Grub Street Chicago

Flo & Santos Bringing Pizza to the South Loop

Helen Rosner — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:00:26 GMT

]]> The South Loop restaurant that we (and Sloopin) hypothesized would be called something along the lines of "Flo and Santo" is, in fact, going to be called Flo & Santos (1310 S. Wabash). The restaurant is partially backed by the owner of Zapatista Cantina, and we know absolutely nothing else except that the combination of the tagline ("Pizza & Pub") and the degraded typeface in their logo (on the right) implies that there is a good chance of the menu involving fancy sausage in some way. [Sloopin; Flo & Santos]

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Filed Under: openings, flo and santos, pizza, south loop

Appetizing Apps

Daniel Maurer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:50:00 GMT

from Grub Street New York

]]> ]]> Today in tech land, the Telegraph reports that Foursquare has signed a deal with Zagat that will allow you to pull up the little red book’s ratings, and Num Num Chronicles points out StreetEats, an app that lets you find out where your favorite food truck is parked.

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Filed Under: other sites, food trucks, foursquare, street eats, truckin', zagat

Eating at the Auto Show; Foursquare Goes Foodie

Helen Rosner — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:00:39 GMT

• The Chicago Auto Show might ostensibly be about the cars, but the food on offer is pretty exciting too. [Tribune]

• Location-based social media app Foursquare has signed a deal with Zagat to include a "Foodie" badge. [NYT]

• The Tabasco Community Cookbook Awards program is folding after 20 years. [The Stew]

• In an effort to solve budgetary woes, some states are looking to privatize liquor stores. [WSJ]

]]> • Moby edited a new book on veganism. [Voracious/Seattle Weekly]

• People who drink two or more sodas a day have an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a new study from the University of Michigan. [NYP]

• Canadian McDonald's have added new menu items for the Olympics, including a s'mores pie and a chicken parmesan wrap. [CityPages]

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Filed Under: mediavore, auto show, canada, foursquare, liquor stores, the olympics, veganism

Tempt Your Lady Love with 'Oysters Enveloped in the Scent of a Woman'

Helen Rosner — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:20:03 GMT

This particular oyster has not yet been shucked. Shucked hard.]]> For Valentine's Day, the incorrigble Phillip Foss of Lockwood has perhaps outdone himself with a dish he calls Royal Miyagi Oyster Enveloped in the Scent of a Woman - Aloe, Pomegranate, Ginger. The "scent of a woman" in question here is, specifically, rose-infused tea that spills out across the table in a haze of misty nitrous, and we presume that the recipe's name certainly is not meant to evoke any other sort of female aroma, particularly anything that might be directly or indirectly implied, either visually or associatively, by the oyster wrapped in said scent. The oysters, after all, are already fully shucked. There is absolutely no need to slurp them. Just make sure, as Foss notes in the handily provided recipe, that the oysters "appear moist and look plump." We suppose if all else fails, you could always switch shellfish and turn to Foss's advice about mussels. At the very least that photo is awfully instructive.

Royal Miyagi Oyster Enveloped in the Scent of a Woman [The Pickled Tongue]
Recipe: Royal Miyagi Oyster Enveloped in the Scent of a Woman [PDF]

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Filed Under: recipes, double entendres, lockwood, oysters, phillip foss, valentine's day

Inside the Bocuse D’Or USA Finals

Helen Rosner — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:15:00 GMT

from Grub Street New York

]]> ]]> The Bocuse D’Or USA finals yesterday in Hyde Park resembled Iron Chef. The twelve-chef tournament is a kitchen-versus-kitchen competition in front of a live audience, judged by culinary luminaries, with a limited set of central ingredients (salmon, lamb) and a stressfully restrictive time limit (3.5 hours). But the converted gymnasium at the Culinary Institute of America was no Kitchen Stadium: Instead of engaging with the audience and performing for the cameras, competitors worked in stoic isolation, separated from the audience and one another in Plexiglas kitchen cubicles, while in-house video crews caught every move for the large projection screens hanging overhead.

]]> The four chefs cooking in the first heat of the finals began their day at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m., so when we strolled on to the CIA campus just past 10, competition was already well underway. The real action came later, during the tastings at the end of each heat, when the fifteen chef-judges took their seats (arranged alphabetically, Achatz to Ziebold), whipping the crowd into a cheering, live-tweeting, camera-brandishing frenzy. White-gloved porters marched platters of proteins down the line and Café Boulud executive chef and former Bocuse competitor (2007) Gavin Kaysen provided a Miss America–style voice-over on each dish’s composition and the competitor’s professional background. Only eleven chefs served their food — Philadelphia's Jim Burke, of James, was disqualified after he didn't finish his platters in time. James Kent, the sous-chef at New York's Eleven Madison Park, won the opportunity to represent his country in France next year.

Watch our slideshow to see the real draw of the day for starstruck CIA students: the staggering amount of culinary wattage.

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Filed Under: bocuse d'or, cia, daniel boloud, slideshow, thomas keller

Leo's, at Last

Helen Rosner — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:03:03 GMT

]]> Kevin Pang promises, no, like he really promises, he means it this time, really baby, come on, this isn't like all those other times, this is real, that Leo's Coney Island will be opening on Monday. It's about darn time — we've been waiting for this since July. Pang, we hold you to this. [The Stew]

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Filed Under: openings, lakeview, leo's coney island, promises

Alice Waters’s Lazy Sunday

Jay Barmann — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:09:39 GMT

from Grub Street San Francisco

]]> Alice takes idyllic Sunday strolls into the Berkeley hills.]]> "I sometimes come by the restaurant and talk to the cooks. I sometimes walk to a bookstore... Mostly I just stay home. It’s the one time I feel like I can exhale, and just get ready to begin again." — Slow-food evangelist and Chez Panisse proprietor Alice Waters in the Times' Sunday Routine column. [NYT]

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Filed Under: quote of the day, alice waters, chez panisse, new york times

Calumet Fisheries Named an American Classic

Helen Rosner — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:43:13 GMT

]]> A big hurrah for Calumet Fisheries, which has been named one of the James Beard Foundation's 2010 America's Classics restaurants. Given to just five restaurants nationwide each year, the award acknowledges places "with timeless appeal, beloved for quality food that reflects the character of their community" — qualifications which Cal Fisheries embodies and then some. Per the Beard Foundation (and probably per plenty of its avid fans), "Calumet Fisheries remains the best reason to cross the 95th Street Bridge." [Inbox]

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Filed Under: awards, calumet fisheries, james beard awards, south side

Bill Murray and Anthony Bourdain Go on a Man Date

Daniel Maurer — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:08:00 GMT

from Grub Street New York

]]> ]]> Bill Murray tends to show up in unexpected places, and his appearance on tonight’s aforementioned Hudson Valley episode of No Reservations is no exception. Here's a clip of Bourdain and Murray at X20 in Yonkers, and check out Tony’s blog for his story about riding shotgun with Murray (in an SUV, not a golf cart).

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Backstory [Tony's Travel Blog/Travel Channel]

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Filed Under: tony tony tony, bill murray, no reservations, x20, yonkers

Todd English Tries to Forget 2009

Leila Cohan — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:00:00 GMT

from Grub Street Boston

]]> ]]> "It’s been a year of reinvention," understates Todd English in a massive Globe profile of the celebrity chef. To recap: English was named in no fewer than five lawsuits, including one filed by the landlord of his D.C. Olives; the owner of a Soho apartment he leased; the florist for his aborted wedding, a New York publicist; and, most bizarrely, a New York recording studio, which charges that English rented the studio and never paid. Are we missing out on a Todd English album?

]]> His wedding to Erica Wang was canceled, bringing with it tabloid accusations on both sides. He shuttered three restaurants: the aforementioned D.C. Olives, as well as the chain's Aspen outpost, and Fish Club in Seattle. Perhaps most damningly, his once stellar reputation as a chef has been tarnished. "The man is a near-genius as a chef. And yet people who are near-geniuses are often the ones whose food is hardest to translate into mass production. I think his restaurants are okay...I just get disappointed by seeing a truncated version of what a great chef might do," says GQ critic Alan Richman, who calls himself English's "greatest fan."

So how does English plan to recover from his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year? With more projects, of course! In addition to Boston's forthcoming Curly Cakes, he's planning a food court in New York's Plaza, a restaurant in Vegas, a line of children's food, a TV show pilot, and a line at Club Monaco. One project that's off the table: his long awaited (since 2007!) Boston burger bar.

Plenty Cooking in Todd English's Kitchen [Globe]

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Filed Under: back of the house, todd english

Clarke's Expands to River North, Bucktown, Infinity, and Beyond

Helen Rosner — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:47:59 GMT

]]> The owners of Clarke's on Belmont are in expansion mode. They're planning a mid-March opening of a Bucktown Clarke's at 1704 N Damen Ave. (formerly a Bar Louie), and have also signed a 15-year lease at 343 W. Erie St. (the building that also currently houses RiNo) reports Crain's Chicago. The River North edition will be the biggest in the Clarke's mini-empire, and is aiming for a mid-April opening. The new restaurants (which we assume will be called Clarke's on Damen and Clarke's on Erie, or something similarly creative) might soon be joined by additional siblings: the chain is also looking at expanding into the Loop, South Loop, and even the western 'burbs. [Crain's Chi]

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Filed Under: empire building, bucktown, clarke's, openings, river north

A Pastry Champ Comes to Town; MTV's Jersey Shore Clubbing Woes

Helen Rosner — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:00:00 GMT

• All the concern about Asian Carp invading the Great Lakes via the Gulf of Mexico has shifted attention away from invasive species entering via the St. Lawrence Seaway. [J-S]

• Pierre Zimmermann, a winner of France's World Cup of Baking, is joining the faculty of Chicago's French Pastry School. [CNC]

• MTV is desperately trying to rein in the Jersey Shore cast's club appearances, but to little avail. [NYP]

• Health's December issue recycled recipes from Real Simple. [NYT]

]]> • Consumers are responding favorably to ads touting the health food benefits of fast food chains. [NRN]

• The Chinese government is searching for 100 tons of tainted milk powder that's already on the market. [WSJ]

• Wal-Mart may launch a line of private label spices, which could be a big problem for McCormick. [WSJ]

• The FDA may change standard serving sizes to more accurately reflect how much Americans eat. [NYT]

• In an effort to combat the Northeast's crumbling dairy industry, some dairy farmers are banding together in co-ops. [NYT]

• Houston has recently developed a world-class food scene. [NYT]

• New Albany, Mississippi, William Faulker's hometown, is about to legalize the sale of beer for the first time in over fifty years. [NYT]

• The USDA will tighten requirements on companies that provide meat for school lunches. [USA Today]

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Filed Under: mediavore, asian carp, beer, fast food, jersey shore, pierre zimmermann, recipes, usda

Balsan Transcends Hotel Dining; Epic Lives Up to Its Name

Helen Rosner — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:50:44 GMT

Balsan's soft-boiled hen egg with wild mushrooms and chicken liver]]> • Martha Bayne finds her dinner at Ria to be, basically, a work of art. Literally: a dish of lobster with scallop dumplings is "a damn Kandinsky." The superluxe dining room and the precise, pristine menu items might imply starched shirts, but there are sparks of humor and lightheartedness that keep the whole thing this side of stuffy. [Reader, first item]

• Hidden as it is on the third floor of the Elysian Hotel, Mike Sula thinks Ria's sister restaurant Balsan deserves a local following. The hearty, uncompromising menu — testa cakes, runny eggs, stellar cracker-thin flatbreads — is head and shoulders above standard hotel fare, and the occasional misstep (or overpriced roast chicken) is easily avoidable. [Reader, second item]

]]> • Pat Bruno likes Epic that he's drawn to high diction: he "suffers not" from his choice of the smoked ribeye, and gives in when his server "romanced the sea bass." From the oysters right down to the banana split, he's totally captivated. [Sun-Times]

• Never mind that Don Diablo is temporarily closed, Bruno visited before the shutter hit and was pleased by the $2 pricetag at least as much as he was with the tacos themselves. He's underwhelmed by the entrees, but understands that this isn't a place you go for platters — you're there for the pick-n-choose of a multi-taco menu. [Sun-Times]

• Anne Spiselman's review of Cuna is more descriptive than judgmental, but overall she takes a positive tone towards the neighborhood-chic restaurant. The pork cheeks, crispy octopus, and flatbreads do well, as do the desserts, though oversalting is an occasional problem. [Reader, third item]

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Filed Under: the other critics, balsan, cuna, don diablo, epic, ria

Is Molecular Gastronomy Here to Stay?

Helen Rosner — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:30:14 GMT

El Bulli's galletas de arroz y parmesano: just a fad?]]> Living, as we do, in the oh-em-gee game-changing moment in which Ferran Adria is temporarily shuttering El Bulli means that it's the perfect time to pause and reflect on whether molecular gastronomy is here to stay. Which is exactly what the Wall Street Journal does, checking in with chefs across the world for their take on the scientifically manipulative style of cooking. Fergus Henderson doesn't really get the appeal; British chef Hélène Darroze finds it creative and meritorious; outspoken Adria critic Santi Santamaría thinks it's "a byproduct of a sick society." We're assuming Tom Colicchio's staying far away from this one, having said plenty in that infamous Diet Coke ad.

The State of Molecular Cuisine [WSJ]

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Filed Under: trends, el bulli, fergus henderson, ferran adria, helene darroze, molecular gastronomy, santi santamari, tom colicchio

Watch Chris Pandel Butcher a Hog, Then Let Him Feed You Nine Courses of Pork

Helen Rosner — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:30:39 GMT

Pandel is ready for you.]]> You might be sitting there being all, "whatever, butchering demonstrations, yawn," but what The Bristol chef Chris Pandel has in store for February 25 is a far cry from your average "watch a dude break down a hog side." For starters, the event (which is the latest in Time Out's series of Dining & Libation Society dinners) begins with a Bacon Manhattan cocktail. For seconds, Pandel is a masterful butcher, and we imagine watching him dismember a whole pig is akin to ballet. For thirds, the demo is accompanied by a nine-course dinner, with beer pairings, incorporating the very pieces of pig you just saw butchered. It's $95 per person, and you can reserve your space here.

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Filed Under: foodievents, butchering, chris pandel, dining and libation society, pork, the bristol