Chicago Dining: Alinea

Alinea Restaurant LLC
1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL
(312) 867-0110

I’m on my way back to Jersey at the moment, so I don’t have time to post an elaborate writeup yet. So you’ll have to suffer with some these photos, (7/2) NEW a short flash video tour and the complete flickr stream and the menu (PDF) in the meantime. (7/5) NEW The Alinea podcasts are up!

Click the “Read The Rest of This Entry” link below to see more pictures.

Chicago Dining: Hot Dogs

Superdawg Drive-In
6363 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago 60646
(NEW: 6/3 View Video of Lou Malnati’s, Superdawg and U Lucky Dog)

After a few slices at Malnati’s, we headed over to Superdawg, perhaps the most iconic Chicago Hot Dog stand in the entire city. Unlike many other dog joints, Superdawg does not use Vienna Beef wieners — they use their own proprietary formulated hot dog who’s manufacturer is a closely guarded secret.

From an architectual and aesthetic standpoint everything about this place, from the box artwork to the neon to the windows and the signage screams 1960s, although they’ve been in business since the 1930s.

Superdawg is a drive-in, where car hops come out to serve you.

If the weather is nice you can dine al fresco.

The box itself is classic Americana.

Packed inside is a meal fit for a king.

Extracting Superdawg from his paper sarcophagus requires major archaeological skills, or a large pile of napkins.

Superdawg, in all his glory.

Excellent chocolate shakes as well.

U Lucky Dog (Formerly Fluky’s)
6821 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL
(773) 274-3652

For a frame of reference and a point of comparison to Superdawg, Ronnie wanted me to have an experience at a classic Vienna Beef dog joint as well — he chose U Lucky Dawg, which was formerly known as Fluky’s, which was another legendary dog eating establishment.

As you can see, the buns are kept warm in a steam tray and the dogs are boiled.

A view behind the counter. Note the managment edicts — “BeNice”, “Suggestive Selling” “How Many Fries do you want” and “Will that be a large?”

Chicago Dog Mise-en-place.

eGullet Society Heartland manager Ronnie Kaplan.

Chicago Dining: Lou Malnati’s

(NEW: 6/3 View The Flash Video of Lou Malnati’s, Superdawg and U Lucky Dog)

Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria
6649 N Lincoln Ave, Lincolnwood, IL
(847) 673-0800

I knew that one of the things I needed to accomplish this week was to eat real Chicago pizza. Not just any old Chicago pizza, but to completely have the true “experience” in a classic setting and to eat a prime example. There are many opinions about which Chicago-style pizzeria is best, but in my estimation, Lou Malnati’s is tops. Like Gino’s East and Uno, Malnati’s is a chain, now with 24 stores in the Chicago metro area, but they are all family owned and their quality has not suffered. The original location in Lincolnwood which opened during the early 1970’s is at the same time a shrine to Chicago pies, done the old fashioned way, and a mecca for worshiping the relics of local sports heroes.

I drove in during the evening from the Western suburbs, in two hours of traffic, in order to meet Ronnie in Lincolnwood. Chicago is a megalopolis — unlike many other cities where you see the reverse type of traffic patterns, many people live within the city limits and commute to the ‘burbs where all the office parks are. No amount of traffic will deter me from eating the best pizza in the city.

Location #1, on Lincoln Road in Lincolnwood, IL.

Lou’s also makes serious old-school Italian ices.

These are frozen pizzas that are made in the exact same way as the fresh pies, and I can attest to their goodness, having had them shipped to New Jersey.

The bar gets some serious action and is a great place to watch a game.

The original Lou’s location is practically a sports memorabilia museum.

Jumbo sized drink tumblers, as they should be. Note Refrigerator Perry’s jersey in the background.

The “Lou”, a vegetarian combination. Chicago pies have a very distinctive crust, much more like pastry crust, with a lot of olive oil and a somewhat sourdough taste profile.

A slice of Pepperoni/Sausage. For the most part, Chicago pizza has to be eaten with a fork and knife.

Star Trek TOS: A New Paint Job?

What if instead of spending money on a new Star Trek series and rolling the dice on a new concept that fans might not embrace, they just improved the original?

In 2003, Paramount proposed redoing the special effects for the original “Star Trek” series and rereleasing the episodes as “Star Trek Enhanced”. Two CGI firms redid the effects for the teaser, the opening credits and title, and the first two acts of The Doomsday Machine as a proof-of-concept with no changes to the acting or the story. Paramount ultimately decided not to pursue the project, but it’s interesting to see how two different CGI firms handled the transporter, phasers, and starship effects.

To Boldly Redo What Some Man Had Done Before | MetaFilter

Chicago Dining: Greek Islands

Greek Islands Restaurant West
300 E 22nd St, Lombard, IL
(630) 932-4545

My first night in Chicagoland was one of semi-desperation — the suburb of Naperville, IL is for the most part a desolate wasteland of corporate office parks, with very few dining options. Fortunately, eGullet Society manager Ron Kaplan (ronnie_suburban) clued me into a really nice Greek restaurant in nearby Lombard. I headed out there with a fellow co-worker who had recently moved into the area, who was really impressed with the place.

Greek Islands is a rather large restaurant and proudly displays its raw ingredients and desserts right up front.

The main dining room.

Taramasalata, caviar dip. Creamy and not overpoweringly salty.

Fried saganaki cheese. I actually have a video of how this was done at table, which I hope to post shortly.

The two of us ordered the Family Dinner #1, which included a sampling of several different things — home made gyro, moussaka, dolmades, roast leg of lamb, and Greek meatballs.

Baklava

Galactoboureko

Greek coffee. Strong, sweet and sedimentary, as it should be.

NJ Dining: Don Alfonso's

Don Alfonso’s Restaurant
402 State St, Hackensack, NJ
(201) 342-0005

Sometimes, you eat at a great place and encounter a new find strictly by accident — and that’s exactly what happened to us last weekend.

I had just aborted mission that Sunday on a trip to Chicago, and I had the taxi service bring me right home, enroute to the airport, having discovered over my mobile phone that my flight had been cancelled due to the excessive rain we’ve been having in the NYC area lately.

I got home, having not eaten yet that afternoon, absolutely starving and in a hunger delerium. So I implored Rachel that we go out to eat immediately. I wanted simple Italian-American food. Something with a red sauce, perhaps a nice Chicken Parmigiana with some pasta.

We drove into Hackensack and found a new place we hadn’t been before — outside, the sign simply said “Don Alfonso” and it looked like the place had been there for years. Assuming it was an Italian American place common to the area, we walked inside and sat down. I immediately discovered that the place was not, in fact, Italian, but Peruvian. As in Macchu Picchu and Nazca Plains Peruvian. I was so hungry that walking out was a foregone impossibility and the menu intrigued me.

To start off I needed a major sugar burst. Rachel had Inca Kola (top left, yellow) which tastes sort of like Cola Champagne mixed with bubblegum, and I had the Chicha Morada, which is a beverage indigenous to Peru made from Blue Corn and flavored with some other fruit juices. It kind of tastes like Welch’s grape juice and it is very, very sweet.

This is a mixed seafood ceviche, which was excellent. The nutty looking things at the bottom are roasted corn, aka Corn Nuts.

These are mussels prepared using the same citrus acid preparation method for making Ceviche, but served as sort of like an antipasto, with corn, red onion, cilantro and a lot of lime juice and fresh chiles. By far one of the most excellent mussel preparations I’ve ever had.

Rachel had a seafood soup which was similar to a Cioppino.

We also ordered a Chaufa, which is essentially Chinese-Style chicken fried rice, however this is the Peruvian-Chinese version, and probably one of the best chicken fried rices I have had because it uses pulled roasted chicken and the rice has nice bits of crisped up grains in it.

Shrimp Ajillo. This is a typical Latin American preparation in a butter sauce with tomato, but a very good rendition.

Podcast #24: Gothamist and A Hamburger Today 2006 Burger Beach Party QBQ

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Adam Kuban, A Hamburger Today 

George Motz, Hamburger America filmmaker 

Josh Ozersky, Mister Cutlets 

Gothamist/A Hamburger Today QBQ A Resounding Success

Well, the weather was clearly against us, but the burgers and the good humor prevailed. If you missed the event, be sure to watch this flash video with the best highlights (click) and be sure to listen to the podcast with Mr. Cutlets, George Motz and Adam Kuban (click).

I can’t emphasize how much rain we got today, for those of you non-NYers. Torrential downpours literally nonstop this afternoon.

Great day for a beach party!

If its gloomy, hit the bar!

The grill area was the center stage of the event.

The fries were truly killer.

Despite the weather, attendance was very strong.

A Hamburger Today’s Adam Kuban and his friends at Gothamist kept the crowds in good spirits despite the incredibly sticky humidity. Do like Adam — always have a beer in hand.

Burgers were flying off this grill in ridiculous quantities.

A perfectly rare and juicy Motz Burger.

Meat expert and food writer Josh Ozersky, AKA “Mister Cutlets” admiring the griddle.

A view across the East River.

George Motz, Hamburger America film director and celebrity griddle master for the event.

New Mexico Green Chiles, for the Green Chile Cheeseburgers.

Le Carte.

The burger line.

When he’s not scarfing pizza, this is generally what Adam is typically doing.

SPIKE IT!

Night falls on NYC.

NJ Dining: Teaneck Kebab House

Teaneck Kebab House
253 DeGraw Ave, Teaneck, NJ
(201) 836-8571

One of the cool things about going out to dine at other restaurants, and well, getting out of the house, is noticing the other restaurants near where you’re going. Such a thing happened the other day when we went to Bistro En and noticed the Teaneck Kebab House on the other side of the street.

The native cuisine of Afghanistan is rather unknown to Northern New Jersey and not a lot of people know much about it. Like many cultures that are historically crossroads for trade routes, its flavors and foods are highly influenced by its neighbors, Persia (Iran/Iraq), Pakistan (and India), Mongolia and many of the former republics of the USSR.

Teaneck Kebab house has a beautiful dining room, but because its main entrance is closed to the street and the windows are draped, you’d have no idea. They also own the pizza place next door, which you need to enter in order to gain access to the Kebab House.

The room is filled with genuine Afghan carpets, giving it a very warm and cozy feel. Live entertainment is provided on weekends.

These are Sambosas, a type of fried meat turnover. They are puffy on the inside so you can take a small bite and fill them with chutney.

A spicy vegetable soup with noodles.

This is the complimentary salad, which has a nice mint/yogurt dressing.

Mantoo, fresh meat dumplings with a tomato/meat sauce and yogurt. The black “dust” is dried mint, which imparts an interesting flavor to the dish. The spices used in the restaurant are sourced strictly from Afghani merchants.

This is a hot eggplant appetizer. The eggplant has a really strong and bold flavor, and resembles Turkish eggplant salad somewhat, but with a different spicing. It’s eaten with traditional Afghan bread:

Afghan Bread

This is pasta with red beans, in a tangy yogurt sauce.

Kofta Kebab (spiced ground lamb) with brown Afghan Basmati rice pilaf/pilow. The rice is washed for 24 hours before cooking. Naturally all the meat served in the restaurant is Halal.

Chapli Kebab, another spicy meat Kebab. Wonderful.

Chicken Curry, Afghan Style.

Rice for the curry.

The Pizzeria they own next door shouldn’t be overlooked — they do both deep dish and thin NY-style pizza (with Halal mozzarella cheese).

The pizza place also uses Halal meat for its Gyro sandwiches, and has a great oregano/cumin flavor to it.

Chowhound Redux

The beta of the re-born C|NET version of Chowhound has been running for a while now, but users were recently granted wider access to kick the tires on it a bit more before the official relaunch.

Aesthetically, it looks nice, but from an interface standpoint, I think it's clumsy to navigate and I think the page layout is wasteful of space. Because its a custom job, it clearly lacks many of the features of more mature bulletin board systems such as Invision or vBulletin, or even Open Source software such as pHpBB. There's no private messenger system, there's no DHTML post capabilities, and no "BBcode" as far as I can tell for post embellishment and formatting (including the posting of photos) and definitely no smileys or even user Avatars. My guess is that all of this reflects the aesthetics, mindset and style of Jim Leff, but this puts Chowhound at a direct disadvantage to more feature-rich food discussion sites such as eG Forums. They do have two interesting features, one of which I am envious of and another I am somewhat creeped out by — the first is a flash-based board index with clickable world map (something I always wanted to have us implement at eG but we never had the time or money to throw into something that frivolous) and the second is a "User Tracking" feature that tells you which people look at your posts all the time and allows you to track the activity of other posters. Ick. The RSS features also seem to be pretty decent, but eG has been syndicating its content for well over a year.

It appears that at least in the beta, they've imported some of their older metadata and figured out some sort of a scheme to deal with a non-existent database schema. So if they go whole-hog on the data import, at least they will have their content intact in one place. I imagine this will have to be a phased in approach, however, because that import system can't possibly account for all the ways the data is laid out as flat HTML. No schema is, well, no schema. I do notice that to post on the new site it requires user registration, which I am sure will go against the grain of most of their end users and diehards.

At the end of the day, however, Chowhound will be Chowhound because it will reflect the management style of Jim Leff, which is to delete posts without reason or explanation (and in the sign up screens for the new site, they flat out admit to that practice) or simply because he doesn't like you or is under the paranoid impression you are "shilling" for a commercial entity. No amount of software changes is going to fix that.

(6/24, Edited for clarity) And for those of you with a personal axe to grind, I'll say this — I'm not going to hide behind that fact that during my tenure at eG, we deleted a ton of posts and banned a whole bunch of people we felt were disruptive, but I'd like to think the processes that we eventually installed to deal with those issues (personal notification of each deletion, banning of disruptive posters via consensus, etc) involved a bunch more people to deliberate and were not the whims of a single person — and that's the truth.

I also find it very ironic that it was eGullet, which was self sufficient more or less from its start re-invented itself as a 501(c)(3) charity and the idealistic Chowhound, which couldn't pay its bills and constantly begged for money without any sort of proper tax status to do so, became the property of some big corporate online media publisher. Maybe we screwed up and I should have gone for that nicer house and new Mercedes after all — but we would have destroyed our creation rather than having to adapt like we did and still keep much of the flavor of the original concept.

I think its hard to say if Chowhound (and Jane Goodman's Chow) is going to survive in its new incarnation, but I have to admit to being biased and having experience with Chowhound's new corporate masters as a former freelancer for ZDNet, another company that effectively got destroyed after it was spun off and later became part of C|Net. C|Net has a pretty shitty track record of maintaining properties and brands that it acquires and runs, and I have to wonder how that Jim Leff, a guy who has never held a corporate job in his entire life and is so clearly anti-authority, is going to fit into the corporate culture of a large media organization.

Only time will tell.

Note: If you're got an axe to grind and you're going to comment, you'll now need to register on WordPress.com for an account. Despite the subject matter, this isn't a public discussion forum and if you put something nasty up, it's at my discretion to remove it. Tough benoogies.