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jesteinf

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Everything posted by jesteinf

  1. That digestif is pretty interesting. I tried it the last time I was there and it definitely grew on me as I drank it.
  2. Thanks for the report. I'm not much of a Bongo Room fan, but I much prefer savory breakfast stuff to sweet. Also, glad to hear that you liked The Publican. I feel like the food there has evolved quite a bit since they first opened and has far more to offer than just "beer, pork, and oysters". I've never had any issues with dessert there (even my wife liked the one dessert she had there and she's definitely not a dessert person).
  3. Reservations for midweek are easier than the weekends. If you want to go on a weekend, I would recommend calling the day the reservation book opens for the month you'd like to go (which is 2 months in advance). So, if you want a reservation sometime in October you should call on August 1. Chef Achatz is regularly in the kitchen.
  4. Congrats on getting into Schwa. It's one of my favorite places and I'm sure you'll have a great time.
  5. My wife and I spent our honeymoon in Bora Bora a couple of years ago. We were there for 10 days and I can't say that the food was terribly memorable. The best meal we had was at Villa Mahana. It's a small French restaurant that only has about 6 tables. If you want to go you should definitely have your hotel make a reservation for you. Not sure where you're staying, but if you're not on the main island your hotel should be able to coordinate transportation with the restaurant. We stayed at the St. Regis so we needed to take a boat and then transfer to a van. Everyone will tell you to go to Bloody Mary's. It's a spot that mostly caters to tourists. You go in, pick out your fish and they cook it how you like. The floor is also all sand. It's fine, but nothing special. Other than that we just ate at our hotel. There was a sushi bar there that was pretty good and Jean-Georges Vongerichten runs the upscale restaurant there. The setting was a little bit better than the food, but if you can go I would recommend it. Here's a post I did on Bora Bora on another board, click Hope that helps. Bora Bora is a wonderful place...have a great trip!
  6. As a nice change of pace, and for someplace that I think both of you would appreciate, for dinner on the 5th I'd recommend Mado. Small, chef-driven, local/seasonal ingredients, snout to tail cooking. Everything is very simple, allowing the ingredients to shine. I think it would provide a nice counter-point to both Alinea and Moto. You should also consider The Purple Pig, another small spot specializing in wine-friendly pork and pork-related products. Also a good contrast to Alinea and Moto. Note that The Purple Pig doesn't take reservations, so things could be crazy over a holiday. Both are easily accessible via cab or public transportation. Mado 1647 North Milwaukee Avenue Chicago, IL 60647 (773) 342-2340 The Purple Pig 500 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60611-3777 (312) 464-1744
  7. More information about "street food at a flea market" here
  8. If you'd like a glimpse at the non-Bayless Mexican food scene, and you've got some time on Sunday, I'd recommend heading over to the Maxwell Street Market. Mixed in among the tube socks and tire rims is some of the best Mexican street food that you'll find in the US. Handmade tortillas, tamales, churros...all sorts of good stuff and a great slice of urban life. Some advice for navigating the market can be found here. Head to about Roosevelt and Desplaines and just wander from there. Not your typical tourist attraction, but if you're looking for some real deal Mexican food you should have a great time.
  9. At least Grant Achatz, Thomas Keller, and (probably) the janitor enjoy eating solid food. The Housewives seemed put off by the entire endeavor, making them pretty terrible judges for a food competition.
  10. So, no issues with the winner using store bought sausage?
  11. I can't say I enjoyed Gilt Bar all that much at a recent dinner. Primarily, I didn't appreciate being carded at the door of a restaurant at 8pm. Beyond that, here is a recent write up that I posted on another site: We had a somewhat strange and slightly disappointing dinner at Gilt last night. Gilt occupies the former Aigre Dioux space behind the Merchandise Mart. Before we entered to restaurant to take a look at the complete overhaul they've done on the space, we were stopped at the door by a bouncer-type checking IDs. I can't say that I've ever been carded when entering a restaurant at 8pm. Not the best first impression to make IMO. Make no mistake, although this place has the word "bar" in the name, it is trying to be a restaurant first (at least at 8pm on a Saturday night). The room is an odd mix of large tables, small tables, couches with tables, benches, etc. Fortunately we were seated at a proper table since I didn't really feel like eating dinner on the couch (I can do that at home). We ordered a number of dishes from each section of the menu. Just to be sure we didn't get everything at once we requested a specific order of dishes from our server. First round was a pork and duck pate and a beet salad with some apples, mint, and I think a nut of some kind. The pate was really nice and was served with some toasty/charred bread. The bread was warm, letting the pate melt a bit when spread on top. We needed more bread to finish the pate and Gilt decided to charge us an extra dollar for the privilege. Classy. I also enjoyed the beets. They sort of reminded me of Passover. Next up were a couple of pastas. Gnocchi with brown butter and sage and a pappardelle with scallops. I liked the gnocchi (opinions at the table were mixed). They had a little bit of crisp on the outside, but were still generally light. They walked right up to the line of being oversalted, but overall I thought they were good. The pappardelle was just ok. I like the texture of the pasta but thought the pasta itself (when eaten without the sauce) was sort of bland. I didn't know what bland was, however, until we got to our next round of dishes. We went with the pork meatballs and what the menu referred to as a "pork breast". Pork breast is apparently just pork belly. The plate had three thickly cut pieces of belly served on top of lentils. I have never had pork belly as bland and boring as this belly. Completely unseasoned. No texture on the outside. Just a mouthful of bland and boring fat/meat. The lentils tasted like dirt. I never send dishes back because they're not to my liking, but there was just no excuse for this. The waitress took it back and we got the pot roast instead. The pot roast was good, but no different than any other good pot roast that I've had. The pork meatballs were pretty good...crispy on the outside and moist and porky on the inside. We also had a couple of vegetable dishes with this round...some blackened cauliflower and grits with cheese. The cauliflower was actually one of the highlights of the night. Served with pickled onion and some chilis, it was probably a successful dish because it didn't really taste like cauliflower. The grits tasted alright but suffered from being on the watery side. We skipped dessert, as it didn't sound like a real pastry program was up and running yet. Drinks are mainly focused on beer and cocktails. I had a couple of sazeracs with my dinner. I'm no cocktail expert, but they were damn tasty and hard not to drink too fast. Overall, an ok but not great dinner. Some highs (the pate, cauliflower, meatballs) and one insanely low low (pork breast). I think this place needs to figure out what it wants to be. It doesn't really occupy the same space as Purple Pig, but I think that's what it's trying to do (even though the Pig could kick this place's butt up and down the street). Is it a bar or a restaurant? Is it locally focused or not? Is it going to highlight suppliers/farmers or not? It seems like it wants to do all of these things but doesn't fully commit (we asked what the source of an 18oz ribeye was and we were told "Iowa". Pass). I think unless Gilt gets these things figured out it will fall victim to its cursed location.
  12. Absolutely go to The Purple Pig. Probably my favorite new restaurant in town.
  13. There is no way I'd want to sit through 6 hours of a judges discussion. I like reading Tom's blog after each episode, and they could probably post a 5-10 minute clip of additional footage on Bravo's website that would provide as much information as Tom gives in his blog. But 6 hours? Come on.
  14. I've been a couple of times and I really like the market, as it provides a major upgrade in terms of lunch options for those of us working in the Loop. On opening day I got a sandwich from Pastoral that was fantastic (and the folks working there were doing a very nice job of managing an extremely long line). Yesterday I had a "Classic" banh mi from Saigon Sisters that was ok, but probably not worth $7 (there's a pork belly banh mi there that I am looking forward to trying). As for the rest, the fresh meats and fish look fantastic. I look forward to picking up stuff there over the summer to grill when I get home from work.
  15. We're coming to Las Vegas for a few days over New Year's and are trying to pick a place to eat on New Year's Eve (likely on the Strip). It may still be a bit early, but it doesn't look like most restaurants have posted their New Year's Eve plans yet. If there is anything that's been announced, I'd love to hear about it. Otherwise, maybe this thread can become a central repository once more information becomes available. Thanks!
  16. Gee, I don't know. It's so hard to decide between the turkey-ham, the turkey-roast beef, or the turkey salami. Definitely avoid the turkey though. I don't think there's any turkey in it.
  17. As with any reality show, I'm sure there is plenty that we as viewers did not see. I would be willing to wager that the majority of people watching Top Chef don't care much about the details of overnight refrigeration.
  18. Oh my, don't ever get sucked into the vortex that is the Tribune comments section.
  19. I would imagine that Jennifer is sticking with her "safe" dishes to get her into at least the middle rounds of the competition (i.e., cooking the dishes she knows best and is most comfortable with...cooking for Ripert that means seafood). Once she's built up some "capital" with the judges I would image we'll see her branch out a bit.
  20. There were plenty of diners eating at El Bulli in June wearing jeans. One of them was even wearing sandals (the horror!). Didn't bother me or detract from the experience in the least. Also re: Alinea. Given the aesthetic of the restaurant, the room looks better with bare tables. Linens would be totally out of place. And yes, it is clearly a Michelin 3 star.
  21. Ugh, the discussion of that ad has been discussed to death. It was not a dig at Alinea.
  22. Re: Mexican I just ate a Salpicon a few weeks ago for the first time in a long time. It was very, very good. I was also at Adobo Grill a couple of months ago, and I really wasn't nuts about it. The table side guac was a highlight (as it always is there), but none of the other flavors were terribly exciting. I'm also a big fan of Sol de Mexico, but haven't been there in a while.
  23. Give this list a shot. Plenty of options for "broke bastards". Not all are close to downtown, but this is a very good place to start.
  24. Why would you put less stock in multiple recent visits than a single visit made 18 months ago?
  25. I was really disappointed in Comerc 24. Personally, I would recommend Paco Meralgo as a nice counterpoint to el Bulli.
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