food film at facets continues through november

anyone free tonight or thursday night should dash over to facets multimedia and see a very funny film about an infamous new york restaurant, shopsins, and its eccentric, vulgar owner, kenny shopsin. he discourages new customers, yells at old ones and provides a menu of over 900 items out of a closet sized kitchen. a really remarkable film. if i need a disclaimer here, i'm a volunteer at facets. believe me, you'll be happy if you go. the film is at 7 and 8:45 pm. admission for non members is $9. parking is EASY. facets is at 1517 w. fullerton.

I have no doubt that this is an interesting film, and one I would like to see, but EASY parking on Fullerton....come on. I can't buy that (unless there's some secret parking lot for Facets that I am not aware of).

hi steve, truly, parking is easy on fullerton or the side streets. these are not permit parking only streets, as they are closer to the lake. i usually park on the little north/south street just west of facets and east of ashland, or right in front of the walgreens. one hint, parking on the south side is harder than on the north side. if i'm lyin', i'm dyin'. just joan

Does anyone know if this movie is based on the Calvin Trillin Greenwich Village restaurant owner who frequently mentioned in The Tummy Trilogy?

jygach wrote:Does anyone know if this movie is based on the Calvin Trillin Greenwich Village restaurant owner who frequently mentioned in The Tummy Trilogy?

Yes.

Well, I have to testify: justjoan was right both about ease of parking on Fullerton and about the movie, itself.

Last night at 8:00, I parked about fifty feet from the entrance to Facets. I then happily ambled across the street to Sweets & Savories, sans reservation, to grab a quick something before the show at 8:45.

Bummer! Chef David Richards & company were in the midst of serving their monthly wine tasting dinner to the entire house, so there was nothing available a-la-carte, not even a dessert. Even so, major-domo Paul graciously offered me a complimentary drink at the bar, which he followed-up with a complimentary plate of Kumamoto oysters! So, the evening's one disappointment was quickly mitigated by Paul's hospitality, wedged into the middle of a busy time for him and the other staff.

The movie, I like Killing Flies, was funny, witty and as off-color as promised. The hole-in-the-wall restaurant's owner, Kenny Shopsin, is a raunchy curmudgeon-blend of Jerry Garcia and Brillat-Savarin with red suspenders instead of a white toque. After watching Shopsin philosophize on life while intimately manhandling a bunch of appetizing dishes into existence, I of course I left the theatre hungry. So at 10pm, per the suggestion of Patrick behind the S&S bar, I found myself at 1647 N. Milwaukee (again parking free, this time at the car wash next door) at Chef David's other eatery, Barcello's.

I had the place exclusively to myself. I began by selecting two app's--Marinated Bocconcini with Sundried Tomato (mozzarella balls); and Polenta con Fungi e Gorgonzola (a creamy polenta with sauteed wild mushrooms, fresh basil and gorgonzola.) The warm, unctuous, voluptuousness of the polenta topped with gorgonzola was paired and moderated by the fuity acid in sips of freshly-squeezed orange juice.

Those familiar with S&S would have recognized the accompanyiing slices of raisin and fennel bread. Here, they came with a small bowl of herbed melted garlic butter for dipping.

At this point, I had room for only a couple pieces of the cracker crust trattoria-style Duck pizza (Hudson Valley Duck Leg Confit, Braised Fennel and Indiana Goat Cheese)--about 8 inches in diameter--which I capped with a decaf espresso.

Service was friendly and attentive (the waiter is Romanian-Transylvanian, with an accent I initially mistook for Italian--sometimes I can be such a rube!) Total tab, pre-tip, was about $40. I'll be back.

Barcello's is still BYOB, so be advised.


Sweets & Savories
1534 W. Fullerton
Chicago
773.281.6778

Barcello's
1647 N. Milwaukee
Chicago
773.486.8444

--Matt

hey matt, i'm glad you enjoyed the movie ( and i'm happy that someone followed up on my suggestion). i knew about the existence of shopsin's, but in the movie the food looked more interesting and creative than i expected. knowing that kenny produced more than 900 dishes, i thought there'd be a lot of variations on a theme, but that didnt seem to be the case. naturally, i'd have liked to see more about the actual food, but with such an outsized character as kenny, it's not surprising the filmmaker focused more on him.
the night i saw it, i, too, tried to grab a bite at sweet and savories, but i went after the early show and they had just stopped serving at 9. i ended up around the corner on ashland at the lincoln park noodle house. i've been there before, but always forget how fresh and tasty the food is. maybe not cutting edge (a la 'spoon thai'), but even ordinary thai, such as pad thai, is a treat and i think they do a good job there. your duck and goat cheese pizza at the new barcello's sounds fantastic. i look forward sometime to trying that. just joan

I noticed in this week's reader that this film is back at Facets on Saturday and Sunday, one showing at 1 pm each day.

thanks joe for noticing that. i'm a volunteer at facets and didnt even realize we were showing it again. THE GOOD NEWS IS IT WILL BE SHOWN 4 MORE TIMES, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11,12,18 AND 19TH AT 1pm(only). i want to urge everyone who can, to go see this fascinating glimpse of a true eccentric, a guy with a restaurant that produces over 900 different dishes from a kitchen the size of a closet. he has an incredibly foul mouth and terrorizes some of his potential clientele. its very funny. calvin trillin memorialized him in several of his books, but never dared mention kenny shopsin by name until shopsin was forced to move and gave trillin permission to use his name. (he wanted a little publicity at that point for the move)
Shopsin's Rules:
- No cell phone use
- One meal per person minimum (everyone's got to
eat)
- No smoking
- Limit four people per group
On that last point, the menu has something
additional to add (page 4):
Party of Five
you could put a chair at the end
or push the tables together
but dont bother
This banged-up little restaurant
where you would expect no rules at all
has a firm policy against seating
parties of five
And you know you are a party of five
It doesn't matter if one of you
offers to leave or if
you say you could split into
a party of three and a party of two
or if the five of you come back tomorrow
in Richard Nixon masks and try to pretend
that you don't know each other
It won't work: You're a party of five
even if you're a beloved regular

saw this on sun. parking was no problem, it was 1 pm though. good fillm, to bad there was only a handful of people. i always enjoy restaurants are character driven and unique. definetley worth a viewing for foodies.

i'm glad you went alan. tell your friends. it'll be there one more weekend at 1pm. it bewilders me that more people arent going to this. i've done my part by posting repeatedly, it's everyone else's loss if they miss it. justjoan