John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
Once upon a time, sandwiches were the food of the rich—the European aristocracy just couldn’t get enough of them. But when that fad faded, sandwiches traveled down the class ladder, lingering at the bottom, where they’ve become a staple of the bar menu and blue-collar lunches. (How else did you think po’ boys got their name?)
So it should come as no surprise that as we all feel collectively, increasingly impoverished, sandwiches are the food we turn to.
Still, some of this sandwich news is getting ridiculous.
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Ten minutes ago I was stopped in the hallway of TOC by one of our newer editors. “David, as somebody who’s older, can I ask you a question?” she asked.
Somebody who’s older. That definitely woke me up.
“As you get older,” she said again, obviously not noticing my ego crashing to the floor, “does your tolerance for alcohol get weaker?”
Funny that she would have asked, because that very question—and others about alcohol—has been in the news lately. Earlier this week on the New York Times’ new alcohol blog Proof, Susan Cheever pronounced heavy drinking dead. “…no one gets drunk anymore,” she writes. “What on earth has happened?”
Tons of commenters poured in with an answer.
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The furor over Michael Phelps has nothing on the unbridled commotion surrounding this week’s opening of Aurora’s Sonic. Christopher Borrelli bravely ventured into the store last week and survived (albeit barely) the furor of the drive-in’s misled fans.
Also on the commotion tip: The people behind Chicago Gourmet seem to be getting worked up about themselves. They’re bought in to their own hype so completely that they now believe they’re an international destination—they’ll be advertising about the event in London and Milan.
Finally, a man is suing Lettuce Entertain You because he believes Shaw’s Crab House gifted him with a 9-foot-long tapeworm. Let me be clear: While I think that Sonic and Chicago Gourmet are being overhyped, this seems worth the fuss.
Chicago is dominating the New York blogwaves today (or, if not dominating, we are at least getting peripherally mentioned). Over at Epicurious’ EpiLog, commenters are continuing a discussion about Chicago restaurants that started yesterday, when Michael Y. Park asked readers to tell him where to eat in this windy town of ours. He was smart to ask for the help—his preliminary list of restaurants included the totally fine but completely unoriginal Billy Goat and Giordano’s. Luckily, Park’s co-blogger Raphael Kadushin chimed in with a few choices (Avec, Custom House and, inexplicably, Swedish Bakery). Still, I have a tip for Park myself. It’s a little magazine I know with a reasonably strong food section…
Elsewhere, deeply beloved Chicago alumnus Ted Allen is getting beaten up by Grub Street and The New York Times. Which is funny, because I always thought of Allen as the kind of nerdy type of guy that the Times’ halls must runneth over with. Perhaps this is some manifestation of self loathing? At any rate, they’re calling the guy boring. Which, believe it or not, makes for pretty interesting reading.
The Chinese government took a break this week from censoring the Internet to take reporters to an “organic” farm that’s been constructed in order to grow peppers, tomatoes and herbs like rosemary and oregano for use by Olympic visitors.
This week in recession news: Reuters reported that Starbucks will be cutting 1,000 “support jobs” (“15% of the company’s non-store positions”), getting rid of their COO and hoping Howard Schultz can get the frappacino-train back on the right track. And it looks like there are some other folks who could use a Vivanno to brighten up the day: Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale have gone bankrupt.
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In "Chew on this," we filter through food articles, online buzz and press releases so you don’t have to.
The Wall Street Journal gives the upcoming Democratic convention a rough time for setting green standards, including using local and organic ingredients. Based on the assumption that colorful food is healthier, the organizers have ruled that “each meal should include at least three of the following colors: red, green, yellow, blue/purple, and white.” Whoever drafted that rule is feeling very silly right now.
In case you wanted something to go with last week’s faux-eggs, this week someone invented a synthetic bread aroma to give processed crap the smell of a fresh-baked loaf.
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In "Chew on this," we filter through food articles, online buzz and press releases so you don’t have to.
A press release from Libertine had this tidbit buried in its announcement about Dale Levitski’s appearance at its Shift Drink event (that we told you about months ago): "Sara [Nguyen, fellow Top Chef Season 3 chef] has just moved to Chicago after working at some of New York’s top restaurants including Thomas Keller’s Per Se, and will be Dale’s Sous-Chef at his new place Town and Country." Readers may remember that Sara and Dale were as close as a straight girl and a gay man can be. But she may not have wanted to move out here so soon—Town and Country (525 W Monroe St) isn’t slated to open until August.
Red Bull is putting more caffeine into their drinks, thereby lessening crack’s street value even more.
Speaking of caffeine: Coke is coming out with a new (that is, an old) label design.
And speaking of America’s obesity epidemic, check this out: Potbelly has installed a new tool on their website that gages the exact nutritional makeup of the food they serve. As it turns out, those smoothies will make you chunky.
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In Chew On This, we filter through food articles, online buzz and press releases so you don’t have to.
This just in: Men like meat, women like vegetables (except asparagus) and somebody conducted a huge study that ultimately confirmed well-known stereotypes.
Also: NPR’s Alex Cohen has discovered that money really isn’t an excuse not to cook all fancy and stuff.
Now, a news item buried in a quick personal aside: A couple of weeks ago I had coffee for the first time—or what felt like the first time. I was at LA Mill, in Los Angeles, and the coffee had been made with a Clover Coffee Machine. It was smooth and earthy, with not even a trace of burnt bitterness, and I’ve been jonesing for another cup ever since. I may get my wish: Starbucks has just gotten in on the Clover game. (UPDATE: Minutes after I posted this, Mike Sula posted a nice missive about the Clover machines on the Reader’s food blog. Turns out Intelligentsia has had them for a while. The fact that I didn’t know this speaks to my distaste for Intelligentsia’s coffee, which I’ve always thought tastes a lot like Starbuck’s burnt stuff [I know, I know - that's Chicago blasphemy. Send your angry emails here]. And it also proves that maybe these Clover machines aren’t so magic unless there’s a magical barista behind them. P.S. - I had some coffee from an even more amazing machine elsewhere in California recently; look for a small article about that in an upcoming issue.)
Finally: Who knew that camels gave milk? More to the point, who knew that said camel milk could be turned into cheese?
We filter through articles, online buzz and press releases so you don’t have to, and boil it down to a bit of food and drink news worth knowing:
Looks like the D.R.E. is jumping into the liquor game. Dr. Dre is partnering up with mega beverage company Drinks Americas (fantastic name, btw…almost as smart as saying "more skrimps, please") to release a line of hooch. No, the man largely responsible for catapulting the Compton look of long white T, pressed khahis, blunt and 40 into national stardom will not be peddling just any cheap crap, a la Billy Dee. A premium cognac will come first, followed by sparkling vodka and a premium tequila.
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We filter through articles, online buzz and press releases so you don’t have to, and boil it down to a bit of food and drink news worth knowing:
The boozers over on the Chicago Beer Society board are excited about finally being able to get their daily vitamins along with their daily brewski, with no pesky pills to speak of. Oh, but you have to travel to the Philippines to get it.
Playboy has jumped in the energy drink game. But we swear, we just drink it for the articles.
The world gets its first feng shui Mickey D’s, with the deep-fryer standing in for ‘element of fire.’
By now you’ve likely heard about the massive beef recall going on. For those curious about the video that spurred the ban, the Humane Society posts it on its site. The tender-hearted should steer clear.
