Best Day Ever: "Hot Ones" host Sean Evans
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Sean Evans visited the Mercury First Lady during a return to Chicago in August. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios
Years before Sean Evans tortured celebrities with spicy wings and questions on the hit show "Hot Ones," the Evanston-native delighted tourists with intriguing stories of Chicago as a Mercury Cruise guide.
What he's saying: "It was the most important crash course for what I do now," Evans told Axios during a recent visit to his hometown.
- "I did five tours a day, every day, and it really helped to build a kind of performance persona. You get a feel for the audience and the moments that light them up and when they're yawning and you need to fine tune."
Driving the news: The 25th season of "Hot Ones" kicks off today with fresh batch of sauces and celebrities willing to be interviewed while scalding their insides.
In the meantime we served Evans some hot questions on how he would spend his perfect day in Chicago.
🏃♂️➡️ Morning activity: Morning lakefront run, "because I'm not sure there's an equivalent in New York. It's just so beautiful and the best way to wake up."
🍳 Breakfast: "Little Goat Diner for a breakfast sandwich. Those are awesome."
🛳️ Midday activity: "Of course a Mercury Cruise if you're visiting from out of town, or even if you live here, just to see these buildings up close."
- "But also the Art Institute to see Nighthawks by Edward Hopper, my favorite painting of all time."
🍔 Lunch: "Yesterday we went to Au Cheval for that burger and it was a big hit with me and the whole ["Hot Ones"] team."
🎆 Evening activity: "Any other time in my life I would say, go to a White Sox game, but the way they're playing right now, I would say do a fireworks cruise."
🥤 Dinner: "One of the best dinner experiences of my life was Next Restaurant's nostalgia menu where they had this amazing fine dining version of a Big Mac.
- But I'm kind of a high-low person, so I'd also go to Portillo's and have the beef and cheddar croissant, onions rings and an iced cold Dr. Pepper."
😴 After hours: "I usually let my friends decide," he says. "I like to be in bed before 10 o'clock."