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
All y’all who’ve been asking that question in re: the Creative Loafing bankruptcy filing should read this great, thorough, and at times chilling article on the past, present, and future of the CL business plan, by a former CL staffer now at Atlanta Magazine. (h/t Whet) The nuts and bolts of it: “In July of … Continued
I wrote something for Time Out Chicago. Here it is. Please save the “dark side” jokes. It feels weird enough as it is, especially given this crazy week. But, seriously, you should go to Thai Aree. Just don’t order the som tum unless you’re feeling particularly butch.
Sources inside the Reader tell me that the staff found out about the Chapter 11 filing in time-honored fashion: they read about it on the internet, 15 minutes before the staff meeting scheduled to announce it was convened. For those with short memories, this is a nice echo of the day last year when the … Continued
In non-food, non-Wisconsin related news, Creative Loafing Inc., the new owners of my former employer, the Chicago Reader, filed for Chapter 11 bankrupcy protection this morning, exactly one year and four days after its first wave of layoffs hit. So far only the Washington City Paper (formerly owned by Chicago Reader Inc., and now also … Continued