Chicago's Michelin Stars

Oh man, I'm a day late on the Michelin news again. This time it wasn't me, the news was scheduled to come out this morning but someone got ahold of the results and leaked them early, forcing Michelin to move up its announcement by a day. The nerve. Anyway, the results are in.

3 stars:
Alinea*
L2O

2 stars:
Avenues
Charlie Trotter's
RIA

1 star:
Blackbird
Boka
Bonsoiree
Crofton on Wells
Everest
Graham Elliot
Longman & Eagle*
Naha
NoMI
Schwa
Seasons
Sepia*
Sixteen
Spiaggia
Takashi
Topolobampo*
Tru
Vie

Yay Chicago! I'm very lucky to have eaten at some of those amazing restaurants (starred). I was surprised that some places I thought were deserving didn't make it on there, but I guess that's the whole point...not everyone gets a star. It will be interesting to see who keeps their stars, gains, or loses next year.

The Cupcake Chronicles

Yet another seasonal flavor from Sprinkles - salty caramel. Sadly it's already gone, it was only around for about a week. You can actually see the fleur de sel on top of the icing. Mmmm.

Chicago's Bib Gourmands

I know, I know. I'm a day late and a dollar short here. I do what I can. Michelin inspectors have been working their way through the Chicago culinary scene for quite some time now and will release the city's first guide next week. So we won't find out which restaurants received the prestigious "étoiles" for another few days, but they did release the Bib Gourmands yesterday. A Bib Gourmand designation means that the restaurant is Michelin's pick for good food at moderate prices. Here's their explanation:

"A Bib Gourmand rating means the restaurant is an inspector's favorite for good value. For $40 or less, you can enjoy two courses and a glass of wine or dessert (not including tax and gratuity)."

Maybe the best part...in the middle of the night before the Bibs are announced, Michelin chalks an outline of the Michelin man (named Bibendum) on the sidewalk in front of the restaurants selected.



Here's the list. Restaurants I've been to are marked with a *.

Ann Sather
Belly Shack
Bistro 110
The Bristol
Browntrout
Ceres’ Table
Cumin
deca
De Cero*
DeCOLORES
Frances’ Deli
Frontera Grill*
Gilt Bar*
Girl & The Goat*
Green Zebra
Han 202
Hopleaf*
Jaipur
Kith & Kin*
La Creperie
La Petite Folie
Los Nopales
Lula Café
Mado
Mexique
M. Henry
Mixteco Grill
Nana
Nightwood
Opart Thai House
Otom
Paramount Room
Perennial
The Publican*
The Purple Pig*
Raj Darbar
Riccardo Trattoria*
Smak-Tak
Smoque
Spacca Napoli
Taste of Peru
Thai Village
Twin Anchors
UrbanBelly
Veerasway
West Town Tavern

Halloween Dog Parade

I know, I know. Another non-food related post. I'm sorry, but this one is just to good to sit on any longer. If there's one thing I love more than cooking, it's animals...and animals in cute costumes. This morning was the Halloween parade for Tails in the City, a cute little dog store right on my block. Last year I stumbled upon it (how could I not, it's literally right outside my front door), but this year I knew it was coming and brought my camera.

There were the usual spooky costumes: a devil and a bat. And of course pumpkins.



Sniff party!



A shark, some flowers, a princess (?), and some Bears fans.



A ballerina dog...I don't know how she felt about that leotard.



Food dogs! Hot dogs, an ear of corn, a bunch of grapes...and a farmers market.



This guy kept trying to shake his cape off.



PUPPIES! A ladybug bulldog, and a Robin Hood yellow lab.


Plain pug.



And, in my opinion, the three most creative costumes. A jockey:



Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich in a little jail suit with a tiny wig, and a "For Sale: Senate Seat" sign.



And...Lady Gaga.

Cooking Class at The Chopping Block

Last Christmas we (my dad, sister, and I) gave my mom cooking classes - one with me in Chicago, and one with my sister in Boston. Yesterday we finally, FINALLY got around to doing it!

There were a few different choices at The Chopping Block this weekend, and we decided on "The Basics: Brasserie" class. Here's the menu:

• Bistro Salad with Homemade Croutons
• Steak Au Poivre with Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• Vanilla Crème Brûlée
• Skills covered in this class include: Making a Custard Base; Caramelizing Sugar; Poaching Eggs; Making a Warm Vinaigrette; Selecting Beef for Searing; Using Fresh Cracked Spices; Deglazing; Cooking with Alcohol; Making a Pan Sauce; How to Tell When Meat is Done.

Those are some of my favorite dishes, especially the salad - which I didn't know would turn out to be frisée aux lardons. And I was very excited to work on my egg-poaching skills (or lack thereof).



That's the spread at the end of the class. We cooked for about 2 hours, and then got to enjoy our lunch.

Here's the salad. One of my absolute favorite dishes is (I should say "was") the frisée aux lardons from Le Gamin. I can't post a link to it...because it's closed. Brings a tear to my eye. Le Gamin was this tiny little French restaurant in New York, on Houston between MacDougal and Sullivan. They had rotisserie chicken roasting right outside their front door on the sidewalk in this outdoor rotisserie cabinet thing, with potatoes lining the bottom soaking up all the chicken drippings. The best chicken I've ever had. Amazing ratatouille, and a wonderful frisée salad with bacon and a poached egg.



And I successfully poached an egg. Actually, I successfully poached 4 or 5 eggs. Hopefully I'll be able to do it again at home.

We made steak with a pan sauce of cognac, cream, butter, mustard, and chicken stock. And garlic mashed potatoes.



Last but not least, crème brûlée. The custard was very easy to make, and right before we ate them we got to use the blowtorch.



I lit my napkin on fire. Oops. It was so, so good. There's few things more satisfying than taking that first crack into a crème brûlée.



Sorry the pictures aren't great, they were all taken with my phone. I'll post the recipes for each dish once I successfully recreate them at home. The class was fun and really easy, there were only 12 of us (the maximum for the kitchen we were in) so it wasn't a big, crazy group. There are several other classes they offer that look like fun so hopefully I'll return to try another one.

The Cupcake Chronicles

Add one more to the list. Caramel apple. Spiced apple cake studded with Granny Smith apples and a caramel cream cheese frosting. Actually, add two. I had another carrot cupcake earlier in the week.



Am I really supposed to be able to resist these seasonal flavors? Especially when they put cute "Boo" stickers on the bag.

The Cupcake Chronicles

Ok, I seem to have developed a bit of a problem. In the cupcake department. The problem is...I can't stop eating them. Not just cupcakes in general, cupcakes from Sprinkles.



I already wrote about Sprinkles once, when they opened. I thought - great new cupcake place, just a block away from my apartment and couple blocks from work, I'm sure I'll eat them once in awhile. But the thing is...the cupcakes are just so darn good I can't stay away. Living in New York, I was over cupcakes. I mean, as much as one can really be over cupcakes. I didn't think about them and crave them all the time like I do with Sprinkles. I've already aired my grievances with many NYC cupcakes - too much frosting, frosting is too sweet, cake sometimes isn't too fresh, and some of the places have just become more of a novelty and a tourist destination.



But Sprinkles cupcakes are just pure perfection. The cake is always moist and fresh, not too much over-the-top sugary icing, and they have different seasonal flavors - some lasting just a week, some nearly a month, some for a whole season. For example, my newest favorite is vanilla hazelnut chocolate. Vanilla cake with hazelnut chocolate icing. And it was only around for a week! How could they?!



Another part of the "problem" is that they do a free cupcake almost every day. All you have to do is look on their Twitter feed or Facebook page and learn what the secret word is, then be one of the first 25 (or sometimes 50) people to say the password and you get a free cupcake of their choice. For example: "Last day of summer! First 25 people to whisper “autumn” at each Sprinkles receive a free pumpkin adorned with a fall leaf!"

Peter told me he thinks I'll eat 100 over the next year. That seems a little drastic, but I did start keeping a tally since he said that. Here's my current standings. Lots of halves because sometimes I get two different flavors for us to share. This probably isn't something to really be proud of.

Carrot: 2 1/2
Vanilla milk chocolate: 1
Dark chocolate: 1
Lemon: 1/2
Key lime: 1
Vanilla: 1/2
Cinnamon sugar: 1
Red velvet: 1/2
Chocolate coconut: 1/2
Vanilla hazelnut chocolate: 2
Pumpkin: 1/2

36 Hours in Chicago

This weekend's "36 Hours" in the Travel section of the New York Times is Chicago! Here are some of the food-related suggestions:

• Gilt Bar
• Xoco
• Girl & the Goat
• Longman & Eagle
• Terzo Piano

The three I haven't been to (Gilt Bar, Xoco, and Longman & Eagle) are all definitely on my list. My very long list. So much to eat in this city...

This reminds me, there was a "36 Hours" about Boston not long ago, and a short article about Columbus recently. Take a look.

Isaacson & Stein Fish Co.

I'm sorry Rubino's, but I'm in love with a new fish market...and its name is Isaacson & Stein. Isaacson isn't new, just new to me. It's in the West Loop, where I don't venture during the day all that often.



It still has a wholesaler feel to it, as does Rubino's, but it's not so much of a warehouse. They sell to both restaurants and the public. Their fish is really excellent quality, a lot of sushi-grade fish, and fantastic prices. They have a lot of whole fish, which they will filet for you if you ask.



They had so many types of fish I had never even heard of, one that's sticking out in my mind was a Pompano fish. I hope that's what it was called, I can't remember. I'm sorry, I'm not being very eloquent here. They sell fish. I like fish. Fish yummy.



They also had a whole row of filets and a great assortment of shellfish, plus lots of frozen things like lobster tails, crab meat, and frog legs.



That thing was big enough to be Ursula the Sea Witch. They also sell fish bones to make stock.



I ended up buying a pound of beautiful, deep red sushi-grade tuna, and a pound and a half of PEI mussels. For $20. Whaaaat? Yes,$20 for everything. Isaacson & Stein is my new favorite spot, next time I'm in the West Loop I'm definitely going back.

Sprinkles Cupcakes (Chicago)

Finally, the official Sprinkles Cupcakes post. I had no idea what a big deal Sprinkles is until I went. I tried to go last Saturday for the invitation-only (sounds more exclusive than it was) party, and encountered a crazy line. No thanks. Tried again on their third official day of business at lunchtime, and found a line of probably 25 people out the door. Oy. Finally I went back at about 4:30, sucked it up and waited in line (shorter than earlier that day), and got my prize.

I'm sure a big part of why it's been so busy is because it just opened, but also because it's a big Hollywood celebrity thing which I was not aware of. While you wait in line outside they have three little tvs in the wall showing clips the owner (I'm guessing?) of Sprinkles making tv appearances, and clips of celebrities mentioning Sprinkles on late night shows, MTV Cribs, the Oprah show, etc.



The line outside Magnolia on Bleecker Street can be attributed to one quick scene in Sex and the City (and of course because the cupcakes are great), but Sprinkles seems to have its own little media empire.

Once I finally got in the door I started studying the menu. They have a big menu on the wall of every flavor and a quick description, but with a little trademark Sprinkles dot next to the flavor if it's actually being served that day. Decisions, decisions.



I chose cinnamon sugar - lightly spiced buttermilk cake dusted with cinnamon sugar, and key lime - tangy key lime cake with key lime-vanilla frosting flecked with zest. It's kind of assembly line style, you walk in right in front of the cases, place your order, move down and wait for your name to be called.



Everyone working there was so happy! I guess I would be really happy if I got to make cupcakes all day, too. Really happy and really plump. This was the line by the time I left.



I brought my spoils home for an after dinner treat. Cinnamon sugar on the left, key lime on the right.



Time to break it all down. These cupcakes were...well, pretty perfect. Very fresh, soft cake and not a lot of icing. If you're an icing fan, these might not be your favorite. Here's my beef with NYC cupcakes from Magnolia, Billy's, etc: way too much icing. A veritable mountain of icing. I always have to scrape some off, especially if it's vanilla buttercream icing because there's just too darn much and it's very sugary. Even though that key lime cupcake looks like it's got a pile of icing on top, it's really mostly cake under there. Exhibit A:



I can't wait to go back and try the carrot and chocolate peanut butter. And all the other flavors.

And now, I must say goodbye. No, not forever! Just for a week. Actually, a little over a week. Come on, a girl's gotta take a vacation once in awhile! I'm going to a very exotic place called Massachusetts. So yes, I am taking a brief hiatus from writing...but not from eating delicious food. So don't worry, there will be lots of things for me to share when I get back.

Odds and Ends

I know, I know. I've been slacking. Between a busy work schedule and lots of friends in town, I haven't had much time to cook or write. This is going to be kind of a mish-mosh of a post, but better than nothing - right? I'll go in chronological order here.

In preparation for the opening of Sprinkles Cupcakes in Chicago, last week there was a Sprinkles truck in Chicago serving up a preview of what's to come. I didn't actually see it, but Peter did and got us a couple cupcakes. Aww.



That's red velvet on the left and chocolate coconut on the right. They were so, so good. The cake part was really fresh and soft, and the icing was perfect. If I'm eating a Magnolia or Billy's cupcake with their traditional vanilla buttercream icing, I often scrape part of it off because it's just too rich and sugary to eat the whole heap they put on each cupcake. But the Sprinkles icing was really fluffy and not too sweet. They had an opening party last Saturday afternoon that was by invitation/RSVP. I found out about it on Facebook so it's not like it was that exclusive, but I didn't think it would be as crazy as it was. We walked over there about halfway through and it was such a madhouse we just turned around. They are officially open for business now so I'll try to go back soon.

Friday night we ventured out to a new place called Rootstock. It's near Humboldt Park. I can't take credit for finding it, we met up with Jacquilyn and a bunch of other people who decided to go there. We had a great table outside, enjoyed some drinks and appetizers, placed an order for dinner, and then the storm of the century arrived (almost 8 inches of rain!!!) and we made a dash for inside.



Sorry, no pictures of food. It was very dark at both our table outdoors and inside, plus I didn't want to freak out my new acquaintances with my food photography. But the food was great - charcuterie, small flatbread pizzas, a great burger, PEI mussels, delicious fries, and lots of other goodies. It was a fun to try a new place that I never would have found on my own.

After the restaurant we made a mad dash through the monsoon to the California Clipper, a bar just across the intersection. It turned into one of those great nights you just can't plan for, and couldn't recreate if you tried. We all got to the bar soaking wet, and because of the rain it was pretty empty which was nice. They had a great country band playing, and then to top it off this man in a rain slicker carrying a small cooler walked in. What was in the cooler, you ask?



Oh, just some amazing tamales. $5 for a baggie of 5 cheese and poblano pepper tamales, with some green salsa.

Last Sunday we went to the Publican for brunch. I had only been for dinner and was excited for a different experience there. And it didn't disappoint. I ordered red wine poached eggs over sourdough toast, with bearnaise sauce and prosciutto.



Oh man. I ate everything on my plate.

And Sunday night we went to Table Fifty-Two. I didn't get any photos of food, it's a real classy joint plus we had a big group. I did take a photo of the outside of the restaurant because it's a cute little house. I guess I have a thing for restaurants in houses.



I feel like only showing the outside of the restaurant is like saying "I have a secret but I'm not going to tell you". I'll just say that a couple of my favorite things I ate there were fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, and a vegetable and manchengo wood fired pizza. I guess I'll have to take one for the team and go back so I can get more photos.

Wow, busy weekend. All this eating has left me wiped out.