Food: August 2007 Archives

Chicagoist has been thinking a lot lately about our pantry and what makes it a good one. Often we go into it and stare at its shelves in awe of all the possible things we could make without having to leave our house for ingredients. For us there are a number of things we consider absolute necessities; among them are: cans of black olives (midnight snack or easy finger food), canned tomatoes (tomato sauce at...

We intended to write a post this week on making our own tomato sauce as something to do with all the tomatoes in our garden, but we never got around to it. As you can see, it's pretty easy to do, and if you click here you'll see the recipe we used. We ran the sauce through a food mill to give it a coarse texture and remove excess water with the intent of using...

Last week we were part of a “whiskey dinner” at David Burke’s Primehouse with Martin Duffy, a "master of whisk(e)y" for the liquor holding company Diageo. Mr. Duffy's specialty is focusing on the classic malts of Scotland: Talisker, Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie, Cragganmore, Oban, Clynelish, Caol Ila and Lagavulin. At the time, whiskey and steak seemed like a common-sense pairing to us, if not cliché. The dinner, which started off lovely with a delightful amuse bouche and...

In case some of you may have forgotten, that's Emmy in the picture. Depending on the time of day she's the smartest mammal in our household. She's unusually happy today, because yesterday the City Council inched closer to allowing her the right to join us for meals at outdoor cafés, a notion that flies in the face of common sense, sanitary concerns, arguments posited by a former alderman and the director of food protection for...

Have you been to SushiSamba Rio on a Wednesday for “Favela Night?” Then again, have you even been there lately? The downtown Japanese/Brazilian/Peruvian hotspot has been open for some time now, but the weekday dinners definitely haven’t lost any hype. Chicagoist tried out the new fall menu, and boy, oh boy, if you haven’t been to Samba, now might be a good time to go....

A month ago a friend of ours landed a job tending bar at Skylark. He's opening the place a couple days a week, and while it isn't the most ideal shift, it is a job. Since Skylark isn't far from our stomping grounds, we decided to pay him a visit, the possibility of maybe one free beer in the offing in the back of our mind. He saw us enter, took stock of the draft...

Gourmet Magazine's September issue is a special "Latino America" issue, which means that not only is it chock-full of recipes for moles, tamales, and other delicacies, but that it also features multiple articles on Latino American cuisine in the U.S. Time Out Chicago food writer David Tamarkin has an article documenting the fantastic Mexican food scene in Chicago, highlighting specifically the number of regions and styles of cuisine our fair city offers. And while...

Scott Harney must have been very very good in a previous life. Well, that is, if you believe in that sort of thing. How else do you explain having a job where you have to spend—emphasis on the have to—large amounts of time eating high-end chocolate and cheese, followed by drinking lots of very good wine? Okay, we know that his job as wine director at Eno also involves doing some work-like tasks, too, but we’re sure even he would admit he’s got a sweet deal.

We fell in love with the concept of live band karaoke way back when we saw the original crew, that Chicago's collective would be modeled after, perform at Arlene's Grocery years ago. When we discovered an enterprising young man was taking the idea and planting it in Chicago we had great hopes for it, but we honestly didn't foresee just how popular it would eventually become. Yow! The thing about regular karaoke is that, well,...

Throughout our time writing for Chicagoist, we have been lucky enough to go to many a special event. From food expos to chocolate and wine tastings, we have had the opportunity to see a side of food commerce that many never do. We think it's a pretty good and interesting side. Its main purpose, as we see it, is to get the word about a new product out to the masses. The best way...

Throughout our time writing for Chicagoist, we have been lucky enough to go to many a special event. From food expos to chocolate and wine tastings, we have had the opportunity to see a side of food commerce that many never do. We think it's a pretty good and interesting side. Its main purpose, as we see it, is to get the word about a new product out to the masses. The best way...

Chicagoist has a saying among friends, "no good night ever started with Sparks." While we are totally in favor of beer (obviously), we aren't totally on board with beer that tastes like orange candy and changes the color of your teeth and tongue. Apparently, neither is Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Attorneys General from 28 other states.

Looking to be famous? Think you know how to cook? Have the thick skin needed to put up with constant verbal abuse from an asshole Scotsman? Then polish your resumes, sharpen your knives and head to the Illinois Institute of Art on Wabash Wednesday. From 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. Fox is hosting an open casting call for the next season of Hell's Kitchen (via), hosted by the mercurial Gordon Ramsay. Producers are looking for...

"'Cause it's Friday, you ain't got no job ... and you ain't got shit to do." Well, you can go check out the New Orleans Social Club at Millennium Park. If you aren't, here's some stuff in the news. Buckingham Fountain is slated to undergo a complete overhaul in autumn 2008. Near West Side businesses get $1.5 million in TIF money intended for keeping manufacturing jobs in the area. Does Manny Flores have the...

So it's been a little more than a week since Half Acre Beer Company started placing their lager at various bars and package stores around the city. By "around the city" we mean "Wicker Park and Bucktown, save for a couple locations." There's going to be a lot written in upcoming weeks about Half Acre owner Gabriel Magliaro's decision to have his beer brewed on contract in Wisconsin, and whether the knowledge that the beer...

Might as well start this week's installment off by pointing out that Taste of Greece is happening this weekend in Greektown. Half of us (the paternal half) is excited about this. The festival runs from noon until 11 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday. If you are heading to Greektown this weekend, consider attending Alexa Ganakos' Greektown in All Its Glory lecture at the Chicago History Museum before going, sponsored by the Culinary Historians of Chicago....

The plants we've been watching with worry in our garden have been our pepper plants. We got a late start to this whole project (most everything was planted around Memorial Day) and our natural inclination leans toward impatience, which isn't the temperament to have when were waiting for a garden to grow. That impatience morphed to outright frustration as we watched the tomatoes explode with rich, vibrant fruit. A month ago, when we noticed the...

A few weeks ago, we came to you with a problem; we wanted to eat some delicious Chinese food, but didn't want to travel south of the Loop to find it. Based on your comments we decided to check out Friendship Chinese in Logan Square. The night we were planning on heading there was on the rainy and gross side of things, so we opted to order in. We ordered the vegetarian spring rolls...

No, it isn't us; we'll get there soon enough, thank you. The Big Mac, one of Oak Brook-based McDonald's signature hamburgers, debuted forty years ago this week. The sandwich was created by Jim Delligatti in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Even though the Big Mac today is a part of American food and popular culture, Delligatti had to convince executives at Hamburger U that the concept of "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on...

When Moto’s Homaro Cantu said he’s worked with NASA to develop space food for astronauts because, “One day we’ll all have to start thinking about Mars,” it was a pretty “out there” comment. But statements like these come from Cantu, a modest, hospitable and friendly person, because, well, he’s borderline genius. The dishes he serves at his nationally acclaimed, four-star restaurant fit just this description. They’re totally “out there,” but they’re incredibly ingenious, creative, scientific,...

Thanks largely to the ubiquity of the Food Network, everyone dabbles a bit in gourmet these days. Even bars that one would think should only cater in standard pub grub are going out of their way and dressing up their burgers with buns and sides our grandparents wouldn't dream of when they were our age. We're not knocking it, mind you. We're just saying that sometimes we just want a burger to just be a burger.

A few weeks back Chicagoist shared our favorite recipe/technique for roasting a chicken. Since that time we have, yet again, impressed our dining guests with its result. We had assumed we would be feeding four people, but we ended up feeding just two (and ourselves). This smaller number led to a fair amount of leftover meat for us to deal with in the following days. We had ourselves a chicken sandwich, and we considered any...

Like the circle of life, this week we revisit Warrenville's Two Brothers Brewing Company nearly a year to the day that we featured their Prairie Path Ale in this column. This time around, they've got something special for us.

It is difficult to believe it has been a year since Chicago outlawed selling foie gras in the city. Judging from the number of times we've written about it, the last twelve months have been interesting ones for the much-maligned/celebrated product. Perhaps what is most interesting, according to Phil Vettel in today's Trib, is that a year later, it really isn't so difficult to find foie gras in the city.

Oh, how we wished we would have spent more time at the Bongo Room before we had our baby. This trendy Wicker Park eatery, famous for its sugary brunch specials, lives up to the hype. Taking a child to eat there, however, requires some savings and a bit of strategy. First, the food is as rumored: tasty, sweet dishes make up a good portion of the menu. We tried their chocolate French toast ($10.75, pictured),...

Here are some other newsworthy items to ponder while we slap some Tiger Balm on our knees. Serves us right for riding our bikes to Morgan Park and back. Even when being deported, Elvira Arellano can't stop talking. She also got to see her 8-year-old son, Saul, before leaving. He's staying with his grandmother godmother. The "cell-phone bandit?" Now that's a robber with a gimmick. Bond for two men accused of robbing former Bull...

If “d-bag” or other words relating to female cleansing products came to your head when you first heard about English opening in the Clark/LaSalle/Ontario corridor, you’re not too far off. The weekends are a sure bet for sceney types and well, so is a Monday after work apparently. So why even go there? If you like that sort of stare-down beautiful people watching, you’re in luck here. If not, stick to the sidewalk patio...

While we've been bragging about the size of our tomatoes and the bountiful yield of our basil plant, we've let the necessary tasks of pruning and weeding our garden go untended. Just take a look at the creeper vines and other weeds surrounding our pepper plants. We knew when we decided to plant a garden in our backyard that it would take more than some water and sun to get some yield from our plants...

Lately we've dedicated more than a few sentences about Honky Tonk BBQ, the new Pilsen-based barbecue restaurant officially opening in late September. We even announced that they were doing a sneak preview of their menu last weekend. Having sampled their 'cue while making our rounds on the street fair circuit we had a lot of questions, mainly about the true quality of the meat.

Having dealt with liquor wholesalers and spirits marketing companies for as long as we have, the past few years have been an interesting time frame. We've seen companies throw insane amounts of money (in some cases overpaying) to acquire high-profile spirits brands for their portfolios. No amount of money spent so far may come close to what Deerfield-based Fortune Brands Inc. may have to shell out in order to maintain the distribution rights to Absolut...

The dropping temperature and pouring rain didn't stop us from getting excited when we read that three new frozen yogurt places will be opening up in Chicago in the near future. Frozen yogurt? Like TCBY? Yes, but better. This isn't just any fro-yo, as Chicagoist likes to call it. We're talking about Pinkberry (A.K.A Crackberry), which is either the best thing since sliced bread, or a huge crock of marketing shit. Our coastal friends...

This month's issue of Inc. Magazine has an amazing article detailing the years of infighting between brothers Darryl and Brian Rosen for control of Sam's Wine and Spirits that's a little bit sibling rivalry and a lot of "you don't have my the best interests of the company in mind." According to the article, the root issue over control of the company was one of vision: Darryl, the older brother, was the more conservative of...

With all of the rain we’ve had recently, Chicagoist has been forced to abandon our nightly summer ritual of grilling for indoor cooking. While we don’t mind cooking indoors, it tends to heat up the whole Chicagoist pad no matter how high we turn up the air conditioning. Thankfully, the rain has also helped our basil plant grow beyond our wildest expectations—and the best thing we can think of to do with a whole load...

With all of the rain we’ve had recently, Chicagoist has been forced to abandon our nightly summer ritual of grilling for indoor cooking. While we don’t mind cooking indoors, it tends to heat up the whole Chicagoist pad no matter how high we turn up the air conditioning. Thankfully, the rain has also helped our basil plant grow beyond our wildest expectations—and the best thing we can think of to do with a whole load...

"One Mint Julep" seems to be a fitting theme for this week, in both photo and song (Last.fm doesn't lie). Let's move on, shall we? Today is "Charlie Trotter Day" in Chicago, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the opening of his eponymous restaurant. The Sun-Times had a couple of nice pieces this week in conjunction. We linked to Janet Fuller's story of Trotter's first two employees, who are still with him today, in...

A few weeks back in one of the "Friday Buffet" installments we wrote about Honky Tonk BBQ, a vendor that's been traveling around the street fair circuit all summer serving up some decent barbecue, but nothing that makes us start searching for superlatives to describe it. We've attributed that to them traveling around, spending full weekends with the same stuff to sell to passers-by who might be more interested in purely bacchanalian pursuits. Our suspicion is that, once they officially open to the public in September, Smoque might be in for some serious competition for the attentions of foodies and BBQ enthusiasts.

Our friends over at LTHforum have just opened up the nominations period for new Great Neighborhood Restaurants (GNRs). We've sung the praises of this program before; with Chicago being "a city of neighborhoods," it can oftentimes be difficult to get to know the ins and outs of new neighborhoods. Chicagoist certainly will cop to this. We tend to avoid going out anywhere (and yes, this is really sad) that isn't within walking distance of our...

A couple months back as our Chicago winter blended into summer, we were doing some research on summer beers that turned out to be very beneficial. We were preparing for what we thought at the time would be a summer without Bell's Oberon. However that beer, while still legally unavailable in Illinois, turned out to be easier to acquire than we thought. And although we like Goose Island 312, we didn't see ourselves going through the whole summer with that as our go-to beer.

Chicagoist has long been a fan of Goose Island beers. Not only have they long been a staple Beer of the Week, but we're pretty sure our names are on a plaque somewhere on the pub walls as "Masters of Beer Appreciation," a feat accomplished in the hazy years before our baby. What we didn't know then was that we could have our kid and our beer, too.

Great. Another bar/restaurant with a funky name, overpriced menu, and hipster vibe in the Bucktown/Wicker Park corridor. That’s probably your first impression when you heard of the recently opened Bluebird Bistro and Winebar on Damen in Bucktown. In actuality, though, this casual, rustic spot from owner Tom MacDonald of the popular Webster’s Wine Bar in Lincoln Park will knock those stereotypes right out of the floor-to ceiling-glass window next to the front door. That’s...

Lately our Gardenist project has taken a back seat to other priorities. We've done some weeding and pruning, but nothing out of the ordinary. The peppers are even showing signs of blooming, which pleases us to no end.

It all first started when she started seeing apples from New Zealand in her local supermarket. “It didn’t make sense. We live in an apple-growing region,” said Alisa Smith (pictured above), half of the writing team of “Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally” at a lecture/book signing Monday night at Fox & Obel. Add to that a spur-of-the-moment meal they had to whip up for friends at their wilderness cabin in British Columbia with only the food they could forage, and the light bulb started flashing for Smith and her partner James MacKinnon. “It was the most delicious meal and was the first time we knew everything about the food on our plate,” she recalled.

A couple weeks back, Mayor Daley introduced next year's city budget, complete with a $217 million hole that's going to require some to "take one for the team" to close.

Got any plans for August 19? If not, you should consider brunch at Manny's Coffee Shop and Deli. Not only would you get the opportunity to munch on classic deli faves like lox and bagels, noodle kugel, corned beef sandwiches, pastrami sandwiches, and potato pancakes (not to mention salads, eggs and desserts), but you would also be supporting a good cause. Bright Pink is an organization dedicated to educating and supporting women who have a high risk of breast or ovarian cancer. One strong supporter of the group says that the organization "is not just another breast cancer organization, but rather [it] is committed to spearheading a fresh and empowering movement among young women. We believe in the beauty and strength of women. The organization exists to enlighten and empower high-risk individuals to take control of their breast health for a better, brighter future." Sounds good to us. In addition to the brunch, there is also a silent auction that will feature items ranging from a week's vacation at a 5-star resort in Cabo ($5,000 dollar value) to skydiving jumps. Also mentioned were the more traditional spa visits and restaurant experiences. Manny's is hosting this event out of the goodness of their hearts and their strong belief in what Bright Pink is doing for young women across the country. All proceeds from the brunch and auction will benefit Bright Pink.

The dog days of August are here. And we've got some ways to beat the humidity or, even better, give it a big ol' raspberry. We've also got some food news for you. Let's get started. - From Crain's, Jon Young and Helene Albert, the folks behind Kitsch'n and Volo have a new gastropub opening later this month. The two-story Paramount Room at 415 N. Milwaukee in River West will center on pairing upscale pub...

Yesterday the Illinois House approved legislation regarding how customers will be able to buy their wine. It's a story we've been keeping tabs on here at Chicagoist for a while. Supporters of the bill champion HB 429 as a victory for Illinois consumers. They claim that the uniform 12-case limit shared by in- and out-of-state wineries, and the establishment of a permit system allowing smaller out-of-state wineries to sell their product directly to retailers,...

Hold your tongues and stay away from the keyboard. Yes, we here at Chicagoist have levied more than our share of criticisms at Whole Foods. We're also familiar with the taste of crow, and have to give them credit where credit is due. When it comes to mission statements and core philosophy, Whole Foods walks the walk. We were joined by our markets writer Lisa Shames and primary food news writer Laura Oppenheimer Monday night...

Now that it seems as though the weather is finally catching up with the calendar, we at Chicagoist feel an obligation to offer some “BotW” selections that won’t put you down any further than the impending muggy weather. Rooting through our fridge, we found one that we think might do the trick for you who like both sweeter and lighter beers. We took a good hard look at the Grand Rapids-based Founder’s brewery a few...

Pop quiz! Which is better: a Chicken McNugget or a small morsel of chicken meat that has been battered and fried to look like, smell like and taste like a Chicken McNugget, a piece of chicken lacking only the telltale McDonalds' wrapping? If you answered the McNugget, you aren't alone; A recent study of preschoolers in which the children sampled identical McDonald's foods in name-brand and unmarked wrappers found that the unmarked food always lost. Even when it was apples, carrots or milk they still picked the McDonald's wrapped snack.

We've finally recovered (well, mostly) from the whirlwind weekend that was Lollapalooza 2007. There were certain highs, and definite lows, but overall we've still pleased that the festival has chosen Chicago as its home. In its third year many of the past problems (like sound bleed or wonky scheduling that necessitated obscene amounts of walking in extremely limited spans of time) seemed mostly solved. There were a few cruel overlaps schedule-wise, but when you have...

We've finally recovered (well, mostly) from the whirlwind weekend that was Lollapalooza 2007. There were certain highs, and definite lows, but overall we've still pleased that the festival has chosen Chicago as its home. In its third year many of the past problems (like sound bleed or wonky scheduling that necessitated obscene amounts of walking in extremely limited spans of time) seemed mostly solved. There were a few cruel overlaps schedule-wise, but when you have...

Take a walk down 18th Street in Pilsen and you won’t go far without passing a carnitas shop, pizza joint, hot dog stand or Mexican grill. It’s a varied mix of cheap (read: affordable) and cheap (read: not very good). For tablecloth dining options in the neighborhood, diners are often limited to May Street Café or Picante Grill, two places both given the Chicagoist review treatment. The former closes down when convenient (e.g the previous...

Chicagoist needs your help. This weekend, we were getting ready to go out for some delicious Chinese food on the north side when we had a realization; we have no idea where to go out for Chinese food when dining north of Chinatown. In the past we've sung the praises of Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and so on, but when it came to finding a Chinese restaurant to head to on a Friday night, we...

Congratulations! You've made it to the last day of Lollapalooza (but probably not the last day of our coverage). You've stuck it out through the heat and the occasional rain. Maybe you've been subsisting on energy bars and your refillable water bottle or you've been ducking out of the masses of people to grab a bite outside the fest at McDonald's or Subway. But today is different.You know your hunger pains are going to hit right between Peter, Bjorn and John and Modest Mouse, and you're not going to want another McChicken.

This week, just for "guest", Chicagoist decided to tie this installment of the "Buffet" into Lollapalooza. We also have an update on Bell's, some other newsworthy items, and the usual complement of events. - A forum thread started at Beer Advocate earlier this week asked the million-dollar question: When is Bell's coming back to Illinois? Standing out among the speculation was a reply from Larry Bell himself. Bell told the forum that he's been talking...

If you haven’t been to Sweets & Savories on a Wednesday night for $10 Kobe beef burgers, boy are you missing out on this sweet..er..rich deal. The whopper of a burger, no pun intended, comes in 1/2-pound form (we think it might be more though), seared on the outside and cooked medium rare for the ultimate in juiciness, topped with a strong blue cheese, and sandwiched between two buttery, brioche buns. Slather a little of the blue cheese aioli on the treat and life doesn’t get much better.

Imagine you’re an immigrant who has arrived in Chicago from Jerusalem.

The city's biggest music festival of the summer kicks off tomorrow, and you can feel the excitement building in the Chicagoist offices. However, we've had to put our cub reporters through some summer festival basic training, since this one blows all the others out of the water in sheer scope and size. The bands are the draw, and the primary source of fun, but there are a few other things you -- and our cub...

When we wrote about the Gardenist project last week, we intimated that our basil "threatened to overrun all the other plants." It wasn't until we were in the midst of pruning the tomato plants yesterday that we realized just how much of an understatement that actually was. Aside from our normal weeding and the occasional picking of cilantro, we've left most of the herbs alone. But we've got chicken breasts thawing out in the fridge,...

So we were at Fiesta del Sol the other day, taking photos and soaking in the ado going on around us. For those of you who aren't aware, Fiesta del Sol is an alcohol-free event. That means that you stand a good chance of seeing the stray can of beer or flask of sumthin' stand out among the throngs of stroller-wielding pedestrians (no neighborhood is immune). After a couple hours of negotiating kids hopped on churros and El Campeón virgin piña coladas running circles around our feet, we needed a beer. So we headed to Skylark for a nightcap before heading home.

In the past two months Chicagoist has roasted three chickens. For us that's a record. We have managed to combine all our past roast chicken experiences with a bit of research and now, we believe, we have perfected our own favorite recipe and method for an absolutely succulent main course. In the past Chicagoist has cooked our chickens in the same way we cook our Thanksgiving turkeys: breast side up with constant basting and liberal...