Alex

Yes, this is the right forum; nsxtasy is right on top of things, as always. It's good you're staying at the Radisson -- it's by far the best hotel in the area. The high-end Webster's, at the hotel, has a very good reputation. Food Dance is just down the street from the Radisson. If I lived closer I'd eat there all the time. Bell's Eccentric Cafe is fun and isn't far from the hotel. Just Good Food, in the Rose St. Market, makes killer sandwiches, cookies, etc. It also is close to the hotel. Cosmo's, noted in one of the aforementioned threads, looks good, but I've never eaten there so I can't make a personal recommendation. It's not terribly far, but you'll want the shuttle.

Josh mentioned the el, which can take anywhere from 35 minutes (in commuting times, when you can take one train all the way) to 50-70 minutes at other times (you have to change trains at Howard, so waiting times can vary). There is also a Metra commuter train that runs more or less hourly from the west side of the Loop to Evanston (Davis St) in about 20 minutes. Josh also mentioned cabs, which will take about 25 minutes in non-commuting times; I'm guessing $25 or so with tip. You might want to see the full, detailed schedule of activities and venues, once it's finalized, before deciding where to stay. While downtown Chicago has the most hotels, there may be other properties that are more convenient to the event venues. Well, the other venues have not been specified yet, so it's hard to say for sure. The Chicago area has excellent public transportation that goes pretty much everywhere; however, it can take longer to get places than driving, particularly on weekends and at off hours. My guess is that you'll do okay without a car. Not only is public transportation an option, but (based on observation at last year's gathering) there are often plenty of other attendees who will be happy to give you rides from one venue to another. ← Adding in my 2¢, I hardly ever take my car to Chicago and I always do just fine. The Farmers' Market and the church are walking distance from the Davis station (El or Metra). Knowing Ronnie, I suspect that most other venues and activities will be reasonably close to public transportation. Or, like nsxtasy, I also imagine that between Chicagoland residents and out-of-towners who drove in, there'll be plenty of rides available.

I'll be arriving Thursday morning, so I'm (just me) in for everything from Thursday through Saturday, and probably Sunday. Thanks again for taking the time and energy to do all this planning, Ronnie. Great job!

As you might already know, the Cubs are at home against St. Louis that weekend. The Friday game is at 1:20; the Sunday time hasn't been determined yet but it probably will be in the afternoon.

I second nsxtasy's recommendation of Fox & Obel. However, it's a little over a mile from your hotel, not half a mile. If you're in the mood for just coffee and pastry for breakfast, right in your neighborhood is Sarah's Pastries and Candies. Good stuff.

Talk about a pin-up photo! That looks incredible. OK, this is embarrassing to admit, especially since I am a card carrying chocoholic, but I don't think I had ever heard of chocolate bread until this thread. Do you slice it and eat it like pound cake? I didn't think I was interested until the siren song of that photo. pat ← More like regular bread. I just put a bit of butter on it. ← It's also outstanding with cream cheese, and makes for a decadent French toast. And if it's getting a little stale (yeah, right -- like it's going to last that long), it's the start of an incredible bread pudding. This picture has convinced me to buy the book. Thirteen dollars for a loaf of cherry chocolate bread from Zingerman's, wonderful as it is, approaches not-worth-it-except-maybe-once-a-year.

Here's a recipe for melon and cured beef salad. (The Chicago Sun-Times called it one of their best ten recipes of 2006.) It calls for watermelon, but I'm sure cantaloupe would do, and bresaola as the beef certainly is an option. Many years ago, at Wong's in Windsor, Ontario, I had an excellent beef and cantaloupe stir-fry, which I reproduced at home a couple of times; onions and green peppers were involved, iirc. Recipes are easily available for beef and bitter melon, but I haven't seen one for regular melon, and I'm not knowledgeable enough to know if one can be substituted for the other.

She's not kidding, folks. From the 2005 Heartland Gathering in Ann Arbor:

I've heard nothing but good things about Terragusto. A friend lives just down the street from them; she reported having had an excellent meal a few weeks ago. (Unfortunately, I didn't save her email.) I love the BYOB feature, including the "$1 recycling fee per drinker." It's on my short list for a future visit.

As a resident of Grand Rapids, MI, home of Wolverine World Wide (well, almost -- they're in Rockford, a suburb), maker of Hush Puppies, I offer a piece of trivia. The basset hound who appeared in all those famous Hush Puppies ads in the late 80s was named Jason, full name Jasonian of Westchester (!).

Welcome to eGullet, newbie21! Oh, yes -- do not miss it. You will eat some incredible food and meet some outstanding people.

I do a very similar preparation using orange marmalade, about 1/4 as much Maille Dijon mustard, and a dash of soy sauce. Good stuff!

wonderful! we have fresh sea scallops this week, too! I've tried cooking them, and I always get a little confused as to how to tell when they are done. ← Tips: 1) Pat them as dry as possible before sautéeing. 2) I use a 1:1 mixture of butter and oil over medium-high heat. 3) Cooking time depends on the size of the scallops. For large ones (e.g., U-8), I do about 2½ minutes on the first side and about 1½ minutes on the other side. Press on one with your finger before cooking so you'll have something for comparison. When they're done, there should be more resistance than when they're raw, but should still feel a little squishy. 4) After the scallops are done, and while you're preparing the sauce, place them on a wire cake rack or similar over a pan or a large piece of foil in a 200F oven. This allows the cloudy liquid to drip out and makes for a much, much nicer presentation. (This is a Paula Wolfert tip.) ← Tee Hee!! Thanks for the bi-weekly correction. Yup, every Tuesday and Saturday. Also Thursdays for big sale items. And you are correct- I'm stationed at the Teeter. I'm a transplant from the Wal Mart seafood department. HUGE difference. I'll be on the look-out for your MIL. And thanks for the scallop tips. I use the fingertip resistance test with steak, and it works wonderfully. We are selling 10-20 count scallops right now, but we have as large as U-6 frozen. Do you have any experience with Cobia? ← Only eating it (at a restaurant). My MIL isn't moving very well nowadays (hip replacement + arthritis), so it'll be just my wife stopping by.

wonderful! we have fresh sea scallops this week, too! I've tried cooking them, and I always get a little confused as to how to tell when they are done. ← Tips: 1) Pat them as dry as possible before sautéeing. 2) I use a 1:1 mixture of butter and oil over medium-high heat. 3) Cooking time depends on the size of the scallops. For large ones (e.g., U-8), I do about 2½ minutes on the first side and about 1½ minutes on the other side. Press on one with your finger before cooking so you'll have something for comparison. When they're done, there should be more resistance than when they're raw, but should still feel a little squishy. 4) After the scallops are done, and while you're preparing the sauce, place them on a wire cake rack or similar over a pan or a large piece of foil in a 200F oven. This allows the cloudy liquid to drip out and makes for a much, much nicer presentation. (This is a Paula Wolfert tip.)

Welcome to eGullet, Suzy! Let me guess -- Harris Teeter? (My MIL lives in New Bern. Ms. Alex will be there for a visit in a couple of weeks. She often shops at HT when she's in town, so I'll ask her to stop by the seafood counter and say hi to you.) First thought: Given that customers frequently ask you how to cook fish, they're knowledge is rather limited, so your standard response is probably a pretty good one. The keys, as it appears you already know, are, "Keep it simple" and "Don't overcook it." Otherwise, you might suggest they season with herbs like dill or tarragon. For thicker fish like salmon or halibut, a dipping sauce of soy sauce, lime juice, and grated ginger is good. Here's an interesting recipe from The Surreal Gourmet. Make sure it's real maple syrup and freshly ground pepper. I also cook this at 400, not 500; I'd probably recommend 350 to your customers. Of course I can't locate the post that talked about this, even having used both search engines, but one of the best salmon preparations I've ever had involved (iirc) patting a mixture of lemon zest, sugar, and salt on the filet, covering it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerating it for a couple of hours, rinsing off the rub, then cooking the filet very slowly (150F, maybe). I hope someone else remembers where this was. For a narrower search, you can take a look at RecipeGullet. Epicurious.com is worth a look, too. BTW, I assume you meant that your seafood arrives semi-weekly (twice a week), not bi-weekly (every two weeks).

A Potbelly with live lunchtime music?! Cool. Where's it at? What kind of music?

My feelings exactly! I still enjoy a good Spätlese out on the deck on a warm summer's evening, but that's about it sans food. I'm not sure I agree with you regarding beer, though. Are you referring to American beers in general or just the mass-market ones? Up until a few years ago, I thought of cocktails as the beverage of my father's generation and therefore studiously avoided them. (You'd think I would have been over that by 50+ years old, but I'm afraid not.) However, MatthewB's sidecar from the 2003 Heartland Gathering was a revelation. My repertoire still is pitifully small, but the attitude has changed.

How to eats lots of it and not gain weight?

My reaction exactly. Anyhow, I second Terragusto. Bonsoirée has an Italian feel to it, even if it's not Italian per se. Here's Bonsoirée's Valentine's menu. It's $105 pp, but corkage is only $5 a bottle.

Ms. Alex and I are fans of brunch at Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe, right on Dupont Circle. We had an outrageous amount of good food there on New Year's Day. Expect a wait, but things move along relatively quickly, plus you can browse the books while you wait. You also might want to consider brunch at Jaleo, right at Crystal City.

Perhaps it's a strategy to get potential new readers to unconsciously associate this magazine with the well-liked Oprah. The accent aigu also is the same color as the "o," so I think it's simply supposed to be an eye-catching design.

Those monthly "Please come back to us and get 4 books for $1 plus your first purchase at half price" emails from The Good Cook finally bludgeoned me into submission. Well, that, along with a desire to both own The Elements of Cooking and to get one as a present for a friend. I have to buy only one more over the next year, at the club price, so that's not bad at all. The damages: The Elements of Cooking Chocolate & Zucchini What's a Cook to Do? Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two (for Ms. Alex)

You know, perhaps, that Jiffy's headquarters is just down the road from The Common Grill? Maybe you could stop by the next time you're in the area and see if you could become their Canadian distributor.

Culinary Artistry, Dornenburg and Page. I got one for some friends as a Festivus present, and of course I had to buy one for myself as well.