Cameron Brenson TikTok obstacle: sample foods from each and every nation in the earth by way of Chicago dining places

This calendar year, Chicago content material creator Cameron Brenson liked meals in Afghanistan, Albania and Algeria — devoid of leaving the metropolis. 

Brenson, a digital creator, has amassed just in excess of 250 thousand followers on TikTok with shorter videos recommending offbeat eats and pursuits all around Chicago. 

He’s at the moment stamping his passport in a culinary journey through the food items of every single state in the entire world, as offered by Chicago dining places.

Performing in alphabetical buy via the nationwide dishes or most well-liked food items all around the globe, Brenson established a starting intention of two new dining places a week. He’s currently sourcing recommendations for Andorra, Angola and Antigua and Barbuda. 

The problem began with kabuli pulao, an Afghan rice dish, at Afghan Bamyan Kabob in North Park. Then, Albanian food introduced Brenson to Rogers Park, where by burek — a flaky crammed pastry showcasing meat and raisins — was an instant favored.

“It just form of seems like a meat pie, but it was way lighter than I anticipated,” Brenson mentioned. “I could have almost certainly eaten a few much more of them.” 

A software package marketer by day, Brenson grew up in La Grange and moved to Chicago right after college. His social media presence, below the username @bored_in_chicago, started off as a way to enable him department out. 

“I would be sitting there on like a Saturday or a Sunday remaining like, I really don’t know what to do with myself,” Brenson said. “I never seriously want to go to a bar and drink.  What else is there to do in the town?”

Brenson crafted a web site to give consumers random activity tips, then documented his tips on Youtube and Instagram right before relocating to TikTok in late 2019. 

“I posted some random video of, like, a tequila shot I received in a bar, and kind of forgot about it,” Brenson explained. “A thirty day period or two afterwards, I opened up the app once more and noticed that it experienced like a thousand sights, and my head was blown.”

Now, Brenson options to center @bored_in_chicago all around the “Eating meals from each individual country” collection. 

The series was inspired by other TikTok creators on food journeys, cooking the national dish of every region at property or ingesting a conventional food items from every condition in America. 

Brenson deemed a Chicago-dependent obstacle for practically 6 months, he stated.

“I type of ripped the band-assist off,” Brenson stated. “I was like, it is the middle of January. I have no thought what to do. Let’s just go to an Afghan cafe and see how it goes. And then it was amazing.” 

Brenson’s bites have ranged from $10-$20. He does not ordinarily enable cafe personnel know he’s filming a sequence, hoping to stay under the radar. 

Ahead of attempting a cuisine new to him, Brenson browses web pages like Reddit and Youtube to study about the heritage of the space, as nicely as verify his pronunciation. 

His most current publish options hen and vegetable tajine, a fragrant Algerian stew above couscous, from Halal DZ Household in Belmont Cragin. The video clip has close to 11.5 thousand likes.

Brenson hopes to preserve the series going for at minimum a 12 months and a fifty percent.

An additional pair of creators, Lauren and Simon Willis, set out in 2020 to eat food items from each and every country in 80 times with no leaving New York Town. The task finished just after 99 nations around the world. 

Brenson has previously struggled to come across food items from selected international locations — permit him know if you have at any time been to an Angolan cafe in Chicago. He’s also cautious of misclassifying certain dishes that are popular throughout many international locations in a region. 

“I don’t want to unintentionally take in food stuff that is well-known in that region, but maybe it is far more deserving to go to one more state,” Brenson said, “Especially just knowing a good deal of traditions have about borders.”

This was the circumstance for Albania. Immediately after sorting through 20 suggestions, Brenson visited Bina’s Place, a West Rogers Park spot wherever flaky, savory burek shared a menu with Turkish desserts and American bar bites.

Most dining places in the problem have been on the north side of Chicago so considerably, Brenson reported, primarily in Rogers Park.

Brenson strategies to skip in excess of cuisines he cannot come across, retaining a functioning checklist in intellect.

“If a restaurant virtually opens up or anyone else factors me towards one, then I’ll circle again and include it,” he explained.

Brenson’s TikTok and Instagram followers have submitted recommendations on foreseeable future dishes from Chile to Kyrgyzstan, as very well as their fair share of jokes. In one look for for Australian eating places, a commenter recommended Outback Steakhouse.

Following up for Brenson as he finishes off the “A”s: Argentina, Armenia and Australia. 

“The reception has been seriously exciting to see,” Brenson explained. “Tons of folks have great tips.” 

Performing on the series has broadened Brenson’s partnership with Chicago, he explained, bringing him in contact with communities from areas he’s hardly ever been equipped to check out on his individual.

“Most people today [live] in a bubble in Chicago,” Brenson mentioned. “And it is really fun to explore a new community, a new type of foods or activity you could not even assume you would appreciate, just to try out it out, see how it goes.”