Sunday 1/21 Iron Chef Cantu vs. Morimoto

Edit: Scroll down for subsequent post with all the details for the event

An event is in the planning stages for those who are interested in watching Chicago's own Chef Homaro Cantu battle Chef Masaharu Morimoto on Iron Chef America Sunday Night. The battle airs at 8PM on the Food Network.
We will gather to watch and cheer on the home team. This thread has a related discussion. Details to be posted as soon as available.
Josephine

Where? I'm in.

7:30 PM Sunday 1/21 (airtime 8PM Central)
Nelly's Saloon 3256 North Elston (773)588-4494

Thanks to GWiv for his suggestion. We are now on!

Nelly's is a favorite of Chicago's Romanian community and has a giant rear-projection TV in the dining room. Nelly herself will arrange for the cable to be connected there, so we can spread out a bit-- it's already available in the bar now. Nelly's will host us and we can order some of the Romanian greatest hits menu that ReneG has written about. These include mititei (like cevapcici), mamaliga cu brinza (polenta with feta-like Romanian farmer cheese), eggplant salad, sarmale (stuffed cabbage) and other items. Romanian wines (but no Romanian beers, just the standards) are available. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this location on Elston, it is in the same block of N. Francisco as Kuma's Corner.

The present group includes the following confirmed participants as well as a number of others who have indicated interest. Please post or PM me. I will update the list as it grows.

jazzfood 3
nr706 2
Cathy2 1
Josephine 3
G Wiv 1
MsWiv 1
GAF 1
germuska 1 definite maybe
Giovanna 1
TonyC 1
mhl 1
Stagger 1

I'll join in: Molecular Roumanian food - what a treat!

Put me down as a definite maybe.

I'm interested, too, so please count me in.

--Matt

I'll do my best to make it

I'm sorry to say I will be unable to attend.

I'm taking SteveZ's "maybe" slot

I have afternoon plans that should wrap up in time so that I can be there to cheer on the home team.

If you don't mind some spoilers, this week's TOC has a pretty thorough recounting of Team Moto's trip to Kitchen Stadium, stopping just shy of revealing the winner (but really, just shy -- so if you prize suspense or surprise, don't read it!)

We will be 16 or 17 people, then, and perhaps a few stragglers. All are welcome, so please just show up if you can. I got a very nice pm from Chef Cantu thanking us for our support, which was a big thrill for this fan.
GO TEAM CANTU!!!

I had held off on reading the TOC article, and The Wife and I were shocked (and thrilled) when Team Cantu took the title...seemed like the tide of commentary was turning against him near the end (though Steingarden was apparently a fan).

Must have been pandemonium at Nelly's...LTH's version of the SuperBowl.

A good day for Chicago.

Winner!

An idea came to me:

Would anyone be interested if we asked Team Cantu to recreate the Beet Meal one night (either just for us, or for everyone)?

BRAVO Chef Cantu!!! Can we get an encore?

GAF wrote:An idea came to me:

Would anyone be interested if we asked Team Cantu to recreate the Beet Meal one night (either just for us, or for everyone)?

Great idea, Gary. LTH may not be the only audience for this idea.

What a thrill to see Team Cantu win! Of course, they edit the judges' comments to create maximum suspense. But I knew Morimoto was sweating when he broke out the truffle. (It's a dead give-away in the Japanese series.) At the same time, I think Morimoto showed humility and flexibility by adopting some newer techniques that might have otherwise been the province of Chef Cantu. Overall, I was amazed at the level of detail that Team Cantu pulled off in the time allotted. Clearly, they were prepared, cool, and focused. I've seen lots of other brilliant chefs blow it in the timing on the original Iron Chef series. Not Cantu! The only thing amiss for me was in the judging. How could the judges score Morimoto higher for creativity? To me, that was no contest. Still, it's kinda cool that Cantu won on taste, since it obliterates any charge that the appeal in his cuisine lies in gimmicks. My dining experience at Moto was satisfying due to the most subtly considered taste themes I have yet to experience. And I laughed a lot, too. My big guffaw last night was for the legal language on the printed maki. ':lol:'

Thanks to the diehard 18 who showed up after the Bears Game on a snowy Sunday to cheer on the home team. In spite of some technical problems with the sound, we had a good time eating Nelly's stick-to-your-ribs Romanian food. Nelly and her staff couldn't have been more gracious and welcoming. I hope Gary will post some pics of the evening for those who missed it.

Thank you, Josephine, for arranging the event which was a lot of fun. If you're only going to watch one Iron Chef in your life, this is the episode to watch, because it's very interesting to see the technology behind the food (and how fearless Cantu is about handling liquid nitrogen, lasers, etc.) And as Josephine said, it's great that they won on taste as well as the other stuff (though coming out a point behind on creativity was unfathomable). Really fun and it was great watching it while having, as G Wiv said, pretty much the anti-Moto meal, all-white traditional Romanian food.

Mike G wrote: Really fun and it was great watching it while having, as G Wiv said, pretty much the anti-Moto meal, all-white traditional Romanian food.

I'd like to see what Chef Cantu could do with the Romanian ingredients. Perhaps mamaliga packing peanuts with brinza ice cream? Or inside-out sarmale rolls with printed edible paper wrappers?

Several people commented that the Romanian wines they had (Mufatalar and Jidvei brands) were much better than anticipated. Actually, Romania has traditionally made very good white wines, but now reds are being introduced. The price point in stores is very reasonable-- at Devon Market they have a good selection of Romanian brands, mostly priced under $9. (I have seen some at $5.99). Give 'em a try.

G Wiv wrote:Winner!

A restrained, yet beatific smile....

Quick note to echo congratulations to Homaro & company, and to thank Josephine for coordinating this fun.
Like GAF, I also would be interested in some form of a Beet Recapitulation/Celebration by "Team Josephine, et al." at Team Moto's.*

--Matt

* With or without Cathy2's ancillary Roadkill Raccoon, as appropriate.

Hi,

Raccoon will be available after Saturday, so be careful what you wish for!

Great meal Josephine made even better by your restraint in passing up the French fries offered multiple times. It had a real authentic feel. Unexpected was the pineapple (the symbol of hospitality) with skewered cheese bits surrounded by cones of meat and cheese. It was obvious the management appreciated our presence.

Thanks, again!

Regards,

Lets do this. Give me some dates, times, and cover counts to work with. I think we need a transmogrification series dinner. We can go nuts on this one. Oh yeah, thank you all for the support over the years. You are my favorite customers, yes I do pick favorites. I still have the LTH forum plaque hanging in my kitchen.

Thanks for for supporting us, the ride has only begun.

-Homaro and the entire team-

Josephine wrote:Nelly and her staff couldn't have been more gracious and welcoming.

Josephine,

Nelly was gracious, food substantial, delicious and plentiful. We even had a lovely pineapple centerpiece.


Starters included terrific eggplant salad, which may have been, next to the mititei, my favorite of the evening.


Fried kascaval cheese.


Mixed vegetable salad.


Pickled green tomato and red pepper were a nice counterpoint to the rich foods. Oddly, this is the exact combination served at Myron and Phil's in Lincolnwood.



Sarmale (stuffed cabbage) was served with small pieces of long simmered pork hock for added richness and flavor.


I quite the fan of Mititei, in all of its forms and variations.


The only slight problem of the evening was we simply did not have enough Mamaliga (polenta w/grated cheese and sour cream) to go around.

Mamaliga (1 of 4 large bowls)


A well managed plate. Please note house made bread.


I particularly enjoyed the Nutella filled dessert crepes.


A very nice evening, thanks Josephine for the preplanning, that kind of unseen effort certainly makes for a smooth event, no matter the venue.

Cheers to Chef Cantu



GAF, urbane springs to mind.


Enjoy,
Gary

Myron and Phil
3900 W Devon
Lincolnwood, IL
847-677-6663
http://www.myronandphils.com

Cartoonist watched Iron Chef:

http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=01262007