ronnie_suburban

Caught this news on June 6 at Hospitality.net: =R=

For more on this mini bombshell, check this thread. =R=

Thanks, Trevor -- very enlightening. =R=

Thanks, Abra, for giving us a glimpse of what must have been a great time. The food all looks sensational. My friends all like eating the stuff I've made but it seems that's where their interest ends. =R=

Congrats on the early success! I really should not wait any longer to place an order. =R=

Ore, those Charcuterie pics at your blog are phenomenal. I had no idea you were at Fra'Mani. How's business? =R=

Nice job, mdbasile. I definitely have mold envy too. What was the overall cure time on those? =R=

Yeah, now that you mention it, I scaled it back a bit too, based on the instructions on the Bactoferm packet. For my peperone, I ended up using about twice the amount called for on the packet, which was still substantially less than called for in the book. =R=

For the peperone, I used pork butt =R=

I think this really depends on the humidity in your curing area and whether or not you need to run a humidifier to maintain the proper level. If no humidity maintenance is needed, you'd probably be ok leaving it unattended for a few days. I doubt that in a MN basement, you'd have significant temperature fluctuations over the course of just a few days. I'd be curious to hear what others think about this, as well. =R=

Sandy was referring to the foie gras. No need to worry about that in KC . . . at least not yet. =R=

Damn, Abra! That looks (and sounds) great and I cannot wait for the full report. =R=

In cases like these, I think it's fair to say that those thousand words are only a very small portion of the whole story. =R=

... or how either "mudled," under-seasoned, or over-cooked meat has anything to do with sloppy presentation... The only presentation that I will agree looked sloppy to me was the un-ravelled lamb chop. The rest of it, I found aesthetically pleasing. [edited to add: I always order my meats rare. I assure you, the beef was not-over-cooked, unless you had tartare in mind...] u.e. ← I hope you know I meant no offense, ue. I happen to think your images are consistently outstanding but you are, technically-speaking, an amateur photographer. =R=

Perhaps this is why some chefs don't like it when customers take pictures in their restaurants. Nonetheless, assessments made about a restaurant -- by someone who has never actually eaten there -- based solely on pictures of its food taken by a 3rd party, amateur photographer, should be taken with a large grain of salt. I'm really curious to know how, by merely looking at such images, one can reasonably estimate that flavors are "mudled" (sic) and that the food is "under seasoned". =R=

There was an interesting, related piece by Michael Ruhlman -- about Adam Block -- in today's New York Times: The Secret Ingredient (free registration required) =R=

'Twas pork, unfrozen . . . but I think I'll be okay. =R=

So happy to report that my peperone -- and my first-ever batch of dry-cured sausage -- turned out great. Unless I drop dead from some odd foodboure illness , I'd have to say that my inaugural run was a complete success. I weighed the entire batch on Friday morning and knew that it was pretty near ready. This morning when I checked them, they felt different -- much harder on the outside. I weighed them and they had lost exactly 30% of their weight. Here are a few pics . . . Net weight 63.7 ounces. A closer look. You can see a slight streak of fat which has run down the outside of the casing. That wasn't there until today. Interior shot . . . really, I couldn't have hoped for better definition. It's tangy, softly-dense and wonderfully chewy. Just like with good bread, the flavor is in the chew, not just the initial bite. The hot/mild hit of paprika at the finish -- I used some Hungarian half-sharp -- lasts a long time thanks to the slow melt of the fat on the tongue. Most of successful sausage-making is technical. So much so that at times how a project ends up tasting isn't even the most important detail. Once you understand and can execute a set of processes, the flavors are relatively easy to tweak. However, I doubt I'd change a thing next time out. This is a case where the book nails it on both counts. The recipe is perfectly delicious and totally satisfies the "peperoni" craving. And, from a technical standpoint, I acheived nearly optimal results on my first attempt. The says a lot for the instruction the book provides. Folks, we have peperone! =R=

I think the primary advantage of retaining the skin is that it helps protect the belly from getting dried out and hard during the (hot) smoking process. My guess is that you can turn out successful bacon from a skinless belly with just a bit more manipulation during the smoking process. What does everyone else think about this? =R=

I'm sad today too because I've now fully depleted my stock of KfP Cokes. I'd had one every morning since I started this thread and finally ran out on Friday. What a treat it was having them around. I can hardly wait until Passover '07! Edited to add: Before I'd found the KfP Cokes, I was really enjoying my Coke Zeros. Now, I'm sad to say, they no longer taste anything like 'regular' Coke to me. =R=

Nice work, Dave. The guanciale looks perfect. As for the sopressata. I can understand that it looks a bit fatty but how is the mouthfeel. Refresh my memory, did you cut that by hand? In either case, I'll bet it tastes great. =R=

Realizing now, thanks in part to Maggie's post, that I forgot to come here and list a few new additions: The Reach of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain Heat by Bill Buford My Life in France by Julia Child (with Alex Prud'homme) Culinary Boot Camp by the CIA and Martha Rose Shulman =R=

If you're up to it, make another batch of the sauce and leave the hotter elements (cayenne pepper, tabasco) out. You can also increase the sugar a bit. There's nothing wrong with using a jarred sauce either, as long as it's one you know you (and they) like. =R=

I really should add that our waiter, Thierry, was a total pro. His service was impressively thorough but never overbearing. He patrolled the room like the seasoned veteran that he was -- never out of reach -- but never on top of us either. I can't remember once looking up and not seeing him somewhere near us. We never lacked anything, never waited for him to reappear, never didn't have what we needed or wanted in front of us. Professionalism like this, I believe, is becoming harder and harder to find in the restaurant world. I tip my cap to Thierry, who worked hard to keep us happy yet made it look absolutely effortless. =R=

I must first apologize to the good folks of Western Springs because I’m about to further expose their biggest secret, their hidden gem. Of course, Vie is no real secret and chef/owner Paul Virant gets as much ink as just about any chef in the city of Chicago. The fact that the former Blackbird chef and Paul Kahan protégé is turning out inspired, craftsman-like cuisine from a kitchen 20 miles west of downtown, says a lot about his abilities. Chefs, of course, live in the suburbs, so why shouldn’t there be great restaurants in the suburbs? The folks at Prairie Grass Café, Carlos, Le Francais wouldn’t argue that great food cannot be found outside Chicago’s city limits. The fact is, Vie's success and reputation are not examples of geographical culinary relativism. Vie would be sensation in any venue. When our companion made our reservation, he mentioned to the person at the other end that we were coming in search of great food and that we were also doing our best to scout suburban foie gras preparations in advance of the City of Chicago’s upcoming ban. Of course, when you speak to a true professional, such conversations get converted into action. Our friend didn’t know at the time to whom he was speaking, but when our waiter arrived at our table with 4 foie gras appetizers -- which were not even offered on the menu -- it was instantly clear that the reservation conversation had been put to good use. It turns out that he had spoken with Vie's manager, the impeccably professional Gene Pellegrene. As much a highlight as the succulent and rich foie gras and crepe dish was, the meal just kept getting better from there. Vie's menu, at least on the night we were there, seemed too good to be true. It was actually hard to decide what exactly to order because so many of the offerings were so tempting. Because of this -- and the fact that we didn't know the foie was coming -- we decided to order first courses, salads, entrees and desserts. At each turn, the food seemed to best the previous course. For my appetizer, I ordered the Crispy Veal Sweetbreads with red beet jam, wood-grilled spring onions, arugula and a red wine vinaigrette. The sweetbreads were indeed crispy on the outisde -- perfectly so -- and delightfully tender on the interior. The accoutrements worked in perfect unison with them to create a truly memorable plate. I can't recall ever having a better order of sweetbreads. These trumped even the great ones -- served with pork belly -- I had at Custom House a few weeks back. To me, this dish said "Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts!" Vie is focused more on leveraging seasonality than just about any restaurant at which I've eaten in a long time. I passed on a few excellent-sounding appetizers but was delighted to try bites of them when they were served to my companions. The Ricotta and Herb Gnocchi with morels and sugar snap peas were simply out of this world; tender perfectly dense and delivering a focused richness to the palate. My wife ordered the Gratin of Morels and Ramps and it was even more delicious. What a pleasure it was to experience such fleeting ingredients incorporated into such delectable and seemingly simple preparations. My salad was a real treat: locally-grown, Nichols Farm Asparagus with fresh dill, thick shallot vinaigrette and parmesan crisp. This was a huge portion of tender spring asparagus in a sweet-tart-savory dressing that was just perfect with the generous accents of fresh dill. I loved this salad. And it was another seemingly simple preparation that clearly wasn't as simple as it looked. I've made hundreds of vinaigrettes in my time and not one of them was ever close to as good as this one. I also got a chance to share the salad of Mixed Local Greens which was stunningly fresh and tasty. These greens had been treated with great care, the Strawberry Vinaigrette was another winner and the Pinot Noir and Spice Poached Strawberries which accompanied it were like delicious little gifts. I loved this salad as well as a 3rd salad on the menu, ordered by my wife. It consisted of crisp Organic Romaine, fresh hearts of palm, anchovy dressing and parmigiano reggiano served with a piping hot piece fried bread. Really, it was hard to determine which salad was my favorite. They were all sensational. Of course, while we ate the salads, we were bombarded with the pungent and unmistakably intoxicating aroma of truffle. This is because the 4th person in our group ordered the Cream of Henrys Farm Sunchoke Soup, which also featured truffle oil, and lemon. The soup was spectacular too. Wow! With the early courses, we enjoyed a great bottle of Chardonnay; a Littorai 2003 - Charles Heintz. Entrees were compelling and completely over the top. Again, it was hard to decide exactly what to order. The choices -- trout, sturgeon, guinea hen, veal, lamb and hanger steak -- to name but a few, all sounded great. I decided on the wood-grilled Hanger Steak which turned out to be a fantastic choice. Needless to say, it was cooked perfectly to medium rare, sliced into medallions and served with harissa, grilled Wisconsin ramps, roasted garlic puree and fried spiced chick peas. Wow! It was such a cool dish and such an atypical preparation. I loved the chick peas and ramps and thought the sauce that formed on the plate -- harissa and beef juices -- was magnificent. Who needs potatoes and creamed spinach with their steak? This rendition of Hanger Steak actually tasted and felt completely Spring-like. It was a real eye opener for me. My wife ended up with Guinea Hen (pan roasted breast, braised leg and thigh) which was, also, startlingly delicious. It was served with some braised spring onions, sugar snap peas and organic baby carrots. All the components worked well together here but the hen was the star. It was so delectable. A few bites had me thinking that it was as good or better than duck leg confit. There is skillful cooking and there is mastery. This hen had been mastered. Unquestionably so. With our entrees we had a tremendous bottle of Domaine Mongeard Mugneret "Les Petits Monts" Vosne romanée premier cru. I'm sorry I cannot remember the vintage. But this was a great wine, and at least for me and my Hanger Steak, a perfect fit as well. Desserts, which are usually an afterthought for me, again had me scratching my head with delightful indecision. I opted for the Vie Split, a hand-crafted, house version of the classic Banana Split, featuring house-made ice creams (vanilla, chocolate and strawberry), sauteed bananas and caramelized peanuts. It was fantastic. But, even better was the Warm Gooey Butter Cake which was served with Lavender White Chocolate Ice Cream, Madeleines and White Chocolate Crunch. This was one of the best desserts I've ever had and certainly the best one I've eaten this year. The cake was warm, and gooey but with a perfectly light crunch on its exterior which was simply irresistable. I was totally full and could not stop myself from eating it. And again, I'm usually not even into sweets. With the desserts, the 4 of us shared a small bottle of light and refreshing Moscato d'Asti, which capped the evening pefectly. The kicker (and a great thing) about Vie is that it really wasn't nearly as far away as I thought it would be. The drive from our house in the northern burbs to the restaurant's door took only about 30 minutes. In many instances, that's a lot less time than it takes to get downtown from here. I realize that going north to south is much easier in this town than going east to west. But still, even if it took you an hour both ways to go to and from Vie, it would be time well-invested. There are so many "hot" places in city that are nothing but PR and sameness. But Vie is a restaurant that, while clearly off the beaten path, deserves to be considered a destination restaurant. There are big-time chefs in our fair City who couldn't hold chef Virant's sautee pan. If you haven't been to Vie, you're really missing out. I personally cannot wait to return there. =R= Vie 4471 Lawn Avenue Western Springs, IL 60558 708 246-2082