• Planning a picnic? Of course you are. It's simply not summer unless you're planning a picnic. So do it the well-informed way: a roundup of the best excuses, events, and locales, plus a handy guide to what you'll want to bring to supplement your blanket & basket. Those marching ants say gracias, Emily Le Beau! (We have just now arbitrarily decided that all Chicago-dwelling ants are Spanish-speakers) [Tribune]

• Speaking of fried peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches! Julia Kramer puts her investigative journalism hat on, and finds out why exactly it is that beloved menu items will just very rudely disappear from menus. Like the aforementioned Elvis-killer, formerly on the menu at Over Easy Cafe. Also missing: braised octopus at Avec, brisket panini at Vella Cafe, and the McRib you-know-where. [TOC]

Now how 'bout them thar reviews:

• Phil Vettel does a twofer, hitting up Brazilian all-you-can-eat-meat places Texas de Brazil and ZED451 this week. Mandatory groan-inducing-yet-endearing Vettel pun: "sometimes I think it's called "Brazilian style" because each meal contains a brazillion calories."
Phil one-stars Texas de Brazil and two-stars Zed451 (turns out the name is a head-scratchingly oblique reference to Fahrenheit 451! Who knew!). TDB is too salty, not quite as exciting as Zed's expanded offerings — the mini-chain doesn't restrict itself by the Brazilian rules of only seasoning with salt, and only using Brazilian cuts of meat. Also: totally exciting salad bar! [Vettel, Tribune]

• Over on the cheaper side of things, Epic Burger lands a solid three forks (out of 4) from Glenn Jeffers. The all-organic, eco-friendly patty joint is, in fact, epic — in the best possible way, with the juicy meat not even needing the various veggies and sauces sharing bun space. Additional awesomeness: the egg-and-pepper sandwich, and milkshakes that sound pretty darn heavenly. [Jeffers, Tribune]

•We're going to resist the urge to make "bro! dude! bro!" jokes and be serious for a moment: We are riding the Heather Shouse train right now. Her review of HUB 51, whose various claims to buzz we don't really feel we need to explain to you anymore, is one of those things that sits with us just right. Like a critical David, she knows where she stands vis-a-vis a Melman Goliath:

Regardless of the flaws, regardless of my personal feelings about the place, this isn’t the kind of restaurant that is shaken or even affected by reviews.

[Photo: Epic burger, via Joe M500's Flickr]

Our Secret Boyfriend Mike Sula (we should just start abbreviating that to OSBMS) was having a no-doubt erudite and witty dinner at Marcus Samuelsson's C-House when he recognized the server-in-training as ousted Top Chef Season 3 cheftestant Sara Nguyen. Apparently the eminently talented chef (Per Se? Yes please) is paying the bills waiting tables until the opening of fellow ex-Cheftestant (and finalist!) Dale Levitski's forthcoming Town & Country, where she'll be a sous.

So go to C-House to get your front-of-house reality celeb fix, and keep an eye out for what OSBMS calls the "occasionally puzzling" seafood dishes. Is this a hint at reviews to come? Hmmm?

Ex-Top Cheftestant working the front of C-House [Food Chain]
C-House [MenuPages]
C-House [Official Site]

The buzz on HUB 51, run by Melman-spawn R.J. and Jerrod, might have died down just a tidge. But we're still uncovering new ways in which the restaurant piques our interest.

You see, besides posting humdrum Craigslist ads to fill available positions, they also include this handy little youtube link. Which is also on their website. Which takes us to perhaps the most deeply weird recruitment video we have ever seen (it appears down at the bottom of this post).

While researching this ridiculous piece of filmography, we uncovered &mdash via the always on the ball Chicago Dining Examiner &mdash that les freres Melman offer a similar brand of humor with their house rules:

HOUSE RULES:
• LIMITED RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED, CALL US AT 312-828-0051 TO CHAT.
• PARTIES LARGER THAN 8 WILL PROBABLY BE SEATED AT TWO TABLES.
• MUSIC IS AT THE VOLUME WE LIKE. EAR PLUGS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.
• THE CUSTOMER IS USUALLY RIGHT.
• SATISFACTION GUARANTEED - JUST TALK TO US.
• WE ACCEPT $$$, MC, VISA, AMEX.
• 18% GRATUITY ADDED TO PARTIES OF 6 OR MORE.
• NO ESPRESSO. STARBUCKS DOWN THE BLOCK.
• VANS ARE OUR SHOE OF CHOICE. CHECK THEM OUT.
• APPROPRIATE DRESS REQUIRED. GENTLEMEN, NO HATS.
• GUYS, NO TANK TOPS. TRUST US, WE’RE DOING YOU A FAVOR.

BAR RULES:
• LEGAL DRINKING BEGINS AT 21 YEARS OF AGE.
• NO SMOKING INDOORS. OUTDOORS? OK.
• FEEL FREE TO TALK TO STRANGERS.
• INTOXICATED? WE’LL CALL YOU A CAB.
• WE PROUDLY SERVE ROARING LION ENERGY DRINK - GRRRR, IT’LL GETCHA.
• BOTTLE SERVICE? SURE THING, 12 OZ. BOTTLED BEERS. SEE LIST ABOVE.
• NO COVER CHARGE.

And now, the recruitment vid. Caution: girls in bikinis and marginally offensive Asian stereotypes ahoy:

Hub 51: Now Hiring Full-Time Servers [Craigslist]
Our House, Our Rules [Chicago Dining Examiner]
HUB 51 [MenuPages]
HUB 51 [Official Site]

Having have expended valuable seconds of our life manually fixing the URLs of Chicago's Second-Favorite Newspaper, and in no way being bitter about it, on with the show.

• Two things confound us in the very first paragraph of Pat Bruno's review of Weber Grill. The first is the very existence a restaurant that is branded after an appliance.(To us, it smacks of summer festival faux-restaurant:the Weber Grill! Find us in the Food-n-Fun Tent between the KitchenAid Bread Basket and The Cuisinart Salsa Stand!) The second is the opening sentence:

I get a lot of e-mails in the summer (and around the holidays, too) that come from suburbanites who are heading into the city for the day or a weekend and want a recommendation for family dining without spending a small fortune.

• "Free-lance writer" (god, we love how the S-T hyphenates that. So medieval ronin!) Thomas Witom heads to Downers Grove to visit Borrowed Earth Cafe, a vegan raw-foods restaurant from the appropriately named husband-and-wife team of Danny and Kathy Living, which succeeds admirably with its tricky conceit. "Lasagna," "ice cream,""couscous," and "cheese" are just some of the quote-adorned mock items on the menu, and they all seem to pull it off with aplomb. [Witom, S-T]

• Witom's really working the suburb beat this week, as he also hits up Sage Bistro in St. Charles. The place could probably coast by on atmosphere alone: the tiki torch-bedecked patio overlooks the Fox River, and has live jazz on weekend evenings. But the seafood-focused menu does okay by our reviewer: he loves the shrimp de jonghe, the fruits de mare, and the work of the kitchen's two pastry chefs. [Witom, S-T]

• Meanwhile, over at the Reader, our secret boyfriend Mike Sula has visited Birrieria Zaragoza, a south-side joint specializing in birria, "a regional Jalisciense variant of the more widespread barbacoa, meat traditionally slow-cooked in a pit." Owner Juan Zaragoza goes through as many goats in a weekend as there are days in the week, steaming the meat for hours and then treating it with an ancho mole before cooking some more. They're served on tortillas made by a woman named Maria Guadalupe Jungo, who comes in a few days a week to man the press, and all in all it sounds like one of the greatest things on the green earth. Bonus: click here to watch a video of the birria being made! [Sula, Reader]

*Hush. We are from the suburbs.

[Photo: the sampler plate at Borrowed Earth, via spacekadet's Flickr]

First of all: we are horrible journalists. Yesterday we claimed that TOC landed the first big review of graham elliot, but astute readers have informed us that we somehow overlooked Pat Bruno's July 4 review, which robs TOC of the restaurant-review equivalent of commenting "FIRSTTTT!!!!!!!111!!!eleventy!!1"

We're inclined to blame our oversight on any number of factors, starting with the fact that on July 4, technically speaking this blog you are reading now actually didn't have an editor, and ending with the observation that nobody reads the freaking newspaper on July 4. But we are a grownup, so we will not make excuses. Ahem.

Suffice to say, Bruno awards Mr. Bowles 2.5 stars out of a possible 4 (since 2 is "good" and 3 is "excellent," we are going to call this "goodellent"), and on the whole seems much more pleased with his experience than the TOC folks were. In particular we find ourselves swayed by his description of the deconstructed Caesar salad, avec "brioche Twinkie." Sold!

Second of all: For dinner last night, we made the grilled chicken tacos with harissa mayo that appeared in Wednesday's Tribune. We deviated a little, using boneless/skinless breasts instead of thighs, and marinating them for a half hour in lemon juice, olive oil, and a metric ton of spices (cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, some cajun mishmash), but hot damn that is a good weeknight dinner.

graham elliot [MenuPages]
graham elliot [Official Site]
Bowled Over [Sun-Times]
Grilled chicken tacos with harissa mayo [Tribune]

[Photo: Bowles's deconstructed Caesar salad, via SiFu Renka's Flickr]

• A gentle reminder from Monica Eng that you should be calculating your server's tip based on the pretax total, not the bottom line. Especially now that Cook County tax hikes are raising restaurant bills across the bar - restaurant patrons will be seeing a total of 10.75% appended to the total (10.5% sales tax, plus 0.25% restaurant meal tax). Cue commenter backlash... now! [Tribune]

• Barbecue aficionados Barry Sorkin (of Smoque BBQ), Robert Adams Jr. (of Honey 1 BBQ), and LTH Forum grand master Gary Wiviott weigh in on a blind tasting of local barbecue sauces. The winner? The house sauce from Robinson's #1 Ribs rose above its damning faint praise to best Hecky's, Sweet Baby Ray's, and others. [TOC]

As for reviews...

• Phil Vettel wanders down LSD in order to two-star Park 52, the most recent attempt to restaurantify Hyde Park, and finds it eerily reminiscent of owner Jerry Kleiner's earlier (and similarly-named) venture, Room 21. On the whole, though, the food is solid - if uninventive - and the scene is a welcome addition to Hyde Park's more or less desolate upscale-dining landscape. [Vettel, Tribune]

• Highest possible praise - four forks - to Galapagos Cafe and its winning synchronicity of Ecuadorean and Japanese cooking. The flan, apparently, is swoonworthy, and we found ourselves drooling over Monica Eng's descriptions of the sushi rolls and milkshakes. [Eng, Tribune]

• TOC drops the first official review of much-buzzed graham elliot, and finds that the servers -- and menu -- are still in need of a little refinement. Heather Shouse gives it a four of six stars: she isn't amused by the seemingly random deployment of kitsch-chic garnishes like cheez-its, malted milk balls, and nilla wafers on dishes that otherwise hold their own, but sees promise lurking beneath the surface, plus occasional flashes of brilliance. Still, the laid-back atmosphere (servers wear Graham-approved chucks and jeans) clashes with the birthday-dinner price point. [Shouse, TOC]

[Photo: seared tuna and roasted whitefish at Park 52, via Kids' Writer's Flickr]

Summer is in full swing in the Chicago food mediasphere, with the Taste, hot dogs and pure, unadulterated fire dominating the headlines.

• Top five Taste deals, including Original Rainbow Cone's Patriot Cone: blueberry, vanilla and strawberry, the bounty of America on its birthday [Tribune]

• Mini-reviews of all the Taste items, as first seen on the Stew, featuring Vettel's famous "meh" [Tribune]

• Ice cream plus espresso (a.k.a affogato) is good; ice cream plus espresso plus cognac is better [Tribune]

• But our are there a lot of words on hot dogs today! The issue contains pieces on a bunch of classic hot dog stands around Chicagoland, plus a look under the hood of the dog and the always contentious ketchup conundrum. Is your favorite grease pit included in the roundup? You'll have to click to find out! [TOC]

• The pull quote from the entire series is: "Despite many complaints from mustard-faced customers, Gene & Jude’s didn’t even offer napkins until the ’70s. 'People would ask for napkins and Gene would hand them a hot-dog wrapper,' Joe says." [TOC]

• We will still never understand the endless, juvenile, largely irrational hatred Chicagoans have toward ketchup on their hot dogs. Does the red stuff really throw the balance of ingredients that far off? Hasn't anyone ever tried putting ketchup and mustard on their hot dogs? We can't think of a single analog in, New York, say, where a condiment-food item combination is so reviled that it's practically embedded in the city's core DNA. We're all for purism, but the extreme level of this ketchup thing is kind of a deranged application. We're not going to win any friends for this, but get over it! [TOC] (Then again, we have trouble being friends with people who order red meat well done. Or put peanut butter on their blueberry bagels)

• Wrapping up the frankfurter files, Hot Doug's is doing a design-your-own hot dog contest, and the winner gets their dog on the menu for a week. Which is actually not the world's most impressive prize, but it's really about the glory, right? [TOC]

• In other news...a scrappy pastry chef-turned-gelato maker...heavy metal vs. R Kelly in the kitchen...more Mexican than French at Mexique, which is not to say the tacos aren't tasty...progressive-sounding healthy concept Freshii falls flat with confusing ordering practices and mediocre salads

• Finally, in this week's Omnivorous, Mike Sula talks to the last guy delivering coal in Chicago (really?) and his two remaining customers, D'Amato's Bakery and Coalfire, the much-ballyhooed New Haven-style pizza place on Grand St. It's a nice story about the decline of one major Chicago industry that alludes to the rise of another major Chicago industry (restaurants).

Also, this reminds us of one our first targets for hypocrisy, Carbon. The name of the taqueria and their promotional literature imply that they cook with charcoal, and last April, we were appalled to discover that they actually run a gas-based operation. And we just called them again and it's still gas, and presumably forever more. But, as natural gas prices skyrocket and we remember that we're sitting on a few hundred years of coal reserves...who knows.

[Photo: an affogato avocado, best, via bigiain/flickr]

Usually when reviewers declare a restaurant or a dish to be "the best" in Chicago or the world or in the history of space and time, they are talking out of their asses. Anyone with the breadth of experience to be able to credibly make such a claim would never have the audacity to actually do so. And if they did, it would be with qualifying remarks that show some self-awareness of the subjectivity of the opinion. For better or worse, none of these strictures apply to MenuPages reviewers! So, then, here are some of the "bests" of the past week:

• On June 26th, "Christi" claimed that Aroy Thai has the "Best Thai food ever":

I'm a picky eater and definitely a Thai food snob, and this place is fantastic! Now, if only they would expand their space to accommodate me and my friends and family, then I would be the happiest customer.

• On the same day, "Chuck Debbie Glen Alexis and Danielle" had a conference and decided that Zen Noodles is the "Best of the best in Chi-town Panasian":

Parking was not too bad and the food was simply the best We've ever had. We did it "Family Style" and got to try several different things in one shot. We had one vegan in the bunch and she was floored by the "Tofu Saute', especially the peanut sauce. The rest of us had different favorites of the four dishes we shared. The Green Curry Chicken was voted in at #1, a blend of green curry coconut sauce with Thai Basil leaves, veggies and chicken. A close second was the "Rama Chicken", a plate of cooked broccoli and chicken covered by a peanut sauce that is "out of this world good"(sounds simple but what's wrong with that). Surprisingly in at third was my original favorite, when it was Hi Riki's(sp?), "Basil Chicken". which is a dish flavored by what has become one of my favorite spices, Thai Basil. In at #4 was "Garlic Shrimp" which is a spicy blend of a garlic sauce covering perfectly sauteed shimp and other good things( can't remember). We were in Chicago for a week and I have to say that Chicago does live up to its reputation as one of the best restaurant cities in America. That's what should make our endorsement of "Zen Noodles" even more exciting for lovers of PanAsian food. Can't wait get back Chicago and Zen Noodles. Oh yeah, the serving sizes were fairly generous and the price was what you'd expect to pay in any city in the country.

• On June 27th, "Kenneth & Isik" judged Cousin's to have "The Best Lehmacun in North America":

My wife and I live in Minnesota. We drive 6 plus hours just to eat Demir Bey's lehmacun and pide. It is truly the best you will find in the USA. We been to several different restaurants that provides Turkish cuisine, but have never found anything that compares to Demir's. However, the most important of all he always make time to greet and have a chat with us.

• Also on the 27th, "bklyn" wrote a short review for Arturo's Tacos entitled "Great":

The Shrimp soup and Chorizo Tacos here are the best!!!! The price is right too.

• Finally, on the 30th, "Pat P." unilaterally declared the "BEST DONUTS EVER" to be from Old Fashioned Donuts:

I have been eating these donuts since 1973, and I have not tasted anything near these great tasting donuts. If you have not tried them you should . Not only do they have good donuts, they also have good food. The polishes and fries are to die for. Now that I live out of town, I only get them when I visit the city.

[Photo: Arturo's Tacos al pastor, via Fancy Toast (who calls them the best in Chicago, for what it's worth)]

• One of Chicago's more successful Peruvian restaurants, Ay Ay Picante impressed Bridget & Tammy enough to earn a 17/20 [Chicago Bites]

• Most of the restaurants participating in Kid's Restaurant Week excreted out the same mac and cheese that parents spend the rest of the year avoiding, but Coco Pazzo Cafe put some effort into it and made real adult dishes tweaked toward younger palates [Drive-Thru]

• For fried chicken without the leaden aftereffects, try Crisp's light and crispy Korean preparation [Chicagoist]

• It's a shame that Drake Bros.' Bookbinders soup is made with red snapper instead of turtle like in good old days, but it's very tasty anyway [Hungry]

• Super-healthy built-to-order salad spot Freshii is a good idea in theory, but the slow service and tasteless results make it less appealing in practice [Stew]

• Early word from graham elliot is, they're still finding their sea legs with respect to service, but you can't argue with their fat, juicy pork chops [Food Chain]

• A fabulous piece of parrotfish, among many other dishes at L.2O, succeeds at impressing...even if the dish's description was overwraught and possibly inaccurate [Food Chain]

• Pairing culinary minimalism with scratch cooking and a sophisticated sensibility about ingredients, Mado has been winning the affection of foodies and the praise of critics in the few months it's been open [Drive-Thru, Gourmet (the latter adapted from TOC)]

• While Margie's Candies may have gotten accolades in Forbes for having the best ice cream in Chicago, our local food corps has vehemently disagreed; just because a place is old and cramped doesn't mean it's great, and did you know that the science of ice cream-making has improved dramatically since the Depression? [Drive-Thru, Serious Eats Chicagoist]

• The vanilla-on-vanilla cupcake at Swirlz Cupcakes disappoints, but specialty flavors like Key Lime make a trip worthwhile [Chicago Bites]

[Photo: wonder what the fortune was...via mousiekm/flickr]

Reviews galore on this, the very last Friday of our employ. Oh yes, it's true; Independence Day will take on a myriad of meanings this year. (Don't worry! We're not abandoning our post for anything less lofty than post-graduate education, with the goal of yet increasing our insufferability.)

But enough about us; Mike Sula, David Hammond, and Pat Bruno have things to say about Pho Xua, Lincoln Korean Restaurant, Taqueria La Oaxaqueña, Ecuador Restaurant, L.2O, and Veerasway, respectively. They will soldier on, sowing the seeds of restaurant knowledge in the rich soils of their Chicagoland readership, whether we're here to criticize them or not. So let's get to it.

While much of the Reader is devoted to Best Of Chicago 2008 this week, there's still an Omnivorous, containing some of Mike Sula and David Hammond's favorite cheap ethnic eats.

Sula shouts out Pho Xua as an alternative to the hegemonic Hai Yen on Argyle Street, and is down with their Chinese-influenced, house-braised pork belly. He finds unusual accessibility at Lincoln Korean Restaurant on...Lincoln, of course, although actually, only 40% of the restaurants in our database with the word "Lincoln" in the name are actually on Lincoln Avenue — the rest are in Lincoln Park. We're escaping our point, though which is that Lincoln Korean has all the authenticity of those Lawrence Avenue no-English DIY places, but with the straightforward ordering process of, say, a Korean restaurant in...Lincoln Park. Finally, Taqueria la Oaxaqueña serves the fine cuisine of Oaxaca (i.e. mole, on rabbit no less!) at truly Mexican prices.

Hammond tell us that Restaurant Ecuador in Logan Square dabbles more in the country's coastal culinary tradition than that of the interior highlands. You can get black clam ceviche there, which is really all you need to know.

Bruno has a two-fer in the Sun-Times today, slobbering all over L.2O — he has good company in this respect — but coming in fourth, doesn't bring much new information to the table. Actually, not true! He's included a glossary of fancy words on L.2O's menu that we can't say we didn't enjoy reading. However, we must take issue with Bruno's theory that L.2O has "what is probably the shortest restaurant name ever;" on the North Side alone one can find Tut, Zia and Zad, and T's puts them all to shame.

Bruno also visits upscale Indian fusion spot Veerasway, which doesn't seem to...resolve its station in life to satisfaction. Like, why is the mutter paneer $14 when it's just peas and cheese? Then again, Bruno doesn't bother telling us how it compares to budget Indian places, so we're not really sure what to make of his judgment in this case. Speaking of, possibly our final pet peeve about Bruno's reviewing style is that he never writes a conclusion to his pieces. They end with the dessert, to be sure, but there's no tying together of the various strains of opinion littered throughout the reviews; the reader needs to have a takeaway, and Bruno never provides a succinct one. This is probably due to the fact that his reviews lack a thesis, generally. Pat, we have no idea if you've ever read any of this, but all we want to do is help!

Okay, have a good weekend; next week, daily teary goodbyes...

Taqueria La Oaxaquena [MenuPages]
L.2O [MenuPages]
L.2O [Official Site]
Veerasway [MenuPages]

[Photo: grilled cactus at Taqueria la Oaxaqueña, via ohtoberich/flickr]

A restaurant can have fabulous food and an awesome atmosphere (bear with us), but snotty service can truly sink the ship. But the converse — where stupendous service solidifies a stellar experience — is just as plausible.

Okay, that was terrible! But the point is, many reviewers latch on to the merits of a particular server or chef, and make them the focus of their reviews. Observe the following three cases:

• On June 18th at the suspicious hour of 3AM, "Gilbert" left a review entitled "Best server" for Smith & Wollensky:

I ate at the Grill at Smith and Wollensky and had the most delightful server, a sincere, funny, intelligent and knowledgable young man named Dan. It was myself and 5 business associates, he knew how to read our table, he knew the menu very well, had many good suggestions. He was attentive but not obtrusive. He was funny and interesting, He made our evening amazing. If you go to Smith and Wollensky be sure to eat in the Grill and make sure Dan takes care of you if he is working that evening...

• A few hours later, "Dionna" implored the world to "Get a Roberto Roll" at Midori:

I previously reviewed this Sushi joint but have decided to add on to it. Robert has been with Midori for almost 19 years and it shows. He's awesome at what he does. He makes this tasty roll called the Roberto Roll that you just have to taste to believe. Please don't ask what's on it. I couldn't tell you. I devour this thing the second the plate is laid in front of me. Spicy, sweet, taste bud popping goodness. I am not just whistling dixie here. You know those times where you take a bite of something and the sides of your cheeks hurt from the flavor pop? This is it. I have never been disappointed dining here. Not once. Also, treat yourself to a Roberto Martini. It's tingly good,too.
I can leave here spending under 20 bucks if I skip the drink but why?

• Finally, in the most shilly-but-probably-not-a-shill review from June 23rd, "Alan" calls Cyrano's Bistrot "A corner of Paris in Chicago":

No matter what city I am in, I always look for a good French restaurant. After having tried six or seven such in Chicago that ranged from mediocre to rather good, I finally hit on Cyrano's. It is not only the best French restaurant in the city, it is one of the best I have found outside of France.
The menu includes more than the touristy type dishes like steaks frites and confit du canard, although they are available as well. Rognons de veau, a connoisseur's delight, is delicious. Chef Didier even promised he would make me coeurs de canard (hearts of duck) if I would call in advance. That is a dish I have seen on a menu and eaten only once- in a restaurant in Nantes.
The wine list is just the right size and features many selections from chef Didier's home region of Languedoc. The prices are reasonable and the service friendly and personable without being intrusive. The atmosphere is authentic and convivial, a little corner of Paris in the heart of Chicago, but well away from too touristy Michigan Avenue.

1) No shill for a French restaurant is so masochistic as to deride their steak frites and confit du canard, even as obliquely as this

2) The reference to Nantes' duck hearts is too awesome for a shill to generate

3) Trustable people en masse (i.e. LTHForum) seem to like Cyrano's

4) Okay, the namecheck of Languedoc is a bit suspect, but whatever

We're satisfied that "Alan" is satisfied.

Smith & Wollensky [MenuPages]
Smith & Wollensky [Official Site]
Midori [MenuPages]
Cyrano's Bistrot [MenuPages]
Cyrano's Bistrot [Official Site]

[Photo: a pile of duck hearts in China, via tconn1/flickr]

Everyone seems to be craving Middle Eastern food this week!

• Albany Park's Al-Khayameih not only serves some of the best Lebanese food in the city, they do it with flair [Chicagoist]

• A new chef and a revamping of the menu at Ben Pao doesn't take away from the fact that the BBQ pork is fabulous, and relatively authentic to boot [Chicagoist]

• While not breaking new culinary ground, Bluebird does a good job with small plates, has a wide selection of beverages and attentive service [Gastronomic Bypass]

• Very new Albany Parker Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen is still finding its desert legs, but the schwarma's pretty decent [Food Chain]

• Much-hyped Epic Burger in the South Loop has fancy ingredients, but the burger has trouble living up. Decent value, though [Food Chain]

• At the soft opening of Melman spawns' Hub 51, exactly the type of industrial hip sophisticated comfort food you'd expect. But good! [The Stew]

• Everyone loves the moles at Mixteco Grill, including Bridget & Tammy. Dessert's also recommned, and it's BYO (17/20) [Chicago Bites]

• Persian stalwart Noon O Kabab gets very high marks from Bridget & Tammy for their kabobs and other delicacies (18/20) [Chicago Bites]

[Photo: the Chicago River's very own alligator, via Sun-Times. You can eat them, you know!]

Pat Bruno has a monumentally boring review of Topaz Cafe in Burr Ridge. It's a Contemporary American with a little flare! Everything's delicious! And so forth.

But the Sun-Times' relationship with Centerstage, rarely highlighted, saves the day; Mike Nagrant has a useful feature on where tourists should actually eat as opposed where they were planning to eat. Dozens of mediocre, overpriced meals might be avoided because of this!

Meanwhile, several new reviews from the Reader. First, Anne Spiselman reviews Jack Rabbit, a new southwestern restaurant in Lincoln Square with big portions of inconsistent quality. We'd never heard of it, because that location seems to get a new restaurant every few months; Spiselman's not sure how long this one will stick around, either. But they have a website and serve brunch, so maybe there's a chance yet.

Mike Sula revisits Avenues, now that Graham Elliot Bowles is off somewhere and Curtis Duffy (formerly of Alinea) has taken the reigns. Sula points out that Bowles is a tough act to follow, but finds that Duffy is doing an admirable job of keeping Avenues avant-garde and delicious. Note that this opinion runs contrary to Heather Shouse's line, but maybe things have shaped up in the past two weeks? Both think that the restaurant is probably overpriced.

And then, the claws come out. Sula rips into ZED451, the all-you-can-meat suburbo-rama in River North. We've been a bit catty on the restaurant ourselves, and even Pat Bruno didn't like it (David Tamarkin thought it was okay). But all this pales in comparison to Sula's visceral loathing of the place, which certainly seems to fall into the substance-over-style trap. Much of the review is quotable, but perhaps this sums it up best:

This is the human counterpart to confined animal feeding operations, the industrial meat (and shit) factories that supply the sort of unexceptional product served here.

[Photo: a feedlot, via Socially Responsible Agriculture Project]

• Chris Borrelli's rant about being asked by waiters if he'd dined at their restaurant before — as a preamble to an explanation about how the restaurant "works" — is on par with Christopher Hitchens' screed against wine pouring practices: more sensical to read as a parody of restaurant reviewers' complaints than as the real thing. Because, really, is it that annoying to be walked through a restaurant's idiosyncratic menu and service style? Certainly one could feel one's intelligence is being insulted, but that happens in myriad ways all day every day anyway. This is worth singling out? Not really.

• Meanwhile, Kids' Restaurant Week is about to start [Tribune]

What's happening in Time Out?

• Well, Mike Nagrant hunts down M.I.A. Chicago chefs from Christmas Past. Some of them live in really boring places like Jupiter, Fla., and others are gearing up to open new restaurants in Chicago. If you recognize all of the names, you get a Foodie Gold Star.

• Sometimes we wonder how the themes for the Three-Way feature are chosen. This week it's basil seeds, an obscure ingredient in the best of times. There's Find-a-Food Search and all that, but this is the sort of ingredient that doesn't stay on the menu long enough to get put into a database, if it's on the menu at all. So how to discover that L.2O uses it with fluke sashimi and Veerasway makes a cocktail with it? An abiding mystery.

As for the reviews...

• Mercat a la Planxa not only makes some of the best Spanish food in Chicago, but also offers infectiously upbeat service and a cool atmosphere (Vettel) [Tribune]

• Con Sabor Cubano serves homey Cuban fare in Albany Park, and excels at a massive Cubano sandwich. Their unique, spicy burger would go well with some BYOB (Borrelli) [Tribune]

• Little Brother's is more than an Asian fast food joint; much care is put into the Korean specialties, even if they're then put into a Styrofoam box (Tamarkin) [TOC]

• Skewerz is a healthy, doable option for post-partying lining-of-stomach in Wicker Park, even if the name is stupid and the themes are tacky. Best bet: graham-cracker-crusted sweet potato fritters (Shouse) [TOC]

[Photo: you have to order this from Mercat in advance, via fenger8/flickr]

This cheeseburger dress is the coolest thing that's ever been knitted. The artist, Joy Kampia O'Shell, has created several of these one-of-a-kind pieces, and they are the real thing (i.e., wearable). Could you imagine actually sashaying into a burger joint with this on? Let's take a stab at it:

Places Where This Dress Would Help

• Hamburger Mary's would probably let you eat and drink free for the night, or possibly even join the stage show. You'd be signing autographs left and right! Extra points here for creative stowage of your pickle

• Kuma's Corner has a notoriously long line during peak times...unless you were wearing this dress. Because you know what? Dressing as your dinner is pretty f'n metal. The waitresses would clear a berth for you at the bar, and maybe someone would even whistle appreciatively! Probably better to be a lady for this one, though — metal has its limits

Places Where This Dress Wouldn't Help

• Boston Blackies' touristic clientele might think you were a charming fixture of Chicago cosmopolitanism, and the sports fans glued to the big TV in the back might not even notice your presence. But the suburban children milling about the place will call as much attention to you as their whiny little voices and flailing limbs allow them. You may not get the best seat in the house

• Billy Goat Tavern Original at least gives you a chance at making the papers, but not in a good way

On the whole, we say, worth it.

[Photo: Joy Kampia]

• Best article this week in either paper is on the Illinois State Fair Wine Competition. Choice quote: "As my judging panel sailed through the wines at a pace of about four minutes a wine, I learned that we gave a bronze medal to just about any wine that wasn't awful." [Sun-Times]

• What kind of budgeting recommendation is this:

drinking tap water rather than bottled water ($3.99 for six bottles of Dasani) or soda pop ($2.99 for six cans) -- a savings of $30 to $40 a month if only two bottles of water or two cans of pop are consumed daily. Rather than spending close to $4 a day for two regular cups of coffee, $10 a day for two lattes or $3.70 a day for two iced teas from specialty coffee/tea shops, Fairbanks recommends brewing your own coffee or tea. (A can of Folgers that makes 135 12-ounce cups of coffee costs $10.99; 100 Lipton tea bags that make 20 quarts of iced tea cost $4.09).

• Caffeinated snack chip a really stupid way to ingest caffeine [Sun-Times]

• An interview with Curtis Duffy, Avenues' new head chef [Sun-Times]

• Bucking the trend, Potbelly Sandwich Works to refrain from serving tomatoes for now [Sun-Times]

• Is the much-maligned dip back? Or instead of going away, did it simply turn into guacamole and hummus while no one was looking... [Tribune]

• This season's hottest rosés are from Spain, according to Bill Daley. Should we say "coolest" rosés? [Tribune]

• It's worth pointing out that this lifestyle piece on what recipe instructions or ingredients are anathema to home chefs came out two weeks ago in the New York Times. Is this a normal delay for syndication? [Tribune]

[Photo: Illinois River Winery, via Illinois Wine]

We're not going to lie and say we're upset that there are only four blog-based restaurant reviews this week. But would you believe fully half of them are for brunch at Roy's? True story.

• A slightly different style of cooking at Ja's Jerk Chicken on the West Side means juicier meat, but still tangy. Also, the sides are copious [Food Chain]

• The new Sunday brunch at Roy's comes with unlimited mimosas if you want them, which may help elevate the competently executed standard issue fare to greatness. If there's a Hawaiian option on the prix-fixe, take it [Drive-Thru, Chicago Bites]

• Sitting in a Gold Coast triangle intersection, Whispers Cafe chills you out with an iced coffee and maybe some vegan baked goods [Drive-Thru]

[Photo: Stephanie, surprised and a little ticked, via Bravo]

p.s. if you haven't read Mike Nagrant's piece on Graham Elliot Bowles in last week's Hungry, now would be a good time. Scratch-and-sniff business cards!

Lots of important food news for the papers to digest today! Between the tomatoes, the Beard Awards, Top Chef and Father Day, you could write a whole book.

• What we didn't know about vanilla: it's indigenous to Mexico, and not the Indian Ocean islands where it's more famously produced [Tribune]

• At the Beard Awards, winner Grant Achatz makes the observation that doctors have no way to test one's sense of taste [Tribune]

• Stephanie Izard gives a pre-finale interview (one of many, actually), and talks about her upcoming restaurant [Tribune]

• Bill Daley picks the best wines for Father's Day &mdash key words include "big" and "bold" [Tribune]

• A very newsy article on the tomato salmonella crisis; California and Florida have been cleared of any wrongdoing [Sun-Times]

• Missy Robbins of Spiaggia pens a paean to Italian cheeses [Sun-Times]

• News about the Taste of Chicago: ticket prices are up 15%, and instead of country music, Chaka Khan will be performing (!) [Sun-Times]

And there are three life story stories that so enamor the Sun-Times:

• On Chris Favero of Frankie's Scaloppine and his pizza-making childhood [Sun-Times]

• On Finnie Haire of Haire's Gulf Shrimp, frying up his mother's shrimp recipe in Chatham [Sun-Times]

• On Tony Plum of Cinners and the oft-told tale of how he got his chili recipe [Sun-Times]

[Photo: Mexican vanilla on sale at a Oaxacan marketplace, via planeta/flickr]

• Above-ground underground tasting menu at Bonsoiree keeps 'em coming back for more, Saturday after Saturday [TastyBeat]

• Everyone who's gone to graham elliot, which has only been open a week and a half or so at this point, has raved (or at least mostly raved). We're excited to see who has the first formal review [Chicagoist]

• In the summer, it's hard to turn down one of Karyn's Raw sandwiches; they're the right temperature, the vegetables are fresh, and they'll wash down all that BBQ you've been inhaling [Chicagoist]

• What do you make of Kuma's Corner's foie gras burger that comes with a donation to MADD? Also, this reviewer thought the fries were a little overseasoned [Drive-Thru]

• The classic American bar food at Midtown Kitchen + Bar isn't very good, but it beats the service by some distance [Gastronomic Bypass]

• At Shaw's Crab House, portions are generous, flavors are solid but bold, and the service is classy [Gastronomic Bypass]

• Another whole-hearted endorsement of Take Me Out's super-spicy Asian hot wings [Chicagoist]

[Photo: Grant Achatz wins!!! via AP]

A hundred zillion new reviews hit the presses today for restaurants new and old, major and minor.

Even Pat Bruno can't muster too much excitement for uninspired All-You-Can-Meat ZED451. He chides:

But a lot of what they offered was either dry (the chicken and the pork) or not hot enough (the mahi-mahi) or rather tasteless. Zed 451 should consider putting an assortment of sauces on the table and guiding the customer accordingly.

Meanwhile, the Reader's featuring three reviews for notable mid-scale openings. Mike Sula had the same reaction to Mado that David Tamarkin did: everything is seasonal, fresh, delicious and occasionally overpriced, and it's impossible to recommend individual dishes because they'll be off the menu by publication date. Still, certainly an endorsement!

Anne Spiselman quite likes fancy new Indian restaurant Veerasway, although the appetizers and sides seem to best the entrees. David Hammond wants to make sure we realize that Mixteco Grill is not just your run-of-the-mill taco joint. Instead, pan-Mexican mole madness! Or something to that effect.

As if that wasn't enough, the Reader also published a slew of new reviews for evidently less notable restaurants like Big Jones, Park 52 and Shochu, which have been given big play in other publications. One wonders how feature-vs.-supplement decisions are made...

[Photo: salmon cucumber nage at Veerasway, via kayovv/flickr]

Today's food media roundup is extra-packed today, because Time Out Chicago has a food feature; namely, insights on cheap ethnic eats from local chefs. Let's start there and work backwards toward the Tribune, which is less sparkly.

The cuisines covered in the Cheap Eats feature are: Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Indo-Pak, Vietnamese, Middle Eastern and Korean. Some of the pieces are better than others; David Tamarkin's writeup of Rick Bayless' favorite Mexican spots and Lisa Shames' tour of Chinatown stood out for us, while Tamarkin's exploration of the food folkways on Middle Eastern Kedzie Avenue has a fascinating ethnographic quality to it.

And then, Tamarkin uncovers a strawberry/balsamic vinegar cocktail at Vermilion. Busy week!

Also, we're kind of blown away by Sepia mixologist Peter Vestinos' instruction to put honeycomb in a jar of tequila with aromatics for two weeks, and then drink the results. Yes please!

On the Tribune side, a series of discourses on outdoor dining. Like, it's unpleasant when it's next to the El! Phil Vettel presents his al fresco favorites, and Glenn Jeffers finds out under what circumstances you can smoke at a restaurant's outdoor tables (15 feet minimum from any doors or windows).

The best article in the issue is another Jeffers piece on dog-friendly outdoor licenses, of which only twenty-eight have been issued. And restaurants can only provide water for the dogs! In the age of organic, artisanal dog food, that's very limiting.

Finally, the reviews:

• Phil Vettel finds happiness at a DL New American in a strip mall on the Naperville-Aurora border called Chef Amaury, where a five course tasting is $60 and is served with a smile [Tribune]

• David Tamarkin has been following mole expert Raul Arreola all over town for years. Mixteco Grill, Arreola's latest perch, does a decent job at the staples, but truely excels with its moles [TOC]

• Now that Graham Elliot Bowles has moved on from Avenues, is former Alinea sous chef Curtis Duffy adequately carrying the mantle? According to Heather Shouse, not really. The ultramodern cuisine isn't hitting all the notes it used to, and it doesn't feel like a good value [TOC]

[Photo: nothing wrong with a dog in a restaurant, via ardorius/flickr]

Remember how, for a few minutes, graham elliot was BYOB? Well, as of last night, they got their liquor license and if you want to bring your own bottle, that will be $25, please, according to the man himself.

graham elliot [MenuPages]
graham elliot [Official Site]

[Photo: a sample wine list, from g.e.'s website]

We don't mind when legitimate reviewers are absolutely in love with a particular restaurant, and choose MenuPages to share that love with the world. Here are three short paeans from the past week:

• "Delicious" wrote a review for The Gage on 5/27 entitled "Outstanding":

After 2 weeks of substandard fare and service, Gage, restored my faith in American cusine. Definitely in my top 5 best ever meals. Can't wait to go back

• On 5/29, "Mrs. Adrienne" contributed a review entitled "Excellent 5.0" for Miss Lee's Good Food:

I have visited Miss Lee Good Food on several occassions and the food is always great. The workers and the owner is very friendly. The customers are very found of Miss Lee good southern home cooking. Miss Lee will also give you the receipes to any of her dishes, most people who cook dont like to give out there receipes. I pray that god will continue to buisness her buisness.

• 5/30 brought an anonymous first review for Mado entitled "fresh, seasonal, delicious!":

Everything is market and farm fresh, so flavorful, and cooked to perfection. The wood grilled whole trout is amazing, as is the shortbread and dates with ricotta, coffee, and walnuts.

[Photo: an elk saddle at The Gage. American enough for you? via Zesmerelda/flickr]

Because of Memorial Day (which we spent remembering Trapped in the Closet scene by scene), here are two weeks' worth of blog reviews for your consideration

• Brunch generally a good bet at New Southern Big Jones, but make sure your beignets are freshly fried [TOC Blog]

• Despite all the promise of organic/local/seasonal ingredients at the newly-reworked Cafe at Wild Things! at the Lincoln Park Zoo, most of the food is conventionally sourced, and crappy to boot [The Stew]