Alex

Might you be thinking of Van Ball's Prime Beef, between I-96 and Four Mile Rd? Or perhaps Kingma's Market, about a mile south of I-96? I'll be doing stuff on Plainfield this weekend, so I can stop by either place and ask. I live relatively close to the Cascade Meijer, so I can inquire there as well. There's also a butcher in Ada I can check with. Speaking of organic/minimally processed meats, have you ever shopped at a Heffron Farms market? There's one on Plainfield at I-96 and another in the shopping center on Cascade Rd. where 28th St. ends.

Yes, welcome and where are you? (And greetings, Sam!) As you can see, I'm in GR, which probably is not all that close to you. Maybe you, Sam, and I can meet at an equidistant point (Restaurant Villegas?). I used to get some made-from-scratch veal demi every so often from a restaurateur friend, but he no longer has his own place.

Here's an extensive Frontera Grill/Topolobampo thread. And here's an extensive non-Bayless Mexican restaurant thread. Yes, the day after Thanksgiving is crazy busy, with huge sales -- sort of like Boxing Day in Canada. Look for ads in the Tribune and Sun-Times, if you're into that sort of thing. For kitchen stuff, your hotel is walking distance from a Williams-Sonoma store on North Michigan Ave and a Sur la Table store on E. Walton, but I don't know what kind of sales they'll be running.

Her New York Times obituary From The I Hate to Cook Book: "Start cooking those noodles, first dropping a bouillon cube into the noodle water. Brown the garlic, onion and crumbled beef in the oil. Add the flour, salt, paprika and mushrooms, stir, and let it cook five minutes while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink." An eGullet thread with some posts related to the book

Umm, Thursday, Nov. 22 is Thanksgiving Day. Otherwise, the topic linked to in nsxtasy's post (and here) is a good one. In addition to the Metromix links in that thread, you also can start an Open Table search here. If your original post is accurate, and you'll indeed be in Chicago on the 23rd and 24th, then most places should be back open. Re your hotel, you can read some customer reviews at TripAdvisor.

Restaurant Bloom is moving downtown (and finally getting their liquor license).

Yes, there's lots of good stuff. This is not your father's Grand Rapids. The Green Well Naya Restaurant Bloom (Chowhound thread) Marie Catrib's (local GR web site) Bistro Bella Vita Tuscan Express (restaurant.com info) San Chez and Mezze Leo's Zeytin (Turkish food -- Chowhound thread) The Heritage at GRCC is closed next week, otherwise I'd highly recommend it. There also are various Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, etc., restaurants. Where will you be staying? Will you have a car? I'll be glad to provide more specific info and/or personal opinions and recommendations. Just ask... ← Thanks, Alex. You've given me a lot to choose from. I'm going to be at either the Amway Grand or the JW Marriott. I will have a car. I would be very interested in a good Vietnamese restaurant. ← Re Vietnamese food, a recent sort-of review in the GR Press liked Dong Phuong very much. (Take 131 South to 28th St, turn left on 28th to Division, turn right on Divi sion; restaurant is on the right.) Bistro Bella Vita, San Chez/Mezze, and Leo's are within walking distance of both hotels. Also within walking distance, on Monroe Mall, is Tre Cugini. A couple of doors from Tre Cugini is Four Friends Coffee House, with the best espresso-based beverages in the city, imho. Of course, the Amway Grand has Cygnus 27 and The 1913 Room. I haven't been to either in a long, long time, so I hesitate to comment. I forgot to mention Wealthy Street Bakery, a very short drive from downtown (on Wealthy near College). The Green Well, Restaurant Bloom, Marie Catrib's and Gaia Cafe (simple vegetarian) are close to each other and also are pretty close to downtown (Fulton to Lake Drive to Diamond/Cherry). Naya is about a 10-minute drive, Tuscan Express and Zeytin about 15. I don't know how much time or inclination you'll have for non-dining recreation, but two places to consider are the new Grand Rapids Art Museum (right by the hotels) and the spectacular Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park (allow at least 2-3 hours).

My cousins, who live in DC and are extremely fussy, er, discerning restaurant-goers, especially when it comes to seafood, love Hook. Here's some more info.

Yes, there's lots of good stuff. This is not your father's Grand Rapids. The Green Well Naya Restaurant Bloom (Chowhound thread) Marie Catrib's (local GR web site) Bistro Bella Vita Tuscan Express (restaurant.com info) San Chez and Mezze Leo's Zeytin (Turkish food -- Chowhound thread) The Heritage at GRCC is closed next week, otherwise I'd highly recommend it. There also are various Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, etc., restaurants. Where will you be staying? Will you have a car? I'll be glad to provide more specific info and/or personal opinions and recommendations. Just ask...

You're welcome. However, the posts on my Chowhound link are all from the past four months, including a moderately detailed report about Everyday People and Journeyman on July 31. You must not have found that one in your search.

Restaurants: Journeyman Cafe in Fennville Everyday People Cafe in Douglas Bistro on the Boulevard in St. Joseph The Belvedere Inn in Saugatuck LTH forum link 1 (general area) LTH forum link 2 (Journeyman Cafe) Chowhound link 1 (Saugatuck/Douglas) Sample the products at American Spoon Foods in Saugatuck. B&B: Wickwood Inn. Julee Rosso (of Silver Palate fame) and her husband own and run the place. Very expensive, but not outrageous. Here's their upcoming Food and Wine Weekend.

The closest I've been able to locate so far is Bin 36, in River North. I'd also like to hear if there are any others, especially ones that are not doing a buffet.

White truffle ice cream. Oh, yes. One of the best things I've ever eaten. I hope there's some left when Ms. Alex and I roll into town next month. Here's my post about the white truffle dinner that jesteinf, yellow truffle, and I had at S & S two years ago.

Tsuki, definitely, on Fullerton just east of Ashland. They also offer a $30 five-course prix fixe menu on Sundays Basic web site Flash web site Metromix listing

There's a terrific Tuesday night special at Opera -- $28.95 prix fixe for three courses, any items on their menu. It's at Wabash and 13th, which is very close to your hotel. There still should be a good coat selection; you may even catch the tail end of post-Thanksgiving sales. Sometimes there's a bargain to be found at Filene's Basement, on State at Madison, iirc.

I'm afraid I'm bereft of ideas (which doesn't happen very often) about this one, as I don't use frozen vegetables except for peas and corn. Milagai's pulao sounds really good, though. No matter what the recipe, I'm glad to see your thoughts (not literally, although wouldn't that be interesting?) returning to the joys of food and cooking.

Simple is the way to go! Might we persuade you to post it to RecipeGullet?

He writes for the Jewish News, doesn't he? Does he write "real" reviews or are his pieces more reportage than review? Does he focus on the NW suburbs or does he venture downtown, to the Grosse Pointes, etc? I used to write restaurant reviews and other articles for Metro Times, but that was 25 or so years ago. Sigh.

The roasted cauli, guajolote's beet salad., and, of course Ah Leung's (hzrt8w) oeuvre.

Funny, I was thinking about exactly this when reading the following transit information in today's Trib; fortunately, the days you're planning are right before the construction they're talking about, so you should be okay: ← Yeah, Ms. Alex got caught up in a Blue Line closure between Western and Jackson when she headed out for dinner at West Town Tavern (Chicago station) last Saturday night. There was a shuttle bus that followed the same route, but it was kind of a pain.

Some folks put it down, but I happen to like Bin 36 a lot. I think I've dined there as much as, if not more than, any other restaurant in Chicago, and have never had a bad meal. (I haven't been to Bin Wine Cafe, but I know it's much smaller than Bin 36.) The only drawback is that it can get really loud, but you'll be going mid-week, so that should help. It's just a few blocks from the Clark station, so that's a good thing. To keep yourself apprised of the latest Blue Line construction, though, you might want to check the CTA website just before you fly in. Thanks for the invitation. Of course, I've heard and read wonderful things about Vancouver. I might not take you up on it, though, because if I visit I'll probably just wind up staying there, which might cause a problem with my wife and my school, not to mention Immigration.

Ask Dr. Knowledge, from The Boston Globe

As others have mentioned, your loss of the joy of cooking sounds like part and parcel of the grieving process. Also, too much of a good thing, under the wrong circumstances, can temporarily turn bad. (It's not the same as your experience, of course, but one reason I didn't major in music was my fear of losing the joy if I had to practice for hours a day.) From a psychologist's perspective, it also sounds like cooking, through its association with all the events and circumstances of the past few months, has become a conditioned stimulus producing an aversive, emotional conditioned response. (Dread? Sadness? Anger?) The way past this dark place, then, is to recognize those feelings and to jump back in anyway, slowly, starting from where you're at. Scrambled eggs and tuna salad sandwiches are great. Then, maybe scrambled eggs with lox and onions, or a tuna melt with sweet onion and perfect tomato. Then, well...

I agree -- this is an interesting topic, even to one whose professional experience, such as it was, began and ended in his college's cafeteria. However, I see several parallels to my profession (clinical psychology and education). As other posters-- especially Holly Moore -- have mentioned, the contacts one makes in school can be a major factor in determining the job one gets post-school. And -- justified or not -- the bigger the name, the bigger the impression your résumé will make and the wider your geographic options. That being said, though, community colleges can provide an excellent culinary education and excellent value. You'll just need to do some research, as there are good programs and not-so-good programs. Here in Grand Rapids, for example, Grand Rapids Community College has a first-rate Hospitality Education Program. The facilities are spectacular; the chef-instructors are highly regarded (including the two authors of the IACP award-winning Modern Garde Manger); students have opportunities to participate in national and international competitions and travel; the ACF-accredited and NRA-honored program articulates with baccalaureate programs at two state universities; and the program's restaurant, The Heritage, is one of the best in the city.

Here's something else for you to consider. Under the best of circumstances it takes ~45 minutes from O'Hare to downtown. When you figure in the time to walk from the hotel to the CTA, then add some extra time because of ongoing construction projects on the Blue Line, and then possibly a short walk from your destination station to your restaurant, you're looking at a good 1¼-1½ hours door-to-door each way. For about the same price (your hotel doesn't offer a courtesy van) you can take a couple of cabs or one van to a good restaurant in the vicinity of the airport, say, Rosemont. Here's a thread from earlier this year that briefly address this topic. (And here's the web site for Carlucci, mentioned in that thread but without a link.) As SundaySous mentioned, Harry Carry's is pretty good; there's one in Rosemont in addition to the one in River North.