Like your coffee with a splash of social conscience? Read this GapersBlock article about Crop to Cup, a for-profit company which helps family-farmers in Uganda raise, export and sell their coffee crops.
Jacob Elster, a 26-year-old Chicagoan living in Ukrainian Village, helped launch the company.
The James Beard Foundation yesterday announced nominees for its 2008 awards and, as always, Chicagoans figured prominently.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the awards, Time magazine dubbed them “the Oscars of the food world.” The awards are among the highest honors given to professionals working in all aspects of the food and beverage industry - from chefs to journalists to owners. I’ve yet to see a category for servers and bartenders, though. Maybe they should consider adding one.
Chicagoans nominated include:
The full list of nominees is available on the James Beard Foundation Awards site.
The awards ceremony will be held June 8, 2008 at the Lincoln Center in New York City.
The Chicagoist today did a very nice write-up of and interview with Natalie Slater, a punk rock’, cupcake makin’, cake decoratin’ Chicagoan who makes and sells stuff that’s right up The Angry Waiter community’s alley.
Natalie doesn’t make just any old cupcake…she decorates her creations with swear words, pictures of dead celebrities, horror flick creatures, insults…pretty much anything your nasty heart desires. She makes nice cupcakes too. I think I saw one with whipped cream and a cherry on her Flickr page.
This stuff is perfect for anyone in the service industry. Think about it…you have an argument with your manager, don’t apologize, get her cupcakes with “Up Yours” written in icing. Had enough of your drunken owner’s abuse? Give him cupcakes with “I Quit!” swirled on top. At first he’ll think you’re being nice, but when he looks at them he’ll realize it’s your way of saying, “Screw you guys, I’m outta here.” Or, if you perfer, just get the ones that say “Fuck You.”
She also makes little decorations you can stick into any pastry. Her sister wants a cake decorated with “The Golden Girls” because “she likes old people.” Natalie’s stuff has enough attitude to curl the hair on Bea Arthur’s chin.
If you’re interested, you can buy her cupcakes and decorations on Etsy and check out her blog.
Interested in getting financing to open your own restaurant?
NBC will be in Chicago and in Washington, D.C. this Saturday, March 22, 2008, casting for a new reality show pitting two-person teams against each other with the final prize being financing to open a restaurant.
The only catch…the two people on the team must have some kind of prior relationship i.e. lovers, friends, co-workers.
Reality shows aren’t usually my thing, but I know if you took two restaurant people and put them up against any two non-restaurant people, the restaurant people win hands down.
I’m guessing a lot of the people who audition for this show are going to be the weekend-gourmet types…you know, the type of people who love to cook, love to eat out and who are told over and over by friends that they should open a restaurant. Some do and six months later they’re out of business.
Somebody in the business should go for this. If you’re interested, scroll to the bottom of NBC’s Casting Page.
I’m not a big fan of Bravo’s series Top Chef - an hour of whiny chefs running around, pissed off, pathetically apologizing to a panel of judges because their souffle didn’t turn out…anyone who’s ever worked in a restaurant knows that scenario all too well…but, I’m watching this year because Season 4 is based in Chicago and is supposed to include a few Chicago Cuisine “twists” and I love watching so-called “Top Chefs” ruin my favorite foods.
Episode One lived up, or down, to my expectations.
The show began with the the contestants meeting at Chicago’s favorite tourist-pizza-trap, Pizzeria Uno. Let’s get something straight…Chicagoans don’t eat here. Most of us don’t even eat deep dish pizza unless we have out-of-town guests. We eat thin crust pizza and not those greasy, triangle-shaped “slices” they serve in New York…we eat our greasy pizza cut into squares.
The contestants’ first “quick fire” challenge was to create their “own signature deep dish pizza.” What a disaster. Sixteen experienced, trained chefs and not one of them even came close to making anything you could call pizza. One guy, Richard, put peaches in his pizza. Peaches, proving once again that though a chef may be cookbook smart, he or she may have no idea how to prepare food people actually want to eat.
On a brighter note: Chicago-resident Stephanie Izard, chef/owner of the now closed Scylla, won the first challenge with her rendition of Duck L’Orange. I’ll admit to bias here…I’m hoping a Chicago chef wins this thing.
The most disturbing part of Top Chef was the choice of guest judges. Rather than choosing guest judges from Chicago’s deep pool of culinary masters, the producers chose two people who represent everything that’s wrong with the restaurant business - Rocco DiSpirito and Anthony Bourdain.
You might remember DiSpirito from the NBC reality-sitcom “The Restaurant.” DiSpirito played a self-centered, egotistical hothead who ran around the restaurant insulting everybody who worked for him. He had an odd obsession with his mother’s meatballs. Hey, Rocco, cut the apron strings…get your own balls.
Bourdain is the author of “Kitchen Confidential,” a book I read and forgot years ago. I do remember him comparing himself and his kitchen crew to pirates, though. OK, we get it…you’re a tough guy chef…now go bake me a cake.
The one redeeming aspect of this show and the reason I’ll keep watching, is Padma Lakshmi. This woman is hotter than a wasabi- habanero paste. Keep up the good work Padma.
Chicago chef Grant Achatz of Alinea, 1723 N. Halsted, got some great news from his doctors a few days ago.
Last year, Achatz was diagnosed with oral cancer. Doctors wanted to remove most of his tongue, most likely resulting in him losing his sense of taste and possibly his ability to talk and swallow. Not so good for anyone, especially a chef.
Achatz rejected the treatment plan and eventually found a doctor at the University of Chicago Medical Center who believed his cancer could be treated with chemotherapy and radiation.
After 18 weeks of chemo, six weeks of radiation and the removal of lymph nodes in the back of his neck, Achitz’s cancer is in remission.
Congratulations Grant! The Angry Waiter wishes you the best of health.
Read the full story in the Chicago Tribune.
If you’re running low on cash or just waiting until St. Paddy’s Day to blow your wad, you can still have a good time Saturday without spending a penny.
Dick Leinenkugel of Leinenkugel’s Breweries is hosting a beer tasting at Binny’s South Loop., Saturday, March 15, 1-3pm. It’s free and when you’re broke, nothing hits the spot like free beer.
Leinenkugel will be pouring his custom brews and giving out draft samples of the brewery’s most popular beers.
So, hit the parade downtown and then head to the South Loop.
Oh…Dick Leinenkugel likes to talk, so get him talking and he’ll probably feed you beer all afternoon.
Binny’s Beverage Deport- South Loop 1132 S. Jefferson 312-768-4400
Carol’s Pub gained popularity a few years back after the Tribune wrote it up as a great dive bar. And a dive it truly is.
Toothless customers, a bouncer who looks like a cross between a Hell’s Angel and John Popper and who sells lingerie on the side and bartenders who I haven’t trusted since the time four years ago when my girlfriend ordered an Absolute and soda and the thin, Irish bartender kept saying to her, “You like that drink? You’re gonna like that drink.” An hour later she was passed out at home after only having that one drink. Luckily, we only live around the corner. (more…)
Yes, The Grind is small and cramped. Yes, you have to sometimes share a table with a stranger and yes, it’s a bit pricey, but…it’s an independent coffee house located on one the best strips in all of Chicago - the Lincoln Avenue shopping strip between Wilson and Lawrence in the Lincoln Square neighborhood.
I don’t go to coffee houses just for the coffee and baked goods - The Grind serves Intelligentsia which is fine coffee and a Chicago product, excellent pastries and, as pointed out a tasty if not slightly over-priced quiche - I go to coffee houses for atmosphere and amenities.
It’s The Grind’s atmosphere and amenities that sometimes make me want to go there and other times keep me away. (more…)
There are few things I’ve done in my adult life (or any other part of my life for that matter) that have brought me as much fun, fulfillment and satisfaction as taking guitar lessons at The Old Town School of Folk Music.
Now, don’t let the name “Old Town School of Folk Music” scare you away. Though the original school was founded fifty years ago in Old Town, I take classes at the Lincoln Square location.
As far as “Folk” is concerned, folk is taught here and is still a part of the curriculum, but not really in the group classes. The music I’ve been learning since day one (I’ve been going there for about seven months now) has been Wilco, The Ramones, The Beatles, Bowie, Ani DiFranco, Greenday, Nirvana and a slew of other artists I love. (more…)
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