Toques about town: Adventures, awards and getaways
Some people get to have all the fun.
Like Stephanie Izard. Izard, the Chicago-born chef who cooked her way to No. 1 on Bravo's reality hit "Top Chef," earlier this month launched "The Tasty Life," a weekly video podcast and blog.
The first episode takes her to Three Floyds Brewery in Indiana where its Dark Lord brew attracts a Dead Head-like cult on release day. She then slips into the brewpub kitchen and steams mussels using the brewery's Gumball Head.
In the second episode, she heads into the inner sanctum of the Great American Cheese Collection for some yummy samples. Then she mixes up a mac and cheese that had me wiping drool off my keyboard.
At her site, stephanieizard.com, you can read behind-the-scenes commentary and find links to each weeks's featured recipe as well as a library of her favorite recipes such as Grilled Pork Tenderloin With Apple Butter and Rapini and Rosemary Vinaigrette and Quince and Fig Cobbler With Vanilla Mascarpone.
If all that wasn't keeping her busy enough, she's working on a cookbook and planning her new restaurant, The Drunken Goat, which she hopes to open in Chicago in the fall.
Hats off: People might be eating out less, but the culinary scene in and around Chicago is hotter than ever. More than half the semifinalists for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Best Chef Great Lakes award have Illinois addresses.
Chef Michael Maddox at Le Titi de Paris in Arlington Heights is on the list, as is Paul Virant of Vie in Western Springs. Courtwright's Restaurant in Willow Springs is on the list of outstanding restaurant service up against President Obama's favorite, Spiaggia in Chicago.
The list of 20 semifinalists will be pared down to five with those finalists being announced Monday, March 23, at Fronterra Grill, the foundation's pick for Outstanding Restaurant 2007. The winners will be announced Monday, May 4, in New York City.
The full list of semifinalists is available at jamesbeard.org.
Where are they now: It didn't take too long for chef Sean Eastwood to find a new kitchen after his acclaimed Isabella's Estiatorio in Geneva closed in mid-January. Fans of his Mediterranean cuisine can find him at Topo Gigio il Ristorante in Lombard (777 E. Butterfield Road) where he'll be diversifying the restaurant's Italian menu.
Chef Roland Liccioni is back cooking in the 'burbs, this time at Mirmar Bistro in Highwood. For 10 years, Liccioni manned the stoves at the renowned Le Francais in Wheeling and rejoined the restaurant in 2005 - only to have it close a short time later. Liccioni and Mirmar owner (and former protege) Gabriel Viti plan to retool the menu with a French bistro focus.
Have fork, will travel: A number of distinguished chefs will be taking their knives out of town for the second annual Great Chefs at the Lake at the Abbey Resort & Spa in Fontana, Wis.
For four weekends in March and April, Chicago chefs will lead cooking demonstrations, wine tastings and dinners. The schedule is as follows: Fridays to Sundays, March 20-22, Mark Mendez of Carnivale; March 27-29, Matt Castro of Foundation Room at the House of Blues; April 3-5, Michael Shrader of N9NE; and April 17-19, Jimmy Madla of Coobah.
Great Chef weekend packages at the Abbey Resort include a two-night stay, Friday evening cocktail reception and a menu of Saturday activities including a cooking demonstration by the featured chef, afternoon wine tasting and chef-hosted and prepared four-course dinner. The cost for the exclusive weekend is $199 per person (double occupancy), plus tax and fees. For details and reservations, head to theabbeyresort.com or call (888) 629-9594. Child-care services are available.
Go West, young foodie: Enjoy a variety of wine-centric events hosted by some of the world's industry leaders at the Wine Lovers' Weekend, March 27-29 at Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa in Galena.
Steve Rued of Rutherford Wine Company in Napa Valley, Calif., Simon Beck of the Crossings in Marlborough, New Zealand, and Bernard Sparr of Pierre Sparr in Alsace, France, will lead food and wine seminars.
Wine Lovers' Weekend packages start at $489 per person (excluding tax). For details and reservations, call Eagle Ridge Resort at (800) 892-2269 or visit eagleridge.com.
- Deborah Pankey
• Contact Food Editor Deborah Pankey at (847) 427-4524 or food@dailyherald.com. Listen to her discuss food trends, recipes and restaurants on Restaurant Radio Chicago, 5 to 6 p.m. Saturdays on WIND 560-AM.