Alex

You should also take into account that Amtrak frequently runs an hour late. ← Yes -- this past week your train arrived anywhere between 21 minutes and 2½ hours late. I'd love to attend a chocolate workshop, but allowing for train lateness, transportation to the hotel, checking in, and transportation to the venue (assuming we can locate one), it looks like 2:00 - 2:30 would be the very earliest semi-reasonable time to schedule it. How long do you think the workshop would be? Should we proceed with the venue search or simply table it until next year? ← I'd love it if you keep looking. I can do a workshop in 3 hours, so that still leaves time to get to dinner. ← I didn't know that Alex was also looking for a venue for these events but that's good to know. There are a couple other folks helping, as well. Alex, please keep us updated on your efforts. =R= ← Well, I wasn't yet. That was the general "we," although I do have some ideas. Perhaps I can email/PM them to you, or is there someone else who can be the chocovenue coordinator? I'm not in Chicagoland, as you know, but I'd be willing to make some phone calls.

You should also take into account that Amtrak frequently runs an hour late. ← Yes -- this past week your train arrived anywhere between 21 minutes and 2½ hours late. I'd love to attend a chocolate workshop, but allowing for train lateness, transportation to the hotel, checking in, and transportation to the venue (assuming we can locate one), it looks like 2:00 - 2:30 would be the very earliest semi-reasonable time to schedule it. How long do you think the workshop would be? Should we proceed with the venue search or simply table it until next year?

You're not nuts at all. Can you think of any better use for the $600 or so in your new house? And as Carolyn said, it's not an uncommon occurrence, especially with large families or folks who do a lot of entertaining.

It's still close to the station -- not directly across, but only about one block south of the former stop. I'm getting together with a friend for dinner at 7:00 that night, but I'm sure I could meet you after that, either at the stop or perhaps your hotel, depending on where you're staying.

For Saturday, there's Dream About Tea in Evanston, close to the Davis train station and our dinner venue.

If the Sunday is July 13, you can hit the special garlic dinner at Harvest. On Tuesday you might consider the special prix fixe dinner at L'Etoile. (As you know, I don't live in Madison, but Ms. Alex has been there for conferences and I'm her restaurant researcher.)

The best I was able to do was add the list of events (with the nice links you provided) to Alex's very first post in this thread. So all anyone needs to do is check post #1 and all the information is there. I am more than happy to help out in any prep, I'm not sure that I want the responsibility of a dish though... and I absolutely put my foot down on deep frying for 90 people! I also really want to come for Tom's bread class but this will mean a midnight bus ride from Cleveland arriving at 5:15am. Is there anything open that early around Union Station that I could pop into for a couple hours until the class starts? ← There's Lou Mitchell's, open at 5:30. The little map on their web site doesn't show it, but Canal, where the MegaBus stop is, runs between Union Station and the river. The stop is between Jackson and Adams

Yes, the excitement has started in Michigan! Thanks, Ronnie and nr706. Here's a good pdf document that can supplement the Google map. The first 15 pages (there are 48 total) cover Evanston restaurants and coffee houses. There's also some information later on about bakeries, liquor stores, etc.

Unfortunately, no. With the exchange rate and a couple of other things going on, we decided to skip our usual Memorial Day weekend visit. I'm really, really sad to read about the Globe's closing. After our visit last year, when I learned they had to revamp their menu because the 100%-small-plates approach wasn't catching on, I had a feeling that that might happen.

Ronnie, what does that 1 p.m. mean? I hope we'll have access to the church kitchen before then. With all the shopping and prepping and cooking, much of the meal itself won't be until well after that, I'm pretty sure. Is that the start of noshing time?

Dessert - of course - for me. Ah, but what to make. Perhaps a couple of apple or pear cakes, great with chantilly cream. Also we could make some creme brulee chocolates - a la Kee's. ← I had to look: Kee's Chocolates

This is scientifically incorrect. The air pressure inside and outside the bag are the same. ← Dave, could you explain your reasoning? I'm a social, not a physical, scientist, and my last college physics class was over 40 years ago, but it seems apparent to me that the air pressure is greater outside the bag. Think of a filled automobile tire at sea level, for example. The air pressure inside the tire is, say, 32 psi; outside the tire is the normal atmospheric pressure of ~14.7 psi. This is why a puncture can cause an explosive blowout. Conversely, then, if virtually all the air is removed from a container, the air pressure will be greater on the outside. Hence, the contents are "under pressure" from the atmosphere (and, technically, the water they're submerged in). I don't know if it was intended this way, but I think the title is a clever turnaround of the warning one often sees on aerosol containers: "Caution: Contents Under Pressure."

I'd definitely like to make something. What I have in mind is a cool (temperature-wise, although it's the other cool as well) tomato-watermelon-mint soup. I'm assuming that with all the food we're likely to have, folks would want smaller servings, perhaps 4-6 oz. With a couple of sous chefs and a food processor or two, I can make enough for all 90. I agree with your approach, Tammy. Also, as you mentioned a couple of days ago, some dishes would be fine plated, others family style (assuming we have enough servingware).

CHOCOLATE!!

Blackbird and TVH aren't close to each other (3 miles), so I assume you'd like to stay near TVH. There are a couple of B&Bs not far from there, but they usually require at least a two-night stay during the summer. The closest one, which is within walking (or staggering) distance, is Wicker Park Inn. You can try calling them to see if they'd make an exception. Rooms are $129 and up, with free parking. If that doesn't work out, several of us are staying at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. It's not at all close to TVH (~4¼ miles) and about 1¼ miles from Blackbird, but I'm sure there'll be folks to share a cab with. Parking is $36 per 24 hrs. w/o in-and-out privileges, $48 with. If you can catch a good rate on Priceline (see my post about this), it would be worth it.

The Best Western would be a good choice for someone arriving on Saturday or maybe Friday. I see you're in on Thursday, though, so I think that staying in or near central Chicago is a better option. You'll be centrally located for all the non-Saturday events, there's more to do and see during your non-eG time, plus it's an easy train or cab ride to Evanston. At least four of us, and possibly more, are staying at the Hyatt Regency Chicago because of a terrific deal via Priceline.com ($59/night for most of us). It's close to Michigan Ave and about a half-mile walk to the CTA trains (aka the "L"). If you want to try the Priceline route, select "Name your own price," then when you get to the Chicago page select "Millennium Park, Loop & Grant Park Area" and "4-star Deluxe." Enter 59.00 as the bid and see what happens. Even 79/night would be a good price. It's a big hotel, so I suspect there'll still be rooms on Priceline. However, if that doesn't work out, you can try the "North Michigan Ave - River North Area" and see if there are any 4-star places there. That area is just north of The Loop, on the other side of the Chicago River. The Loop is generally thought of as the central section of downtown Chicago. The term "Loop" refers to the elevated train tracks and the earlier streetcar circuit. The Wikipedia entry has a more complete explanation. I've found the CTA maps ((like this one) to be very useful.

Speaking of specific courses and what people want to make, I've volunteered to head up organizing the food for the Saturday banquet. Our large size is going to require a different approach to logistics than we have typically taken. Look for a post from me this weekend to begin a discussion around that! ← I've been wondering about the logistics of cooking dinner for such a large crowd. The gatherings in Ann Arbor and Cleveland were much smaller than this one. I know that you, Randi, and NancyH have all cooked for big groups. I suspect that many of us will find the scale of the whole thing just a wee bit daunting. It's gonna be fun, no doubt! ← Keep in mind, though, that you don't have to cook for 90. I'm sure there will be plenty of contributors. Tammy's getting ready to post about this...

Yeah, she clued me in on that. (I love that "sleeping dictionaries" term -- I never heard that before.) In my first few months in Japan I taught at a juku in a newer and relatively affluent part of Hamamatsu. There was an excellent French restaurant down the street that was way out of my price range for dinner but had an affordable and excellent prix fixe lunch. After eating there a few times, the owner or manager started talking with me, but for the life of me I couldn't understand what he was asking, as his English was as pitiful as my Japanese. We finally figured out that we both knew some French, or so we thought. It turned out that he planned to pursue the English-speaking market, primarily Australian businessmen, so he wanted to know how to describe various ingredients or dishes in English.

There are so many variables it's almost impossible to give a general time frame. When I lived in Japan, I never worked at a restaurant but did eat out a lot. I learned most of my useful Japanese while hanging out in a local bar or from a Japanese woman I briefly was involved with. (And yes, you could consider both of those as pieces of advice.) By the time I moved back to the US, I still didn't know a lot of basic vocabulary but could order food and ask food-related questions pretty well. I also knew a modest amount of curse words and phrases. As in Germany there also are dialect issues in Japanese between the north and the south, but others are more knowledgeable than I about this.

OK, one more -- Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from The New York Times

Sweets & Savories hosted a special foie gras dinner on May 22 (I couldn't be there ) for $75 pp. (I haven't seen any reports here or on LTH yet. Anyone...?) Chef Richards is pretty accommodating, so I'm wondering he'd put together a foie tasting menu if you and perhaps three others request it far enough in advance. Worth a try...

OK, we now have two more, so let's consider any interested folks from here on in as tentative. I should have more information about that sixth spot a little later on this summer. ← Well, those two more are no more, so we're back to looking for two or three interested folks. ← We're now at four, possibly five, so there's still room for one or two more congenial companions. Also, instead of Lucia, we'll be going to Terragusto. (Here's the eG thread.) It's very close to the Addison stop on the Brown Line. After dinner it would entail a short walk (less than ¼ mile) to Damen then a brief bus ride down to TVH. Terragusto uses local ingredients whenever possible and their menu changes monthly. It's still reasonably priced -- $37.50 for the chef's tasting menu (required if we're six; optional otherwise) or for the three-course "The Italian Dinner," or possibly less if ordering à la carte. Plus it's BYOB for a $1 pp "recycling fee." Again, please send me a PM if you're interested.

Saved.

OK, we now have two more, so let's consider any interested folks from here on in as tentative. I should have more information about that sixth spot a little later on this summer. ← Well, those two more are no more, so we're back to looking for two or three interested folks.

OK, we now have two more, so let's consider any interested folks from here on in as tentative. I should have more information about that sixth spot a little later on this summer.