I had no idea pisco was so nuanced. The colorless grape brandy produced in Chile and Peru isn’t quite as popular as cachaça, but it’s coming on fast; you can learn more about it at places like ThePiscoBook.com, but you can also learn from the pros behind the bar. I did just that recently, as … Continued
Jose Garces has been getting a lot of press since he became an “Iron Chef,” but the man with Chicago roots – and a small Philadelphia empire of restaurants – still gets back to town every now and then to fire up the troops at Mercat a la Planxa, inside the Blackstone Hotel on … Continued
Garrett Oliver loves to sit down with a good beer. The Brewmaster of the well-known Brooklyn Brewery has been talking a lot about his favorite subject lately: he just completed editing and overseeing the publishing of The Oxford Companion To Beer, a massive tome of nearly 900 pages, including the arcane and the historical, … Continued
I’ve always told parents of young children to head to Chinatown, because nearly every restaurant welcomes children and most offer smaller portions of easy-to-digest dishes (except for Lao Szechuan, which might be for more advanced tweens). My daughter was a regular at Phoenix when she was six weeks old, and her favorite food to … Continued
We all know by now that President Obama is quite the foodie. He took his wife to Spiaggia for their anniversary; he dined with Oprah at Graham Elliot for his 50th birthday, and he loves the food at Topolobampo so much, he asked Rick Bayless to cook a State Dinner when the Mexican president was … Continued
As much as I love the cookies, cakes and muffins from A Taste of Heaven in Andersonville, it’s the scones I would drive out of my way for (as well as the artisanal pizzas across the street at Great Lake, but I digress). The scones here are unlike their dry, crumbly brethren, and I’m … Continued
As my post on Monday indicated, my colleague and I were highly annoyed last week, after we sat through a three-hour-plus tasting menu (five savory, three sweet; plus a bottle and a glass of wine, water, tax and tip) at Charlie Trotter’s. The bigger shock – in comparison to the experience – was the … Continued
Giuseppe Tentori is a busy guy these days. The Trotter veteran continues to oversee his upscale Boka in Lincoln Park, as well as the more casual GT Fish & Oyster (in the former Tizi Melloul space) in River North. Tentori has a way with seafood, treating it with more reverence (and a tad more … Continued
Before I had made my first dinner reservation in Stockholm a few months ago, I was already eagerly planning on meals laced with all manner of fish and vegetables that had been smoked, dried, preserved and pickled. I started doing some homework in Chicago at Tre Kronor, one of the city’s only Swedish restaurants that serves … Continued
I’m getting ready to go guest bartend at an event tonight (fundraiser for the kids’ school) and I was planning on bringing two drinks, already made in batches, so I wouldn’t have to be so meticulous about pouring out one ounce at a time. The Hemingway Daiquiri is my go-to, and I know that one … Continued
Happy 5772! I was up all night, what with the ball drop and the champagne and all… Actually, Rosh Hashana is a time for reflection and celebration, leading up to Yom Kippur next week, the day of repentance and forgiveness. But every dinner table is set with honey this time of year. It’s meant to … Continued