Chicago Diaries: Renegade Craft, Good Food & Even Better Coffee.

If you follow along on Instagram, you probably saw that I recently packed up Katie Dean Jewelry and headed to Chicago for Renegade Craft! Between setting up our booth, meeting so many of you in person and spending two full days surrounded by some incredibly talented independent artists, we managed to squeeze in a little coffee and food tour through Chicago, too.

Good coffee and good food are basically mandatory when I travel, so I saved a few of my favorite spots from the trip. Consider this my mini Chicago food diary—with a little jewelry mixed in, naturally.

LOBA PASTRY + COFFEE

One of my favorite things to do when traveling is find a really good local coffee shop, and Loba Pastry + Coffee absolutely delivered. This small-batch bakery and coffee shop has a rotating pastry menu, with everything made with so much creativity and attention to detail. Their pastries incorporate seasonal ingredients and unexpected flavors, which honestly reminded me a little of designing jewelry—taking familiar elements and combining them in a way that feels completely new. (Loba Pastry + Coffee)

We stopped in for coffee and pastries before a busy day in Chicago, and it was exactly the kind of place I love discovering when I'm traveling: beautiful, unfussy and very much focused on the craft. And naturally, my everyday bracelet stack (Candy Bracelet + Gold Rolo) came along for the coffee run.

CANDOR

Another coffee stop because... obviously. We visited Candor in Wicker Park, right on Division Street—the same street where we spent the weekend at Renegade Craft. Candor is an independently owned neighborhood coffee shop specializing in espresso, matcha, tea and seasonal drinks. (candor)

The space itself is minimal and understated, and the whole experience felt very Chicago in the best way. We grabbed lattes and a pastry before heading out for the day, and I couldn't resist snapping a photo of our coffee situation. Coffee + croissants might officially be my ideal morning.

VACA'S CREAMERY

This one might have been the biggest surprise of the trip. Vaca’s Creamery makes completely vegan soft serve, including chocolate and vanilla made with oat milk, and it was genuinely some of the best non-dairy soft serve I've ever had. Their ice cream, sauces and many of their toppings are made in-house, which made me love the concept even more. (Vaca's Creamery)

I went all in with a chocolate-vanilla twist soft serve, chocolate topping, rainbow sprinkles and cookie dough, and it was every bit as good as it looks in the photo. After spending the weekend surrounded by independent artists and makers at Renegade, I especially loved finding another small business putting so much care into what they make. And the rainbow sprinkles felt very on-brand for someone who spends her days making colorful beaded jewelry.

SMALL CHEVAL

You can't spend a weekend in Chicago without fitting in at least one really good burger, right? We stopped at Small Cheval- Old Town for lunch and... WHOA. Their menu keeps things pretty simple—signature burgers, golden fries, fried chicken and a handful of other classics—and I am very much in favor of doing a few things and doing them really well. Their burgers are served house-style with dijonnaise, onions and pickles, and we added fries and chicken tenders to the table because apparently we were hungry. (Small Cheval)

It was casual, delicious and exactly what we needed after a very busy Chicago weekend. Sometimes the best travel meals aren't the fancy ones—they're the ones where you sit down after being on your feet all day, jewelry still stacked on, order a burger and fries, and think, okay, this is perfect.

If you're hungry by this point, sorry, haha! Make sure to save this list for your next Chicago trip and enjoy. :)