Quick Bites

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Mar 20, 2008 2:00PM

Grant Achatz's battle with oral cancer has been covered extensively. A Tuesday article in the Tribune adds a couple wrinkles to the story. The radical approach Achatz chose for his treatment (18 weeks of chemotherapy, 6 weeks of radiation and the removal of some of his lymph nodes) was his fourth consultation and was performed by Dr. Everett Vokes, chief of hematology/oncology at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Vokes indicated that so far Achatz is fortunate in that the biopsy they received from him after the treatment showed no signs of cancer. Although Achatz is in remission right now, the wait is on: the chances of his particular form of cancer recurring are within the first two years after treatment.

Some may think that our tax on bottled water is a bit extreme. We could be living in San Francisco or Seattle. Seattle mayor Greg Nickels signed an executive order last week banning the Emerald City from buying bottled water. Which means that you won't find bottled water at city facilities and events anytime soon if you're planning to visit. This seems like as good a time as any to remind you that UNICEF World Water Week runs through Saturday.

Julia Thiel at the Food Chain posted a critique of New York-based food blogger Steve Plotnicki's new guide The 100 Best Restaurants in North America and Europe. Guaranteed to elicit heated discussion for its lack of Midwestern depth, Thiel also noted a New York Sun article where Plotnicki admits he makes no attempts at dining anonymously. Plotnicki said that his objective was to "elicit the best possible meal that a restaurant has to offer and in that context anonymity actually hurts instead of helps." Rrriiiggghhht. Because every customer at a restaurant comes in announcing that they're reviewing the place in the interest of getting optimum service. What Plotnicki is essentially saying is that he's available to the highest bidder.

Finally, the reviews are trickling in on Rockstar Dogs, and they're exactly what we expected of a hot dog stand with Dion Antic's name attached to it. Apparently he can't even install a proper stripper pole in the damn place. So expect to work up some callouses on your hands for your free wieners, ladies.