Chicago : Trend Watch

Trend Watch: The Gastro-Lounge?

BuzzEditor — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:39:00 GMT

Eyebrows raised when Hop Häus hired former Alinea cook Andrew Brochu and sommelier Justin Leone to beef up its concept of burgers-and-beer pairings when it opened last spring. Since then, star chef Shawn McClain (Spring, Green Zebra) has headed up the New American small-plates menu at The Drawing Room at Le Passage (a "culinary cocktail lounge"), Pops for Champagne has brought in Brochu to refine its champagne-friendly New American fare and desserts, and now Chaise Lounge, not notorious as a dining destination, has teamed up with Cary Taylor, whose résumé includes Avenues and Blackbird. So that's three, which makes a trend – should we call it the arrival of the gastro-lounge?

– Alice Van Housen

Where the Actors Are the Owners (Not Just the Waiters)

BuzzEditor — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:53:00 GMT

Have you been to a celebrity-owned restaurant?

Are they worth the hype? Share your thoughts on the Zagat Discussion boards!

With the writers' strike finally over and the Academy Awards just around the corner on February 24th, most of Hollywood is thinking about who will be taking home that little gold guy. But not everybody can win an Oscar, so financially prudent actors might find themselves pondering potential side businesses. And if they want a tried-and-true second gig, the food industry is very welcoming to thespians. We're talking about owning here, not waiting on tables or tending bar.

LA is arguably the capital of the celeb-backed restaurant. The scene-heavy Melrose Italian Dolce Enotca e Ristorante has backing from the likes of Ashton Kutcher; the same group also owns the newish Ketchup,which boasts Wilmer Valderrama and Tara Reid as backers. Then there's Cathy Moriarty's pizza mini-chain Mulberry St. Pizza. Over in Pasadena, Jennifer Lopez opened Madre's, a glamour Puerto Rican dining spot. And, don't forget about Eva Longoria Parker and Todd English's upcoming Beso. Even Steven Spielberg's mother has her own kosher dairy kitchen, Milky Way. Although Johnny Depp no longer owns the Viper Room, the House of Blues, with investors ranging from Dan Aykroyd to Aerosmith, is still going strong.

For Robert De Niro, winning two Oscars wasn't enough – he still wanted to become an über-restaurateur. In West Hollywood, he has Ago, a pricey Tuscan that recently opened a location in Las Vegas and is on its way to New York. He has Rubicon in San Francisco and Nobu, Nobu 57 and Tribeca Grill in New York. Paul Newman, also an Oscar winner, opened the Dressing Room, an organic New American that sits adjacent to wife Joanne Woodward’s beloved Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, CT. Oscar winner Timothy Hutton put some money into the Midtown pub P.J. Clarke's, which now has three locations. And Oscar-winning director (and actor) Quentin Tarantino was an early investor in Korean Barbecue Do Hwa in New York City.

Indeed, NYC has no shortage of celeb-backed ventures. Justin Timberlake (yes, he's an actor too) recently brought Memphis BBQ to the Upper East Side via Southern Hospitality. Chris Noth's nightspot in the Flatiron, the Cutting Room, offers a performance space for all types of acts. The first Planet Hollywood even landed in Gotham and although the chain has lost some of its swagger and some of its original backers (most notably the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger) it still has Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone to stand behind the 18 locations around the world, plus a recently opened Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

While the majority of actor-backed restaurants are in the celeb-infested environs of New York and LA, they do pop up elsewhere. In 2006, Sandra Bullock teamed with chef Brenton Childs to open Bess in Austin. Don Johnson and Cheech Marin are both backers behind San Fransisco's French-Vietnamese Ana Mandara. And in Paris, Gérard Depardieu has two restaurants: the Classic French La Fontaine Gaillon and the raw bar L'Ecaille de la Fontaine.

Ducking the Foie Gras Ban

BuzzEditor — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:36:00 GMT

La Pomme Rouge "gives away" foie gras.

It may be illegal to feature foie gras on Chicago restaurant menus, but some chefs aren’t quite ready to kiss it goodbye. Instead, they are transforming their restaurants into “duckeasies” (to borrow a term coined by crusading chef Didier Durand), a phenomenon recently documented in the Chicago Tribune.

Since it’s technically illegal only to sell foie gras, some eateries are “giving” it away: La Pomme Rouge charges only for the “accompaniments” (i.e. French green lentils, red onion preserve, Sauternes gelée and housemade brioche); the just-opened Paramount Room beefs up its burger with freebie bourbon-cured foie; and at Cyrano’s Bistrot, the “grilled brioche, one slice only,” arrives with foie gras two ways. Or at least it did: last week, Cyrano’s was visited by city officials looking for the illegal lobes. They didn’t find any, but did shut down the restaurant for health violations. Cyrano’s is reopening this week according to a message on its answering machine.

Of course, it’s still perfectly legal to dine on the controversial delicacy outside city limits. In Highland Park, you can find it on the menu at Carlos' prepared two ways – seared and as a cold terrine.

Or you can forgo the gras altogether and order the next best thing. At NoMI, chef Christophe David offers an approximation made with chicken livers: Burgundy truffle and “foie blond” crème brûlée with caramelized hazelnuts and petite herbs. Think of it as faux gras.

– Alice Van Housen

I'd Like to See the Beer List, Please

BuzzEditor — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:47:00 GMT

Bluebird Bistro & Wine Bar offers an impressive beer list.

photo: Steven Johnson

With gastropubs growing in popularity, more and more restaurants are showcasing impressive rosters of beer. Bucktown’s Bluebird Bistro & Wine Bar offers some 49 choices, divided by country of origin, on its menu, which also lists alcohol content and wine-worthy descriptions (“…with raisin, caramel-covered cherries and ripe peaches on the nose, finishes with toasted almonds and chocolate”). At Jerry’s in Wicker Park, you may even find the proverbial 99 bottles of beer on the wall. OK, about 85 – all North American – plus detailed descriptions, a glossary of beer-geek terminology and stats from www.ratebeer.com.

Add the recent debut of NoMI’s “library beer selection” – including bottle service of a vintage 2002 DeuS “Brut des Flandres” ($70 for a 750 ml bottle) and a 2006 Chimay Grand Reserve ($75 for a 1.5 liter bottle), both from Belgium – and it’s clear that beer is fast becoming the next trendy tipple. Bottoms up!

– Alice Van Housen

Trend Watch: Creative Comfort Food

BuzzEditor — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:48:00 GMT

Otom serves haute comfort food in a casual Market District setting.

photo: Steven Johnson

Andouille-anise mac 'n' cheese? Fish 'n' chips with Guinness batter and malt tartar sauce? This isn't your mother's comfort food. Here are some of the latest restaurants to rethink the classics:

Culinary Quenchers

BuzzEditor — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:33:00 GMT

Tru's gin-sake martini

Move over, Cosmo. Nowadays, specialty cocktail lists are showcasing unique libations made from seasonal, fresh fruit and herbs.

Tru's summer drink menu highlights refreshers such as a gin-sake martini made with fresh lime juice and muddled cucumber skin and served with a composed garnish of cucumber and fish roe ($16).

Nacional 27 has transformed its patio into a “mojito garden” featuring varieties of fresh mint cultivated by a horticulturist in flavors like mocha, pink grapefruit, pineapple-citrus and spearmint ($10; available through the season or till the mint runs its course).

Finally, North Pond will pour a Peach Lavender, a mix of vodka, peach nectar and lavender-infused simple syrup, throughout the month of August ($11).

Absinthe Wars

BuzzEditor — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 23:55:00 GMT

Ted Breaux serving his Lucid absinthe at Tales of the Cocktail.

photo: Carla Spartos

Seemingly everywhere you turn here at Tales of the Cocktail, someone’s pushing absinthe, the bitter, anise-flavored spirit distilled from wormwood made famous by Belle Époque artists and madmen. Within 24 hours of arriving in the Big Easy, the Buzz was invited to sample no less than three brands, including Lucid, La Fée and Marteau.

But isn't absinthe illegal in the U.S.? Apparently the law only prohibits absinthe that contains more than 10 mg per liter of thujone, the active ingredient in wormwood, and most "authentic" absinthe contains less than that amount.

And so this March, U.S. regulators approved Lucid, making it the first absinthe to be legally distributed on these shores in 95 years. It hit the shelves in New York last month, where it retails for $59.95 a bottle. It will soon be available in all 50 states, according to its creator, New Orleans–born chemist Ted Breaux.

La Fée absinthe tasting.

photo: Carla Spartos

Now others are trying to elbow their way into the market. Gwydion Stone, the pony-tailed founder of Seattle’s Wormwood Society, is hoping to release his Swiss-made absinthe, Marteau, in October. And the U.K.-based La Fée – poured at posh London hotels such as Claridge’s and Sanderson – is in New Orleans gauging the American audience.

It's enthusiastic, according to Breaux, who says the "whole country assaulted New York" in an attempt to get their hands on the initial shipments of Lucid.

Traditionally served diluted with water and tempered with sugar, absinthe is now popping up in cocktails in trendy bars. In NYC, Employees Only shakes up a Lucid mojito while Milk and Honey uses La Fée in its Sea Fizz cocktail. Breaux says he has received numerous inquiries from fine-dining restaurants too.

What about tales of green fairies and lopped-off earlobes? “Properly distilled, there is nothing harmful about absinthe,” says Breaux, who maintains that bad alcohol from unscrupulous distillers is to blame for the spirit’s 19th-century notoriety. As for Van Gogh, “He was drinking loads of other alcohol,” says a La Fée rep. “And smoking all kinds of weed.”

Chicago : Trend Watch

Trend Watch: The Gastro-Lounge?

– Alice Van Housen

Where the Actors Are the Owners (Not Just the Waiters)

Have you been to a celebrity-owned restaurant?

Ducking the Foie Gras Ban

La Pomme Rouge "gives away" foie gras.

– Alice Van Housen

I'd Like to See the Beer List, Please

Bluebird Bistro & Wine Bar offers an impressive beer list.

photo: Steven Johnson

– Alice Van Housen

Trend Watch: Creative Comfort Food

Otom serves haute comfort food in a casual Market District setting.

photo: Steven Johnson

Culinary Quenchers

Tru's gin-sake martini

Absinthe Wars

Ted Breaux serving his Lucid absinthe at Tales of the Cocktail.

photo: Carla Spartos

La Fée absinthe tasting.

photo: Carla Spartos

– Carla Spartos