Chicago Foodies

eighth blackbird & Mario Batali March 8th

Nationally-recognized Chicago music ensemble eighth blackbird is hosting a benefit Thursday March 8th with guest Mario Batali to raise money for a concert series at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park. 

Mario will be narrating the performance of The Four Seasons of Futurist Cuisine and then serving up a 5 course meal inspired by the performance with Paul Kahan of (appropriately named) Blackbird. If the meal is anything like this group seems to be it should be a very special evening.

I found a brief excerpt of The Four Seasons of Futurist Cuisine to reference and it only makes me more curious.  Tickets are $300 per person or $500 per couple. Considering the entertainment value of both dinner and a performance, the fact that it's a benefit is almost immaterial.

The March 8th performance starts at 5:30 at the FLATFILE galleries. Drinks and dinner follow at 6:30. A trolley from the gallery to Blackbird will be provided.

Tickets are available at the website or by email at kap@eighthblackbird.com 
Call 847.421.5257 for more information.

Cuisinart Food Processor $48

Macy's has this for over $100... get it for WAY less online:
Cuisinart 3 cup food processor $47.99 at amazon.com

Stacy's Pita Chips

One day a mysterious box of pita chips showed up addressed to Stacy. If your name is spelled Stacy you got one too. A co-worker mentioned that sending a box of free product to every single Stacy in America (all 130,000+ of them) was a great idea. The kicker is the little card that allows all of those Stacy's to give the same box to anyone they want. Talk about a ringing endorsement and an immediate awareness campaign. Brilliant marketing and a pretty good product too.

East Africa Restaurant: My Somali Breakfast

It's nice being off on President's Day. So what to do for breakfast? With M. Henry just down the street on Clark what should I do? Get my car washed and have some Somali food. As my car filled up with gas at the Marathon station I noticed, as I've noticed for a long time, East Africa Restaurant and decided on a quick bite.

They make no effort to hide the nature of the spot. It's a cabbie place and to be honest they seemed surprised to see me stay to eat. It's not a pretty restaurant. But the food is pretty cheap, the menu is sparse and the decor consists of a pool table that is covered with plaster and a computer for internet access.

French Press vs. Automatic Drip

I got a taste of this new coffee-subscription service, Storyville Coffee. In their marketing materials they focused on among other things the benefits of the french press coffeepot. Since I've been unhappy with the taste of my Mr. Coffee I went out and dropped $30 on a Bodum. Apparantly the going rate for a large glass cylinder with a push-top and a handle is no less than $30. I did see an Ikea version (I think it was Ikea) for $15ish but too little, too late.

The knock against the french press is that the water needs boiling first and then about 4 minutes of steeping. So coffee in 10 minutes, not quick and there's no way to set a timer and wake up to it. It also gets cold quickly without a hot plate under it. It also needs a pretty coarse grind or you're left with settled sludge at the bottom of your cup. Lucky me I have a microwave and a good coffee grinder. And that means good coffee.

Viet Bistro

There's always something fun about going to a new restaurant. I'm always hoping it will be something new and when the place is 3 blocks walking distance all the better. Viet Bistro is a new restaurant just off Broadway on Devon from the owners of Pasteur, a really nice French-Vietnamese restaurant on north Broadway. Viet is their bistro. Entrees are priced from $8 for veggie options to $18 for a whole red snapper that was recommended but not tried.

Second Thoughts on Alinea

These past two weeks have been a gastric-dream. It definitely would mark the end of my New Year's Resolution had it anything to do with diet. Between December and January I have indulged in enough meals to go toe-to-toe with the fromager at Cityzen in D.C. who apparently toured Chicago's acclaimed restaurants- from Alinea to Trotter's to Tru in about 3 days. What's funny is that some real special flavors, at least as far as I can tell in Chicago, live in the smaller out of the way places where, on that budget, you could eat for months instead of one night. That is where you want to be. That takes some work beyond reading Gourmet's top whatever lists...

But what makes any gourmet (Gourmet or otherwise) food tour interesting is that there becomes a context that's 90% of the time otherwise missing. That's why Alinea really bothered me and I wasn't sure why. It was out of context or I was out of context. It wasn't the price and it wasn't that I was full or not full. But after several wonderful meals out I think I am beginning to understand Alinea and what makes it so special.