Quickie: Chicago

Pictured here: one of the trio of ceviches I enjoyed with two really good food bloggers, Paul and Rob, in March.

Just a quick note here to give a heads up to a very tasty, very interesting interview in Chicago magazine.

“Six of Chicago’s most intriguing chefs come together to sound off on star ratings, copying dishes, and the most annoying chef question on earth.“

The chefs? Carrie Nahabedian, Grant Achatz, Sarah Stegner, Paul Kahan, Rick Bayless, Charlie Trotter.

Loving Chicago as much as I do—more than New York City, and maybe even more than San Francisco—this was a fabulous piece of journalism. So much personality, so much fun. I love what Bayless had to say about his daughter growing up in the restaurant—and that she now brings her teenaged friends in after concerts, feeding them well. There's something almost Italian in that, and not the kind of dirty American secret like, "You bring your child into a restaurant kitchen?!"

The chefs chime in on star ratings (feh), their friendships, a discussion of Chicago's citywide ban on foie gras, and more.

One favorite exchange?

Q: So as restaurant owners are you going to complain [about the illegality of foie gras]?
Trotter: I haven’t been in a public newspaper fight in about three weeks, so I may have to drive down to City Hall and just open a can of whoop-ass.
Kahan: Dressed up like a giant lobe of foie gras? A-grade, of course.

Snarky bit?
Q: Anthony Bourdain said recently, “I don’t care if my tomato was raised in a lab or some hippie’s backyard. I don’t even care if it causes the occasional tumor in lab rats. I only care that it’s the best tasting damn tomato available.” Reaction?
Bayless: Consider the source.
Kahan: It’s idiotic.

And read what follows after that, because these chefs live in the Heartland, and they are connected to their farms. (Bayless might harbor residual feelings about the flap with Tony Bourdain calling him onto the carpet over the Burger King endorsement flap. Google it if you aren't on the page, or write me if you can't find it, and I'll link. But not right now.)

Having said that, such a statement is not one of Bourdain's more intelligent or educated moments, and he has plenty of them. He needs to feel his New Jersey roots and remember the "Garden State" he grew up in. Says me, like that'll happen. Nevertheless, being that he ultimately is a gentleman, I kinda do expect him to make some kind of a retraction.

So: a tasty bit for foodies who likewise appreciate chefs who can carry on friendly conversations, and who love their local farms. And for those who love Chicago. What a great place. Says she who left the snow in Santa Cruz in the first week March to walk in shirtsleeves around Chicago for the farm conference.

Heh.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: “Of course, I miss Chicago for its quietude and gentleness. People still say hello to you when you pass them on the street.” — Joseph Jarman

I'm sure urban citizens would laugh, but by golly, that city is friendly, to the bone.

Pictured here, baby Fiona on the mother pig (I don't know how to spell the sow's name, sorry) out at TLC Ranch just a little to the south of me here in Santa Cruz county
, right before the family went to Terra Madre a couple of weeks ago.

Two posts today. Hadda do it.

Thanks for visiting.

I LOVE CHICAGO.

Comments

[Rebekah]

awesome blog!