adoxograph

The first thing I would want to know about the Watkins is, what is the alcohol percentage in their extract? That number, if it is significantly higher than the Penzey's could explain a price difference. I have also seen items labelled as "extract" which are simply a dark, vanilla scented liquid, and "extract" which has obvious, visible seeds with enough liquid to just make it pourable. I would contact both manufacturers and get more information before buying if it's a concern, and then tell us... I'm curious to know m'self. :)

I think the landlord is misguided and shortsighted - can he evict if someone, for whatever reason, starts eating meat or dairy? Can they not have a potluck dinner where a carnivorous friend brings over a rack of ribs for those guests that do imbibe? I'd be tempted, if I were living there, to start making and smoking sausage to sell from my home kitchen. Not for me, mind you.... I don't eat that, Mr. Landlord. :)

Chicago Mag really does like this place - in the August issue ( the "Best of Chicago" issue) it's there as a "Brand New" selection on pg 220, with a great looking picture of their dessert sampler. It's not listed as BYO in the write-up, so you may want to call and ask.

I'm in pastry school, so I feel like I'm dipped in Plugra at the moment, but it sure is tasty. after butter, in order of quantity used: EVOO, almond oil, sesame oil

Grease-free and odor-free deep fat fryer. Of course, it's probably better they are the way they are for the sake of my arteries.

When the email includes the line, "i am on vacation and I would like to finish up your menu..." you have reason to have high hopes. I mean, the chef is on VACATION thinking about what to feed ME! Woo-hoo! My sister and her husband had driven up to Chicago for 48 hours to take me to TRU for my 30th birthday. A meal like this one demanded equal measure for Scott's 30th, just last week. But they live in Nashville, what to do? I saw chefseanbrock's invite in earlier threads to make a reservation, so I dropped him a note. Absolutely, he would love to cook for us, he said. Reservations were made, changed, confirmed with nothing but congenial attitudes. And so my BIL Scott, my sister Julia, Sarcasmo and I arrived slightly before 6 pm on Saturday (sorry Chef!) for what turned out to be a wonderful meal. The atmosphere for the evening was really set when we arrived. The hostess smiled brightly when I gave my name. "Welcome! We're excited you're here." And that was before we sat down. Watermelon- Lemon Oil - Advocado Ice Cream - a crisp cube of fresh watermelon, topped with the ice cream and a slice of dried lemon on top. Not only was it a great awakening of what was to come, but wonderful textures as well. Marinated Toro, Chilled Asparagus Soup and Preserved Wild Ramps - For me, the ramps made this soup. Not sharply aspargus flavored, but smooth and a bit salty, with the delicate tuna and crunchy ramps making me grab for a bit of bread to wipe up the remnants. This became a pattern for the evening. Puree of Heirloom Tomatoes, flavors of gazpacho - Here, we became suspicious. We loved this soup, but Scott glanced over the menu and noted that many of the items seemed to include things I had mentioned to Chef Brock in my email as "dislikes". I don't like tomatoes. We asked Chase as he checked our progress, " Is Chef Brock messing with us?" After being assured that no, Chef was not, I confessed that I liked this soup. Pickled Garlic, gel cubes, a bit of tomato sorbet made this more substantial than the previous soup. Sous Vide Maine Lobster, parsnips, naval orange, floral aroma - Absolutely, unanimously, without question, the best dish of the night. Hot water poured into the bowl of about 15 different types of flowers and herbs like saffron did not make the lobster taste like potpourri. Instead, it acted as subtle flavoring to this amazingly tender lobster. It was very, very good. It was good enough to inspire some rather raunchy suggestions as to what else the lobster would be good for. It was also good enough to remind me why I like eating with these people. "Beets and Goat Cheese" - Chef came out to check on us and brought these morsels along - crispy purple balls filled with warm goat cheese. Did I mention Chef Brock has spent some time with some chefs in Chicago? I'm not sure how coherent we were, giggling from good food, and perhaps a bit of Pinot Grigio. Artisan Foie Gras, steel cut oats, pomegranate molasses, vanilla fragrance - imagine the best bowl of oatmeal and side of sausage ever. This wins. The ice wine that appeared with this course matched perfectly. Wild King Salmon, cauliflower, beets, leeks - The skin on this salmon was particularly wonderful, crispy. In fact, we asked if we could just have a plate of the skin. At this point Scott started counting down how many more courses we had until the Kobe beef. So... much... food. Arkansas Rabbit, morels, tomato confit, garlic shoots, black truffle emulsion - My sister was bouncing for this one, dying for morels. Sarcasmo less so, with his thing against bones. Both liked the dish. Once again, we reached for the bread. Scott's comment? "Chef gives good sop." Spice Roasted Duck, celery apple, lavendar, chocolate - mmmmm Duck. Scott and Sarcasmo traded plates for this one due to varying fat preferences. Discussion insued on the necessity for re-education. How could someone not like the sliver of duck fat on these pieces? "Prosciutto and Melon" - a shot of melon juice and what can best be described as a cracker of prosciutto jerky. I crunched away on mine and sipped honeydew juice, glad for a light course. American Kobe Beef, mushroom puree, organic hominy, fava beans, Vidalia onions - ok, I confess, I only took a small bite of this. I normally don't eat meat much if at all, and I had already plowed through rabbit, duck and fois gras. I couldn't do it. Birthday Boy to the rescue! He happily cleaned a second plate, making him Mr. Super Macho for the evening's food consumption. Blueberry-Hibiscus Soda - not only was this a nice refreshment, it harkened back to the lobster. Sure enough, hibiscus had been part of the floral aroma. super bonus course: there arrived before us a capsule/straw contraption filled with something dark, with a spear of fig on the straw part. It turned out to be a port reduction with chocolate and fresh fig. The idea is, hold the capsule in your mouth, squirt, then pull the fig off with your teeth. No need to explain twice to us, we squirted and scraped in a way that reminded me of getting the meat out of lobster legs. The boys liked it so much they started competing to see who could get the most chocolate out of the capsule. Chase came over as they were dipping the capsules into Julia's mint tea to use the hot liquid to squeeze out more chocolate. He didn't comment except to smile. We liked Chase. Liquid Chocolate Cake, cocoa nib, raspberries - As the ice cream melted down into the liquid cake, natural disaster comparisons were inevitable. Add a spoonful of raspberry sauce, "Look, it's Pompeii!" Tasty, tasty pompeii White Truffle Milk Shake - a single, rich, wonderful sip to end the meal. It was so wonderfully rich, I almost wished it had been earlier in the desserts, and finished with something lighter. After all, it was now 10:15. As we said our most grateful thanks and made our way towards the door, a gentleman asked what had been the occasion, that we were there when most of the diners arrived and were leaving after many had left. We pointed to Scott - "His birthday." Terrific present. I'm glad to have given it. So, moral of the story - go to the Capitol Grille. The lobster dish is on the regular menu now. And Chef Brock gives good sop.

1. One bottle of Ranch. I hate it, but such are the whims of the boy... 2. What is salad-in-a-jar?????

Thank you again for sharing your time and expertise! How do you keep track of the cheeses you've tried and what is your classification system? After producer and whether or not you enjoy a cheese, what do you think are the most important points to note about a cheese for later reference? Is there a little black book full of the names of cows and goats? :)

Anyone who keeps Old Bay on top of their stove - as opposed to tucked away in the back of a spice cabinet, or (heavens!) not at all - is a soul worth knowing. :) Chile head, eh? Do you find most of your meals are spiced, or do you occasionally go through bland phases?

Ron, I am so jealous! I've been dying to go back to Marisa's, had gone so far as to grab my keys, but then remembered all the food in the fridge we need to eat before going away... I've hit the stage since my last visit of skepticism - was it really that good? Maybe I just caught a good night, etc etc. I'm glad to see it stands up one multiple repeat visits. Have you tried the Sicilian pie yet?

More than any of the cooking shows the family watched when I was younger, Jeff Smith taught me that it was OK to ignore a recipe. It was the moment when the recipe he was using called for six drops of Tabasco. "Six Drops?!" he exclaimed, while shaking an indeterminate amount into the pot. Never forgot that.

Half of what the students make in their teams of two goes to the school for charity events school events, etc. The other half goes to the students to split. If my first few days are any indication, yes, some does get eaten by students. :)

Ditto that - we haven't been to Hema's yet and somehow I don't feel it would be right to go without some of y'all along. Of course, that didn't stop me from invoking the name when someone in sanitation class asked if there were any good Indian places in Chicago. (She just moved here last Thursday. She'll learn. :) )

Vosges doesn't do the buffet - in fact when we went, we asked them about it and all they knew was that it was not something of theirs. :) The buffet isn't in the bar, it's in "The Lobby" which may be the most descriptive name for the location of a hotel eatery yet. Have the hot white chocolate with lavendar.

Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and broil them. Very quick and tasty with ice cream or nuts.

For really girly gossip you may want to consider the Chocalate Buffet at the Pennisula Hotel on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Can't say much about O'Hare, because when I land there, my next thought is how close my kitchen is... often I can pick out my complex as we're coming in to land. To add to the list of bad airports, slide Cincinnati in somewhere near the top. After bad weather stranded me there overnight, with no chance of a connection, causing me to miss my grandmother's 90th birthday, getting a return flight took so long that all the food options had closed up by the time I was done, and we weren't allowed on to a terminal with vending machines. Bradley International, located nowhere near the Hartford, CT it claims to fly in to, has a Sam Adams place which is not terrible when waiting for your ride to cross the state and pick you up. Luckily, it's a small state.

Well, It's been 10 months since my last (first) visit to TRU, and I think I'm ready to talk about it. I know some time back someone commented that we don't really talk about TRU, as if it was one of those unspoken restaurants we all understood. I'm not sure if that is exactly true - I think this thread hasn't had an update since January 2003 because I couldn't search for TRU directly - the name's too short. Ronnie, could you check and see if I'm insane in thinking this, or if that is actually the case? At the very least, I figured I'd give the ball a push with my thoughts from my (*gasp*) 30th birthday dinner back in September. My sister and her husband drove up from Nashville for 2 days, just to take Sarcasmo and I out for dinner. How I ended up having to drive to the restaurant, I'm not sure. This was the first experience at a restaurant of this caliber for the other three, while I, the ancient one among us, had been to Trotter's before, but that's about it. We were expecting to be dazzled. I admit, seeing "Happy Birthday Adoxograph" across the top of our menus was a good start. :) We went for full chef's tasting menus, and I pretended that I eat meat all the time so I didn't miss out on fois gras. A champagne cocktail started us off, which I remember as being, well, nice. Truffled Celeriac Spoon with Duck Consomme Gelee - Sarcasmo asked me what it was, and so I told him, after tasting, that it was the best mashed potatoes with gravy ever. He was happy with that description. Grand Amuse-Bouche - carrot parfait, watermelon juice, tomato gazpacho and fluke sashimi. I remember most the texture of the carrot parfait. You could use this to describe the term "mouthfeel" - this was the lightest, smoothest creamiest carroty thing ever. Caviar Staircase. Just fun. Here is where they started splitting off the individual plates. I'll list everything for the sake of exposure, but I'll comment selectively, so people can do something else with their day as well. Suffice to say, we passed our plates a great deal. Fighting Fish Bowl (mine) : marinated tuna, salmon, hamachi, cucumber Peeky Toe Crab, Green Zebra tomato, tear drop tomato mosaic Red and Golden beet salad, horseradish foam, micro chervil and beet reduction Deconstructed beef tartare, capers, quail eggs, consomme gelee. (I loved the fish bowl, and here is where I become evil - first, I refuse to share. Then grudgingly I allow tastes, but I forget to offer one to my sister, who is paying for the meal. She is the only one who doesn't get a bite of what all agree is the best of these dishes. I suck. My second favorite is the beet salad.) The Fois Gras course: Cured Fois Gras au Torchon, Peppered pineapple relish and Muscat Gelee Lignonberry Fois Gras (mine) Braised red cabbage, Veal jus Chocolate Fois Gras, Brioche French toast, caramelized banana-chocolate sauce Caramelized Peach Fois Gras, salsify puree, maine blueberry vanilla sauce (This was a miss for me - the lignonberry was way way way too tart, I couldn't taste anything but sour. My sister, on the other hand, couldn't wrap her scientific brain around the fact that the chocolate and banana really brought out the flavor of hers. She loved it.) Lobster lobster bisque (mine) lobster ceviche Porcini mushroom cappuccino, parmesan tuile Curried cauliflower cappuccino, buttermilk cracker conch chowder, shrimp toast (Have I mentioned I'm an east coast girl trapped in the Midwest? The lobster was a sure thing for me, even it hadn't been quite as excellent. Luckily, it was excellent.) Loup de Mer, Yukon potato Puree, roasted artichoke, truffle jus Olive Oil Poached Hamachi, Dashi-Soy broth, Micro Tat-soi Wild Alaskan King Salmon, salsify puree, pickled ramps, sorrel sauce Seared Ahi Tuna (mine) Cippolini Onion Puree, Vanilla Emulsion (I don't remember much abot this course, but I do remember that here is where we were really having fun with the fantastic service. Sarcasmo eats slowly. Very slowly. Since they really wanted to clear the table as a whole, they did a wonderful job of "checking on" nearby tables to see how he was doing without hovering over him saying "shut up and eat, would ya?" like I would have. :) ) Braised Beef Short Ribs, Parsnip puree, crispy parsnips, natural jus Elysian Fields Lamb Chop, swiss chard, fava beans, tomato marmalade Australian Beef Tenderloin (mine) thumbelina carrots, cauliflower puree, tarragon jus Truffled studded sweetbreads, wild mushrooms, veal jus, balsamic reduction (This was really my first proper piece of meat all year. It was good, but that's about as much as I can say. This was also the course my brother in law started snarling at us if we asked for a taste. Ok, not really, but he liked his enough that he simply did not share.) Cheese course The groaning, wimpy boys left cheese selection up to the stalwart Yankee women, and we took a little bit everything from the stinkiest to the mildest. Of course, that means its hard to distinguish our favorites after all of this time. We're cheese people and made sure to sample goat, sheep and cow's milk cheeses, ending up with 12 selections. We thought we wouldn't finish. We did. Mango-Orange tapioca Shooter I think this was Sarcasmo's favorite, but I'll leave it up to him to comment. Gale's Dessert collection Served in pairs - the boys had a cobbler thing and a cappuccino brownie, the girls recieved molten chocolate cake with blueberry sorbet. My sister swears that there was something else that came with a mint sauce, but we both agree that the cheese course and the mignardises were so wonderful that the desserts proper faded away. Except that blueberry sorbet. That was really good. Mignardises and lollipops At this point I was sure a Monty Python moment was soon to follow. Luckily, nothing was wafer thin. Truffles, candied cirus and ginger, a vanilla lollipop which I loved, various other chocolate selections. In fact, a friend took her husband to Tru a few weeks later, and returned with a box of these and a few lollipops for the recommendation. It was a nice bonus. Wines: Palliser Estate Sauvignon Blanc Martinborough, NZ 2002 Paul Hobbs Malbec El Felino Mendoza, Argentina 2000 Not a whole lot of wine drinkers among us, and we didn't want to raise our bill more than we had to, but I was still pleased with these "bargain" recommendations. I remember the sauvignon blanc particularly not just because I liked it, but because one of the other menus highlighted tomatoes and I thought this wine would go well with that as much as it did with our meal. Overall, we thought the food was wonderful, with seafood courses being the stronger. The service was terrific - our captain warm and joking with us throughout the meal, despite having one very slow eater. Although certainly not something we poor folk could do regularly, this was great for the special occasion that it was. And the menu we got had my name on it. SO good for my ego. Ok, I showed you mine, someone else show theirs. :)

I too will glance, or sometimes outright ogle in the checkout line. I've never actually commented, though. Someone did once ask me about my purchases - it was the day of my do-it-yourself iron chef battle egg. I bought 6 dozen eggs, soy sauce, and a bottle of water. The checkout girl asked me what the eggs were for, and I admit, I couldn't help myself and replied, "Oh, I just felt like having eggs today." Oh the stares.

No strawberry in any kind of market tastes like a wild strawberry, just picked, warm from the sun. I suppose that this is where some of the u-pick popularity comes from, but I've always found u-pick not as good even as finding something wild. We spend many summer days picking wild strawberries, then blueberries, then currants and then making "jam" (My grandmother's recipe was a 1:1 ratio of berries and sugar, that's it.) and I am now very picky about what I deem to be good berrywise. Despite this, I wish people could have a chance to taste berries like that.

A bit of chopstick lore I heard was that one symbol of class was how you held your chopsticks - the further from the food, the higher your social stature was percieved to be. Anyone know if there is any truth to this factoid?

-Jean-Luc Picard, L.A. Story. :)

Trying to remember your winning poker strategy? Hot Pear, 2 Pears, 3 in syrup, Stuck, Floating, Fused to a Fourth? Scrape Fast, Really Fast. (pair, 2 pair, 3 of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush, royal flush) What about simple scientific nomenclature? Ketchup, Please? Chicagoans Obliterate Franks, Get Salad Veggies. (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, Variety) Oh, and I wouldn't put ketchup on a hotdog. :)

The overall consensus of the Adler contingent was "eh". There seemed to be fewer food vendors with mostly the same stuff. There was a jerk catfish and a turtle soup (can't remember where from, went through very quickly) which were OK, a curry fries with good curry sauce on bad fries, and, you know, fried things everywhere. Glad we didn't have to pay for food tickets.

I'll use them as a tofu substitute in vegetarian stir-fry, and I have a bruschetta recipe that uses fava beans that I've been meaning to use edamame for, but haven't gotten to it yet. Snacking is the best, though. I'll even eat the pods. :)