The conscientious Chicago omnivore can exult in the news that two new butcher shops offering locally and humanely raised meats are set to open within the year. Rob Levitt, formerly of Mado, is opening Butcher & Larder next week while Paul Kahan of the Publican just signed a lease for a building across the street from the Publican for a butcher shop set to open in 6 to 10 months.
LTH Forum has long been a resource of hip Chicago diners looking for intelligent and current commentary on local restaurants. Now with their newly released app, you can bring the collective expertise of Chicago diners with you. The app gives users quick access to LTH’s popular “Great Neighborhood Restaurant Awards” listings. You can search for a “GNR” by cuisine, name, favorites, and by what’s nearby you at the moment. Currently, the app is only available online by visiting GNR Guide.
Photo: Martha Williams from TOC
The year’s end is near and so comes the proliferation of summative “Best Of” lists. Time Out Chicago just released their annual “100 Best Things We Ate This Year” while The Stew posted a humorous “What’s In, What’s Out” on national dining trends.
With the 3-star Michelin spotlight still shining brightly upon Alinea, the international food community eagerly watches the development of chef Grant Achatz’s revolutionary new restaurant, Next. Bon Appetit even zealously proclaimed Next one of the “top celebration restaurants” in the U.S. in their latest issue but removed it from the online version since it has yet to open (see the correction online at Bon Appetit.)
For the overworked gourmand craving the solace of a freshly cooked dinner, Meez Meals provides both a palate-pleasing and affordable alternative to frozen dinners. Meez Meals was founded with the belief that “You can have a healthy, home-cooked dinner in less time than it takes to get pizza - and still have the pleasure of making dinner yourself.” The name comes from the French culinary philosophy of “mise en place,” or having all of your ingredients and equipment in place and ready to go before you begin cooking.
Foodies rejoice - Takashi Yagihashi is set to expand this summer with a second restaurant in River North. Takashi’s namesake Bucktown restaurant recently received Michelin honors. Takashi says the as-yet-unnamed spot on 116 W. Hubbard, “will be more rustic than Takashi, more affordable, and very casual.” Diners can expect high-end sake and beer, cocktails, appetizers such as gyoza and shumai, rice bowls, and plenty of noodles. [Steve Dolinsky @ WBEZ]
There have been many outbreaks of food-related illnesses stemming from contaminated eggs, spinach, and peanut butter that sickened thousands of people and lead to countless food recalls in the recent past causing the government to expedite the recent passage of the F.D.A. Food Safety Modernization Act. The act aims to keep consumers safer by giving the F.D.A. more power to recall tainted foods, conduct increased inspections, closely oversee farming, and demand more accountability from producers.
Chicago Sake’s buzz is building and soon yours will be too. If you’re a foodie or a wine connoisseur chances are sake is an area you’ve yet to conquer. Your turbulent relationship with sake probably began with a hot, highly unmemorable drink at a sushi bar and abruptly ended with a bad hangover. But here’s the good news – it’s all been a misunderstanding. Chicago Sake, the city’s first sake school and consultancy, aims to reacquaint you with a beverage they claim, “rivals the depth, spectrum, and personality of white wine.”
In the last five years major U.S. cities such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle have embraced premium sake. Chicago Sake intends to be at the forefront of the movement in Chicago and give the city a reintroduction to sake. “Sake was never properly introduced to the U.S.,” says partner John Robinson. Many in the American market have only sampled sake of a grade comparable to Carlo Rossi egregiously served warm to disguise its inferior quality. The company has plans to expand into eight other U.S. cities in late 2011 - early 2012 including Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Austin.
