Steve Rhodes, of the Beachwood Reporter, weighs in on D.T. Max's excellent New Yorker profile of Grant Achatz and his battle with tongue cancer:

The story also says something about Chicago and, perhaps, its bumbled rush to be seen as sophisticated and worthy. "Chicago prides itself on being a city with more daring restaurants than Manhattan," [Max writes]. "The city also has Moto, an Asian-inflected outpost of molecular gastronomy--and the home-town response was unequivocal. The Tribune exalted the very dishes that the Times suggested were contrived or showy, declaring the P. B. & J. opener 'comfort food fit for the Museum of Contemporary Art.'" Which suggests the locals didn't have the guts to say the whole thing is ridiculous for fear of coming off like hayseeds. But whatever. (To be fair, Gourmet did name Alinea the best restaurant in America in 1997.)

OR it suggests that Rhodes, like blinkered Second City sufferers across our fair city, automatically believes in the inherent authority of Frank Bruni and the New York Times over anything anyone in his "hayseed" town might argue. Nevermind Bruni's well-documented bias toward the rustic and Italian (not that there's anything wrong with that!). And nevermind that New York is hardly a stranger to the mysteries of sous-vide and nitrogen griddles. But most especially, nevermind that "Chicago " is not the one in a "bumbled rush to be seen as sophisticated and worldly." "Chicago" did not force Food and Wine, Saveur, Gourmet, or any of the other national food rags to turn their attention to its exploding, innovative dining scene. The international food media has been falling all over itself for the last two years to cover Chicago--a fact easily obtainable, had Rhodes bothered to do any research--thanks to the ahead-of-the-pack convergence here of the two biggest trends of the 'aughts: locavorism and molecular gastronomy--or whatever you want to call it.

(Also, uh, Steve, Alinea wasn't open in 1997, as the NY'er makes clear. The Gourmet accolade came in 2006.)

Elsewhere in the piece Rhodes argues that high-end dining is "decadent and even immoral" given a global food crisis. This hardy perennial of a topic is more interesting, and one that, quite honestly, I'm all over the map on on any given day. (With reason: it might be noted, for example, that Moto's Homaro Cantu firmly believes that molecular gastronomy  can feed the world--in the form of nutrient-enhanced paper and whatnot. Check out this 2006 Fast Company profile for more on that.) But I do think that condemnations of fine dining on "moral" grounds spring from the same sort of reductive romanticization of cultural authenticity that valorizes the Waco Brothers over Beethoven or hip-hop over ballet. That the cultural product in question is food just makes it more complicated, because starving kids don't need music to survive--the closest analogy is actually probably to the fashion industry, which critics routinely disdain as frivolous and amoral (though those critics may well be clad in $12.99 sweatshop-spun Target tees . . . But I digress).The idea that food is a primary need and art and music are secondary luxuries--isn't that what defenders of school arts programs have been fighting against for years? In a diverse, cosmopolitan society isn't there room for both high and low culture, "dehydrated bacon wrapped in apple leather" and hot dogs? Would Rhodes have us seize the CSO's budget to fund the expansionist ambitions of the Empty Bottle?

I often find the excesses of the restaurant industry depressing and disturbing, but temples of mindless conspicuous consumption like Il Mulino are far scarier than a place like Alinea. Achatz is a visionary and an obsessive determined to explore the far frontiers of his chosen medium. If he was a painter, would anyone find that morally offensive?

"Enjoying Wine the Mark Phillips Way," Thursday from 6:30-9 PM at the Stan Mansion (2408 N. Kedzie), features wine, cheese, and "a fun, non-snobby way to enjoy wine" from wine expert and television host Mark Phillips. $40, reservations required. 

Patricia Wells signs her book, cowritten with her husband, Walter, We've Always Had Paris . . . and Provence: A Scrapbook of Our Life in France, Thursday from 4-5 PM at a free wine and cheese reception at the Book Cellar. She'll then move on to Kendall College, where she and her husband will read at the American Institute of Wine & Food's four-course benefit dinner from 6 to 9 PM. $100 (includes a signed copy of the book).

Friday at 7:30 PM at Barbara's Bookstore in Oak Park, George Motz discusses Hamburger America: One Man’s Cross-Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation, his roundup of what he considers the country’s 100 best burger joints. In both the book and his 2005 documentary of the same title, he seeks independents that have survived despite the rise of the fast-food nation. His Chicago picks? The Billy Goat Tavern and Top Notch Beefburger.

On Saturday the National Association of Letter Carriers and the Campbell Soup Company will team up on the country's largest one-day food drive, Stamp Out Hunger. They're asking people to put bags of nonperishable items next to their mailboxes, which mail carriers will pick up and deliver to a local food bank (in Chicago it'll be the Greater Chicago Food Depository). People can also donate online.

As part of the Chicago Public Library’s Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, Bert Tan of the Chinese American Culture Foundation gives a lecture, The Art of the Chinese Tea Ceremony, Saturday at 2 PM at the North Austin branch library. (He’ll give the same presentation at the Galewood-Mont Clare branch library on 5/17 and the McKinley Park branch library on 5/31). Other programs coming up this month include Chinese Cooking Dim Sum, a cooking demonstration and tasting of shrimp and pork siu mai, and a Japanese cooking demonstration of sushi rice, California rolls, and teriyaki chicken, both by Andrew Comens.

Chefs Didier Steudler and Christophe Pouy from the Ritz Escoffier school of gastronomy in Paris will do a cooking demonstration at the Alliance Francaise on Wednesday from 6 to 9 PM. On the menu: roasted artichoke veloute with Parmesan Reggiano crisp, chicken supreme with an asparagus risotto and wild mushroom fricassee, and tangerine crepes with orange butter sauce. $75.

The Angelic Organics Learning Center explains the benefits of locally grown food Wednesday at 7 PM at Sulzer Regional branch library.

I can't vouch for the giant "kosher-style" menu at Madison's Ella's Deli, but I'll vouch for its chorus line of dancing mutant feet. Last Saturday we'd already had dinner and escaped from the crowded, overrated Old Fashioned, and headed east from downtown, ostensibly for ice cream but really more for Ella's lysergic, animatronic head trip.

I have a friend who remembers the original Ella's in downtown Madison, when it was a small deli serving passable food that gradually declined over the years. That spot is no more, and the second Ella's, located east of the capitol on Washington Street, is more frequently recommended as a place to take the kids rather than a desirable spot to get your fress on. But I can't help but imagine that its real service to the community over the decades has been as a port of call for tweaking U. of W. students looking to enhance the disruption of their neurotransmitters. 

You can spot Ella's fully functioning restored 1927 merry-go-round in the parking lot from blocks away, and inside it's a paralyzing sensory overload of blinking lights, superheroes, clowns, cartoon characters (and a deranged anthropomorphic honeybee) coasting near the ceiling from wires, glass-topped tables with  magnetized games, and the incessant buzzing, whirring, and clacking of Rube Goldberg-style gadgetry (photos attached). The appealing thing about it all is its careworn cast, with everything looking like it's been around much longer than 32 years. We happened to be sitting next to the staff table and chatted up the world-weary manager on his break, eating a roast beef sandwich, who said he started working there two days after it opened. Originally it was primarily done in fern, but gradually the owner, a wind-up toy enthusiast, began to amass the displays.

The New York Times reported yesterday on an area where liver is being sold in restaurants despite an official ban--and they're not talking about Chicago. In Japan, the poisonous liver of the fugu (puffer fish) is considered so delicious that gourmands have been braving death for hundreds of years to try it. Even a taste can be lethal--people have even died merely from eating parts of the fish that have come into contact with the liver--and there's no antidote to tetrodotoxin, the poison in it.

Japanese scientist Tamao Noguchi, however, has been studying the toxin for years and believes it's produced not by the fish itself but rather by bacteria in its food. That would mean that farmed fugu, which accounts for 90 percent of the fugu consumed in Japan, is poison-free. Many restaurants have secretly started to serve the liver of farmed fish, but the National Fugu Association refuses to approve its legalization, insisting that farmed fugu can still be dangerous. So while fugu liver is widely available, you won't find it on any menus. As one Japanese tourism official said, "Officially, you can never eat it here. Well, it's not that you can't eat it, but, no, you can't eat it." Sound familiar?

It doesn't sound like fugu liver will be available in Chicago anytime soon, officially or unofficially. Only specially trained chefs are allowed to prepare fugu, and according to Ai Sushi manager Sandy Lim, Toyoji Hemmi is the only chef in the midwest licensed to do so. Hemmi, who divides his time between Ai and sister restaurant Tsuki, serves fugu when it's in season (from November to January), but has no plans to start offering the liver.

I finally got to see the latest generation of mulefoots under the care of Valerie Weihman-Rock in Argyle, Wisconsin, and brought back a ton of photos (attached) and video (which I'll post later this week). There are 17 new piglets in all, a little more than three and four weeks old.

The Reader's pig, Dee Dee, has undergone some changes since the last time I made it up there. For one, she's huge, and nowhere is that more striking than in her jowls, which have filled out, making her snout appear much shorter than it used to. She seems a lot friendlier too. She'll sniff your hand, talk, and express a curiosity that I haven't seen before in her. Valerie theorized that might have something to do with her getting a lot more attention now that she's a mother--and liking it. Dee Dee had four piglets, including one adopted by Reader correspondent David Hammond, named Ermine. Check out her face while she's nursing--pure, unadulterated bliss.

This week in Omnivorous I wrote about Milan Pelouch, Libertyville author of How to Find Morels, and his wife, Lila, who provided some 14 recipes for the book. If you're lucky enough to sniff out any of the fungi yourself--both the Illinois Mycological Association and Slow Food Chicago are leading forays this weekend--she recommends her fresh morel paté, which only requires about a cup of them.

Lila Pelouch's fresh morel paté

1/2 c. butter

1 c. morels, coarsely chopped

1/2 c. onion, finely minced

2 T. dry sherry or 1 T. sherry and 1 T. chicken broth

2 to 3 ozs. cream cheese

1/3 c. fresh parsley, minced

salt and pepper to taste

Saute mushrooms, onions, salt, and pepper in butter until mushrooms are tender. Add sherry. In a food processor, process cheese and parsley. Add the mushroom mixture and pulse on and off a few times until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency (but leave some mushrooms in small chunks). Serve at room temperature with crackers or on toast points.

Recently I've been salting my reserve of existential dread by reading Paul Roberts' forthcoming The End of Food, a dense, cheerless forecast about the fragility of the global food supply (it's spring!). So yesterday I felt particularly gloomy wandering around this year's Fancy Food Show at McCormick Place. With news reports of Costco rice rationing, Japanese butter shortages, and Haitian food riots echoing through my head, it's hard to get behind the hordes of showgoers lining up for samples of pate and Epoisses, buffalo sausage, single origin chocolate, and water whose chief marketing attribute seems to be the overdesigned plastic art deco style bottle it's poured into.  

There are probably a number of reason this year's trade show--titled the Global Food & Style Expo, which encompasses FFF, the All Things Organic Show and the U.S. Food Export Showcase--seemed more subdued and contracted than last year's, and not all of them have to do with my crappy mood. The U.S. imports end of the floor was forlorn and unattended, and the Fancy Food Show slightly less so. But on the other hand the organic component was booming: by my rough guess it was nearly the same size of the other two shows combined. It's not news that organics have become big business, but the difference between this and last year seemed startling. The New York Times even had a tout there selling subscriptions. Of course that meant a larger share of silliness on display, from organic frozen breaded shrimp, yogurt for dogs, many varieties of unidentifiable bark bars advertised not so much for what they're made from but for what they're not, and all sorts of highly processed foods that are permitted to wear the attractive label of "organic." The absurdity of a lot of this stuff was put sharply into focus at the display for a French Canadian spice company that thought the best way to market its blends was to employ a couple of robotic arms to sprinkle the stuff over uncooked pasta and a platter of weathered-looking salmon (pictured).

Thursday from 7 to 10 PM at Toast of the Town, Wine Enthusiast’s annual extravaganza at the Field Museum, more than 500 wines and spirits will be paired with food from 30 restaurants, including Carlos’, Mambo Grill, Le Lan, and Vermilion. $95 ($185 with VIP tasting at 6 PM).

Zocalo celebrates Cinco de Mayo early this year, with margaritas, wine, beer, and hors d'ouevres Thursday from 6 to 8 PM. $40. 

The Oak Park Conservatory’s annual Herb Sale Saturday from 8 AM to 3 PM features plants for the "urban potager," including vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers, all chosen for their ability to thrive in Chicago’s climate as well as for their flavor.

Saturday at 6:30 PM, Pastoral's downtown location is hosting a class on how to create infused artisan vodka, using Death's Door vodka and ingredients like peanuts, bacon, lavender, cucumber, basil, and horseradish. Cherry lavender fizz cocktails (with lavender gin) and horseradish egg sours (with horseradish-infused vodka) will be served during the class, and each participant will take home a jar of their own infused vodka. $50, reservations required.

The Cuisine of Afghanistan, the latest dinner and class in the Oriental Institute’s series on food from the Near East, will highlight traditional specialties such as mantu (meat dumplings), ashak (scallion dumplings), and quabili palau (lamb stew served over seasoned rice) at Kabul House Sunday at 7 PM. Owner Abdul Qazi will explain the preparation and history of each dish he serves and share some of his favorite recipes. $45 (includes tax, tip, and wine).

Tuesday from noon to 2 PM is the reopening of Hull-House Kitchen, a program to honor the legacy of Jane Addams and the original soup kitchen at her Hull House, the first of its kind in Chicago. Every Tuesday at lunchtime in the Residents' Dining Hall, Hull-House Museum staffers will serve free organic soup and bread during a discussion of topics related to sustainability, health, food supply, community, and the environment.

With our Best of Chicago voting now in session, I started looking through old Reader guides to the city, which included our long-running Cheap Eats roundups. Here's what we were recommending over 30 years ago:

Ratso's 2464 N. Lincoln: Beyond criticism. Ratso's is becoming the city's hottest night spot, and it must be because of the entertainment, because the food is outrageously inconsistent, with even the ingredients in one dish varying from night to night. You can get a very good meal here . . . and you can find a cigarette butt in your salad (I did just a couple of weeks ago--honest). (1975)

Harold's Chicken Shack No. 14 1364 E. 53rd St.: Best fried chicken south of the Loop. $1.85 gets you half a chicken and some greasy french fries. Carryout only; you can phone your order in. Livers and gizzards are also available, but you have to acquire a taste for them. Go easy on the hot sauce. (1975)

Nuevo Leon 1515 W. 18th: Garish sweet-shop decor and delicious Mexican food. Tacos, burritos and frijoles refritos better than any I've had elsewhere, but most of the dishes are Mexican specialties unheard of at El Taco Loco. (1975)

Bucket O'Suds 3123 N. Cicero: Still over 600 bottles of booze behind the bar (and plenty more down in the cellar), still the homemade meals and sauces, still the quintessential neighborhood bar. Try a meatball or Italian sausage sandwich, any of thirteen cheeses (including hot pepper) all for $1 or less, or Brunch a la Skandia (herring, cheese, and crackers) for $1. Top it off with one of 30 homemade alcoholic concoctions like El Caribiano Royale, and you're ready to trade anecdotes and discuss the fine points of sour mash with owner Joe Danno. (Notice, I didn't even mention Joe's exclusive store of pre-Prohibition Old Oscar Pepper sippin' whiskey; that's because there wouldn't be any left for me.) (1977)

Wing Wah 208 W. Cermak: It's been almost a year since we started touting this place as the best Chinese-Cantonese restaurant in Chicago, and thankfully it manages to remain unspoiled and obscure. Part of this, perhaps, is the hours: 5 pm-5 am. Strange, we grant you, but actually quite practical--Wing Wah, you see, is the place where all the other restauranteurs in Chinatown go to eat after closing their joints for the night. The rest of the clientele is made up of half the Chicago police force, a large following from the immediate area, and a mere handful of Occidentals. The secret is to ignore the first menu they give you (it's only four pages, printed on the inside of a red or yellow cardboard sheet) and hold out for the real menu--a small red notebook with typewritten pages and about 60 items listed in English and Chinese. This is where you will find the city's most garlicy garlic shrimp; its best lightly cooked squid; its only conch; plus snails, fish stomach soup, clams in hot sauce, whole crab prepared Chinese-style,  and much, much more, each item on par with the next. The truly courageous will ignore even these listings and badger their only barely bilingual waiter into translating the daily specials written in Chinese on the wall. There they will discover such delicacies as whole red snapper and quick-fried pigeon. We haven't tried the live frog yet--it's killed at your table and eaten raw--but we have checked out the duck's feet, and might we suggest you don't bother. (1977)

John Barleycorn Memorial Pub 658 W. Belden: The quietest of the Northside beer-and-hamburger spots. Classical music, old silent films, and art-classic slides are there to distract you if conversation flags. (1975)