51. Essence of Autumn cordial | The Drawing Room at Le Passage
GM and head bartender Charles Joly’s wintertime drink—a vodka infusion pureed with walnuts, pear and sage—is meant to cap off your meal and give you a sweet, warm buzz to take with you outside into the cold. But it may just inspire you to stay and have another. 937 N Rush St (312-255-0022). $9.

52. Rabbit | Charlie Trotter’s
This luscious rabbit (the loin and leg) is paired with varying forms of fingerling potatoes, turnips and mustard greens—precisely the foods a bunny might munch on as he hops through a field. Sounds cute, right? Now pick up a fork and eat the sucker. 816 W Armitage Ave (773-248-6228). Part of the eight-course grand tasting menu, $155. Seasonal.

Korean pancake with sesame-soy dipping sauce from Su-Ra

Photograph: Martha Williams

53. Korean pancake with sesame-soy dipping sauce | Su-Ra
Okay. We’ll level with you. It’s the sauce. The seemingly simple marriage of soy sauce, sesame oil and chili paste is so addictive, we’d keep dunking the seafood-scallion pancake in it even if it tasted like cardboard. (Luckily, it doesn’t; it’s nearly as good as the sauce.) 2257 W North Ave (773-276-9450). $9.

54. Strawberry-rhubarb margarita | Osteria Via Stato
Few bartenders are good enough to convince us to order a fruity margarita at an Italian restaurant, but Adam Seger is as close to a local celebrity mixologist as it gets. His cocktails have long wowed the crowds at Nacional 27, but it was the ’rita at OVS we tried back in June that slapped us on the ass and called us Sally. Pureed fresh strawberries and rhubarb, fresh lime, housemade limoncello, white-wine syrup and 1800 Reposado tequila combined for the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Let’s hope this summer brings a repeat performance. 620 N State St (312-642-8450). $10.95. Seasonal.

55. PBB&J ice cream | Bobtail Ice Cream Company
Personally, we’d never ask anybody under the age of ten to make us ice cream (the risk of getting gummy worms seems way too high). So imagine our surprise when Bobtail challenged Chicagoans to come up with new (and, sadly, temporary) flavors this past summer, and seven-year-old Avery Feinstein came up with PBB&J: peanut butter, banana and jelly—a flavor that should have been created a long, long time ago. 2951 N Broadway (773-880-7372). $2.75 a scoop. Seasonal.

56. Brandade | DeLaCosta
The design is Tim Burton meets Carnivale. The cocktails are fresh and fruity. The vibe is swank but not snooty. But of all the things we like about this two-year-old Nuevo Latino hot spot, the whipped salt cod brandade is why we sneak in monthly for a fix. It’s creamy, salty and slightly funky like any good brandade should be, but it’s the dish’s tiny, tangy-hot pickled guindilla peppers and crispy crust of razor-thin garlic chips that seal the deal. 465 E Illinois St (312-464-1700). $8.

57. Pie | The Brown Sack
Anybody can make a sandwich. But pie crust is a different matter. You never know when Malaika Marion is going to whip up a pie at her sandwich shack, but when she does, you should hope the flaky crust is holding her sweet-potato filling. If you happen to go on a day when it’s not available, relax: The milk shakes aren’t too shabby, either. 3706 W Armitage Ave (773-661-0675). $3 per slice. Seasonal.

58. Catfish in red curry | Rosded
When you glance around an ethnic restaurant’s dining room and notice nearly all of the expats eating the same thing, order it. At this tiny, unassuming Thai storefront, that ubiquitous dish would be the crispy catfish steaks smothered in pasty, earthy red-curry sauce. The understated sweet and subtle heat creeps up on you just as sure as the impending addiction to this house specialty. 2308 W Leland Ave (773-334-9055). $7.