Louisa Chu

Filbert's Old Time Draft Root Beer

By: Louisa Chu | May. 11, 2012

May. 11, 2012

"Celebrating 85 years as Chicago's best kept secret!!" reads the doubly exclamatory crawl across the bottom of Filbert's relatively new website—but that's not quite true. Filbert's has been making their Old Time Draft Root Beer since 1926 in Bridgeport—that's 86 years.
 
Under the fourth generation hand-on ownership of Ron Filbert since 1988, the company not only makes but bottles their beverages. He bought the bottling shop in 1993, and now produces not only their famous root beer, but 25 flavors in all. "We're the only bottle in the city who has an owner's name on the label," said Filbert, "that's a lot of pride and satisfaction."

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This week in food events: Mother's Day

By: Louisa Chu | May. 8, 2012

May. 8, 2012

All you really need to know this week is Mother's Day is this Sunday! If you haven't already, make reservations now—if you can, especially for brunch. If you're cooking, keep it simple. And if you can't be with your mom, remember to call—if you still can.

Wednesday, May 9

Food (In)Security—Food Security and Food Sovereignty at the University of Chicago will "discuss gaps between the framework of food security as defined by international organizations and the more challenging grass-roots notion of food sovereignty." What's food sovereignty? "Food sovereignty, as articulated by groups such as La Via Campesina, is the right of people to define agricultural and food policy, including prioritizing local agricultural production, access of peasants and landless people to land, water, seeds, and credit.

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Next, Mindy Segal take home James Beard Awards

By: Louisa Chu | May. 7, 2012

May. 7, 2012

 

Next, Bruce Sherman of North Pond, and Mindy Segal of HotChocolate all won big last night at the 25th annual James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards, which livestreamed from Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.

"Covering all aspects of the industry—from chefs and restaurateurs to cookbook authors and food journalists to restaurant designers and architects and more—the Beard Awards are the highest honor for food and beverage professionals working in North America," says the Foundation.

Next won Best New Restaurant ("A restaurant opened in 2011 that already displays excellence in food, beverage, and service and is likely to have a significant impact on the industry in years to come."

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The end of the small plates trend?

By: Louisa Chu | May. 4, 2012

May. 4, 2012

"Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood," Daniel Burnham may or may not have said, but he unquestionably lived the declaration.

As does my friend Gary Wiviott—pitmaster at Barn & Company, co-author of Low & Slow, and co-founder of LTH Forum. 

Small plates have finally dropped off top menu trends, according to the National Restaurant Association.

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The Hot Doug's chronicles

By: Louisa Chu | May. 2, 2012

May. 2, 2012

Hot Doug's announced today they're finally working on a book, due out next spring. Or rather we're working on this together. No hiding ghostwriters here. Doug's put out the call on their Facebook page seeking "stories, photos, memories, drawings, poems...anything that can go in a book." Surely they'll find a way on an e-book to feature the catchy yet yearning Themes from Hot Doug's and other audio tributes.

Doug's has also been popping up in food news recently because of the upcoming ban on foie gras in California. On July 1 it will become illegal to sell the fatty livers in that state, as it was in Chicago from 2006 to 2008.

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This week in food: May Day & Cinco de Mayo

By: Louisa Chu | Apr. 30, 2012

Apr. 30, 2012

Spring is in the air, with a whole week of market openings and festivals, as well as the fascinating Smart Museum Symposium: Of Hospitality. The Friday dinner is sold out but I'll be there and will report back. In the meantime, happy May Day and Cinco de Mayo this week!

Monday, April 30

Watch chef Paul Kahan make a blood mortadella, ramps, and squid salad—and a pork belly, chorizo, and clams entrée here—as an amuse-yeux to Fear No ART's monthly Dinner Party the Mayne Stage.

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The end of smelt?

By: Louisa Chu | Apr. 27, 2012

Apr. 27, 2012

A smelt in the hand is worth two in the net—if you can find even that many these days; or nights, as that's when smelt fishing is done.

This weekend marks the final fin de semaine of this year's season, and by all reports it might just be the end of smelt fishing off our lakefront.

Just a generation ago it was possible to catch the silvery little fish by the buckets full, simply by shining your flashlight into the water to attract them, then dipping your net in to catch them. Cleaned and fried in the cold dark, they were a magical moonlit meal.

Two smelt-fishing celebrations continue: Smelt Fest in Highland Park, and Smelt-O-Rama in Lake Forest.

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Celebrating the horseshoe and other Midwestern chow

By: Louisa Chu | Apr. 25, 2012

Apr. 25, 2012

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Chicago is arguably home to some of the best food in the country, if not the world, but what about the Greater Midwest?

"Somebody I know went to another regional food symposium where they said, 'Oh it's just those people who make casseroles," said my friend Catherine Lambrecht, vice president and founder of the Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance. Greater Midwest, as she calls the non-profit, seeks to promote and preserve our region's unique culinary traditions within a broader cultural context.

"He got very angry—but I do think there is a place for the casserole," she said.

This weekend Greater Midwest hosts its fifth annual symposium, Road Food: Exploring the Midwest One Bite at a Time, at Kendall College and locations around the city.

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