Am I really being asked to justify my lunch choice? I've eaten at all the places mentioned (Saigon Sisters and Pastoral multiple times), but up until yesterday I had never eaten at the Korean place.

Sorry for the snark--I was just a little amazed that a man of your discernment would be able to resist the many other delights there

mtgl wrote:Sorry for the snark--I was just a little amazed that a man of your discernment would be able to resist the many other delights there

Thanks...but I haven't.

stevez wrote:

mtgl wrote:I'll be honest--of all the dining options there, you went with the bulgogi? Honestly?

Last time I visited, there weren't all that many dining options left. They're closing like venus flytraps. I wish the French Market was more successful, but as it is, there is very little traffic (except at peak times, evidently) and very few vendors. This is very sad. Oh, how I long for a real indoor market!

I was there around 5 PM about a week ago. I'm rather torn about what to say about it, as my wishful thinking might cloud my judgements.

- I'm astonished at some of the prices, and I fear some of the places are in a vicious cycle where they are not selling enough so they try to make it up with higher prices, which causes even higher prices--most of the pastries at the various bakeries run near $5

- Did I mention prices? It aint just the pastries

- The place seems already almost unkempt and dull. There is almost zero pizazz.

- I remain unimpressed with the Belgium fries, which proved that fresh cut and twice fried do not always mean good product. Can we end this fascination with crispness over any extent of potato flavor with area french fries. Folks, see Gene n' Judes or Jimmy's Red Hots for an idea of what can be achieved.

- The City Fresh outlet is a decent replicate of their Devon store but is that the best that can be done?

- Despite this, and perhaps contrary to SteveZ's comment--it's hard to say who's right as it's a question of relativity--I was surprised how many people were dropping in for PM shopping. My guess, is that nearly all the shoppers are commuters. It does seem like there is a market for the market; it's just that the market is not meeting their needs very well.

happy_stomach wrote:

stevez wrote:

mtgl wrote:I'll be honest--of all the dining options there, you went with the bulgogi? Honestly?

Last time I visited, there weren't all that many dining options left. They're closing like venus flytraps.

This may have been posted elsewhere on the board, but in case not:

"Chicago French Market loses some, gains some; Saigon Sisters keep plugging away"

You can't even buy a crepe at this so called "French Market". Even a dying city like Detroit has a better market than this (Eastern Market). Don't get me wrong, I'd love the French Market to succeed, but I feel we really need a much larger, more comprehensive permanent market in this city. The problem with the French Market is that there aren't enough vendors to attract a critical mass of customers, and there aren't enough customers to attract enough decent quality vendors. The fact that they charge tourist prices doesn't help, either. It's a catch 22.

What about Flip Crepes selling crepes?

Although the presence of crepes hardly makes or breaks a market. Personally, I'd like to see more animal carcasses.

Vital Information wrote:What about Flip Crepes selling crepes?

Although the presence of crepes hardly makes or breaks a market. Personally, I'd like to see more animal carcasses.

Sure, if they were still in business (and I agree about the animal carcasses, etc.)

Vital Information wrote:Personally, I'd like to see more animal carcasses.

Oh yeah! Banner quote material if ever there was.

stevez wrote:

Vital Information wrote:What about Flip Crepes selling crepes?

Although the presence of crepes hardly makes or breaks a market. Personally, I'd like to see more animal carcasses.

Sure, if they were still in business (and I agree about the animal carcasses, etc.)

Flip was there last week. Are they gone?

Vital Information wrote:

stevez wrote:

Vital Information wrote:What about Flip Crepes selling crepes?

Although the presence of crepes hardly makes or breaks a market. Personally, I'd like to see more animal carcasses.

Sure, if they were still in business (and I agree about the animal carcasses, etc.)

Flip was there last week. Are they gone?

They were gone last time I was there. I had just gotten back from Toronto where I ate breakfast every day at their fabulous market. I thought I would stop in for a crepe to help with my market withdrawal and Flip was nowhere to be found. I left hungry and disappointed.

gocubs88 wrote:Anyone have any recs of good places I may have overlooked?

Sure. Some of the best food vendors in the city are there - Pastoral with cheeses and sandwiches, Vanille with croissants and their luscious entremets, Delightful Pastries (rainbow cookies!), and Canady le Chocolatier for artisanal chocolates.

AFAIK the prices that these vendors charge in the French Market are the same as in their original stores. They may not be inexpensive but they all offer extremely high quality.

Vital Information wrote:

stevez wrote:

Vital Information wrote:What about Flip Crepes selling crepes?

Although the presence of crepes hardly makes or breaks a market. Personally, I'd like to see more animal carcasses.

Sure, if they were still in business (and I agree about the animal carcasses, etc.)

Flip was there last week. Are they gone?

The crepe I had from them a couple months back wasn't good enough to warrant returning and purchasing a second at their prices. Way too much vanilla extract used in the batter from what I recall, and the way it was folded up to resemble a burrito was strangely disappointing when hoping for at least a reasonable facsimile of authenticity in a French Market.

I've had better crepes at foodlife, sadly.

nsxtasy wrote:AFAIK the prices that these vendors charge in the French Market are the same as in their original stores.

I'd be curious what Delightful Pastries is charging for a paczki. At their original location they're just shy of a buck, when I bought one at the Old Town storefront when it opened, two bucks.

-Dan

mtgl wrote:The Korean place there looks pretty mediocre a priori, a sentiment backed up for me by a thumbs-down from a Korean friend.

tried this place a couple of times but i don't think i'll be back, the cashier always seems to be handling money without taking his gloves off

dansch wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:AFAIK the prices that these vendors charge in the French Market are the same as in their original stores.

I'd be curious what Delightful Pastries is charging for a paczki. At their original location they're just shy of a buck, when I bought one at the Old Town storefront when it opened, two bucks.

-Dan

I had bought one at FM several months ago, and I'm pretty sure it was at least $2 as well.

Vital Information wrote:

stevez wrote:

Vital Information wrote:What about Flip Crepes selling crepes?

Although the presence of crepes hardly makes or breaks a market. Personally, I'd like to see more animal carcasses.

Sure, if they were still in business (and I agree about the animal carcasses, etc.)

Flip was there last week. Are they gone?

As of today, Flip Crepes has reopened. They were there when I walked through the market this morning.

dansch wrote:

nsxtasy wrote:AFAIK the prices that these vendors charge in the French Market are the same as in their original stores.

I'd be curious what Delightful Pastries is charging for a paczki. At their original location they're just shy of a buck, when I bought one at the Old Town storefront when it opened, two bucks.

-Dan

$17/lb. I bought three for $2.24.

Vital Information wrote:

JeffB wrote:To me, this is the biggest deal of them all. Seriously. My favorite impulse buy -- a whole fish on the way home. Lord knows I've thought about bringing a fish back to my hotel room in NY, Philly, Seattle . . .

PS, the idea of Fumare is great -- a collection of smoked and cured meats from around the city. I'd rather have a well-curated selection of ethnic charcuterie than a nuovo-salumeria of the sort that people often pine for on the boards. I'm eager to see whose stuff they got. (Is Da Riv too much to hope for? Paulina? Romanian? Beograd?)

You know I thought totally of you when I hit the samples of Fumare for about the fifth time. This IS a place for JeffB. Oddly enough, or to their detriment I'd say, they have one of the smaller booths at the market. Given what they can offer, it would be good if they could offer more. The other thing about them, they were being cagey about where they were getting any specific product. And where was the Montreal smoked meat promised in the PR materials!

I wanted to give another plus for Fumare at the French Market. The Montreal-style pastrami is indeed available and is great. They also have bagels from NY Bagel and Bialy and a small selection of bacon and sausages from Ream's. Overall, a great option in the French Market.

Darren,

Thanks for the Montreal-style pastrami comment. This has piqued my interest mightily.

Regards,

A Montrealer/Quebecois would blanch at hearing smoked meat referred to as Montreal style pastrami.

rickster wrote:A Montrealer/Quebecois would blanch at hearing smoked meat referred to as Montreal style pastrami.

Could you explain this?

rickster wrote:A Montrealer/Quebecois would blanch at hearing smoked meat referred to as Montreal style pastrami.

I was actually going to ask if this was really Montreal Smoked Meat. I've only had it at Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, so I'm pleased to hear it's being offered in Chicago.

Pretty sure from what I have gleaned over the years that pastrami and Montreal smoked meat are 2 (very) different things but I cannot explain the difference, as I've never had Montreal smoked meat (that I can remember). Pretty sure they're both cured and smoked but I don't know what separates the 2 of them.

=R=

I wouldn't say they're very different, honestly. I think if you compared Katz's and Schwartz's side by side, you'd find them a lot more alike than, say, Cooper's in Llano and Smoque here in Chicago are to each other.

gleam wrote:I wouldn't say they're very different, honestly. I think if you compared Katz's and Schwartz's side by side, you'd find them a lot more alike than, say, Cooper's in Llano and Smoque here in Chicago are to each other.

LOL! That's exactly why I put "very" in parentheses, though I didn't make that clear. Serious devotees of both often seem to claim that they're very different from each other but I've never really understood why. Are the seasonings different? Are they both generally made from brisket?

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Pretty sure from what I have gleaned over the years that pastrami and Montreal smoked meat are 2 (very) different things but I cannot explain the difference, as I've never had Montreal smoked meat (that I can remember). Pretty sure they're both cured and smoked but I don't know what separates the 2 of them.

=R=

Having just tried Montreal smoked beef for the first time recently, I'd say that it is not very different from pastrami at all. To my taste, the major distinction is in the seasoning, with Pastrami having a generally sharper spice profile. Montreal smoked beef struck me as milder overall, and missing that predominant coriander note of pastrami.

--Rich

Yeah, the page that I linked to above seemed to indicate that the difference was simply slight differences in seasoning and perhaps slightly different cuts of meat. Clearly not a major difference.

RAB wrote: the major distinction is in the seasoning, with Pastrami having a generally sharper spice profile. Montreal smoked beef struck me as milder overall, and missing that predominant coriander note of pastrami.

I think "generally sharper spice profile" is accurate and though the meat I tasted at the French Market did contain coriander, it was very dialed down. It sounds, however, from the link above that there's a fair amount of variation in what's called "Montreal Pastrami."

One of the points above, which I believe is correct, is that there ain't no such thing as "Montreal Pastrami"; it's called "smoked meat" up there. Sure it's pretty much the same deal, but it might be worth keeping the nomenclature straight. Or not.

JeffB wrote:One of the points above, which I believe is correct, is that there ain't no such thing as "Montreal Pastrami"; it's called "smoked meat" up there. Sure it's pretty much the same deal, but it might be worth keeping the nomenclature straight. Or not.

By keeping the nomenclature straight, I presume you mean that if you go to Fumare you use the terminology on their menu rather than making an ass of yourself.