Dining out? Fois gras and trans fat, not allowed!

[reciprocity]

(so see we were talking about something completely different, but then started talking about Chicago restaurants.)

my girlfriend lives two blocks away from Coco Pazzo and has been wanting to go (but I dragged her out to Butter last week instead)

Have you tried Gioco yet? I'd like to hear what you think.

[alison]

There's Coco Pazzo and Coco Pazzo Cafe. I've only been to the cafe - I've been there a few times. It's great - I had bad luck with one of their clam dishes and had to send it back. They were really good about letting me get something else and giving us drinks and dessert on the house.

I've never been to Gioco. It's in the South Loop, right?
How was Butter?

Have you ever been to Alinea (on the 1700 block of N. Halsted)?

[reciprocity]

Yeah, Gioco is in the South Loop. I haven't done a lot of Italian generally (Italian Vilage really turned me off at first) but I enjoyed it - a very nice, fresh trattoria feel.

I went to Alinea for their anniversary menu this past May. It was really so much fun, I want to go back every time I go by. I might take my brother there for one of the smaller menus - he just moved here to start culinary school so I'm sure he'd get a kick out of it.

Butter was pretty good, it was like Alinea lite (although heavy on the trendy decor and it tried pretty hard to seem gourmet)

[alison]

I'll push for Alinea one of these days...

Have you ever been to... Charlie Trotter's? When my brother graduates, we plan on going there (he's in Chicago too). I wonder what he does if he can't do foie gras.

[reciprocity]

Trotter was one of the big advocates for the ban, so I'm sure he'll survive.

From what I've been hearing, places are just serving "goose liver" or "duck liver" in place of "foie gras"

I haven't been to Trotters, I wanted to go to the places I was excited about before I started hitting the "staples" but Trotters is certainly on my list!

[alison]

I didn't know Trotter supported the ban... I had some foie gras in NYC over the weekend. It was my first time, and it was very wobbly. But good. I couldn't get over the consistency though.

Have you ever been to North Pond?

Sorry this is turning into a "Have-You-Ever-Been-To..." thread!

I think I would rather just have the Sauternes and skip the foie gras. But I think the ban is totally silly. I've also heard that Chicago might ban trans fats? Not that I want to eat trans fats but how do they enforce it? Seems like a PITA and a nice way to start a new twist on some corruption within the food inspection department.

[reciprocity]

Yeah, as I understand it he was not opposed to it (that might not be the same thing as supporting it, but many chefs saw it that way) right before the ban, we went to Avenues and they had a foie add-on to the menu where you got it added to every course in some fashion or another (like the foie gras milkshake - )

I've not been to North Pond, but my friend just went last week and he loved it (he is dating the pastry chef at Lula and she used to be the pastry chef at Blackbird, so they get hooked up wherever they go - we're all supposed to go to Schwa next month if we can get off the waiting list)

Have you been to Sweets and Savories? It is this little place up on Fullerton with a great, affordable tasting menu (but the service is kinda meh)

[alison]

We don't get out much, to be honest.
I've never been to the restaurant on Fullerton. What's good there? It's probably close to where I live. I'm up on Diversey.

Are you kidding me? A ban on trans fats? How are they going to regulate that?! There are far more problems in Chicago than food.

[reciprocity]

Yeah, I hear you. I have basically demanded one dinner date a month, and she graciously complies. If I didn't make the strong push I'm sure we would never make the time.

I've only ever had the tasting menu at S&S, which they push VERY HARD (like, don't really bother going if you don't want a full five course dealie-o) but yeah, it is just east of Fullerton and Ashland (I think Fullerton is the next big street south of Diversy, right? I don't get up North very often)

[rainbabies]

I've also heard that Chicago might ban trans fats?

i thought that was NYC? Chicago too?

[Sheherezade]

I'm going to split this topic and put up a new title for it called "Dining Out?" Is that OK? I'm not sure everyone else is aware that you guys aren't still chatting about when to get married!

And Yes.....I think it was NYC that's doing the trans fat. Now, everything will be butter. That's a healthy option, huh? I suppose it's better than trans fat, though.

[reciprocity]

Sounds good to me, I've been wanting to contribute to this forum anyway!

They have proposed a trans-fat ban here too, but it is much farther along in New York.

[alison]

When we were in NYC, my mom was telling her friends that when I was little, she and my dad used to find bite marks in the butter. Apparently, I used to open the fridge and take bites out of the butter and put the stick back. And... To this day, I still like butter... Yum.

[Sheherezade]

I heard a good argument for the trans-fat ban recently. I think most people think NYC is crazy, but they said that people also thought they were crazy when they banned lead paint and lead pipes. I suppose that could be true.

I don't have a problem with losing either fois gras or trans fats.....but don't try and take away my caffeine or chocolate. Luckily, those haven't been linked to anything terribly unhealthy - yet. I do think that there is something oddly satisfying about the trans-fat taste. I know my kids stopped eating a few snack items when the companies starting making them without trans fats.

We've got a few nice restaurants here in Cleveland. We're friends with neighbors that enjoy nice places. About once every 6 weeks we get out to a new place. It's always fun, but gets ghastly expensive with the wine, appetizers, salad, entree, dessert and drinks before business. Not to mention the sitter. I do like it though.