Has died. As I was reading the Tribune story I got a call from S., who worked with Studs years ago on the Steppenwolf production of Division Street, America. He lives in LA now. He was crying. On the first day of rehearsal, S. said, Studs walked into the room, surveyed the actors, and spread … Continued
I have a date to go to Alinea in a few weeks, on the nickel of an old friend and his bride, who have done very well for themselves. Damn them. Anyway, I haven’t been back since it opened three years ago, but ever since the Alinea doorstop landed earlier this month I’ve been thinking … Continued
OK I just wasted a good hour, at least, plugging through the posts on this blog, trying to ID “the squirrel’s” nameless restaurant. Let’s see: –It’s on the southwest corner of the three-way intersection of a four-lane, east-west artery and smaller two-lane north-south street that dead-ends at the east-west street. –I am pretty sure the … Continued
I am, it is fair to say, one of the lousiest, laziest master gardeners in Chicago. I went through the 12-week training in early 2007; in the ensuing year you’re supposed to complete 60 hours of volunteer week to get your full MG certification. My tally has been stalled at about 30 for a while now. … Continued
A brief walk down Fulton Street last night lends anecdotal support to Monica Eng’s story today on the city’s slumping restaurant industry. Scene: Eight-thirty, Thursday, a brisk autumn evening. Fulton Lounge: Dead. Follia: Two tables. Otom: Three tables. Moto: Who the hell knows. The windows are opaque, I guess to protect you from the laser. … Continued
[from now on I’m just titling these posts “SSP”] I reviewed the new Cafe con Leche for Time Out Chicago. Also, recently had this take on Old Oak Tap in the Reader. [Third one, after Sula on Urban Belly and Duchamp.]
“The Weeds. It’s an expression for line cooks by line cooks, but it is also something much larger. A euphemism. It’s an in-the-moment, during service expression. But it can also refer to your whole career.” One of the most brilliant things I’ve read on the energy of a kitchen, for good and for bad. [stolen from Michael … Continued
“There is also to be considered ‘the Matthew effect,’ which was first described by Robert K. Merton. In a series of interviews with Nobel laureates, Merton found, ‘They repeatedly observe that eminent scientists get disproportionately great credit for their contributions to science while relatively unknown scientists tend to get disproportionately little credit for comparable contributions.’ … Continued
That’s the sound the fermentation lock makes every three minutes or so as all those little carbon dioxide molecules scramble to escape. Day five and it’s bubbling along nicely. Though, man, we could’ve really used a sieve or something last Saturday. The stuff is really murky. Or, shall we say, “rustic.”
Yesterday my friend JR and I trekked down to N.’s Little Village estate to avail ourselves of her cider press. Five hours and three bushels and change later, we had just under seven gallons of fresh squeezed apple nectar that, hopefully, will in the not-too-distant-future mutate into even more delicious hard cider. If it doesn’t, … Continued