Esquire Magazine: Best New American Restaurants. Ahem.

Esquire Magazine food critic John Mariani is, apparently, not a fan of Moto, Avenues or Alinea. Only one Chicago restaurant made his list of best new spots in America -- Butter.

Butter?

And in reviewing it, he takes a healthy potshot at chefs Achatz, Bowles, and Cantu. Italics mine.

"Chicago is presently in the sensationalist grip of a few hocus-pocus chefs trying to make headlines based on things like burning incense next to a dish of venison and forcing desserts into squeeze tubes—a total misunderstanding of the experimental cuisine of Spain's Ferran Adrià. Thank God, then, for Chicago chefs like Ryan Poli, who, at twenty-eight, is translating his own training from Madrid's highly creative La Broche into sensible ideas that actually taste even better than the "concept." Butter is a big, two-storied room, but not too loud (until the upstairs lounge kicks in), and the waitresses' Midwestern hospitality flows over every table. The name has no particular connection to the kitchen's use of the fat, but there is a wonderful richness of flavors in Poli's cooking, including sardines seared with crispy chorizo, baby leeks, and a balsamic reduction, and—in proud, city-of-the-big-shoulders style—sweetbread goulash with a shot of aromatic paprika. A vibrant bordelaise sauce ennobles seared monkfish with turnips and lentils, and pork comes two ways on one plate—as tenderloin and as crispy, braised belly with a fabulous endive marmalade and white-bean puree. It all goes to prove that authentic culinary talent knows the limits of good taste. "

On the one hand, nothing wrong with going against the orthodoxy.

On the other hand, did he actually eat at Avenues? It's the stealth one in that bunch, the place where the Adria influence and scientific aspect is much more subtle. The virtues he admires Butter for are certainly present there as well, and no sniffing out of test tubes that I saw.

Mike G wrote:On the one hand, nothing wrong with going against the orthodoxy.

On the other hand, did he actually eat at Avenues? It's the stealth one in that bunch, the place where the Adria influence and scientific aspect is much more subtle. The virtues he admires Butter for are certainly present there as well, and no sniffing out of test tubes that I saw.

And on another hand, didn't Esquire list Monsoon in the same list last year or the year before? They're not exactly batting 1.000.

Best,
Michael

I believe that Mariani is from Chicago. If not, he has a serious soft spot for the city. I have read his stuff pretty consistently over the years, and I think that his problem with places such as Moto and Alinea is that they do not comport with his well-tended idea that Chicago's food has the plain-spoken eloquence of its architecture and its writers. He's probably not an Ed Pasche or Art Ensemble fan, either. But I bet he's rooting for the Sox. I think he suffers from an ex-pat's reverse snobbery.

For the 2008 list, John Mariani has named L.20 as best new restaurant in America (thus blowing up the theory that GAF is John Mariani). I can't find the link on their website, but the copy is on the newstands now etc etc.

Perhaps this has been covered elsewhere on LTHforum?

By the way, the same issue endorses 42-year old Halle Berry as sexiest woman alive (as a 42-year old dude, I've got NO problem with that).

I am rarely speechless, but . . .

For the record GAF is not Halle Berry either.

I am sure that John Mariani is speechless as well (he was too shocked to post, wasn't he?).

Odd that GAF and Mariani never post on the same thread, kind of like how you never see Bruce Wayne and Batman together.

Carriage House and Embeya are considered among the best new restaurants in America, according to Esquire magazine

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... estaurants

Dave148 wrote:

Carriage House and Embeya are considered among the best new restaurants in America, according to Esquire magazine

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... estaurants

Crain's headline is a little misleading. It's John Mariani's list, published in Esquire. Say what you will about these silly lists. At least this is one person's opinion.

I read his weekly newsletter and here are his full reviews from his trip to Chicago:

Sepia, The Gage, Embeya, and Grace

The Lobby, Carriage House, Quartino

Q: is Esquire only read by dude lawyers?

second Q: if no dude lawyers read Esquire, who's actually reading Esquire's "food" section?

Esquire is read by douchebags aspiring to read something more highbrow than Maxim. Probably a lot of lawyer in their early thirties in that demographic.

I bought one once for a flight. It was drivel. I'll stick to national geographic, or if feeling completely shameless, Complex, which is kinda the "hip hop" version of Esquire, and no less douchy or small-minded.

Their TV Network went on the air last week. There is one cooking competition show, Knife Fight, and a show named Brew Dogs that supposedly goes into deep detail about craft breweries. It would probably appeal to me if I drank beer. Another travel show will probably feature food but focus on a new celebrity host in each episode.

Dead stop at Mariani.

Got to say I'm not on board with the Esquire hate. Even the issues that may be sub-standard overall still have those great Vargas cartoons. And Gilbert Seldes' column on "The Lively Arts" is always intelligent & thought-provoking.

boudreaulicious wrote:Dead stop at Mariani.

Where's that "Like" button? Agreed for sure.

+1 Is all we have, I suppose.

I thought most of his comments were spot on. His take on Grace mirrors my reaction completely (see my comments in the Grace thread). Agree with his take on Lee Wolen at the Penninsula. Thanks for the link!