DutchMuse

A friend turned me onto heirloom chickens, which I buy from a small farm in Michigan. These are classic heirloom chickens; they look the part and have more fat on them then mass grown/produced chickens. I'd like advice on the best cooking methods for these. The first one, I put on a rotisserie on the grill. No success--it was tough and reminiscent of the toughness of a Blue Foot Chicken from Sonoma I bought from d'Artagnan some years back. Thoughts on the best ways to cook these birds, which can be a lot more tough than "regular" (kind of backwards logic there) chickens? Thanks everybody for your help.

Thanks, Tim; good idea!

To me, a great chef is exceedingly talented, demands the best ingredients, demands exact execution, and requires perfection in how the dishes are assembled and presented. A genius chef is all the above but creates new dishes that are brilliant--blazes new ground by combining flavours and textures in ways others haven't done before.

Just moved here from NYC and I have a fryer. Would like to make duck fat fries. Any suggestions for buying duck fat in quantity in Chicago?

I did a search but didn't find a thread specifically on this celebrated local restaurant. (If I missed it, you can direct me to it). Can folks recommend some "not to miss" dishes to get here? Thanks!

I had always heard great things about this place and I went there a week ago for lunch. I left feeling ho-hum; I thought "what's the fuss?" Maybe just a bad day for the restaurant?

This brings up an interesting point of how to actually "properly" use a sauce spoon. Like one poster above, I usually end up using it to both cut a delicate fish (that's why the nick is on one edge--for the bones) and then put the fish and sauce on it to eat. Seems easier than using a knife, then a sauce spoon. But now I wonder if I'm being uncouth.

Nice review; thanks for writing it. My take on the sauce spoon comment is that they probably encounter a lot of people (having nothing to do with you) who don't know what to do with it. I find its not common in the USA to serve a sauce spoon, and lots of people are not sure what to do with it.

Could you add myself + 1 to the Blackbird and Chinatown dinner waitlists? Thanks!

I moved from NYC to Chicago and now have a large terrace with a 3 burner TEC grill. I bought the deep fryer attachment and am now honing my deep frying skills. Tried it out today and made onion rings but they weren't quite as good as I would like. I first soaked them in buttermilk, then dusted in flour. They were fine but not quite enough batter---more like fried onions and not onion rings. Not that I want a ton of batter, just more than I used. Any tips for great onion rings? Second, I hope to make Belgian frites soon. I will either use beef suet from a butcher or try to find duck fat. But man---how much duck fat would I need for the deep fryer? A ton I think; where to find that? Last, suggestions for oils to use for the onion rings? I used grapeseed oil today at 365F. Maybe peanut oil next time?? Give me some suggestions for my deep fryer.

I, too, thought the review well below his recent improvements.... I read the review, which read as more negative than positive, and I didn't see the connect with two stars--read like a one star review to me. Also, I kept thinking that his references to his dining companions was a distraction. What was all that in the review for, anyway?

Interesting review though it sounded as if the restaurant barely made it into the two start territory. Still, made me want to go and try it.

What happened to the woman who had been at EMP?

I went to Alinea last night, having just moved to Chicago from NYC. I was blown away. Phenomenal meal; I was skeptical when I went, fearing "tricks" and theatrics that would overshadow the food. Quite the opposite. This was a world class dining experience in both food and service. Later I will post on the courses (all 18 of them) but I was blown away.

Yes, Craftsteak has indeed improved in food and service from its opening. It can still be a bit variable but on the whole, quite good.

Yikes; this has me worried. I'm moving to Chicago in a couple of weeks and Japonais is a couple of blocks from me. I had hoped it would be a good "to go" place. Maybe if I consider it a neighborhood joint, I'll be ok.

She has moved around some....EMP, DP, now the Plaza.

Two thoughts....if a restaurant can do a great Omakese, they should be able to offer good food in the entire restaurant....the concept of "different ingredients" etc. in one small section is an oddity and unfair to the other diners. Second...Chelsea and the Village have great restaurants; not sure what you mean by go to a better 'hood for food.

Yes; not an unusual experience. If I may be slightly uncouth, the restaurant largely caters to the B&T crowd who come in but are not regulars. A few weeks ago (I live in the neighborhood), a friend was to drop by and we were going to lunch. I went on open table about an hour in advance, and Morimoto had all times available. Because I didn't know exactly what time she would arrive, I did not book a reservation but thought we would just walk to the restaurant. We showed up and the hostess told me no tables were available but offered us two seats at the sushi bar. I explained we had business to discuss and asked if we might sit at a table instead; I mentioned that I had an hour before checked open table and it showed availability for all times. "I'm sorry, sir; we have no tables." I told her I didn't understand as I could go on my iPhone and just make a reservation in 5 minutes; it showed wide availability. Her response? "Well, alright; I'll seat you at a table. I'm certain one of the parties with reservations will realize the sushi bar is much more fun anyway." I thought to myself, "And I'm paying for this treatment?" Caters to the tourist crowd and they don't depend on regulars.

I stood behind Danny Meyer's wife who waited in line with her kinds, just like everyone else. She was very patient and waited her turn.

Agree completely that a regular of Ssam should have that "status" carried over to another restaurant in the enterprise. If I'm a regular at GT, then I would expect similar priviliges at EMP or Modern or Tabla.

Agree with comments above. Avoid East of Eighth at all costs. I live in the area and it is quite miserable. I'll never forget the "way past their prime" mussels they served me. The whole table smelled this foul odor...yuk. RUB and Shake Shack are great, as are Grand Sichuan and Bread Bar at Tabla.

You certainly won't feel out of place at EMP....lots of younger diners there.

I returned last night to a near perfect dinner. The restaurant was only about 1/2 to 2/3 full, and the front of the house was running quite smoothly. Food was spot on. Onion rings were really tasty; none of that extra-saltiness I had experienced my last visit. My steak was cooked just as I had ordered it (medium rare) and the sides great. When its on, its great. Agree its a sleeper amongst the Manhattan crowd.

From the tenor of the posts above, however, the "misses" sound far more legion than the "hits" at Bouley. That is a huge problem.