113988 Tue Oct 21 09:46:00 -0700 2003 16 7 Chicago Area 0 620072 I, like a lot of other people on this board, get the weekly Morsel's e-mail from Chicago Magazine. We all got the teaser about Chicago Mag's forthcoming top 20 restaurants. We were promised a suprise at number 1. I am forever an optimist and an idealist. I really, honestly, entertained thoughts that number 1 would be something like Gene and Jude's or Al's Italian Beef or Hugo's Frog Bar, something enterily simple yet so able at what they do, that Chicago Mag decided to make it number one for the year. Hah! The suprise is that number one is Everest instead of any of the Tra's (Trio, Trotter or Tru). Oh how wrong I could be. Yet, before I got to the list, I was mightily surprised. Who gets a wonderful plug in the issue, but Chowhound's own master of the improv, Seth Zurer. Chicago Mag gives him some well deserved props for his chow inspired, political show, The Mayor's Mouth. The good. The bad: I am sure that every restaurant in Chicago's top 20 is absolutely faaaaaaaabulous, but does every place in the top 20 really need to be ab fab? Regardless of how silly my belief that number one could be something unique, the list included NOTHING unique. Should the top 20 restaurants not necessarily be the best places in every facet of dining? Do not some places offer tastes and experiences that are so special and so delicious that the level of service and range of decor hardly matter? Would any of our top 20 look like Chicago Mag's? And you know what is really ugly? Having gotten my ire up over the dining awards, I started poking around the restaurant listings in the back. This is really ugly. This is the eating RST fears. The safe choices paraded again and again at the expense of hundreds of more interesting places around town. Do you realize that one, one place from Chinatown gets included. And that one place is the hoary, dated, Emperor's Choice. Greek, how many people really consider LEY's Papagus better than anyplace in Greektown except Santorini. Not a single Mexican place beyond the safe Bayless and Bayless-esque. Katsu is off the Japanese list, the Korean is equally thin and guess how many Argyle spots make the listings. Don't get me going on the Thai, the Indian (what about Pakistani guys)... VI Tue Oct 21 09:46:00 -0700 2003 0 Vital Information 1 620076 Not to mention that the sudden "surprise" of Everest at number one is even less surprising given the shooting star rise to TV prominence of Everest's sommeliere. Coincidence? You decide. For some reason this post, after so many similar ones from VI and RST, makes me feel that Chicago really needs and deserves - and might even support - not just a chat board like Chowhound, but a bona fide alternative publication by and for Chowhounds where the genuine, the exotic, the thrilling, the plain but honest, in short, something approximating the full spectrum of Chicago's food scene, was covered in detail and with both depth and love. A food version of Paris Review or Poetry Magazine. The Reader might have staked out this niche, and would have probably had the resources, infrastructure and know-how to bring it off, but hasn't. It's wide open. And many of the regular contributors here seem to be able to dash off better food writing on the fly than 99% of what appears elsewhere with more lead-time, drafts (presumably) and editorial polishing. Of course just articulating the idea brings an avalanche of questions: The board is an ongoing, informal conversation among equals, but a publication would require defined roles. A clear mission. Capital. Management. Staff. Distribution. But I have to say that the prosepect of seeing the best of the impromptu essays and exchanges from this board, given polish and editorial attention and presented to the world on decent paper, with good design, layout etc. is awfully appealing. Perhaps this is not quite Chow-topic enough and will get yanked, but I had to get that off my chest. Tue Oct 21 11:53:26 -0700 2003 620072 0 mrbarolo 2 620077 > The Reader might have staked out this niche, and > would have probably had the resources, > infrastructure and know-how to bring it off, but > hasn't. This is the biggest reason I think every single regular here ought to be deeply involved with the Reader's restaurant ratings. It's the one option where anyone can offer a considered opinion, and it will swing to the mainstream as much as the Trib and Chicago magazine if we do not do this. (Note that I'm not suggesting any coordinated effort to influence ratings of particular spots -- which wouldn't be possible anyway, since many of the spots we discuss here probably aren't yet in their database anyway.) Tue Oct 21 12:11:46 -0700 2003 620076 0 Bob S. 3 620078 Bob S wrote: "since many of the spots we discuss here probably aren't yet in their database anyway.)" (snip) == Bob, I think that was Mrbarolo's point. Enjoy, Gary Tue Oct 21 12:15:14 -0700 2003 620077 0 G Wiv 4 620079 Sorry for any redundancy; I didn't sleep well and just finished proofing a six-page chart of very tiny numbers that the magazine I work for is running soon. I intended it to be a supporting call. Tue Oct 21 12:33:53 -0700 2003 620078 0 Bob S. 4 620104 Hi, I'm the new Restaurants editor at the Reader. One of the surest way for a restaurant to get into our database is for a Rater to report on it. I'm just saying. Tue Oct 21 21:49:20 -0700 2003 620078 0 Anaheed Alani 5 620107 Wow, you're virtually a celebrity! Now tell us who cecil adams really is, dammit! Anyway, given Anaheed's comments, I'd say all the regulars here should consider signing up to become reader restaurant raters (the link is below). I think that would surely be the best way to get places like La Quebrada into the chicago food-writing scene. -Ed Link: http://www1.chicagoreader.com/rrr/signup/ Tue Oct 21 23:15:38 -0700 2003 620104 0 Ed Fisher 6 620110 Ed, I believe Ms. Eng did a review of La Quebrada for the Trib in April. I've said it before, and I will say it again, it ticks me off to no end that Eng's Cheap Eats/World Eat/Dumpling Zone columns are not in an easily searchable format on the Tribune web site. Not only are they not easily searchable, but when found, in the archives, it costs $2.95 to retrieve them. On the other hand, every pearl of wisdom [sarcasm] P Vettle has written is readily available and free. Enjoy, Gary Tue Oct 21 23:45:11 -0700 2003 620107 0 G Wiv 6 620112 I'll get La Quebrada into our database as soon as possible. Wed Oct 22 00:01:20 -0700 2003 620107 0 Anaheed Alani 7 620346 With regard to La Quebrada--is that the name of the place? I can't find a listing. Is that the right spelling? Thanks. Mon Oct 27 18:34:01 -0800 2003 620112 0 Anaheed Alani 8 620447 Here you go. Link: http://entertainment.metromix.chicagotribune.com/top/1,1419,M-Metromix-Dining-!PlaceDetail-24271,00.html Tue Oct 28 22:14:38 -0800 2003 620346 0 G Wiv 5 620194 what has happened to Laura Levy Shatkin? Thu Oct 23 17:29:41 -0700 2003 620104 0 fathead 6 620239 Laura's still our food writer. I'm just her editor. Fri Oct 24 13:17:28 -0700 2003 620194 0 Anaheed Alani 1 620080 Well, I thought the list was right on and I actually was surprised @ #1 being Everest. Everest has been a steady contender in Chicago for many many years but was never considered the best - until this year. Phil Vettel had also upgraded Everest to 4 Stars - a feat Everest had never accomplished. So I was surprised but can see the logic. These restaurants and their corresponding Chefs deserve this praise - they have earned it. The Chefs are extremely talented, the service (in most cases) polished and professional, high quality or extreme high quality food stuffs and techniques are used,the ambience is usually sublime or comforting and the all together package of these places places them superior. These 20 deserve to be here and I applaud Chicago magazine for a comprehensive list... As far as nothing unique on the list I would have to disagree as well. These restaurants are producing some of the most unique food in the country. You would only have to venture to Trotters, Tru, Trio or Everest to see this. Im not saying that there are not great restaurants in Chicago outside of this list - of course there are. But these 20 are on this list for a reason - they are special in regards to their overall offerings in the world of cuisine and fine dining. Tue Oct 21 13:04:30 -0700 2003 620072 0 awbrig 1 620084 I think it boils down to the quality of the meal after the difficulty of preparation is taken into account. This means a great steak at Ruth's Chris -- say 9 on a scale of 10 for taste, is easy to prepare -- say 3 on a 10 scale, while a great meal at Trotter's is 9 for taste and 10 for prep difficulty. Multiply these out and the steak dinner gets 27 points while the fusion meal gets 90 points. No points accorded for juggling chainsaws while broiling steaks. Tue Oct 21 14:01:13 -0700 2003 620072 0 mirror 1 620087 Could someone provide the actual list? As someone who lives outside Chicago but still has an interest in the Chicago dining scene, I am unable to easily acquire a copy of the magazine, and the list is unavailable on their website (as far as I could tell). Thanks. Tue Oct 21 14:46:27 -0700 2003 620072 0 Chowderhead 2 620158 Checkout 2goeat.com for most of the menus,og Chicago's best places Thu Oct 23 02:09:50 -0700 2003 620087 0 Martin