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Friday, August 31, 2001
And they are off! Tara here, very briefly saying hello before heading off for the long weekend. Visiting a number of restaurants during the next three days and will report anon. Until then, here is an interesting article on the attitudes of contemporary celebrity chefs Mean Cuisine to chew on until then. This, all should know, is my maiden voyage, as t'were, with HTML and blogging. Should I commit some egregious error or faux pas, throw rotten cyber tomatoes.
posted by Tara at 12:39 PM | Comment?
The trip starts tomorrow, and while we'd love to visit all the curious and/or inspiring restaurants between here, Baltimore, Philly, Boston, NYC, Cleveland and back again, we just won't have the time. In anticipation of this breach of service, we've enlisted the services of our most diligent and resourceful reader, Chowhound Tara, to take over blogging responsibilities while we're gone.
Hopefully we'll be able to check in on occasion from the road. In the meanwhile, please enjoy the world of dining as conveyed by one of its most passionate participants. Tara, the floor is yours.
posted by Sandor Weisz at 11:01 AM | Comment?
Monday, August 27, 2001
We've been pretty quiet here lately, mostly because we've been preoccupied with our road trip, which begins Saturday. The road will be long but time will be short, so I don't know how much road food we'll be able to explore.
Fortunately, Chowhound Tara has been scouring the Web so we wouldn't have to. She sends us three links:
- Chef talk, a bulletin board for food lovers and professional chefs. Already I've found a tip to improve my hash browns.
- "Going Gourmet," a story about a premium food market opening downtown. Judging from this and Trotter's to Go, high-end carryout seems to be the latest trend. Sort of Boston Market for yuppies.
- "A Simple Glass of Water." Indeed, a man named Fishman would be entitled to free H2O wherever he went.
Thanks, Tara!
posted by Luke at 7:04 AM | Comment?
Sunday, August 26, 2001
I had always figured he was just high on life.
And that is all I shall say about last night.
posted by Luke at 3:15 PM | Comment?
Friday, August 17, 2001
The New York Times story is a curious read, albeit high-falutin'. I'm glad it gives props to not only Chicago's chefs but its army of adventure diners, too.
I like that Shawn McClain of Spring says he "wanted a restaurant my friends could come to every week, not every six months." I, too, am eager for a place where friends can hang out, though we may be talking about two different things here. At $76 a plate, I'd want my friends coming every week, too, but I'd hardly expect them.
I also like what Blackbird's Paul Kahan says about "fine dining without stuffiness," but I must object to his bias against leftovers. He dismisses the Lettuce Entertain You concept as "feed 'em and feed 'em a lot, let them go home with a doggy bag." Piffle.
We got a taste of this bias -- a small taste, natch -- last night at Scott's going-away dinner, at Rise. My chicken came on a plate as big as the portion and twice again, and Sandy got a pint of soup in a half-gallon bowl. I suppose this would have been fine if we were given a pint-size check. We were not.
As I've noted, I'd like our portions to be enormous. We should also select dinnerware that is too small. The most frequent gripe from customers should be that food spills over the side when plates are placed on the table.
posted by Luke at 4:47 PM | 1 comment
Chowhound Tara pointed out a recent article in the New York Times that sung the praises of Chicago dining. Reading all that foodie talk makes my head spin, as I doubt that most of the points the author mentions in the article would apply to our concept of a good restaurant. Even so, it's nice to see Chicago earn the respect of those refined New Yorkers.
And if Chicago's the kitchen of American cooking, that's just one more reason why we should pick this fine city to open our own place.
posted by Sandor Weisz at 12:56 PM | Comment?
Thursday, August 09, 2001
Last week at Kitsch'n I noticed a sign boasting that the place served Intelligentsia coffee. Since then I've seen the same sign in several restaurants' windows, even at another coffeeshop.
We, too, should support independent purveyors and promote such patronage, whether it's meat from Leroy, ice cream from Taste of Heaven or salt and pepper from the Spice House. In fact, I could see our wait staff decked out like a NASCAR team, with patches for our favorite watering holes, newspapers and bookstores.
posted by Luke at 3:29 PM | Comment?
Monday, August 06, 2001
According to a Sunday Tribune story on the "renaissance" of Rogers Park, newcomers there complain about a lack of restaurants. Perhaps we could fill this void. I am attracted to the atmosphere of a college community and the clientele that comes with it. I'd suggest Evanston, too, but it is too saturated with restaurants and probably too upscale for our ambitions.
posted by Luke at 7:18 AM | Comment?
Friday, August 03, 2001
Dad wonders whether we'll have any Greek items on our menu. I hope so. On my trip to Aegina in the spring, I plan to learn technique from my sisters, maybe a unique dessert or appetizer. To go all-Greek would be ill-advised: Chicago has too many good Greek restaurants already and we lack the proper heritage. We'd be laughed out of town faster than you can say "Does Moussaka have one 'S' or two?"
I am reminded of a story Dad has of driving across the country and stopping for dinner in Sidney, Nebraska. He tried a place named Yendis, figuring it served Greek food, but was startled to find a menu of burgers and fries where he expected spanakopita and pastitsio. He asked a waitress about the name. "Oh," she said. "That's 'Sidney' spelled backwards."
posted by Luke at 9:38 AM | 2 comments
Thursday, August 02, 2001
With Chicago's nutty weather, we're sunk if we count on fair-weather fans. Let's offer a discount when it rains an inch or snows a foot. Or, free beverages: "When it rains, we pour!" We could even make Tom Skilling our celebrity mascot.
Update: Chowhound Tara reports that R.J. Grunts, the original in the Lettuce Entertain You empire, already has a variation of this on its menu: With any entree or salad, soup costs the lakefront temperature. I assume this is in degrees Farenheit and not in Kelvins.
posted by Luke at 10:04 AM | Comment?
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