Cubs or Sox fan: You are what you eat

Sure, you can support your team by topping your head with a Cubs championship cap or a T-shirt boasting the Sox's division title, but you can also show your team spirit through what you eat and drink.

Restaurants and bars around the area are backing our teams as they march through the playoffs with some novel, and some not so novel, offerings. Here's a taste:

Cheaper by the dozen: Just about every corner bakery offers sugar cookies dressed in Cubs and Sox frosting, but at Spunky Dunkers, 20 S. Northwest Hwy., Palatine, they're tracking sales. Staff on Wednesday reported the North Siders have so far outsold the South Siders. Foreshadowing?

Shake it up: Leave the Budweiser to the ballpark crowds and sip a sporty martini at Morton's The Steakhouse (Naperville, Rosement, Schaumburg, Westchester and Chicago). The three-layered Cubstini features fruit-infused liquors (pineapple and pomegranate among them) while the Soxtini's two layers are flavored with vanilla vodka and coffee liqueur. At $11, they're still cheaper than bleacher seats.

Something fishy: It's too early to know if the Cubs and Sox will meet in the World Series, but they do meet on the plate at Kohan Japanese Restaurant, 730 W. Maxwell St., Chicago. For $27 you can get a platter of Sox rolls (white tuna over yellowtail, crab, avocado and cucumber topped with black tobiko) and Cubs rolls (spicy tuna over shrimp tempura and crab drizzled with a special tangy blue mayo).

Goin' to the dogs: As you're heading to the game at Wrigley Field, stop into Wrigleyville Dogs, 3737 N. Clark St., for a special sausage paying homage to that day's starting pitcher. The Dempster Dog (for Ryan Dempster) featured Canadian bacon, and they promise to honor Kerry Wood's ability to "wrap up the game" in equally delicious fashion.

Upper crust: If you're watching the game at home, cook up a Piniella Panini. This is my own concoction that draws on Cub manager Lou Pinella's Spanish background: Layer caramelized onions and garlic, jamon serrano, manchego cheese and apple cider-infused mayo on hearty bread and toast on a hot griddle. I'm a Cub fan, so if you want to propose an Ozzie Hoagie, I'm open to suggestions.