If you're up for a little bit less of a glossy Chinese food experience, here are our picks for the top 8 Chinese restaurants at which to get your 8-8-08 fix (though good luck getting a table):

• Moon Palace Restaurant is where we went as a small tiny little child with our parents. Climbing the narrow stairs to a room lined with fish tanks and where drinks came with umbrellas was just about heaven. It's changed quite a bit over the years, but the Shanghainese food is still more or less flawless. Try the xiao ling bao to start, and whatever the daily special happens to be.

• The original Three Happiness is classic for dim sum or, outside of weekend mornings, what one of our friends likes to call "jank dim sum": ordering like seven dumpling dishes off the regular menu, and making a meal of it.

• If you'd rather be eating in the comfort of your own living room, we can't recommend China Hut highly enough. The ginger beef just might change your life. And, trust us on this, the spicy salt smelt.

• Joy Yee's Noodle Shop — the original one — is located in the kind of eh-looking Chinatown Mall. BUT. Oh man, those noodles. Winter was invented so that we would have perfect context for consuming a bowl of Rare Beef & Beef Tripe Noodle Soup. Also stellar: Chap Chae made with eel. Also more appropriate for August : the vast selection of smoothies and milk teas.

• For a little bit more of a swanky experience, may we suggest you take your lady love (or your gentleman friend) to Opera? Total swish. Hold off until Sunday if you're watching your wallet: the $25 prix fixe knocks it out of the park.

• The dim-sum-only Happy Chef Dim Sum House is another great find, and it's thrillingly inexpensive. You can get roll-yourself-home full for under a tenner, if you play it right.

• The mini-chain BBQ King House has three locations in Chinatown. Ridiculously bright flavors, top-notch ingredients, and expert barbecued meats (try the duck, the crispy baby pig, or the chicken liver) await you, as well as an extensive menu of authentic Chinese food: squid with bitter melon, lo hon vegetables, and abalone congee (swoon!), among others.

• And finally, the famous Sun Wah Bar-B-Q. You basically can't go wrong with anything here (though we've yet to build up the nerve to order the congee with pork stomach, kidney, and intestine), but we would do unspeakable things for the stir-fried pea pod green (pea shoots), the watercress and fish ball soup, and a quarter of a roast duck. Unspeakable things.

[Photo: Barbecued meats at Sun Wah, via mjkmjk's Flickr]

We were just having a really lovely chat with the other MenuPages editors, musing on various things like whether we should continue the stylistic tic of saying "we," and why it is that DailyCandy uses the phrase "fat pants" so much (hilarious! yet vapid). We were sort of complaining about tabbing over to this screen in order to do today's roundup, because Phil Vettel is talking about graham elliot, and that is so three weeks ago, and what the hell. But then we realized two things: First, we were complaining opining the other day about how some reviewers who will go unnamed have this unfortunate habit of basing their entire review on one, maybe two meals at a place, generally within just a few weeks of the restaurant's opening. And here's Phil Vettel, giving Chef Bowles a full 12 weeks' grace period to work out the kinks, and so rather than being cranky and vitriolic we really ought to be applauding him.

The second thing was that the promise of being cranky and vitriolic is a really excellent catalyst for us getting off our butts and actually writing the post. On with the show!

• Hey guess what! Phil Vettel reviewed graham elliot! While previous reviews from TOC and the S-T have accused Bowles of having ideas bigger than his kitchen, sloppily repurposing lowbrow ingredients in pursuit of an ironic highbrow nirvana, Vettel seems charmed by everything he puts in his mouth: Bowles is "a culinary Warhol, turning mass-production items into foodie icons." This diametric opposite to the previous consensus could be due to Vettel's delayed review, since in the past few weeks the restaurant has abandoned the handwritten menus, worked to lower the noise level, and made numerous other little tweaks &mdash no doubt including to the menu. Still, there's continued dissonance between the vibe and the price points, all in all resulting in a two-star review. [Vettel, Tribune]

• Valentine's Day isn't for another 190 days (not that we're counting), but Monica Eng makes the bold assertion that sweltery summer is a better time for lovin' than is frigid winter. There's certainly some sense to that claim, and in its service she rounds up six aphrodisiac meals from all over. They range from the literal (the traditional Jamaican soup called Mannish Water at Good To Go, which contains goat scrotum &mdash sexy!) to the unexpected (mustard fried catfish from BJ's Market, because "mustard is believed to stimulate the sexual glands and increase desire") to the fun-fact-filled (did you know! The Aztecs referred to the avocado tree as the "testicle tree"!). All in all this might be the most fun article ever published in the Chicago Tribune, ever. [Eng, Tribune]

• Like Vettel, Heather Shouse over at Time Out is also covering pre-Bruno'd ground, weighing in on carpetbagger-celeb-chef Marcus Samuelsson's C-House. She's less than overwhelmed by what is essentially a straightforward high-price-point seafood joint, pointing out that "in a town that Laurent Gras (another transplant but one who’s obsessively present) is currently owning when it comes to that market, you better go big or you better go home." Emphasis, for the record, theirs. She is, to her credit, forgiving of Samuelsson's general absence from the kitchen — his role here was never supposed to be that of an on-the-line chef — but even with that handicap the restaurant simply underwhelms. Except the desserts, a surprisingly delicious and innovative end to an otherwise blah and overpriced meal. Three out of six stars, which sounds about right. [Shouse, TOC]

[Photo: an avocado tree (yeah, we totally see where the Aztecs were coming from), via digital_lumpensammler's Flickr]

The city's most half-assed Best-Of roundup has just released, to pretty much no fanfare: The AOL City's Best awards voted on by users and comprising of a list of winners, containing absolutely new editorial material.

Ok, no, seriously. It's always exciting to win best of something, and while the democratic element of this ensures that crowd favorites like Billy Goat Tavern wins best burger, some of the results are pretty intriguing:

Best Cheap Eats: Pompei, where a slice of pizza's under $4, a decent sandwich is under $6, and hand-cut gnocchi (drool) comes in under a Hamilton.

Best Chinese Restaurant: Ben Pao. Is this a joke? Maybe AOL subscribers are contractually prohibited from going to Chinatown.

Best Dessert: Eli's Cheesecake Cafe, which is appropriate given that today is National Cheesecake Day (no,seriously).

Best Fine Dining: David Burke's Primehouse, which we're willing to concede is a legitimate contender, but come on: Alinea coming in fifth? After N9NE, among others? Sacrilege.

Best Hot Dog: Portillo's Hot Dogs. Okay, now they're just asking for it. This is like saying that a Pizzeria Uno in New Jersey is the best deep-dish in Chicago. We are starting to have our faith in internet democracy shaken.

Best Pizza: Speaking of pizza, the winner here is Home Run Inn. Could've done worse.

For the full list, click the phrase that's about to follow the colon: this one!

[Photo: Eli's booth at Taste of Chicago, via zesmerelda's Flickr]

When people find out that we personally vet the user reviews on MP:Chicago, we get pretty varied responses, not always positive. We're convinced, however, that what we do is essential. We see the underbelly, let us tell you. We see the bad reviews, the cruel reviews, the libelous reviews — and we save you from them! Having seen The Dark Knight this weekend, we've realized that essentially, we are Batman: we might not necessarily be the hero you want, but we are the hero you need. Allow us to share with you a story of the sorts of crap we protect you from on those mean streets of MP!

Recently, we got in this amazing, glowing user review for a steakhouse — all 5s, lots of exclamation points, a long explanation of detailed menu items and their prices. It was capped with a pretty intense exhortation: "i cannot say one bad thing about it! i love it and strongly recommend trying it!"

This smacked of shill to us, so we held off on accepting or rejecting the review until we had a little more context. Not ten minutes later — ten minutes! — in came another amazing review for this restaurant:

After hearing about [steakhouse] from few friends, it took me few weeks to finally find an evening and go to [steakhouse]. The food is superb and you shouldn’t go if you want a quick meal. The walls are red and the entire place is fabulously decorated. My rib eye was tender with a sumptuous sweet potato no need for butter or salt. Between few plates of t-bones, ribs, salmon and steaks, there wasn’t a scrap left on the table. If it wasn’t bad manners I would've picked up my plate and licked the bottom clean. Three hours later and I was blissfully stuffed to the gills. The service was also very friendly and professional. Definitely highly recommend!

I ate at [steakhouse] a few weeks ago with my boyfriend upon a recommendation from a friend who said the "steak was to die for". Being steak lovers we gave it a try. The seductive ambiance impressed us right away -colors of red and gold, ornate chandeliers and distinguished staff members encircled us. We started with the Sizzling Canadian Bacon which he loved and I liked. It was thick and flavorful (worth the $5 to try), the Crabcake was large and all crabmeat (no breadcrumb type fillers), the Classic Caesar was great (we both LOVED the dressing), the Sherry & Aged Gruyere Onion Soup was AMAZING- Differs from your traditional French Onion in all the right ways! The calamari was just average (we are not huge calamari fans, so you may disagree:). FYI: this is a lot of appetizers for two (but the left overs were great!) Ok, dinner: We split the 16oz. Bone-In Filet. I have never heard of "bone in for a filet?!, but we were told it has the most flavor this way- and they were right! Tender- Juicy- Cooked to Perfection- and Flavorful (they offer different sauces on the side for the steak, but I preferred it just the way it was- I believe he liked the [steakhouse] sauce). There is more..The Sides: You MUST get the 5 Cheese Truffle Mac (don't miss out), we also got the Brussel Sprouts, which were loaded with bacon and the creamed spin. All three for $24 were great and nicely portioned. We clearly could not fit dessert, but I look forward to hearing how it was so post your review.....Enjoy!

I absoutely loved everything. Service=excellent. Food=delicious (from entrees to appetizers...and i must admit its the best mac&cheese i ever had). Atmosphere=totally cool, comfortable, classy!!! Cant say one negative thing. I cant wait to go back and order up a few steaks and martinis!!!!

All told, over the course of 24 hours, a total of twelve reviews came over the wire. All with across-the-board 5s. All with far more exclamation points than any human should be allotted in a lifetime. All straight in the trash.

Note to restaurateurs (and evildoers everywhere): We are watching you. We know. We will not let you win this war.

Note to our employers: Please let us start wearing a cape to work?

[Photo: Bat signal, via jtdgarlic's Flickr]

Continue reading "Seven Days of Ethanol" »

• 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]

The Chicago Tribune endears itself to us this week with a paean to the emperor of emulsions, mayonnaise. The Trib supplemented their mayo lovefest with a blind testing of some commercial varieties, plus homemade, and Hellman's ranks first, and homemade comes in third. We question the methodology of including "homemade," since it's so unstandardized and the whole "it needs more salt" complaint could have been remedied by, you know, adding salt. But the fact remains that mayo is awesome and certain east coast city MenuPages editors who persist in hating it are just plain wrong. Ahem.

(For ourselves, we are unrepentant fans of the white stuff, with slavish brand loyalty to Hellman's (though we admit the MSG-fueled brilliance of Kewpie), and a mildly embarrassing tendency to attempt to make our own mayo at home, generally only attempting it on humid days when it entirely fails to come together [never mind the old wives' tale about what happens to homemade mayo when a woman makes it during her time of the month].)

The Sun-Times, on the other hand, offers up a little bit of a smooth-going-down reprieve from egg whisked with oil: drinks! Delicious summer drinks! Instead of using up your summer garden harvest on boring ol' caprese salad, make a tomato-basil-kitchen-sink margarita! We think this is brilliant -- not just because we are huge fans of fresh herbs and savory adult beverages, but because we wholeheartedly believe that it's about time the locavore movement embraced its inner alcoholic.

Elsewhere, among other things:

• You know how you're supposed to drink 8-ounce glasses of water 8 times a day in order to be healthy? Ha ha! Not true! [Tribune]

• Via the New York Times, Mark Bittman gives us a no-fail recipe for chilled avocado soup. Which somehow he convinces himself (and us?) is "healthy." Har har. [Tribune]

• Beer sorbet! Beer sorbet! Beer sorbet! Where was this when we were trying to impress people in college? [Tribune]

• The lasting effect of this summer's salmonella scare? With luck, it'll be an increased interest in local produce and sourceable foods. [Sun-Times]

• Kendal Duque, chef at Sepia, weighs in on the use of fruit in savory dishes. Apricot + cherry + lamb = deliciousness! [Sun-Times]

[Photo: Real Mayonnaise, via dougalug's Flickr]

It was a slow week for reviews &mdash perhaps it was the heat? The rash of DOH closings? The fact that you were celebrating National Hot Dog Month by only eating hot dogs that you had personally prepared at home? Whatever the reason, approximately five of you decided to leave restaurant reviews. Of those five,* two have us a little bit concerned.

From an anonymous reviewer, on an anonymous restaurant:

I think the owner had snorted cocaine before attempting to make this menu.

From reviewer Jack, giving his form of support to Maravillas:

After a long night of binge drinking, nothing does me better in the morning/afternoon like a huge burrito and a cold mug of horchata...

Now, while we realize that the first anon is not copping to drug use himself, he clearly has a familiarity with it to the point where he can detect its influence in menu design. As for Jack, we gently point out to him that, among the other quite serious dangers associated with binge drinking (don't do it, kids!), binge drinkers in the UK are increasingly discovering that — ready for this? &mdash their bladders explode. Like, literally.

We don't want that, Jack. Both because we care about you as a fellow human being, and because if this happens to you, you won't be around to leave more reviews. Everything in moderation! Just say no! Get high on life!

*It was actually more than five.

[Photo: Puppy & beer (don't try this at home!), via everydayexplorer's Flickr]

The Sun-Times and the Trib both run food features today on items that fall strictly into the love-'em-or-hate-'em category: root beer and pickles, respectively. (For the record, we are avid fans of both bark-based beverages and vinegar-macerated fruits & veggies, and have been known to become aggressive when confronted with those who dislike either.)

In particular, the S-T plugs the root beer at Cafe Matou, where there's a very grown-up root beer float on the menu: the soda's enhanced with a scoop of house-made ice cream and a shot of dark rum. And the Trib takes on the "the flavor and the novelty and the retro factor" of homemade (or house-made, if you're at a restaurant) pickles, highlighting those of Susan Goss of West Town Tavern (she teaches classes, and we are tempted to sign up).

Also, for your reading pleasure:

• Nothing to see here, folks. Chicago-based company Tootsie Pop, makers of Tootsie Roll, Junior Mint and Blow Pops, isn't on the market. [Sun-Times]

• Ever thought to yourself, "Gee, I wonder what the signature sandiwich at Country House Restaurant in Alsip is"? Wonder no more: it's The Godfather. Reproducing the description here would require a prescription for Lipitor. [Sun-Times]

• Nobody says "fumé blanc" anymore, unless they are totally old and unhip. [Tribune]

• Enough with the barbecue! The real gastronomic masterpiece of the American south is the pulled pork sandwich. [Tribune]

• Nelson Algren: total foodie! [NewCity]

[Photo: Pulled pork sandwich, via lexnger's Flickr]

You know there's a good PR team at work when a restaurant shows up on Thrillist, DailyCandy, JuliB, and UrbanDaddy. But who does it best? We subscribe, read, and levy judgment... so you don't have to

In this inaugural edition of Showdown, we have newbie Italian joint Piccolo Sogno, which opens today. The contenders: Thrillist, DailyCandy, and UrbanDaddy. JuliB is apparently sitting this first round out.

Thrillist's take on...
a cutesy title: "On the 'Lo"
the chef, Tony Priolo: "Longtime right-hand men chomp at the bit to step up and unleash their own unique creativity -- Snoop's last words to Dre were "One day I will use Peter Frampton's voice-box to record an R&B song"."
the dining room: "like a Pier 1 exploded inside Donald Trump's penthouse."
the menu: "ambitiously pan-Italian, whisking your ambitious gut from Naples (creamy buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil studded Margherita pizza) to Sicily (wood-fired whole fish w/ sea salt and braised fennel) to Rome (slow-roasted pork in garlic, olive oil, and fennel)."
the bar: "The 100+ bottle wine list also spans the Boot, with Chianti, Brunello, Barbaresco, and more from Umbria, Piedmont, Veneto, and loads of other regions you know intimately as "In Italy, right?" Priolo's also spreading his hard-liquor wings, with 12 signature cocktails."

UrbanDaddy's take on...
a cutesy title: "Molto Patio"
the ambiance: "Complete with a lush and airy back patio, Piccolo transports you oceans away from busy Halsted Street (OK, maybe blocks). The garden outdoes former occupant Timo (no slouch in the authenticity department), and the fragrance of new junipers, and soon, fresh herbs, will have you swearing you're on a mini Roman holiday."
what to order: "we say go with a cold Menabrea. The Italian brew stands up nicely to Piccolo's wood-fired pizzas and its porchetta, Roman-style roasted pork."

DailyCandy's take on...
a cutesy title: "Dream On"
the menu: "Simplicity reigns: house-made breads, organic Northern Italian risotto grains, Mediterranean fish, San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella from Naples. The well-rounded menu includes heirloom tomato salad, crunchy pizzas, handmade spinach and ricotta gnocchi, and rosemary-marinated lamb T-bones."
The bar: "The cocktails are seasonal as well: This month try the blood orange mimosa."

Winner: Thrillist, for providing maximum information with maximum mockery of the interior design tastes of self-styled oligarchs.
Loser: DailyCandy, for providing absolutely no unique information whatsoever, and sending their email two whole days after the other two, which makes us wonder if they were even on the initial press release mailing list at all.

Thanks for playing, everyone! See you next time!

Piccolo Sogno [MenuPages]
Piccolo Sogno [Official Site]

[Photo: Showdown, via avant gardenia's Flickr]

• Mado is "redonkulous." (NB: that's a good thing.) [Chicago Gluttons]

• More Mado: Even better the second time around, this time for Spanish night. [Vital Information]

• Outside city limits, Louie's Grill in Forest Park is a classic: counter seating, banter-happy regulars, sassy waitresses. [Tasty Beat]

• All-natural beef burgers? Near-endless topping options? Nitrate-free bacon? Under $10 for the works? Yes please at Epic Burger. [Gastronomic Bypass]

• Where oh where is the perfect cubano sandwich? Is it at Cafe Marianao? Habana Libre? The search is on. [Chicago Dining Examiner]

• Emily Szopa got a reservation at Schwa! Let the countdown for her mid-August review begin... [Chicago Dining Examiner]

• Bland entrees, boring mole, thrilling desserts at Taqueria La Oaxaquena. [Chicago Bites]

[Photo: Cupcakes from Molly's, via zoxozo's Flickr]

• Despite the five shootings and one fatality, the safety of the Taste of Chicago is "undisputed," sayeth Police Superintendent Jody Weis. Tomayto, tomahto. [Chicagoist]

• The cure for a pork-induced gastronomic hangover? More pork, obvs. Mike Sula gets the chef salad - plus slab bacon - at Jack's Restaurant. [Food Chain]

• Chris Borrelli scoops an unnamed new "casual sandwich and munchies" place from Rick Bayless and team, inspired by Mexico City's Churreria El Moro. They'll be open from breakfast through dinner, which is wise: it's never too early in the day for tongue torta or fresh-made blood sausage. Coming "sometime in the spring," so no breath-holding, please. [The Stew]

• Speaking of morning food, brunch at Big Jones: "Everything was delicious and I’m sure extremely bad for you." It can't get better than that. [Chicago Foodies]

• Gale Gand shows up at the Green City Market, is surprised that The Fruit Slinger knows who she is. [Fruit Slinger]

• Oh and in case you weren't already reading him, Mr. F. Slinger is in fact wry and insightful, and worth checking out. [Food Chain]

• A tall frosty glass or a hot steamy mug? Whatever your pleasure, at Oak Park's Todd & Holland Tea Merchants you'll find exactly what you're looking for. [Tastybeat]

• Does the way you carve a duck says something about you? Laura Cheng at Sun Wah Bar-B-Q is the strong, silent, knife-wielding type, whereas her sister Kelly is more chat-merrily-while-carving. Either way, either one, eat this duck. [Hungry Magazine]

[Photo of Churrería El Moro via kalamela68'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]

It's late Monday afternoon and the Taste Of Chicago is in its fourth day already! We thought we'd take a look at what's been written about it so far, and it seems like the lion's share of ink has been spilled by the Tribune, via the Stew. This is really their area.

• The Chicagoist had a preview piece this past Friday, but the content ended up getting overshadowed by commenters being mean to Chuck Sudo over a spelling error. Jeez!

• The Reader's Food Chain forgot to mention the Taste until this special Heads Up extra post from last Thursday (still in plenty enough time, though). The post reminds us about the 800 people who were sickened by Pars Cove's hummus at last year's Taste. Come to think of it, watch those tomatoes!

• Kelly the Culinarian is an enthusiastic proponent of the Taste, dispensing good advice about bringing cash (credit card lines are long), not stopping at the first ticket booth you see (the interior ones are less crowded), bringing your own water (bottles are expensive), and not buying alcoholic beverages (they're a poor value). We think you should bring two bottles of water, but the second one should actually contain vodka. No one will be the wiser!

• MrsJ2004 had a few other observations that we haven't seen elsewhere: the Budweiser Clydesdales were on display (better catch them now before the Belgians turn them into tartare), and the line for free slices of Eli's one ton cheesecake was two blocks — perhaps a quarter of a mile! — long. People are really bad at making time/money calculations when something free is involved...but on the other hand, this particular cheesecake is a Tradition, which often perverts rational behavior.

But the Tribune's At Play team is really the star of the Taste's media show, with eight blog posts on the festival in the past few days, not to mention last week's entire At Play section. Reactions and retractions abound: the team has running, booth-by-booth commentary about each dish*; Monica Eng apologized for some recommendations she made once she actually tasted the stuff, and then provides some helpful hints on how to conduct oneself (by way of having made these mistakes herself); Chris Borrelli summed up all the reasons why people generally avoid the Taste; intern Michael Pasternak has a nice human interest story about the antacid booths like Tums and Ultra Xcid lining the upset stomach of the Taste (fun fact: we have never once experienced heartburn!).

But nobody tops Phil Vettel, right? For two minutes and thirty-eight glorious seconds, Vettel tours around the Taste wearing a hat cam that gives us a "Phil's-eye view" of his lunch, a perspective we only wish was permanently accessible to us. The truly sparkling moment comes when Phil takes a bite of his mixed berry sorbet at Canady le Chocolatier, the squeals of delight betraying an afternoon of scarfing greasy, heavy, crappy food in the heat and humidity. Enjoyable throughout.

And finally, while it's impossible to say what brilliant, unfettered mind concocted this, we're nevertheless thrilled with the unholy mashup of the Talking Heads' "Once In A Lifetime," a poetic response to the rigors of the Taste, and the specter of Phil Vettel, choir person. It is, by far, the most successful piece of media inspired by Taste '08.

[Photo: crayfish boil from Lagniappe, via corsi photo, who took dozens of great photos of the Taste]

* Like with the Chicagoist post, the real story here is in the comments. Three different people asked what "meh" means, as it's used repeatedly in the reviews. Phil Vettel keeps his head and responded with "Meh? 'It’s a verbal shoulder shrug. It’s not great, it’s not awful, it’s…meh.'" We would have gone on a tirade about three-letter Scrabble-valid words and then executed all the offending commenters. Feh!

• 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]

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]

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]

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!

• 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]

Welcome to the giant food media roundup, where we see what's hot — and what's to trot — in Chicago right now.

• Lisa Shames reports that smart chefs are now using "food glue" in everyday dishes; it's not just for molecular gastronomists anymore [TOC]

• Bill Daley's let's-ask-top-Chicago-chefs-for-gourmet-off-beat-hot-dog-recipes idea was a pretty good one. But we have to say, Charlie Trotter's Asian seared tuna dog is not going to happen outside of a whimsical high-low restaurant [Tribune]

• Chuck Sudo dumbs himself down to Sun-Times readership level for a roundup of barbecue places that have opened in the past year. Can you imagine not knowing about these places (Smoque, Honky Tonk) the second they open, at the latest? Ah, ignorance is bliss [Sun-Times]

• Michael Tsonton of copperblue reminds you that fresh spices are just as important as fresh produce and meat and what have you [Sun-Times]

• Monica Eng knows that now is the time for frozen custards. She investigates the treat's tentative foray into the city limits [Tribune]

• Graham Elliot's eponymous new restaurant is opening imminently. Get excited! [TOC]

• Last week, we missed Mike Sula's profile on Willi Lehner, possibly Wisconsin's most famous cheesemaker at the moment. New to us: spraying dirt on cheese makes it delicious [Reader]

And the reviews:

• Both Phil Vettel and Heather Shouse go to Shochu, the Asian tapas lounge. These two reviews are a little more sober than previous ones, highlighting the restaurant's reasonable value while faulting some of the dishes for being boring. Still, it's good for the neighborhood [TOC, Trib]

• David Tamarkin is quite smitten with Mado, the new chef-driven seasonal American in Bucktown. They have an ever-changing menu that is fabulous when everything is cooked right, which is most of the time, but should something go wrong, the super-simple fare has little pomp and circumstance to fall back on [TOC]

• Denise O'Neal takes a much less critical route than Heather Shouse did when she reviewed Park 52 a few weeks back. O'Neal finds the food — mostly standard Kleiner upscale comfort — "worth the trip," while Shouse pointedly does not [Sun-Times]

[Photo: mmm...enzymes, via wurmouroboros/flickr]

You'll want to lick your plate but don't
Hotties make you come for more
I want it to be this good every time!

Wait, what? These are the review titles for writeups on Shanghai Terrace, Take Me Out and Sunrise Cafe, respectively. Lines one and three make sense on their own, but the middle one needs a bit of explanation.

Take Me Out is the Sino-Korean wings spot that opened recently in Pilsen. It's a familial spin-off of cult favorite Great Sea in Albany Park, and has been garnering rave reviews, including the one referenced in the poem:

I would definitely go back for their chicken hotties. Too bad they don't deliver or I guess better for me or I'd eat these wings at least once a week. Their Kung Pao taste good but they're light on the chicken.

By the way, the chicken crack we were referring to is the three chili chicken at Lao Sze Chuan and its brethren in Chinatown. But there's room enough for two preparations of addictive Asian chicken in the Chinatown/Pilsen area, if not four or five.

Shanghai Terrace [MenuPages]
Shanghai Terrace [Official Site]
Take Me Out [MenuPages]
Sunrise Cafe [MenuPages]

[Photo: a blurry likeness of the progenitor to the hotties, Great Sea's chicken wings; via design_drafter]

It is your patriotic duty to eat barbecue at some point this weekend. Perhaps you'll do so at a party with friends and family, but failing that, we've compiled a slideshow of worthy barbecue from around the city, and nearby parks where you can picnic. The park photos are from Microsoft's new Live Maps "Bird's eye" feature; hopefully they won't sue us for using them!

Rib tips from Honey 1 BBQ, via andrewc:

Humboldt Park is a short drive away:

Three more pairings, after the jump...

Continue reading "Viewing Pleasure: Barbecue And The Parks In Which To Eat It" »

• Attached to Ada's Famous Deli in the Loop is 14 Karat Lounge, which features the deli's full menu, and booze! [Drive-Thru]

• If you like Eastern European breadstuffs, try the khachpuri cheese bread at