If Chefs Were Really Rock Stars, Who Would They Be?

By Hadley Tomicki
View Slideshow

The audible buzz these days is that food and music are one in the same. Today, the New York Times notes the evolution of the gourmet experience at U.S. music festivals; over in the U.K., Fergus Henderson plans to crash a music fest with his own side-tent feast; our own New York Magazine recently highlighted indie kids who spend more on menus than on rock shows; and on the West Coast, where former music critic Jonathan Gold recently compared Cochon to Lollapalooza, Food Is The New Rock is confirming many suspicions that celebrity chefs really just want to be rock stars. Which got Grub Street thinking: What if chefs really were rockers? Which ones would they be?

The Man Behind The Chef Who Made Your Great Meal

By Michael Gebert

We had noticed the name "WA Imports" on things in our kitchen once in a while— a bottle of L'Estornell olive oil someone recommended to us once, for instance. But we knew nothing about the man behind that name until his belated obituary in the Sun-Times. James A. Felling was a veteran of kitchens like Chez Panisse who went into the import business with a partner, Dave Vohaska, and built up a stable of top-named clients who trusted him when he said he had just found something terrific to try. As Tracy Vowell, who was at Frontera and Topolobampo for years and now sells her own produce as Three Sisters, put his role in the chef-diner ecosystem, "I didn’t have to taste 700 vinegars to find four or five that I’m really nuts about." From Spanish sherry vinegars to Australian white truffles, restaurants like Charlie Trotter, Blackbird, Le Francais and Avenues trusted Felling's finds, and he helped establish the credibility in particular of Spanish products like olive oils, and introduce new Asian flavors. Felling had been battling cancer for two years and passed away April 22 at the age of 64.

Grey’s Anatomy Actor Jesse Williams Has a Great Caterer on the Set of His New Movie

By Lesley Balla

Jesse Williams digs inPhoto: Ken Goldstein

On Grey's Anatomy, which wraps its eighth season tomorrow, Jesse Williams's character is probably most famous for deflowering a virginal resident. In real life, though, Williams spends his time seeking out the most soulful food wherever he is, which means tacos on the streets of L.A., grilled oysters in Northern California, or pasta in Rome. The guy is so into it that he even posts photos about his finds online. "I have an iron stomach," the actor says. "I'm not sensationalist about it, but I eat what the people eat wherever I am ... You have to know the rules to break the rules." In between filming two movies around town — the drag racing biopic Snake & Mongoose, which he's also co-producing; and a Western, They Die by Dawn — Williams fuels up on his favorite carnitas, Chicago-style pizza, and pumpkin pie. We'll have what he's having in today's L.A. Diet.

Read more »

Fat Guy Upset That Restaurant Didn’t Keep Pandering to His Gluttony

By Alan Sytsma

Like this, but fatter and angrier.

Okay, real quick: Bill Wisth, a 6-foot, 6-inch man who weighs 350 pounds, went to an all-you-can-eat fish joint in Wisconsin, ate a dozen servings of fried fish, then got very, very upset when the restaurant claimed they were about to run out of fish for the night, so they gave him eight more pieces to go and sent him on his way. But it wasn't enough for this greedy glutton. He called the police on the restaurant and, according to CNN, "plans to picket the restaurant every Sunday until something changes." Yes, as others point out, it's like that Simpsons episode where Homer does pretty much the same thing. So congratulations, Bill Wisth, you've made your point while at the same time becoming a cartoonish symbol of America's ever-growing obesity epidemic. We just hope for his sake he doesn't plan on driving to the picket line each week! [CNN via KLTV]

Logan Square Kitchen Closes With Blistering Attack on City Bureaucracy

By Michael Gebert

Logan Square Kitchen.

How much power does the mayor really have over city bureaucracy? It's an open question with today's news. In April Mayor Emanuel did a photo-op at Logan Square Kitchen, using the much-inspected-and-jerked-around shared kitchen space as an example of the kind of business that should face a more streamlined process with city departments. Should... but apparently still didn't, after the cameras stopped. As Monica Eng reports, in a blistering attack on the unaccountable, inconsistent city departments she dealt with, Logan Square Kitchen owner Zina Murray announces that she is closing her shared kitchen space on June 28, in the face of what she sees as ongoing city harassment with no visible end in sight:

LSK is collateral damage from choices that City employees make each day—people that have lost the ability to connect their actions with the consequences they cause. In all the many, many meetings I’ve had in City Hall in the past three years, there’s a question no one ever asks. “Is it good for our City?”

You can read her full message here.

Department of Deportment: How (and Why) to Dine Solo

By Krista Simmons

Table for one, please.Photo: Christian Ekblad/iStockphoto

Eating alone in a restaurant is a funny thing: Some people shudder at the thought, others swear by it. The recent announcement of a new diner-pairing site brought the practice to light, and the many, many jokes made at the service's expense indicate that dining alone, especially as a woman, hasn't lost its stigma. (Gakwer's take: "If Women Stop Eating Alone, Whom Will We Pity in Restaurants?") But lots of people — especially industry folks — happily eat alone all the time. Business travelers, too, are often forced to hit the town solo. Everyone has dined alone at some point, either by choice or circumstance, and there are considerable benefits to be had when doing so, provided you take advantage in the right way.

Read more »

New Video Blog Chronicles Mixologists At Work

By Michael Gebert

Mike Ryan of Sable is the first bartender featured.

Paul Leddy isn't the first sales manager for somebody or other to find himself at a bar, to watch a cocktail being made, and to start quizzing the bartender about it. But most of them don't get inspired enough to start a video blog about the cocktail scene in Chicago. The difference, perhaps, is that Leddy has a culinary background (he worked at Zealous for a few years) and, it seems, has long had the itch to contribute his two cents as an observer. His new blog, Chicago Cocktail Chronicles, will pay tribute to local mixologists talking about why they make certain signature drinks the way they do (and showing them at work); as he puts it, "Bartenders are usually the first face you see when you walk into a bar or restaurant. They can help to set the stage for your meal later or they supply the libations for just a great evening out with friends." The first video, which is below, features Mike Ryan of Sable making a cocktail called "The Power of Love"; we spoke with Leddy about how he got into the foodie/drink video racket, why cocktails, and what's next on his agenda.

Read more »

There’s a ‘New’ Cut of Beef: the Vegas Strip Steak

By Hugh Merwin

Moo

Let's put our hands together and offer a round of welcoming applause to the Vegas Strip steak, a "new" cut of beef which today joins the hallowed ranks of other such butchery innovations as the Delmonico, the Tomahawk, cube steak, minute steak, the Newport, the flat iron, and the Denver steak.

Of course David Burke is involved. »

Hey, Scotland: Rashida Jones Has Had Your Haggis, and She Hates It

By Caroline Shin
Watch Video

During a special Scotland segment on Craig Ferguson's Late Late Show, things turned sort of sour between the host and Rashida Jones at the mere mention of haggis. "Oof, ugh," Jones utters. "It's actually delicious," Ferguson replies. "It's just like sausage." Jones, though, would beg to differ: "It's not just like sausage. I don't agree with that." Check out the clip, straight ahead.

Read more »

What NATO Will Eat

By Michael Gebert

Vincent Lai, director of culinary operations at McCormack Place.

NBC Chicago has a video piece on how Chef Vincent Lai, director of culinary services at McCormack Place, plans to feed NATO delegates and staff during this weekend's summit. Lai, who commands a staff of 400 to 500 (larger than the armies of some attending countries, we suspect), will be cranking out meals 24 hours a day for the 19,000 expected attendees. Although some of what will be on offer will include (as anyone who's been to the Auto Show knows) deep dish pizza, hot dogs and Italian beef, his main focus will be on what's plainly "contemporary American" food, often using midwestern ingredients such as whitefish and Latino flavors such as pasilla chiles.

Advertising
Grubstreet Sweeps

Recent News

Recent reader reviews on MenuPages

See More Reader Reviews from MenuPages

Masthead

Editor
Michael Gebert