Savory Tidbits: Restaurant News and Views for NYC, San Francisco, Chicago and LA

L20 Restaurant: First Pics & Reactions

Photo credit: npinto on flickr

Chicago's newest seafood restaurant, L20, has enjoyed a quiet buzz in the restaurant world over the past few months, largely due to the in depth blog written by executive chef and partner Laurent Gras, GM Serge Krieger, Chef de Cuisine Francis Brennan and Dining Room Manager Anthony Cournia. Written primarily by Gras, the blog has provided a fun and informative way to learn about the many facets involved in opening a highly anticipated fine dining restaurant, from menu planning to taste testing to equipment sourcing.

Early word from the friends and family preview indicates that L2O's food tastes as good as it looks. See early photos on the L20 flickr pool, where the first sets of guest pics were just posted. Hungry Magazine has also weighed in with the first blog review, which has more photos and a link to the opening night menu.

Reservation Line Open for Laurent Gras' L.20

We've been following the entertaining and informative blog written by Laurent Gras and crew as they prepare to open Gras' new Chicago restaurant, L.20.

Today we were excited to see that the restaurant is now accepting reservations. You can call the restaurant to see if they have a table or check out Open Table.

Ducking the Law Pt. II

On March 29th, 2007 Doug Sohn agreed to pay a $250 fine for serving foie gras (banned in Chicago for those of you who aren't following along).
Further reading at the Tribune

Ducking the Law

Big news in the Windy City.
On Feb 17th Doug Sohn, owner of the popular hot dog joint Hot Doug's, made the headlines. The headlines weren't about his love for sausage and encased meats, nor for his unique game sausage of the week, no, it was for something far more sinister....(cue scary music): Chicago's first foie gras violation.

When I was in Chicago, there were plenty of restaurants with foie being offered as a "verbal special." I guess Doug's foul was that he listed the banned offering in plain sight of his customers and Chicago officials.

Food bans are becoming more common. First Chicago with the aforementioned, then NYC banning trans-fats (which sorry, you pro-trans-fatters, this is a good thing. I worked on an autopsy show. I've seen what H.O. does to your arteries. Gross.). But what gets me, is that a guy selling hot dogs - really good and interesting hot dogs - is the guy that gets nailed. Nailed with a fine that could cost him anywhere between $250 - $500 bucks. That's a lot of dogs.

To take a closer look at this hotbed of criminal activity, check out Savory Chicago's Hot Doug's video.

Links:
Chicago Sun Times
Chicago Tribune
Washington Post
CBS2Chicago - interview with Doug Sohn post fine
Megnut
Chicagoist