Posts for May 15, 2012

Quay Chef Dan Marquis Puts His Farm on His Table

By Michael Gebert

Quay. Shown: table. Not shown: farm.Photo: courtesy Quay

Dan Marquis won the job of chef at Quay in the River East Arts Center on a TV show. But maybe it would be more appropriate to say that Quay won Dan Marquis on Food Network's Chef Hunter, because he's turning out to have a pretty interesting side benefit: a family farm. Marquis' family has owned Mill Road Farms near Sheffield, Illinois (a half hour east of Davenport and Bettendorf) for four generations. Now Marquis has taken the 20-acre farm over and started growing organic produce and herbs which is being put to use on Quay's new spring menus.

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How Bad Can Eating at Your Desk Really Be?

By Hadley Tomicki

Not actually lethal.

Have you heard? If you eat at your desk, something you might be doing right this very moment, you could be doubling your risk of developing fatal blood clots. So says a new study, maybe, possibly. But we've been hearing for years about how bad eating at your desk is, and yet Americans, including us, continue to do it with alarming frequency, yet here we are. Alive and free of blood clots. So we're calling bullshit.

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Return of the Smoque-Cemitas Puebla Collaboration Tonight

By Michael Gebert

Tony Anteliz of Cemitas Puebla.

Last November we drew your attention to an epic collaboration between Cemitas Puebla, maker of many of the city's best Mexican sandwiches, and Smoque BBQ, to produce smoked-brisket cemitas. They were gobbled up happily, and that was the last that was heard of them... until tonight, when it happens again, at Smoque from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Back then we interviewed Cemitas Puebla's Tony Anteliz about the collaboration; watch our 3-1/2 minute video below.

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Graham Elliot on Graham Elliot, Grahamwich, and Lollapalooza

By Michael Gebert

Yesterday we talked with Graham Elliot about his new Graham Elliot Bistro on the Randolph Street Corridor. In the second half of our two-part interview, we talk with him about hiring Andrew Brochu as Graham Elliot's first executive chef; responding to customer input at Grahamwich; and his third year as culinary director for Lollapalooza.

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Protein Shakes: Lady Gaga Debuts Meat Dress 2.0

By Kara Baskin

Most singers just butcher the National Anthem.Photo: Terry Richardson

Does this mean Gaga might finally be running out of ideas for crazy outfits? She donned a new-look meat frock in Tokyo last night for her Born This Way Ball and tweeted a photo to her 24 million followers.

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Billion Dollar Deals, Over Easy, at Yolk in River North

By Michael Gebert

How does a certain kind of place become the place for a certain kind of thing? In Hollywood Morton's is where studio executives and big agents go to talk big deals over steak. In Chicago the Counsellor's Row coffeeshop was the place if you needed to leave your alderman something in a brown paper bag, until it had a bug problem (the FBI kind). And now Crain's reports on the reputation that one location of the local breakfast chain Yolk, in River North at 747 N. Wells, has among the tech startup and venture capital communities. “It's not in the Loop, which is too stodgy and bankerish, and there's always parking on the street," says one tech investor in explaining why it's a low pressure setting for informal talks, the VC-meets-startup equivalent of "It's Just Lunch!" Besides power breakfasters like Groupon's Andrew Mason, it also draws power, period— Mayor Emanuel stops in for oatmeal regularly. There's an obviously similarity to Silicon Valley's legendary Buck's meetup spot, though one guest points out a distinctively Chicago difference: "You don't see cops at Buck's.” [Chicago Business]

Still Room Tonight at The Bristol's Dinner With Mourad Lahlou

There are still seats available for what we think will be one of the year's most interesting dinners— a collaboration between The Bristol's Chris Pandel and Mourad Lahlou, chef of San Francisco's Aziza, which has modernized Moroccan cooking in the Bay Area (he has an upcoming PBS series on the subject, to boot). $125 gets you a five-course meal with beverages and a copy of Lahlou's new cookbook Mourad New Moroccan; call 773-862-5555 for details, and go here to see the menu.

5 Rabbit To Open Brewery and Taproom Near Chicago Fire Stadium

By Michael Gebert

Josh Noel's mystical power to grow breweries has struck again. The Tribune beer reporter reports that 5 Rabbit Brewing, the Latino-flavored brewer which launched last spring with legendary beer writer/graphic designer Randy Mosher among its partners, has signed a deal on a brewery facility in southwest suburban Bedford Park, about a mile from Toyota Park. With its attention-getting use of Latin spices and flavorings, the brewer grew quickly after last year's launch, but contract brewing proved problematic (co-owner Isaac Showaki complains of the difficulty of scheduling and overseeing six different brewers in three different states) and so the brewery decided to gamble on its facility sooner than expected. They hope to have a 30-barrel brewing system up by August and to open a taproom by next spring. [Tribune]

Stiffed: Eleven Celebrities Who Are Terrible Tippers

By Hadley Tomicki
View Slideshow

When celebrities hit restaurants, they're marked diners. Servers and other customers will inevitably report on a famous person's dinner out, which is why plenty of celebs know that leaving a big tip can turn into good P.R. Unfortunately, some celebs just haven't gotten the hint. (Even Grub Street, during our table-waiting days, once got stiffed by a Hollywood hot shot.) So we've put together this list of stories about stingy celebs. Think of this as part fun, part public service. When these boldfaced names walk into your restaurants, you'd be better off letting someone else handle the table.

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