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To be honest, we didn't even pay that much attention when the latest food truck kerfuffle was kicked off with an editorial by Glenn Keefer (of Keefer's) in Chicago Business. We felt like we'd heard all the arguments and, in any case, the well-connected Illinois Restaurant Association, with the help of the Chicago Police Department, seems to be doing a good job of strangling the baby in the crib. But for whatever reason, this kerfuffle seems to have a life of its own, with many sides weighing in. And by now, another party has had a chance to weigh in on the subject in a way that it hadn't two years ago— reality. So we're going to look at the arguments from both sides and compare them against what we've observed in the couple of years that food trucks have been out there on the streets, and see how much of which skies have or haven't fallen.

One of the things we've stressed to people about Grant Achatz's restaurants is that the theatrical side of it, the messing with your head side of it, is as much a part of the enjoyment of dining as the food. Here's a video about a new dish from Alinea that takes this conceptual approach to one extreme. It's called Lamb 86, and it consists of a simple plate of, we assume, roasted lamb loin... accompanied by a plexiglass grid of 60 possible condiments or accompaniments. (The 86 comes from the fact that some of the squares contain multiple ingredients.) On any rational level, that is, as the phrase puts it, the tyranny of choice— how can you choose? How can you avoid feeling that someone else is picking better things than you? Which is precisely the point... it's a puzzle designed to get you and your dining companions hunting madly for the best combinations out of everything that's in the chef's head. It's less a composed dish than the catalog to make one from— and a splendid visual joke about modern cuisine, with all its drips and dribbles on the plate. Watch it come together in this irresistibly compelling short video by Christian Seel, below.

No matter what you think of the Food Network, it's arguably the most influential and certainly the loudest voice in today's food-media landscape. With that in mind, we wondered what some of the country's more intellectual food lovers thought of the TV juggernaut. From time to time, we'll invite those people to watch a random, midweek afternoon hour of programming, and record their thoughts in the process. To help us kick things off: former New York Times restaurant critic — and never one to mince words — Mimi Sheraton.

Whether he's being impishly funny or waging furious online battle with a critic, Graham Elliot always makes our food scene more colorful— as a chef speaking his mind and also, sometimes, as a big target for critics and bloggers. But for the last year or two, he's been quieter locally as he's focused his celebrity on his television gig on Fox's Masterchef. Still, as he says, "Chicago is where I live... I'm in my restaurants always every night," and he's got a lot happening here in the next few months, including a reconceptualization of his flagship, Graham Elliot, under new executive chef Andrew Brochu, a new casual restaurant, Graham Elliot Bistro, on Randolph Street, and for the third year, coordinating chef-driven food at Lollapalooza. When he called us, we admit we weren't sure if he'd be jovial or in battle mode, and it soon became clear that he was also a bit wary of whether we'd be gunning for him in some way, but we soon fell into a wide-ranging, funny and thoughtful chat about his life and world, c. 2012. The first part, mostly about the soon-to-open Graham Elliot Bistro (and why it reminds him of The White Stripes), is below; the interview will continue tomorrow.

As we all know by now, Mitt Romney is a Mormon. And so while it's possible to spot Barack Obama inhaling fried food or grabbing a quick beer, well, you won't spy Mitt engaging in such indulgences. In fact, as we noted a few weeks ago, Romney is even a sourpuss picnic guest. (He tried to turn the tide a bit by proclaiming his love for grits and catfish, but nobody bought it.) But we say, "Hey, it's not Mitt's fault." It's no wonder he's so stiff: The guy's diet is totally restrictive because Mormonism forbids ingesting substances that could become addictive. You'd be in a bad mood, too, if you couldn't get drunk or guzzle coffee! So just how tough is it to eat like Mitt? Sounds like the answer is very.