ronnie_suburban

Discussion taking place here. =R=

Was surprised to not see Gary Danko on the list. =R=

I'm not surprised by your reaction, although I do consider it to be a notch above other "Red Sauce Joints" around here because their ingredients are extremely fresh and dishes are made to order. I do love their salad but definitely would have opted for the Chicken Vesuvio, which I think of as their signature dish. Glad you had a good time. I've never been to Basillico's but if it's on a par with Hole in the Wall, I'd definitely consider it next time I'm in the Rosemont area looking for a decent meal. =R=

1 Alinea 2. Chez Panisse 3. French Laundry/Per Se 4. Spago 5. Joel Robuchon 6. Le Reve 7. Masa 8. Alan Wongs 9. Daniel 10. Le Bernardin 11. Mangolia Grill 12. Michel Richard Citronelle 13. Charlie trotter's 14. Arrows 15. Cyrus 16. Striped Bass 17. Babbo 18. Lock-ober 19. Canlis 20 L'auberge Carmel 21. Bartolotta 22. Restaurant August 23. Inn at Little @ Washington 24. Ritz @ Buckhead 25. Vetri 26. Fore St. 27. Jean Goerges 28. Higgins 29. Da Marco 30. La Belle Vie 31. Parker's New American Bistro 32. Michy's 33. Frasca 34.Gramercy 35. Providence 36. Guy Savoy 37. Zuni 38. Urasawa 39. Bacchanalia 40. Sanford 41. York St. 42. Manressa 43. No. 9 Park 44. Trattoria Nostrani 45. Cafe Juanita 46. Paley's place 47. Lantern Restaurant 48. L'Etoile 49. Herbsaint 50. Nana

My issue of Gourmet showed up today: Congrats, again, to the entire team at Alinea! =R=

I agree completely with this. Pimenton has nuances and characteristics that completely distinguish it from high-quality Hungarian paprika. They're essentially 2 different ingredients and using Pimenton really has a profound impact on the final product. =R=

September 20, 2006... From today's Chicago Tribune - Good Eating section: Sweet symbols...Bill Daley takes a look at the Rosh Hashana dessert table and reports on how it reflects the best that fall has to offer. Hey, Cookie, we're looking for you!...the Good Eating staff announces their Holiday Cookie Contest. Too `Tasty' to put down...Robin Mather Jenkins provides a brief review of Tasty: Get Great Food on the Table Every Day by Roy Finamore. A spot of tea . . . at cocktail hour...in this special to the Tribune, Nancy Maes takes a look at the rapidly growing popularity of tea-based cocktails. Avocado...Donna Pierce with a useful guide. ===== From today's Chicago Sun Times - Food section: It's time to tailgate!...BBQ guru Steven Raichlen explores the glories of tailgating -- "a uniquely American institution." Keeping kosher...food editor Sue Ontiveros provides a brief review of Jewish Cooking for All Seasons the newly-released, first cookbook by Laura Frankel, chef/owner Shallots in Skokie. Tastings around town...Celeste Busk previews upcoming events at Smith & Wollensky, Carlos', Harry Caray's and The Kit Kat Lounge. Food news...Denise I. O'Neal previews 2 upcoming, area appearances by Tyler Florence. ===== From today's Daily Herald - Food section: New year, new book...not to be outdone by the Sun-Times, food editor Deborah Pankey spends some time with Laura Frankel (chef/owner of Shallots in Skokie), as she discusses Jewish cooking and her new cookbook, Jewish Cooking for All Seasons. Chef watches tastes trend toward authentic Greek cooking...in this week's Chef du Jour installment, Leah A. Zeldes interviews chef Panagiotis "Peter" Kappos of Greek Islands, whose primary responsibilities center on their Lombard location and recipe development. Branch out and pick own apples at local orchards...The DH staff provides a useful listing of local pick-your-own orchards. Food and wine classes...a comprehensive listing of upcoming area food events, tastings and classes; broken out by day. . . . and from the September 15 edition: Leah A. Zeldes rounds up the local Oktoberfest scene with 2 pieces: Tap the keg & Fests offer more than beer, brats ===== From the September 15 edition of the Chicago Reader's Restaurants section: Kate Schmidt takes a look at Marigold, a new, upscale Indian spot in Uptown which is getting quite a bit of attention. David Hammond shares his thoughts about Rios d'Sudamerica in Bucktown and Heather Kenny praises Zocalo in River North, of which her criticisms are mostly minor. Also provided are glimpses of nearly 2 dozen other newly-opened spots around town. ===== In this week's installment of Chicago Magazine's Dish (again, via e-mail only at this hour), Penny Pollack and Jeff Ruby report on the big news at Alinea. ===== =R= <><><><><> Media Digest Notes... Updates from some Chicago media outlets, which do not 'go to press' on Wednesday mornings, will be edited into each week's post as they become available. Please do not reply on this thread. For discussion of any stories which are linked here, please feel free to start a new thread or contact the forum host or digester who will be happy to do it for you. <><><><><>

Absolutely. It's great to be eating products over which we have a large amount of control. Knowing everything that goes into them and how they are properly made definitely provides a feeling of confidence. =R=

Heya Matthew, Thanks for the behind-the-scenes glimpse of Alinea. Are you still cooking. If so, where? =R=

I will and I do. Thanks, Ed =R=

Yes, it's from Five Easy Pieces =R=

Some well-deserved honors for Alinea. It's just been named the #1 Restaurant in America by Gourmet Magazine: Congrats to chefg, Nick and the entire team at Alinea! =R=

Hey all, Let's please continue to be mindful of our Calendar and Events Policy and keep the discussion here focused on the content of the event and not on the "planning" and "who's going?" aspects. And I certainly hope that anyone who attends will check in here and let us know how it was, what the highlights were, etc. Oh . . . and pictures are greatly appreciated! Thanks! =R=

Whoops! Just remembered that PGC is also closed on Mondays =R=

Yes, definitely. Was talking to a chef about it last night who told me that her restaurant had done it that way for years, very successfully. But, you'll need to either pipe in the smoke from a separate source (to maintain a properly low temp) or spend some time figuring out how to get the indoor smoker to do exactly what you want it to. =R=

Literally next door, same ownership but more of a bistro menu and not Italian. If I'm not mistaken, chef at ND is daughter of Frank (Francesco). The food is, again, very good but it isn't really the same as HitW. I'm not sure it woulc be as worth it to make the trip to ND, but Prairie Grass Cafe, which is excellent, is just down the street and definitely worth the trip, IMO. =R=

The show is called Check, Please! and don't worry, it was a re-run. The place has been there and packed for a good 20 years. It's cash only and it's jammed out the door when it first opens at 5 pm. But, around 7-7:30, after the first full turn, the mostly local, suburban crowd begins to dissolve. The food is fantastic and the service is very friendly. Wine selections are decent. Beware, it's cash only. But I will say that it is definitely worth the drive and definitely worth the wait. Knowing your home turf Daniel, I know you have access to great food but I pretty certain that this will stack up. =R=

And I should add that I halved the amount of pink salt in the cure because, 4 tsp seemed somewhat high for 5 pounds of fish. I appreciate all the input here, which will definitely help me out on my next attempt. =R=

Hmmm...wow this is just like the movie supper size me when the Dr. warned him to change his diet because he was turnning his liver into fat.....hmmm...does that make Mc Donald dinners dumb as ducks and geese? Has anyone seen any of the city council at the local micky d's? hmmm I wonder if Tom Cruise will be dinning on micky d foie gras in a few years.lol ← LMAO! Great point. =R=

A quick welcome to Aaron whose posts at LTH I have I always enjoyed. Now, back to the topic at hand, please. =R=

Great list, David. Thank you. And welcome to town, eyedoc! =R=

Awesome! Thank you. I have a sneaking suspicion that a trip to Cleveland is on the horizon for me. =R=

Complete and total blasphemy! I'd be suprised if you liked any of these. I'm guessing it's simply a style issue and none of these are vastly different from Malnati's. I used to think Uno/Due ruled, but they've slipped, IMO. Gino's has never really scratched the itch for me. I hope you'll keep us updated on your quest. =R=

Hey Bill, Great blog! Thanks for the visit to your world. It's simply beautiful. I know you mentioned a few local food items upthread but which are your faves? Are there items that, if you lived elsewhere, you'd be jonesing for? =R=

Gotcha. Thanks for the input, Michael. Coho is somewhat lean but it was definitely the 'best available' at the time. I'll cut it back to 24 hours of curing next time around and see what goes. The piece of salmon from Costco was so much smaller, comparing the results (on that level) is probably not relevant. I too just had a physical and while the results weren't fantastic, my bp and cholesterol were both lower than at my last visit to the doc. FWIW, I didn't mention my new hobby =R=