Grub Street Chicago

A Rapturous Rave for Pelago; Various Reasons for Mercadito's Mediocrity

Helen Rosner — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:44:46 -0500

How long would you wait for these pulled-pork taquizos?]]>• Pat Bruno is so incredibly psyched by Pelago that his review reads like kinetic, alliterative slam poetry: chef Mauro Mafrici is the "maestro behind the menu magic," the hotel restaurant's dedicated entrance sidesteps the "lobby lambada." He falls into raptures over the pasta — "I could never pick a favorite" — and swoons just as hard for the monkfish "osso buco" and transcendent desserts. The man is happy. [Sun-Times]

]]>• Let it never be said that every restaurateur in Chicago knows what Phil Vettel looks like. Mercadito certainly doesn't, or they wouldn't have kept the reviewer waiting for his reserved table for over an hour, or 20 minutes for drinks, or god knows how long for for food. Good thing the punchy food is up to par, or that one star might have been a zero. [Tribune]

• David Tamarkin doesn't seem to have had a problem with waiting at Mercadito, but he's less than jazzed by the food — while the tacos are good, an inconsistent shrimp ceviche is followed by weak masa-shelled picadas, and the all-tequila cocktail list doesn't always work. [TOC]

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Filed Under: italian, mercadito, pelago, tacos, the other critics

Photo Plates: Big Star's Menu, Illustrated

Helen Rosner — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:24:36 -0500

]]>Yesterday, Big Star executive chef Paul Kahan and chef de cuisine Justin Large hosted a menu tasting for lucky friends and family. Fortunately for those of us who weren't there, it was exhaustively photo-documented, and we're delighted to share with you photo proof of the place where you'll be waiting in line for 1 a.m. tacos starting Monday, November 9. Check out our slideshow to see the menu come together (FYI, the photo of the tacos al pastor is number 14).

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Filed Under: back of the house, big star, justin large, paul kahan, photo plates, tacos, wicker park

Mado's Family Dinner Beefs Up

Helen Rosner — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:46:39 -0500

]]>The reservation line is now open for Mado's December 9 family dinner. The last installment in the restaurant's series was centered around lamb, so it's only appropriate that this one is all about the cow. Since this is Mado, though, straight-up steaks are off the menu: think copious beef-based charcuterie products, steak-and-kidney pie, and (our favorite) something the menu describes as "gratuitous poutine." Email for reservations.

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Filed Under: beef, foodievents, mado, poutine

Kevin Pang's Koans of Burgery Wisdom

Helen Rosner — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:50:45 -0500

Kevin Pang will not be eating this luscious, juicy, delicious cheesburger from Jury's.]]>Sixty cheeseburgers in six months is enough to break the will of even the strongest-gutted man, and so it is that Kevin Pang — the Tribune's Cheeseburger Bureau Chief — has reached a point where he "can't look at a cheeseburger without reaching for the wide end of an open bucket."

]]>When we asked about the future of the Cheeseburger Bureau, Pang told us that "the bureau chief title will be stored inside a keepsake box in a cool, dark cupboard until we decide to dust it off. Breathless burger coverage may return next year." In the meantime, in the Trib he leaves us with points on which to meditate: should we skip the ketchup in favor of mayo? Are tallow fries truly better than duck fat fries? Is it true that "the only rule is that there are no rules"?

[Tribune]

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Filed Under: burgers, cheeseburgers, kevin pang

Top Diamond

Helen Rosner — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:27:26 -0500

]]>The 2010 AAA Dining Guide has been announced, and Chicago has more five-diamond restaurants than any other city in America: Alinea, Arun’s, Avenues, Charlie Trotter’s, Everest, Seasons, and Tru. Yay for us. [BusinessWire]

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Filed Under: alinea, arun's, avenues, charlie trotter's, everest, lists, seasons, tru

When a Donut is Not a Donut; Bribery for Airport Restaurants

Helen Rosner — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

]]>• Those things that Chicago Public Schools serve for breakfast that look like donuts and taste like donuts are, in fact, not donuts. They're "MVP breakfasts," because they're fortified with vitamins. [The Stew]

• A Chicago-area restaurateur is accused of offering an Alderman a $100,000 bribe in order to land airport restaurant contracts. [Tribune]

• Kellogg's has voluntarily decided to remove the labels from their cereal boxes that promise to boost children's immunity. [Money Times]

]]>• Restaurant chains are trying to drive business by offering free meals to veterans. [USAToday]

• A piece of baguette dropped by a bird has shut down the Large Hadron Collider. [EMD]

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Filed Under: airports, breakfast, crime, graft, labeling, mediavore, school lunches

Today In Closings

Helen Rosner — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:10:41 -0500

]]>Wrigleyville's Cordis Brothers Supper Club, a 30's-style steakhouse that won this year's ribfest has suht its doors. [Dish] Also shuttered: Lincoln Park's Sushi X. [LTHForum] Reason for death in either case is not given, and we'd rather not hypothesize.

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Filed Under: closings, cordis brothers supper club, sushi x

Drinks Over Dearborn's Pricey Icey

Helen Rosner — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:25:24 -0500

There are two Glace ice spheres in this picture. That'll be $16.]]>Looking to jazz up your cocktail hour? Drinks Over Dearborn is now selling gigantor spherical ice cubes 2.5 inches in diameter. They're made by the Glace Luxury Ice Co. for a whopping $8 a pop (bargain hunters take note: you can snag five for $35). We asked the good folks at DoD who, exactly, is buying them, and they admitted that while they're marketing them to bartenders and mixologists, no Chicago institution has yet taken the bait. We'll pass — we figure we could save $7.99 and make our own ice at home — but who are we to judge? [What Would Alpana Drink]

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Filed Under: drinks over dearborn, ice, marketing gimmicks

Gimmicky Sushi Rolls are Alive and Well in Chicago

Helen Rosner — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:10:04 -0500

Kyu's salmon-caramel roll]]>Our New York siblings may be concerned about a downturn in sushi dining, but here in Chicago gourmet rolls appear to be doing just fine, thanks — and the weirder, the better. Two recent openings embody the sushi-as-performance-art trend: Kyu Sushi opened last month in Ukranian Village, offering unexpected items like a caramel-salmon roll brightened with tobiko and orange, and a BLT roll that's exactly what it sounds like. Downtown, the old Farmerie 58 space has been reborn as Sushi Tayo, a sleek space that just screams "pre-clubbing dinner," and the crazy-wild-anything-goes vibe extends into seasonal rolls like the autumnal Kobe Harvest, which features the unholy combination of salmon, tempura pumpkin, and Kobe beef.

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Filed Under: kyu sushi, sushi, sushi tayo, trends

Jennifer Olvera Meets her Meat, Eats it as a Burger

Helen Rosner — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:29:52 -0500

]]>In a move we're tempted to call the Lite version of the Reader's Whole Hog Project (in which Mikes Sula and Gebert followed a mulefoot pig from birth to slaughter to special dinner at Blackbird) the Sun-Times's Jennifer Olvera takes her husband and son to central Illinois' Grazin' Acres, where they pick out a terrified cow, look her in the eye, and say "I’m going to eat you, and I’m sorry." It goes downhill from there.

]]>We applaud the food-ethics testicular fortitude that drives folks like Olvera to face down their dinner, but this particular meet-your-meat experience is awfully sanitized. After her family's day petting the cows in the fields and talking about farming with Grazin' Acres' proprietors, Olvera returns to watch her cow get broken down — skipping the cattle slaughter entirely (to be fair she does watch a goat meet its end, but there's a thousand-pound difference between those experiences). And we're a little disappointed by the final payoff: after all the emotional investment in her cow's life (and death), Olvera's first bite takes the form of "a Cheddar-stuffed, bacon-topped burger" — can she even taste the meat underneath all those loud-flavored accoutrements? At least give the cow credit by honoring it with a steak.

Meeting your meat: One woman's farm-to-plate experience [Sun-Times]

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Filed Under: beef, butchering, carnivoracious, meet your meat

Doughnuts For Breakfast; Whole Foods Recovers From Slump

Helen Rosner — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500

]]>• Chicago Public Schools are offering free breakfast to nearly every student, but despite all the healthy options, most kids go for the donuts. [Tribune]

• Charles Krueger, who ran the Around The Clock restaurant in Wheaton, passed away at the age of 85. [Tribune]

• Boxing champion Julio Chavez is opening a boxing-themed restaurant and entertainment complex in Phoenix, Arizona. [NRN]

]]>• After a recession-fueled slump, Whole Foods is finally seeing sales pick up. [WSJ]

• A California-based tomato-processing executive has plead guilty for his participation in a conspiracy to drive up food prices that included Kraft and Frito-Lay. [AP]

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Filed Under: around the clock, breakfast, mediavore, school lunches, whole foods

Having A Foil-Helmet Kinda Day?

Helen Rosner — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:40:51 -0500

]]>Spotted by a tipster outside Phoebe's Cupcakes. We imagine if we ever did think the government was zapping laser messages into our brain, a cupcake might in fact help. Good idea!

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Filed Under: marketing gimmicks, phoebe's cupcakes

Sun Wah's New Location Is Live

Helen Rosner — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:50:42 -0500

The new digs]]>Rejoice, rejoice, Sun Wah Bar-B-Q has reopened! The team is safely ensconced in their new digs at 5039 N. Broadway, just around the corner from their old Argyle Ave. location. The large, airy space is a far cry from the old atmosphere, but they've retained the essentials: you still have to squeeze through a cramped and aromatic takeout area to get to your table (just try to resist the jars of crackling fried chicken skin), and the food is still some of the best around. We have it on good authority that the heady scent of roasting meat is already perfuming the air outside. [UrbanDaddy]

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Filed Under: barbecue, chinese, reopenings, sun wah bar-b-q, uptown

Everyone's A Vintner

Helen Rosner — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:56:26 -0500

]]>7-11 is introducing a proprietary wine under the label Yosemite Road. It'll cost $3.99 a bottle — twice as much as Trader Joe's Two-Buck Chuck, so it'd better be twice as good. Expect a wine club soon. [MSNBC]

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Filed Under: 7-11, oenofile, wine

Was Gourmet Too Good?

Helen Rosner — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:04:32 -0500

]]>In today's L.A. Times, columnist Russ Parsons pooh-poohs the existing theories about Gourmet's closure (an elitist tone, print's unstoppable march to the grave) in favor of a new one: narrowcasting. Was Gourmet too broad in its content to survive in an increasingly niche media marketplace? NYU Journalism professor Robert Boynton tells Parsons that Gourmet "was the closest thing the food world had to a Life or Saturday Evening Post" (magazines we can't help but notice are also dead). But Boynton goes one step further, hypothesizing that an overall move away from general-interest magazines isn’t actually a matter of reader attention spans — instead, it’s all about the bottom line. After all, the more clearly-defined a magazine’s audience, the easier it is to sell ads. "That may be good business," Boynton says, "but in the process the whole notion of food itself as a cultural artifact gets lost."

Apres Gourmet: Food magazines find their niches [L.A. Times]

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Filed Under: ad sales, gourmet, other magazines