VeryApe77

The name makes more sense if you spell it , 'Yau@Cha'. It's origins are quite bizarre in that the name was actually inspired by Alan Yau's mishearing of a rant by Tupac Shakur, featuring Danny Boy, from the gangsta rapper's seminal album, 'All Eyes On Me'. The track in question is actually called 'I Ain't Mad At Cha', but Alan - jet lagged as usual and listening from his own cultural perspective - heard it as 'Mau At Cha', which conjured visions of the Chairman sipping tea... Oh, how we laughed ← Really? That's really funny, especially as it conjures up the image of Alan Yau intently listening to the works of Tupac (I picture him at a large wooden desk, lost in the gangsta rapture). Ironically though, you clearly are mad at him.

There was a restaurant just by my old house in London (on the Bethnal Green Road) that proudly boasted of being one of the few (if not the only) restaurant in London that served horse meat. It closed though. I also have never seen it offered here in the states. This could be my memory, but when I was a young 'un and I went to France with my parents, I remember seeing a horse sign (meaning that horse meat was on sale) everywhere we went. When I was there last year (in paris and gascony) I don't recall seeing it once. Is horse meat falling out of favour there or was I just in the wrong parts of the country/city? Or did that sign never exist at all? Maybe I made it up....

Agree with you 100% there. Growing up in London in the early 90's, the two people I always associated with Chicago were Charlie Trotter and Steve Albini! At least Albini's still doing some good work A-ha, you obviously have more insider info then I do! I guess when the most eagerly awaited restaurant in Chicago is opening down the road from your gaff, you need to deal with it...so hopefully CT has.

I don't know about Trotter's career sinking, I would that think he's doing OK (although I don't really know for sure). However, at this point, Achatz is doing so well, it would silly to take the "Grant Who?" attitude that Trotter was taking a few years ago. You can't really blame Trotter for using the "former CT allum" angle - I'm sure anyone would do the same thing! I've never seen anything to imply that Achatz has a problem with Trotter, and I get the impression that Trotter doesn't really have a problem with him (as I said before, I'm sure he gives all chefs that leave before a year the same treatment, and I would guess that there are quite a lot of them). Don't get me wrong - I love a good scrap. But lets not get ahead of ourselves here!

I was thinking about this as well...if memory serves, Achatz wasn't at Trotters for very long and was told when he left that, as he had been there for less then a year, would basically be treated as if he had never worked there (I'm basing this on a old NewCity article that I can't find on line anymore, so could be wrong). I'm sure this is fairly common and I imagine it happens quite a lot. Still, it might be somewhat less usual for the guy leaving to become the hottest young chef in the city (and maybe even the country) I would guess that Trotter just swallowed his pride and buried the hatchet. Of course, I could be wrong and there could be some juicy gossip here...but I wouldn't know about that. Edit: I found that article after all...here the quote I was thinking of and

Flay is on multiple times a day on national TV. I think he has furthered his career quite well. ← Exactly. At the end of his Food TV shows, it mentions the names of his restaurants. I'm sure many Food TV viewers make a point to visit them when they find themselves in NYC. I'm sure he's doing pretty well for himself. Of course, this isn't just because of his original appearences on Iron Chef...but it can't have hurt (that's certainly when I first became aware of him)

Heh, I was thinking the exact same thing yesterday. As I've said before, standing on that chopping board was a very smart (and shrewd) move indeed.

I see what you're saying, but as the original comment was specifically about Mario Batali - surely his Shorts and Orange Chucks are a big part of his image, part of what sets him apart from more stuffy chefs in the eyes of many people. Making him wear a more traditional outfit is a bit like putting Iggy Pop in a tux - what's the point (apart from the novelty value?)

This is true for a lot of the second season (but it was particually bad in the NOLA episode). The first season is much, much better IMO. Parts of the second season were just painful to watch. Better then 90% of most food TV, but still wince-inducing. I assume you're joking about NOLA being a "tame" town though...

I might be in SF soon and I would be interested! Out of interest, what makes you so sure that people would not be interested? Am I missing something?

Hate to sound like a broken record but I think the matchbox does a good old fashioned. I haven't had one there, but a drinking buddy of mine always orders one when he is there with me. Looked pretty good to me. I had a good old fashioned at the hideout last night as well.

I hate to laugh at anyone's misfortune, but this is quite funny. Of course, if it was a normal restaurant it wouldn't have been amusing in the least...but the fact that it was the restaurant that only served rice pudding - thats comedy. You really can't make that kind of stuff up.

Not the biggest fan of mixing marshmallow and chocolate (prefer peanut butter) but I think it sounds OK. I'd probably rather have half of it as a evening snack then lunch though.

Ronnie, glad you linked this, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to! The pictures make me very keen to return to Moto (I'm shooting for mid-March)! And that Racoon dish (and the story behind it) is great.

Sorry to say that it was the Today Show (with Al Roker et al) not the Tonight Show! I tivo'd it and it was pretty good. As you can imagine, they dwelt on the "hey, isn't this food weird!" aspect of things, but it was an entertaining segment and I thought Chef Cantu came across very well.

I find all of this (apparently genuine) ill-will towards Flay quite funny, if very hard to understand. When he was on the original IC, I got the impression that he was obviously playing the "heel" character. Getting upset about his behavior seems a bit like getting upset that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin didn't show enough respect to Hulk Hogan. Both the original IC and ICA seem to have as much in common with WWF as they do with serious cooking (which is why it's such an odd, entertaining concept). Let's not fool ourselves that it's anything really worth getting upset about. Also let's not pretend that the original IC was some high-minded tribute to haute cuisine. It was fun. Although, like most games, it did have it's serious side, it was still a game. It wouldn't surprise me if the whole standing on the chopping board thing was "suggested" by producers. I believe that both Morimoto and Bayliss are both on very good terms with Flay in real life, so I don't see why anyone else would take it so seriously. I also highly doubt that Flay is "jealous" of anyone. He seems to be doing quite well.

I am happy to say that there are many, many color pics in the book.

Well, possibly not in London There's a big old world out there...

I was just about to post about this. I would really, really love to attend. Sadly, I don't have $450.00 burning a hold in my pocket right now (or at any point in the forseeable future). Still, I hope some people manage to make it and post about (of course, if anyone wants me to go for them, I would be happy to do so )

This is the first (only?) place that came to mind for me as well. It has a dive bar feel but the bartenders there are truly exceptional mixologists. An unbeatable combination. I should mention that it is really, really tiny (I've heard it's the smallest bar in Chicago) so I personally like to go at a quieter hour. Having said that, I was there last Friday and managed to get a seat easily. You just have to have a sense of humor about people squeezing by you. Exact address is 770 N Milwaukee Ave, right by the Chicago blue line.

Speaking of Moto, I was looking at their website yesterday and noticed that you can now sample small tastings of the cuisine at Moto in the Moto Lounge I wonder if the Cocktail's are as innovative as the food (I've heard that WD-50 has an excellent cocktail list)

Being a complete outsider in both the food and media worlds, I don't feel the need to reserve judgement, (aka, give it the benefit of the doubt). It'll suck. SB ← If it ever gets onto our screens, then yes I'm pretty much certain that it'll suck. I might check it out, but I certainly won't expect it to have anything to do with the book (or, for that matter, the authour).

The fact that they are bringing up a TV series which might never get made and a film ("The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou") with a very, very tenuous food connection (I saw it last night, and I don't remember food being a big part of it at all) makes me think that - gasp! - this paper is making up with silly cultural "trends" that really don't have much grounding in reality. Shocking. Whatever next?

I've been labouring under the impression that flapjacks were something we'd got from the US. I'm almost certain that it was the Sainted Delia (Smith) who popularised them in the UK back in the 70's. ← As a brit living in the states, I think I can safely say that they are two different things. Of course, originally they might have meant the same thing, but now - In America, flapjacks are basically pancakes. Only, not pancakes in the English sense (i.e. crepes) but American-style pancakes. Confusing innit? Whereas English style flapjacks are (obviously) those things in your picture. My mum makes about 40 of them a week. No idea if the names are connected somehow, but they are certainly two different dishes.