THE GOOD GUYS: Blake in Bucktown

Meet Blake.

Blake loves writing. He loves food. Hence, he writes about food. A talented wordsmith and certified chef, he brilliantly combines the two in his professional life (magazine freelancer) and personal life with a blog called The Paupered Chef.

Blake and I get together for drinks almost weekly at a tucked-away neighborhood bar in Bucktown for the sole purpose of shooting the shit over cheap booze and reveling in the simple pleasures of Chicago. During these breaks from real-life responsibility, we mull over everything from style to food; business plans to literature; success to failure; and, of course, our unfinished ambitions.

But more than anything, Blake is full of thought. He considers everything carefully. And when he speaks, it's not out of impulse. His words carry weight. And that's one of many reasons I'm glad to call him a friend.

A few words about what Blake's got on:

The belt, a distinctive eye-catcher, was a gift from good friend Max Wastler (of All Plaidout). It was in fact Max who introduced us over a quick drink at The Gage.

The bag, a Levenger, a gift from his dad eight years ago. Perfect for carrying plenty of reading material—and Blake's an avid reader. The first few times we ran into each other, he sent me home with a couple of thick books by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Paul Auster. In turn, I loaned him Boss by Mike Royko. (When am I going to get that back, by the way?)

The shoes, hand-sewn in Maine.

"A week before I went on my honeymoon, I knew I wanted these shoes. The folks over at Quoddy were nice enough to rush the shipping ensure my travels would be comfortable and classic," Blake says.

So here's the deal: Over the next few weeks, we'll be teaming up with Blake to produce a tiny cookbook of sorts. There will be four (count 'em) recipes—one for each meal of the day—that will be constrained by situation (e.g. lunch while working from home), budget (e.g. $5, or maybe what you've got in the fridge) and time (e.g. you've got 10 minutes to throw an elegant breakfast together before heading to work.)

This is what you can expect: Beautiful photography, delicious food, and a few practical meals every guy should have in his repertoire. And it'll all be styled.

Check back next Wednesday for the first installment.

On Blake: Slim olive chino by Wings & Horns; blue button-down by Gitman Brothers; summer gingham tie by J.Crew factory; hoof pick leather belt by Hickorees; "New Wayfayer" in tortoise by Rayban; leather satchel by Levenger, given to him by his father.

THE GOOD GUYS: (Patio) Seth on Wrightwood

Meet (Patio) Seth.

He's a recent graduate from Tel Aviv University (you know, in Israel) with a degree in Public Policy and a double minor in long-boarding and vagabonding. Between schooling and world traveling, Seth's been using his green thumb and spending a few weekends in Chicago before he embarks on another journey. He's headed out west to Colorado on a fellowship handling public affairs at an alternative high school. Oddly enough, I met Seth two weeks ago while friends Katie and Emily were also visiting...

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"Do you know that there is a half-naked man asleep on your patio," says Katie, full of sass and already on her second cup of coffee as she cracked opened my bedroom door.

"No, what?" I reply as I rolled over on my (air) mattress.

"Yeah, come here," Katie shouts. Then, across the hall: "Hey! Emily, come check this out."

As the sun beamed into the screened in patio, Katie, Emily and I peered out the kitchen window and saw our newly found patio denizen. Shirtless and decked in board shorts with his hands trying to shield his face from the 8 a.m. sun, Patio Seth held onto slumber on a thrifted Persian rug next to a empty box of Wheat Thins from the night before.

Emily: "He looks hot. I mean, like it's gotta be hot out there."

Katie: "Yeah, there is no way that is comfortable, sleeping on that floor. Why isn't he on the couch right next to him?"

Me: "I'm not sure. I wonder who he is."

Luke, my other roommate, from out of nowhere: "Oh yeah, Seth stayed the night last night. He's one of my buddies from college. He just got back from Tel Aviv. I guess he slept on the patio."

Luke trails off and reaches for breakfast. He continues nonchalantly, "Naw, he's cool."

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ON PERSONAL STYLE: "The west coast influence of long-boarding inspires my style with the bright colors, and much of the same comes from my time in Tel Aviv. My clothes are generally brighter and lighter than most of my Midwest friends' style."

Seth grew up in a small town an hour or so outside of Chicago with a handful of siblings. While you and I spent our summers putzing around internships and lifeguarding at pools, Seth spent his summers being dropped out of helicopters to extinguish forest fires. See:

"Helicopters would give us lifts to fires and we'd tackle the beast. It was the perfect: daily doses of adrenaline and making my wallet thicker. It doesn't get much better."

He's already checked off long boarding and world traveling from his list. With blue-collar roots and homeschooling under his belt, Seth saved his pennies from forest fire money and set sail for the other side of the continent.

"I picked up long boarding after I came home from traveling in Asia for a year. My younger brother taught me when I was 24. We'd be done drinking and hit the roads, skating for an hour or two at a time. I felt like a kid again."

On Seth W.: The "Henley" jean by Baldwin Denim; denim button down shirt by Topman; thrifted denim jacket by Wrangler; engraved silver bracelet from a jeweler in Katmandu, Nepal; skate shoes from Castro in Tel Aviv.

Photography by Jeff Kieslich.