Posts Tagged ‘Chicago’
Yesterday was an exceptionally hot experience for Beauty and Her Feast. And I mean hot on many levels. I was invited to help out and ride along with Chicago's most popular food truck, gaztro-wagon! To make the deal sweeter, Chef Giuseppe Tentori, one of my favorite chefs in Chicago, was along for the ride with a special Lobster Roll. Gaztro-wagon has partnered with several chefs around the city along with Share Our Strength to promote Taste of the Nation to help efforts in ending childhood hunger. Taste of the Nation is one of Chicago's biggest food-focused fundraising events with more than 60 chefs dishing up food and 20 mixologist on August 10th at Navy Pier. Beauty and Her Feast will be in attendance for sure! Guest chefs are riding along for another week with a special sandwich on board the wagon. To view the gaztro-wagon schedule, click here. And make sure to follow them on twitter or facebook for future lunch locations.
This was the longest shoot we have had to date…and the hottest…and the hardest! Beauty and Her Feast was hot mess by the end of lunch. We started out at 9 am helping prep the sandwiches to get loaded onto gaztro-wagon. We popped into GT Fish to check on Chef Giuseppe who was ready to go. The whole crew then headed to the Loop to find a spot to park and open for business. I was in charge of enticing customers to enroll in the raffle to win 2 free tickets to Taste of the Nation…and I did a darn good job I might add.
To learn more about Share our Strength, click here. Take a few minutes to see me sweat it out with the wagon…
Frontier invites Chicagoans to celebrate National Oyster Day with Oyster Week Specials available July 31 through August 7 and a shucking contest on Sunday, August 14.
Specials will include Dozen Oysters for $12, $10 Oyster Po Boys, $6 Chargrilled Oysters and more.
The oyster shucking contest will feature chefs from GT Fish & Oyster, (Matt Waterman), Hugo’s Frog Bar & Fish House (Chef Jose Sosa), Owen & Engine, Publican (Jeremy McDevitt) and RIVA Crab House (Chef Joe Roireau), Tavern on Rush (Chef John Gastos), and The Bedford in addition to Frontier’s own Executive Chef Brian Jupiter. Beginning at 3 PM, the shucking contest will include three rounds of head-to-head shucking between the chefs, with winners proceeding to next round. Chef contestants will be given 27 oysters and must present 24 at each round with the oyster being presented on the half shell, on ice. The shucking will be judged on the following criteria: speed, appearance, well opened, without flaws, totally severed from shell, mussel intact – not torn, cut, sliced, wounded and without blood, orderly and neat appearance. The winning chef will be awarded a $500 cash prize.
Guest judges for the event include: Audarshia Townsend (312 Dining Diva), Erica Bethe Levin (Cheeky Chicago), Kiki Luthringshausen (Beauty and Her Feast), and Matt Lynch (Thrillist.com).
A $10 suggested donation at the door will benefit the Greater New Orleans Foundation (http://www.gnof.org/). The charity raises funds and awareness for the Gulf Oil Spill and was personally selected by Executive Chef Brian Jupiter because of his New Orleans heritage.
WHEN: Shucking Contest: Sunday, August 14
2 PM to 5 PM (shucking starts at 3 PM)
Oyster Week: Sunday, July 31 through Sunday, August 7
COST: $10 suggested donation to benefit Greater New Orleans Foundation
OYSTER WEEK SPECIALS:
Available Sunday, July 31- Sunday, August 7
$12 John Daly Pitchers
$12 Dozen Oysters
$10 Oyster Po Boy
$6 Chargrilled Oysters
FRONTIER
1072 North Milwaukee
Chicago, IL 60642
Tel: 773.772.4322
www.thefrontierchicago.com
I need to feed my Thai obsession. I know if I go for too long without Thai food, we eat it for a few days straight. Awhile back, I was seated between Michael Kornick of MK and the Chicago editor for eater.com who were doing a pretty hard sell on Tac Quick. I always feel like a numbnuts when I can’t contribute to the “ooohing and ahhhing” of a restaurant. But I’ve learned that there will always be foodies that can one-up me at a dinner party. I look at it as how I expand my data base of what’s out there. And you know if chefs and other food writers are raving about a place, GO. So, once they put it in my head, the Thai obsession was flowing with a red-hot passion. I keep a list of restaurants at my desk of where I need to eat. The list is compiled from all different publications, online sites and word-of-mouth from industry insiders. Tac Quick moved to the top of my list that night.
I called Prince Charming and Snooty to join me for a Thai feast. We were told by the Editor to ask for the secret spicy menu. For sure I was asking for anything secret. We were also told to bring a bottle of Rose. Check…did that too. We were seated smack in the middle of the place and I could see every meal pass by. It smelled like…my Thai Heaven. While they were chatting away, I studied the menus. They knew better than to have any input as to what we were going to taste. The waitress was extremely helpful in making suggestions of some of Tac Quick’s must-try dishes. Here is some of what landed on our table:
- Satay
- Spicy Basil Rolls with ground beef, basil leaf, jalapeno and cabbage served with ginger sweet & sour
- Crispy on Choy
- Chicken Panang Curry
- Pad Thai Kung Sod Haw Khai, Glass noodle and shrimp “Pad thai!” folded into an omelet
We also had a dish that I can’t recall the name or find on their online menu, but it was stir fried ground chicken with a Thai chili sauce and topped with fermented duck eggs. Now, I can already see the face you just made. When the waitress suggested it, I thought the word fermented could also mean…OLD. But I have to say, it was an interesting texture (much like a dark hard boiled egg) and surprisingly not too strong considering my expectations of “fermented”.
Every single dish we tasted was screaming with abundant flavor. Not that anything was overpowering, except for maybe the spice from the secret menu. Be prepared if you ask for the secret menu that you truly can handle the heat. Snooty was sweating like a nervous child. The menu offers some standards but also has a fantastic assortment of atypical dishes. We took a table vote at the end of the meal and the Crispy On Choy was the runaway winner. It’s prepared with tempura fried Chinese watercress, shrimp, ground chicken, mint leaf and onions with spicy chili paste lime dressing. The sauce had the perfect spice balanced with citrus and tang. The tempura fried watercress amazed me. That a chef took each individual leaf and fried it was the crown of the dish. With each bite, you had crispy, sweet, spicy, and citrusy over a simple ground chicken. Now, I can’t stop thinking about going back. I didn’t actually pacify my Thai obsession, I made it worse. For most diners, especially those who visit the city infrequently, Tac Quick is worth the trip. It’s a local crowd, BYOB, inexpensive and casual on the North side of town. I’m hungry for some crispy just writing this.
3930 N. Sheridan, Chicago
773.327.5253
TAC Quick Thai Kitchen on Urbanspoon
Maybe you don’t know this, but I love Champagne. I can’t say just any Champagne because I tend to lean towards the snobby side when it comes to the bubbly. Truthfully, the other night I threw out an awful glass when no one was looking. It’s also my official drink…even better…the official drink of Beauty and Her Feast. I once read it has only 90 calories per glass which was helpful when deciding what to cast as my numero uno bevuto!
About two weeks ago, I was invited by Veuve Clicquot to a Champagne tasting at the uber-trendy Doughnut Vault in Chicago. I didn’t care who I pawned my kids off on, I was going to drink Champagne and nosh on fancy donuts bright and early one Friday morning.
The 9 am tasting consisted of:
Veuve Clicquot Vintage 2002 with a Vanilla Doughnut
Veuve Cliquot Vintage Rose 2004 with a Double Glazed Chocolate Doughnut
Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Blanc 1998 with a Buttermilk Old Fashioned Doughnut
Veuve Clicquot Demi-Sec with a Pistachio, Butterscotch and Coconut Doughnut.
First let me say, I thought it was a brilliant and out-of-the-box idea to pair the two. The intimate setting of old farm tables with donuts and bubbly for breakfast was perfect. And the French guy from Veuve certainly helped set the mood. The pairings of doughnuts to Champagne was interesting, although I could never have done it on my own. I left a bubbly girl to finish my work day all sugared up.
I wasn’t alone in falling head over heels for the Vintage Rose, which is available in retail stores. I intend to stock up on some at home and turn everyone into Champagne lovers!
