport dining.