Chef Ming Tsai at Housewares

Here's me with chef Ming Tsai at the International Housewares Show at
the Kyocera booth. He signed a copy of his newest cookbook, Simply
Ming One-Pot Meals.

Chef Michelle Bernstein at Housewares

I'm at the International Housewares Show in Chicago. Just met chef
Michelle Bernstein at the Fagor booth S3425. She is cooking sliders
with melting cheese and bacon bits on her new Michelle B cast iron cookware.

Chicago Restaurant Week

Chicago Restaurant Week starts today and runs through February 27.
Three people wearing chef's hats greeted morning commuters at Ogilvie
Center to hand out the official guide to Chicago Restaurant Week 2011.
Lot of great lunch and dinner specials during this week. Blackbird,
Naha, Roy's, Wildfire (including suburban locations), Rhapsody, and
Coco Pazzo are some of the participating restaurants.
EatItUpChicago.com will have the full list. Bon appetit!

Palmer House Treetini

I had a Treetini cocktail at the Potter's Lounge in the Chicago Palmer
House Hilton a few weeks ago. Yummy for me though my colleagues
thought it too sweet. The hotel claims that a tree will be planted for
every Treetini ($12) ordered. The cocktail is made with Veev acai
spirit, St. Germain liqueur, pomegranate liqueur, and fresh lemon juice.

Al's Italian Beef

I finally went to the Chicago Loop (28 E. Jackson) location of Al's
Italian Beef. Loop workers eagerly waited for the fall 2010 opening
of this franchise. I had the Italian Beef sandwich with sweet peppers
(sweet peppers, giardinera are $0.45 extra each!) and french fries.
The hand-cut fries are billed as the best in the nation. I disagree
and found them too salty. That said, I ordered them after 2pm so I
should give them another try during lunch hour. Travel Channel's "Man
vs Food" featured a segment on Al's Beef. Check out
http://www.manvsfoodfans.com/illinois/als-italian-beef/

Barneys Have a Foodie Holiday

Barneys New York decorated its Chicago and New York City
windows with the Have a Foodie Holiday theme in cooperation with
the Food Network. The Chicago window (pictured) featured a number of local
celebrity chefs including Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill, Topolobampo
and Xoco.

You can see lots of the New York City windows on Martha Stewart's blog
at http://www.themarthablog.com/2010/11/have-a-foodie-holiday-at-barneys.htmlç

Just Got MacBook Air

I just got the MacBook Air today! It came directly from Shanghai,
China through FedEx. They didn't have the 13 inch model with 4GB of
memory in Chicago area stores. You can see me taking a self-portrait
using the Photo Booth feature. I'm excited to explore all the features.