Getting lunch for 20 hungry cops who have been riding around in the freezing Chicago winter or blistering summer heat requires a remarkable degree of diplomacy, grit, and street savvy. Seriously, these folks are armed! They’re out there putting their lives on the line hour by hour; and when their stomachs are growling, they’re not calling for a Big Mac. They want real food, good food, the kind of food that makes them forget about the mean streets of Chi-Town for half an hour. They want Italian beefs, stuffed pizza, and catfish nuggets; they want ribs, red hots, and pulled pork sandwiches. Some even want salads. Join us as we walk this beat with Sgt. David J. Haynes and Christopher Garlington.
Sgt. David J. Hayne’s no chef, food writer, or restaurateur. A former marine, Sgt. Haynes has spent the past 15 years dodging bullets and chasing down gang bangers on the city’s West Side, running Chicago’s first ever Homeland Security Task Force, and supervising squads in the 19th District at Belmont and Western. During those years, one of his most daunting tasks—and indeed one of the most important ones—was to get lunch.
Christopher Garlington lives in Chicago in a standard two kids, wife, dog, corner-lot American dream package. He drives a 2003 Camry, sports a considerable notebook fetish, and smokes Arturo Fuente Partaga Maduros as often as possible. His column in Chicago Parent magazine won a PMA award for best humor writing, 2011. He is the blogger behind the infamous parenting blog “Death By Children” and the mind behind the pop-up sensation “Eating Vincent Price.”
Recorded Saturday, March 24, 2012 at Kendall College.
