ricardoyudi

wow many thanks for all these great suggestions, I'll have to write them down and decide where to go now. @ nsxtasy : going to Alinea would be my only "real deal meal", while the rest of the week I'd go to cheaper places. I'll probably be taxi/train/bus dependant, I'm not sure which hotel I'm staying since another person is in charge of making the reservations. I know that the conference will be at IIT 3241 s. federal st Chicago, IL 60616, United States (312) 567-3000 The group might have Monday off to do some sightseeing, it would be cool to arrange some tourist route and finish it off with a "traditional" chicago meal (if there's such a thing). I almost forgot, is it Motto worth? I know that the group would be excited to try some of Cantu's imaginative work. And one last thing, any cook stores that might be good to shop at? I'm definately buying another microplane, the one that I have atm is so wasted.

Hey guys, I'm going to Chicago for a Design & Emotion conference in october and need some tips on where to go to eat. I'm a chef and love every kind of good food, specially ones that involves a little bit of creativity and experience tweaks. I wanted to go to Alinea (and that would be my only and one stop), but since I couldn't get a reservation I can now indulge to other places (and obviously on a somewhat tight budget). Where would you go and take people who loves creative food etc? (keep in mind that most of the group are designers and would be interested on things like aesthetics, experience, emotions). Thanks!! yudi

would you say it`s a form of escapism? I like the concept of being challenging and illuminating. I`m wondering what sort of things makes that movement interesting. Aesthetics, the buzz around it..

I`m intrigued, I couldn`t reach a conclusive answer on this subject. There`s is a clear difference between grabbing a bite on the street and go to a place like alinea for example. Based on a consumer point of view, why would you want to go to a place like that? -Dining experience? -Some guide told me it`s awesome! -Place to be seen, see ppl. -curiosity -to be a `i`ve been there` person inside group `x` -? help me out and speak your mind out. I`m trying to understand a little better the market behind this type of cuisine.

that sounds really interesting, please keep us posted! Since they are chops a very light herbal rub, pan searing and oven should preserve the all the goodness and flavor.

Hello everyone, I'm a japanese cuisine enthusiast and was wondering how does the restaurants store their fish used for sashimi? What would be the ideal conditions and equipment to handle the product properly? Does anyone have any experience in japanese restaurants? Regards, rick

for those who didn't read the vanilla extract thread here it goes http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...3205&hl=extract I think chocolate is harder to obtain a good extract since it's not as volatile or fragant as a vanilla bean, however sounds very very yummy. I certainly will experiment making some extracts too. Since I'm crazy about spices and stuff I'll try to make some cardamom, tonka beans.. How about flowers and stuff? It goes under the herbs category I think, it should work quite well. This website lists several edible flowers: http://whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowe...FlowersMain.htm Truffles should be a 100% success since infuses extremely well in oils, dried rice and so on. A low budget experiment would be dried mushroom (shitake for instance) in my opinion. What do you think?

reminds me about these posts by harold mcgee @ cheftalk http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/open-forum-...-mushrooms.html http://www.cheftalk.com/forums/open-forum-...ppy-shroom.html (I hope it's okay to post other forums links)

Yes, sometimes when I don't have duck fat I use coconut oil. It gives a good result too.

oh! now I get it, that's a brilliant idea indeed. I must confess that I was looking for a mixer gadget. lol.

rorycberger: I use thomas keller green salt cure (mixture of parsley, thyme, bay, peppercorns) and add a little of five spice mixture. This salt I use 1tbsp per pound, leaving for 1 day then rinse and pat dry, the usual. I peel them after cooked and cooled. Then I remove most of the fat and sear on a hot pan or put in the oven for a couple of minutes untill golden brown. Usually I finely slice serving with sweet potato blinis. It's a handful but totally worth it.

I have never seen one of those before, how does the stirrer works? I can't see in the picture.. I mean, I can't identify it on the picture. BTW, great work, keep us posted with the next experiments!

I think you can apply the same recipe as the gizzard confit. I make gizzard and lamb tongue confit in a regular basis and it's wonderful!

I'm very curious too...!!