Dining and food culture in Chicago
Truffle is a fungus, but unlike many other fungi, like cremini or chanterelle mushrooms, truffles grow underground near the roots of some varieties of oak, beech, pine, and other trees. Truffles are highly aromatic, and in the right hands, they can add depth and dimension to a dish.
Yo, ho, ho! It’s that time of year when unbridled eating, drinking and general merrymaking become the order of the day. So go forth, enjoy life while you can, and happy holidays
We started drinking Chardonnay—mostly California Chardonnay—in the eighties, and slowly, what we loved about the wine became what we loathed about the wine: it was big, oaky, and buttery. The Chardonnay that turned us around was the Catena Alta Chardonnay.
Whitney McMorris, the new executive chef at the swanky, Michigan Avenue French brasserie Venteux, is shaking things up. McMorris is looking to North Africa, Germany and elsewhere to create a French-influenced menu .
Maybe it’s time for Chicago to get onboard. Though we do find Indian tacos to be quite delicious, we look forward to the day when powwows and perhaps a Chicago restaurant or two offer a more complete menu of pre-colonial indigenous foods that don’t rely on fry bread, however delicious it can sometimes be.
To quote Ezra Pound, “Winter is icumen in/Lhude sing Goddamm/Raineth drop and staineth slop/And how the wind cloth ramm/Sing Goddamm.” Sure, you can look out the window at the gathering clouds and sing Goddamn, or you can make the best of a chilly situation by venturing out to eat, drink and enjoy life while you can.
My feeling is that, if a food seems strange but is widely eaten in a culture other than my own, I’m going to try it.
The revitalized Ramova, says Tyler Nevius, will be “the anchor that’s needed to revitalize the Halsted Street business strip in Bridgeport.”
On August 23, Fritzi’s—a much-anticipated deli in Oak Park—opened at noon. We were there a few hours before, and we asked owner Paul Stern about any apprehension he might be feeling about throwing open his doors. Was Stern worried, nervous, or… fearful? If he was either, it wasn’t obvious.
Sometimes it seems we’re living in a very fearful place, so why not take both a breather and trip to one of the following Chicago food/drink events in October. Maybe, if just for a moment, you’ll feel some respite from what seems impending doom.
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