Tuesday, December 14, 2010

WHO Is Impersonating Chef Bill Kim?!

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I'm still trying to get to the bottom of this matter, but someone is running around impersonating Belly Shack/Urban Belly owner/chef Bill Kim by calling up random restaurants.

The First Grahamwich Review Is In . . .

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The tofu veggie wrap at grahamwich. (Photos: Kelli Zink)

CelebTV's Kelli Zink is known for breaking news as an entertainment reporter, but this time she beat all the food writers to the punch with the scoop on the highly anticipated grahamwich (a.k.a. G'wich) from its rockin' namesake chef Graham Elliot.

But because she's a notorious vegetarian (actually occasional pescatarian), she only got the vegetarian wrap during a sneak-preview lunch event Tuesday. (Grahamwich opens Dec. 15 for lunch.)

Her review in less than 140 characters:

Do The Black Truffle Shuffle All Winter

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Winter black truffles imported from Provence, France, for Rare Tea Cellar. (Photo: Rodrick Markus/Rare Tea Cellar)

I became obsessed with black truffles this season after my first trip to Kith & Kin when exec chef Andrew Brochu shaved some onto several of our dishes, including a creamy, handmade pasta.

After that experience, my mouth watered for more and more and more, so you could imagine my delight when I found out Perennial's Ryan Poli had plans to do a Black Truffle Tasting Menu.

Through February, the exec chef of the popular Lincoln Park resto offers a budget-friendly feast of dishes that creatively showcases the truffle in all its glory. For $58, you get four courses and for an additional fee you can pair them with vino.

What Has Laurent Gras Been Up To?!

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(Photo: Laurent Gras)

What has former L2O executive chef/partner Laurent Gras been up to since leaving Chicago in November?

He's been cooking a lot at home in New York, according to his blog, as he works on opening another restaurant.

It appears that he misses being in a professional kitchen but at the same time he's relishing in the solitude:

Eve Closes in the New Year

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(Photo: Eve)

Add Eve to the growing list of restos (also Spring, Sola) set to close right after New Year's Eve.

That's a damn shame because we'll certainly miss the signature lobster sausage made famous by its chef Troy Graves. Most of all, we'll miss the Friday-Sunday brunch where you can get bottomless Mimomas for $22 paired with entrees like the lamb burger, lobster Benedict, or chicken and waffles.

No word yet on where Graves will end up next, but he's so talented that we don't expect him to be out of the kitchen for long . . .