Chicago Foodies

StreetWise Vendors to Hit Food Deserts with New EatWise Carts

"Streetwise today?" If you've lived in Chicago longer than a week, you're familiar with Streetwise, a weekly magazine distributed, and sometimes written, by individuals struggling with homelessness. It's a solid piece of a journalism, and it aims to provide employment and improve the quality of life of those who sell it. Recognizing that selling newspapers doesn't provide much chance for upward mobility, StreetWise has partnered with a for-profit social enterprise called Neighbor Capital to launch EatWise, a fleet of produce carts that will roll out across the city early this spring.

The Urban Canopy

Speaking to Alex Poltorak about his company, The Urban Canopy, is a challenge. It's certainly not conventional. In many ways a product that allows people to grow produce anywhere is nothing new. Being an engineer, you can see that the Urban Canopy goes well beyond what you might expect. It's modular. It takes advantage of plants in each stage of their development. It's designed to grow up and out. It's very smart. It's also easy to explain until you start to think about the Urban Canopy vision.

Alex breaks out a network of eaters, growers and composters and challenges us to redefine the city as an agriculture-ready space. We get sun. We get rain. We consume. We produce useful waste. Can we coordinate everything so that we can feed off of each other? His first step is developing a system for wheat grass. Growing it and getting it to the right juice bars. Using their compost to grow more. It's pretty simple. He's an idea guy and he has a good idea. It's facebook for food. Your roof is a field that Alex will farm He might even pay you to use it. Check out the Kickstarter. He's got 10 days to go.

The German and the 64-Year Old Can of Lard

I get into arguments about born on and sell by dates usually ending with the assumption it's to get retailers to move merchandise faster. This, from the BBC, doesn't sway my perception. A German pensioner recently ate a 64-year old can of lard... and no expiration date.

A food expert, Frerk Feldhusen, said the lard was rather gritty and tasteless and hard to dissolve, though quite edible. Mr Feldmeier provided some black bread to go with it.

"I just didn't want to throw it away," said Hans Feldmeier, 87.

Harvard Science & Cooking Lectures #1: Historical Context Food & Science

Harold McGee and Dave Arnold join David Weitz in this first of a series of Harvard lectures from their School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It's a monster series which Harvard has archived online and which we will be sharing in full right here. It's really a prerequisite for high-adventure in the kitchen.

 

Paula Deen Cuts Back on Sweet Tea – Admits to Type II Diabetes

CBS News published on Paula Deen's admission of having type 2 diabetes. We ironically printed a piece on her Doughnut Burger just last week. Go figure? Leave it to Bourdain to sum it up.

"When your signature dish is a hamburger in between a doughnut, and you've been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you've got Type 2 Diabetes ... It's in bad taste if nothing else" Anthony Bourdain

"I have made simple changes in my life, like cutting back on one of my favorite things, sweet tea - and for a Southern girl, that's a big deal."  --Paula Deen

I wonder the % of chefs who suffer for their food (medically)?

Two Terrifying Words: Market Price

It's an etiquette issue that arises with some frequency at high-end restaurants: After a server has recited the day's specials for you, do you pipe up and ask how much they cost? One NYC diner is really wishing he had. The man in question, who sought help from The Haggler column in the New York Times, ordered a special truffle pasta at notoriously pricey Nello only to find out, once the bill came, that the dish's undisclosed price tag was $275. Hopefully, those were the best truffles of his life. The unfortunate incident begs the question: Should servers announce the price of specials as they recite them, or do diners need to get over their quiet politeness and just ask?

SOLD OUT – "Unique Dinner Series: 16 Courses of Black" at Moto on Saturday Jan 28th

The Chicago Foodies "Unique Dinner Series" was created to give Chicago chefs creative license to take risks that they would not otherwise take at their restaurants. Chefs are challenged to step outside of their own culinary box, resulting in a wildly innovative culinary experience.

The series kicks-off at Moto with "16 Courses of Black" prepared by Chef Cantu and his team including Chef Ben Roche as well as their Top Chef contestants Chris Jones and Ritchie Farina.

Paula Deen's Bacon, Egg and Doughnut Burger... and Bukowski.

I miss 2008... Granted an incarnation of the Doughnut Burger even made it to the cover of This is Why You're Fat".  I feel the vintage video quality and compression artifacts add to the gritty feel of the dish. Kind of like the original 16mm-style Texas Chainsaw Massacre adds that icky-ness.

I struggle to come to grips with this stuff... we fetishize violence, so too gluttony! This is a how-to for biological weapons. Serious Eats has a great history of busting on Ms. Deen's tendency to try to kill her audience - Here's the link their Paula Deen Is Trying to Kill Us. It's more than kind of gross but it's awesome never-the-less. What would Bukowski or Burroughs be without the self-destruction?

You think Next is hard to get into now? Here Comes El Bulli.

Next made a huge splash with their unorthodox ticket sales and changing concepts. Shortly they'll be going from Childhood to El Bulli... that's more than just a big conceptual shift. The menu will expand to 20 courses with drinks. There will be only one seating a night. (Per Eater's calculation) Tickets will $473 per person.

This menu prompts all sorts of thoughts... is copying creative? Is it intellectual property theft? Hasn't it already been done? (Google El Bulli tribute dinners). Where other restaurants have had El Bulli menus for a night or two this is ongoing and was done with Adria's blessing... and, apparantly, tableware.

What really does make this interesting is that it's being done for an extended period of time. While anyone can try to pull off an El Bulli menu once, to do it over time means it will have to be right. Considering the relationship between Achatz and Adria, and the talent in the kitchen, it may be an expensive night out but it also sounds like it could be money well spent.

Charlie Trotter's To Close

25 years ago Charlie Trotters opened amidst trends that including Cajun food, chefs were wrapping all sorts of things in thin slices of potato, Daniel Boulud was taking over at Le Cirque... and we were finishing a good dinner with a few cigarettes. It was a crazy time.

In August, Charlie Trotter will end his 25 year reign as one of if not the best of the fine dining restaurants in Chicago.  He has fostered the Chicago restaurant scene, attracting and fostering talent that stayed in town including: Bill Kim, Mindy Segal, Giuseppe Tentori, Homaru Cantu, Curtis Duffy, Graham Elliot and Grant Achatz.

He has also worked to put vegetarian and raw cuisines on people's radar. He's a big reason why Chicago has  the fine-dining standards we have. And while he's be missed, he's just going away to school... He'll be back, right?

Alinea's Failed Health Inspection

I feel like a writer from the Gawker spinoff known as Eater for being so nefarious as to pass this along (even though it is old news), but it did pique my curiosity to see that Alinea actually failed an inspection.   I spoke to a former line cook who was sent home for dropping a kitchen utensil on a prep table, which made me more intrigued to hear of this.  Luckily, the restaurant received a passing grade from the inspection team a week later.  

Serving Alcohol at White Castle

For those of you who've visited White Castle in the wee hours of the morning, or even the middle of the day for that matter, feel free to have fun with this story from the Trib.a I mean what else goes with a crave case but a 6-pack?

"This was something that customers had been suggesting," said Jamie Richardson, a spokesman for Columbus-based White Castle System Inc. "They thought that beer and wine might go nicely with the barbecue that was available at Blaze. We're certain that we might have some customers who might enjoy some sliders and a beer or wine as well."

Other fast-food restaurants also are dabbling with alcohol. Earlier this year, Burger King opened the Whopper Bar South Beach, a restaurant in Miami Beach offering beer, and Starbucks Corp. has been testing beer and wine at a few sites.

Sorting Through the Fuss Over LA's Healthy School Lunches

The big food story across the blogosphere today is the Los Angeles Times' report that students are panning newly-introduced, healthy school lunches, leading the program's director to dub the debut "a disaster." The story has plenty of quotes from high school kids snubbing the "nasty," "soggy," "watery" fare, but the numbers of kids dropping out of the school lunch program doesn't paint nearly so drastic a picture. Is it time to bring back the hamburgers, or is there a better way to entice kids to eat the meals?

The Food Americans Googled, from Pizza Hut to Cream Cheese Frosting

Google Zeitgeist, the annual project that proves just how banal Americans are by revealing our fastest-rising Google terms of the year, has released its 2011 findings. When we weren't searching for Rebecca Black songs or planking photos, Americans Googled recipes and restaurants that paint a portrait of what foods America wants to order and cook. Hint: it's not kale.

Curtis Duffy Announces His Next Move: Grace

Since he departed now-shuttered Avenues in September with two Michelin stars to his name, Curtis Duffy has kept the dining world eagerly anticipating any word about his forthcoming project. Now, he's broken his silence about the new restaurant, but he's not giving away many details. Here's what little we know, plus when to expect more updates.

Rethinking Reusable Shopping Bags

Take stock of your pantry, make the shopping list, grab the reusable canvas tote. This is most people's pre-grocery shopping routine, but it may be time to rethink that third step. A quick piece in New York Magazine uses statistics and a few selectively chosen facts to raise questions about the eco-friendliness and safety of those reusable bags.

No Reservations: Sukiyabashi Jiro – Makes Me Dream of Jiro's Dreams of Sushi

March 9th is the scheduled release of "Jiro Dreams of Sushi", a new documentary highlighting the octagenarian 3-Michelin Star sushi chef who works out of a 10 seat basement restaurant in Tokyo. Since you will be hearing a lot as the release of the flim approaches, here's Anthony Bourdain's excellent Jiro segment on No Reservations.  The price is $450. Worth it? Haven't been... yet!

Rogue Raw Milk Activists Stage Freedom Ride Today

On the spectrum of beverages, beginning with Four Loko at the "revolting and dangerous" end, and ending with filtered mountain spring water at the "pure and natural" end, milk generally errs on the wholesome side of things. Apparently that doesn't include raw milk, whose sale and distribution is prohibited by state and federal laws. A feisty group of unpasteurized milk lovers, the Raw Milk Freedom Riders, are thumbing their noses at the FDA this afternoon as they stage a (probably illegal) interstate raw milk transport and rally. After returning from Wisconsin with the contraband, the Riders will hold a demonstration at noon in Independence Park with milk, cookies, and a visit from raw milk activist Max Kane. If you're looking for a new cause after the disbanding of some of the Occupy protests, head down there and toast to dairy freedom.

City Opens Bids for New Taste of Chicago Management

The annual Taste of Chicago festival mostly reminds us why we hate crowds, and just how bad four deep-fried Twinkies make us feel the next day. But as for its mission to showcase the best of Chicago's culinary landscape? It just doesn't deliver. Apparently, it doesn't make it money either, which has prompted Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's administration to open up bidding on contracts to manage the 31-year-old festival. The Sun Times reports that though the Illinois Restaurant Association has held the contract since the festival's inception, Taste has lost about $7 million dollars in the last three years. From charging for admission to classing up the vendors, new ideas are on the table to defibrilate the flatlining festival.

Prepare for the Arrival of the Venti Pinot Grigio

Starbucks started with coffee. Then they introduced the world to Frappuccinos. Then came free wi-fi. Then the world met the autumnal force of nature known as the Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL). Next up: booze. The Tribune reported yesterday that next year, the Seattle-based coffee chain plans to roll out seven new stores in Chicago that will sell beer and wine alongside lattes and cake pops.