Review: Balsan at the Elysian Hotel
The problem I have with dining at five-star hotels is my sneaking suspicion that I’m not supposed to be there, that the maître d’ will take one look at my scuffed-up shoes and send me over to the pizza...
View ArticleSous vide: high tech slow cooking
Thomas Keller. Heston Blumenthal. Grant Achatz. Chipotle. Stouffer’s. American Airlines. From world-renowned chefs to large-scale food production companies, sous vide (French for “under vacuum”) has...
View ArticleHomemade ramen
Like many people, my early ramen experiences involved pouring boiling water into a large styrofoam cup and waiting for the tangled brick of dried noodles to magically transform into a piping-hot,...
View ArticleDose Market: a cure for the common shopping experience
This past Sunday I visited the opening of Dose Market, a monthly event featuring Chicago food artisans and fashion designers held at the spacious River East Arts Center. Dose is the brainchild of four...
View ArticleNext Restaurant: Paris 1906
I went to a restaurant that serves “breakfast at any time.” So I ordered French toast during the Renaissance. - Steven Wright Here’s the concept behind Next: Every three months, the restaurant will...
View ArticleChowing down at Lollapalooza
Music festivals aren’t exactly known for the food; after all, you’re there to stand under the blistering sun in tropical-level humidity with ten thousand drunk, obnoxious people while you stare at the...
View Articlewasabigelatine’s 2011 holiday gift guide
Bright stars on coasters and boxes of toffee Soap for your mittens and booze for your coffee Cookbooks with cuisine so mindboggling These are a few of my favorite things this year! Isn’t it more fun...
View ArticleRecipe: Nightwood Restaurant’s Spicy Duck SOPA
In honor of defiance of SOPA, Nightwood Restaurant featured a spicy duck soup (get it?) on its brunch menu last Sunday. The kicker: it came with a copy of the recipe. There was nothing gimmicky about...
View ArticleCoconut-lime bundt cake
Bundt cakes are the casseroles of the dessert world: quick, easy, large enough to feed a crowd. Adorned with just a dusting of powdered sugar or a translucent veil of icing, they’re the modest...
View ArticleThin Mint ice cream
When my sister and I were little, we were friends with three brothers whose parents owned a Baskin-Robbins. Once in a while they’d invite everyone over to the shop for unlimited free ice cream. As we...
View ArticleSweet mung bean soup
One of my favorite summer meals is a simple, refreshing bowl of chilled soup — gazpacho, cucumber-avocado, curried carrot and other veggie-based soups are lovely ways to enjoy the season’s bounty. When...
View ArticleMy year in canning
I started canning in late 2011 because my favorite grape jam had been discontinued. Actually, I hadn’t been able to find American Spoon grape jam for at least four years and everything else I’d tried,...
View Articlewasabigelatine’s 2013 holiday gift guide
My husband likes to amuse himself by sending me clickbait-style texts on his way home from work: “This Cabbie Knows How To Save the Day — But Will It Cost Him His Life?” I’m a bit behind updating this...
View ArticlePineapple Whip
Pineapple Whip is the most unbelievably delicious carnival treat. It has the texture of the fluffiest, most refreshing Italian ice, the creaminess of the silkiest soft serve, and the otherworldly,...
View ArticleDIY bottle cap magnets
My husband loves his beer; I don’t know a session from a saison. I’ve never been able to get into beer but I appreciate the care and creativity many breweries put into their packaging — beer bottles...
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