VeryApe77

The City of Chicago--no, the entire country--is in grave gastronomic peril when one of us writes that a friend of his found Grant's Milkweed pod "the most delicious pod she's ever tasted." It is time to eat a pastrami sandwich. ← There are those who will tell you that a well-prepared milkweed pod is easier to find in Chicago then a decent pastrami sandwich...I couldn't really comment on either with any real authority.

I saw N/R last night and I totally agree - this aspect of the show was very annoying - all of the "hey, lighten up, leave the guide book at home" talk looks a bit silly when everything is clearly so pre-arranged. We all know that he specifically set off to meet that guy at that bar, so why pretend otherwise? I suppose it's meant to be "fun" but it came off as just being self-consciously "zany" (likewise the cowboy boots comment). I was reminded a little bit too much of the second season of 'A Cooks Tour', which is not a good thing. It's a shame, because there was some good stuff in there (the market segment was great). Still, I'm looking forward to seeing future episodes - 'A Cooks Tour' was a lot more interesting when Bourdain seemed genuinely out of his comfort zone, and I'm sure the same will be true of this show as well.

I had a really good meal at Topo on Friday. Sadly, I don't have time to write more about it now (stupid job ) but I could post the menu I had tomorrow is anyone is interested. And yes, the soup was probably the best course in my opinion....just fantastic.

Actually, you can make reservations at Topolobampo - you can't at it's slightly less formal neighbour, Frontera Grill. I've never been before, but my charming ladyfriend is taking me there tomorrow night for my birthday. I'm looking forward to it....

Sorry to hear it. Like I said, my meal there (this was about 3 years ago) was pleasant but pretty uninteresting. As has been discussed upthread, there is so much good (and cheap!) thai food in Chicago, it's really a shame that Arun's gets all of the attention from out of town visitors. Maybe a trip to TAC or Spoon is in order to take that nasty taste away?

For a very opulent (and probably very pleasant) meal, by all means go to Arun's. I went there a while ago and enjoyed the experience, although none of the food really wow-ed me TOO much. For the "ultimate thai experience" (in Chicago, anyway) you should certainly print out some of Erik M's thai menus and go to TAC, Spoon, Thai Avenue or Sticky Rice. At all of these places, they are (in my experience) more then happy to accomadate Farangs who wish to order from the Thai menus. All of these 4 places listed are very cheap - maybe if you are in town for a while, it would be fun to do Arun's and one (or more?) of the places listed above.

Does anyone know anything about this event? I've done some research and found nothing ← From Chicago Magazine's Marquee (received today via email): =R= ← Thanks Ronnie. I'd be interested to check this out - but I work in Evanston and therefore a daytime event runs from Monday and Wednesday downtown is not really feasible. I'm sure there is a good reason that this is not happening on a weekend, but even so - pretty annoying.

I agree, although I've also been Sripraphai and I'd say that there are several places in Chicago I like more...it's just that Arun's isn't one of them. I'd actually say that Chicago is one of the best cities in the country for Thai food at the moment (TAC Quick, Sticky Rice, Spoon, Thai Avenue, etc). It's a shame that Arun's continues to get all the attention.

I've been enjoying the show (albeit in the same way that I enjoyed seeing Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate or Ben Gazzara in Roadhouse - it's funny, but hardly their finest moments) but does anyone know how successful it has been? I get the impression that it hasn't been that big a hit, but I could be wrong (seeing as I don't really have anything to back that up with).

Also, El Bulli isn't in Madrid....sorry to be pedantic.

David Thompson's book 'Thai Food' has a recipe for Roast Duck and Lychee Salad that I made quite often...it's excellent. When is Lychee season? I have rarely seen them fresh here in Chicago (I normally buy frozen ones in a pinch)

In "real life" (which this show certainly is not) Ramsay is actually quite well known for being a good mentor to up-and-coming female chefs, Angela Hartnett being a good example. I heard an interview with him recently where he talked about how he would love to see more women in the kitchens of fine dining restaurants.

Does anyone know anything about this event? I've done some research and found nothing

My problem with this dish (and it was my least favorite of the night by far) was that it the taste of grapefruit totally overwhelmed any flavor of broccoli. I could barely taste the broccoli at all...

Have never been to Elphant Thai, but here is a recent report from another forum about it. Looks pretty good....

As soon as I heard that Ramsay was bringing Hell Kitchen over to the States, this was the first thing that came to mind. Could be amusing....maybe

Soul Veg on the south side has some extremely vegan fare (and this is coming from an an avowed meat-eater)...but that could be the exception that proves the rule.

I found this while googling around earliar this week - a pretty positive review but not too OTT. http://www.toomanychefs.net/archives/001428.php Restaurants of this type often seem to polarize diners, I have noticed - I have read many reviews of the Fat Duck (many by very experienced diners), for instance, that seem to convey a really extreme dislike of the place, sometimes verging on the personal. At the same time, it seems to be doing pretty well and those that like it, often like it A LOT.

Within the context of the sentence, "precious" makes no sense at all. I'm certain that "precocious" is the correct word in this case. Sam? ← Hope I'm not being argumentative, but I took it to mean no. 3, but I could be wrong - pre·cious Pronunciation: 'pre-sh&s Function: adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French precios, from Latin pretiosus, from pretium price -- more at PRICE 1 : of great value or high price 2 : highly esteemed or cherished 3 : excessively refined : AFFECTED 4 : GREAT, THOROUGHGOING <precious scoundrel> - pre·cious·ness noun

Had to laugh at that li'l typo. I think you mean precocious, don't you? Surely precious makes sense...or am I missing something?

Apart from the discussion of the crappy quality of the article, I did not read the piece as a celebration of Bruni. Rather, to me, it came across as reporting on the NY dinning scene's puzzlement with Bruni, and his ...eccentricities... ← I didn't think it sounded all that Pro-Bruni either

I'd give it a go. Is you birthday on the weekend? Thats going to be the tough time to get a table there, but I'd still give it a go. Considering that this place has only been open for exactly a week, I'd imagine that issues such as the phone and website are being worked on as we speak. Even though it was understood that this place was going to be a big deal. it's still very possible that they were'nt expecting THIS much of a response.

He also gets some very positive coverage in Frank Bruni's story about futuristic food (or whatever you want to call it). A very Jose Andres-centric edition of the Times for sure...

E-mail should be info@alinearestaurant.com. At least, thats what it was before the place opened. I have heard the answering machine message refered to in the above e-mail and don't see what your pal is getting so upset about frankly

My sources say yes. =R= ← They have indeed, theres a revew in the reader this week (or was it last week?) Anyhow, they have reopen, but have a different name I think... Just found this info on the reader website (review was not there though) Ixcapuzalco/La Bonita Restaurante 2165 N. Western Ave., Chicago, (773) 486-7340.