Express your inner restaurant critic -- we'll pay the tab

Want to be a restaurant critic for a day? We can arrange that.

In Friday's revamped Time out! section we've started a new feature called Table for Three. The column allows three readers to give their takes on a particular restaurant. One of those readers could be you.

You don't have to be a gourmet cook or a food snob; you just have to like to eat out and be open to exploring the suburban dining scene. So if the idea of eating out with a fun group of people on someone else's dime appeals to you, send your name, age, address and e-mail address to food@dailyherald.com.

Seeing red: Who says espresso has to give you a jolt to be good?

A new espresso product made from rooibos tea -- often marketed as red tea -- is proving that it's possible to pull a great shot from a product that is fruity and naturally caffeine-free.

Produced in South Africa (where rooibos is grown), red espresso resembles finely ground loose tea. It can be used in conventional home and professional espresso machines.

Made as a traditional espresso, red espresso provides intense, fruity flavors. But Associated Press Food Editor J.M. Hirsch says where the product really shines is turning the espresso into fancy coffee-style drinks, such as lattes and cappuccinos.

Rooibos takes on smooth, creamy notes when combined with cream or milk. This combination works especially well with the more-intense flavor of red espresso. Look for it online for $16.99 for an 8.8-ounce bag at http://redespresso.com/.

Mama mia! Does your mama's manicotti make the family sing? Does your creamy fettuccini leave your dinner guests begging for the recipe? Put those recipes in the ring at Carlucci's "Mom's Best Pasta Recipe" contest.

Between March 1 and 23, the Downers Grove restaurant is looking for the top pasta recipes.

Chef Andy Webber will select and prepare recipes from five finalists for a panel of judges at the restaurant on March 27.

The winner will be treated to a five-course Tuscan dinner for eight at Carlucci, 1801 Butterfield Road, a day in the kitchen with chef Webber and have the recipe featured on Carlucci's April menu.

E-mail your name, contact information and recipe to zak@carluccirestaurant.com.

Behind the scenes of Food TV: What's it like to be on camera with Anthony Bourdain? Where was the eeriest location to sip pre-ban absinthe? How does the food actually taste on "Iron Chef America"?

Chicago-based chef and food journalist Louisa Chu will answer these questions and more at 10 a.m. Saturday at Kendall College, 900 North Branch St., Chicago.

Chu is Gourmet's Chicago correspondent and the product review columnist for CHOW. She has cooked in restaurants around the world including Spain's El Bulli, Alain Ducasse in Paris and Chicago's own Alinea. She trained in both pastry and cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but first learned to cook in her family's Chinese-American restaurants in Chicago. You can read her food blog at www.movable-feast.com.

The talk, hosted by the Chicago Foodways Roundtable, costs $3 per person; parking is free. Reserve a seat at (847) 432-8255 or e-mail chicago.foodways.roundtable@gmail.com.

-- Deborah Pankey