Chicago Mag's 124 Best Dishes

http://chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/ ... st-Dishes/

Shrug?

To have a list that long and categorical and not to make it click-sortable by category gets a web-design F in my book.

I thought about posting something on this article 3 or 4 times, but I just didn't have anything to say. First, it's too much stuff to think about. (Instead of appetizers, entrees etc., I would have found it more useful to break it out by cuisine-- Italian, Indian, etc. A list of the eight best Italian dishes is a lot easier to go through than 124 of everything.)

Second, it's about 85% those new restaurants of the moment that I can't tell apart-- Marigoldelacostanteprimazucariccardonesixtyblucoralelanomilcovo. I'm sure there's some exceptional things at some of those places but I've been disappointed by a lot of that dining lately, enough that it's been a couple of months since I've even bothered and I can't say I've missed it much. There's a sameness to that kind of food that doesn't make me want to leap up and go try "seared tilapia wrapped in see-through zucchini slices, topped by a lovely vinaigrette sparked with diced sun-dried tomatoes, candied ginger, and flageolet beans." Wow. Sun-dried tomatoes. Never had them before on anything.

Anyway, no one but a food critic could possibly go around and try all these places enough to have discovered all these things; I'm not even sure a food critic could, but in any case, it's so removed from what I consider the notable discoveries out there, from how I eat or would want to, that I can't even look at it for very long without glazing over.

Mike:

I'm with you.

1) The scope is too much: clearly they were either pandering or so self-conscious of appearing elitist (or "multi-cultual") that the results seem more arbitrary than intentional.
2) I too would have found a smaller, more concise guide to be significantly more useful. You know, like the "24 best pasta dishes" or "the 24 best dals on Devon", et al...would be more manageable to people who are passionate about dining but don't, you know, make their living off silly lists.
3) I share your frustration about two-star dining--i.e., the New Banality. Thank goodness for this forum!

I always find that in the end, such lists are far more interesting to compose oneself, or with friends/dining companions than to read others' versions of.
The proof is in the execution; the description doesn't really mean anything. Those sun-dried toms. on that dish, just might be the most intense examples, perfectly deployed to raise the dish to the stratosphere. Or just another slathering of leathery, flavorless, dried-up old tomatoes onto another dish. One can't know from reading, so I don't find it much fun to read.
Much rather think back on my own actual experience and reflect on it with someone who shared the experience. "Remember that wonderful....etc."

Why 124? Is that some significant figure in Chicago numerology?

Santander wrote:Why 124? Is that some significant figure in Chicago numerology?

There are exactly 124 poppyseeds on an S. Rosen poppyseed bun. Anything less is just cutting corners.