Suburban restaurants kicked out of the Taste of Chicago

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2 ... 10.article

LAZ wrote:http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2167190,daley-taste-of-chicago-041610.article

Love that writer's prose stylings. "Stuff their faces;" "park their fannies." Makes the event sound really appealing.

This is especially confusing after this story:

Let city teachers live in suburbs

Invite teachers living outside of the city in to teach in the public schools, sure. Invite small businesses from outside the city to feed the tourists, no way. I know one's the Senate and the other a city bureau, but it seems like we're struggling with the concept of "Chicagoland" at the moment. Da Mayor has a consistent position on things, at least.

bibi rose wrote:Love that writer's prose stylings. "Stuff their faces;" "park their fannies." Makes the event sound really appealing.

The truth hurts.

There's so much wrong here, I don't even know where to start but of course, I'll try.

1) Taste of Chicago is a complete abomination and a parody of itself. Those who attend get exactly what they deserve: they actually have to spend time at Taste of Chicago. That anyone would choose for this themselves is unimaginable to me. I'd have to lose a bet -- or be forced at gunpoint -- to end up there.

2) It's fairly clear that sensible people already don't attend this event. Yet, millions of people do attend each year, so I don't think any new development is going curtail attendance very much, if at all. Rational human beings already avoid this event and have done so for years.

3) The article states that "Five suburban restaurant failed to come into compliance [by not establishing locations in the city]." Who in their right mind (see points 1 and 2 above) could possibly care about these 5 restaurants, other than the people who own them?

4) On a more theoretical level, do people really attend this event with the goal of eating food from places they already patronize with regularity? In other words, do suburbanites really care if suburban restaurants are not present at Taste of Chicago? After all, isn't this their big chance to try food from various places in the city without having to venture into the "scary" neighborhoods? Are these the same people who travel out of town and then eat at Applebee's or Outback Steakhouse?

Gah! I can't believe I even spent this much time thinking about this . . .

=R=

Because the link posted above will eventually expire, here are a couple brief sections of the article:

Fran Spielman @ The Sun Times wrote:Sloughing off the threat of a suburban boycott, Mayor Daley today defiantly defended the city’s decision to ban suburban restaurants from Taste of Chicago.

“It’s called Taste of Chicago — not Morton Grove. Simple as that. A lot of vendors in Chicago are suffering. ... Those that exist in Chicago and pay real estate tax and sales tax” here deserve a break, Daley said.

“It’s common sense. We work with suburban people all the time — businesses and restaurants. But, in something like this, it was very important to the local restaurants, many of whom are suffering.”

Fran Spielman @ The Sun Times wrote:“Why should people from the suburbs go down to Chicago if they’re not gonna let suburban restaurants participate?” said Kathleen Gits, owner of Aunt Diana’s Old Fashioned Fudge in Riverside.

Is Daley concerned about a suburban boycott driving down attendance?

“No. I don’t think so. Food is food,” he said.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:1) Taste of Chicago is a complete abomination and a parody of itself. Those who attend get exactly what they deserve: they actually have to spend time at Taste of Chicago. That anyone would choose for this themselves is unimaginable to me. I'd have to lose a bet -- or be forced at gunpoint -- to end up there.

I'm guessing you have been lucky enough to not have out-of-town guests during that magic week....That's the only reason I've ever gone, the Taste is like molasses for tourists.

ronnie_suburban wrote:2) It's fairly clear that sensible people already don't attend this event. Yet, millions of people do attend each year, so I don't think any new development is going curtail attendance very much, if at all. Rational human beings already avoid this event and have done so for years.

Just as our miserable winters make us really, really appreciate spring in a way that people in San Diego never could, the reason to attend Taste every twenty years or so is that it makes you really, really appreciate not attending Taste in a way that people who never attend Taste never could.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:1) Taste of Chicago is a complete abomination and a parody of itself. Those who attend get exactly what they deserve: they actually have to spend time at Taste of Chicago. That anyone would choose for this themselves is unimaginable to me. I'd have to lose a bet -- or be forced at gunpoint -- to end up there.

I'm guessing you have been lucky enough to not have out-of-town guests during that magic week....That's the only reason I've ever gone, the Taste is like molasses for tourists.

LOL! If I were hosting visitors, I'd give them a map, put them on the train and wish them all the best.

Back in 2005, I actually went (the things we do for our kids!) and tried to approach the entire experience as nothing more than a day in the park with the family, at which food was incidentally being served. We went during the week, took public transportation, got there right when it opened and had the benefit of sunny, breezy, 70-degree weather. There were no lines and we got to taste everything we wanted. It was about as pleasant as Taste could possibly be. I've had zero desire to return.

riddlemay wrote:Just as our miserable winters make us really, really appreciate spring in a way that people in San Diego never could, the reason to attend Taste every twenty years or so is that it makes you really, really appreciate not attending Taste in a way that people who never attend Taste never could.

Wise words, my friend. Wise words. If I'm still alive in 2025, I'll consider attending.

=R=

Rational human beings already avoid this event and have done so for years.

I've visited ToC for almost all of its 30 years, and I've tried to approach it "rationally"; i.e, I've timed it carefully (and as a result have never waited for more than a minute or two for anything), I've selected carefully (basically, if you wouldn't order it in a cafeteria, don't order it here), I've had some stuff I've liked, had some stuff I haven't liked, experimented with stuff I wouldn't ordinarily eat, and had a chance to taste products from places I may not have a chance to get to. All in all, it's usually a satisfying enough communal experience, altho I suppose if I approached it "irrationally" (Hey, since it's July 3 and 90 degrees; let's take the SUV and the neighbor's kids down into the Loop and see the fireworks and visit ToC and grab some fried food and brewskies), I'd find it to be a somewhat less than pleasant experience..

jbw wrote:

Rational human beings already avoid this event and have done so for years.

I've visited ToC for almost all of its 30 years, and I've tried to approach it "rationally"; i.e, I've timed it carefully (and as a result have never waited for more than a minute or two for anything), I've selected carefully (basically, if you wouldn't order it in a cafeteria, don't order it here), I've had some stuff I've liked, had some stuff I haven't liked, experimented with stuff I wouldn't ordinarily eat, and had a chance to taste products from places I may not have a chance to get to. All in all, it's usually a satisfying enough communal experience, altho I suppose if I approached it "irrationally" (Hey, since it's July 3 and 90 degrees; let's take the SUV and the neighbor's kids down into the Loop and see the fireworks and visit ToC and grab some fried food and brewskies), I'd find it to be a somewhat less than pleasant experience..

I find most of the restaurants at Taste uninteresting and fairly easy to access. I also think it has devolved into an experience where too many of the participating eateries just serve overpriced items that are festival-friendly and don't have very much to do with their regular menus. Of course, there are exceptions but based on my last experience at Taste, not nearly enough to justify the effort required.

=R=

riddlemay wrote:the reason to attend Taste every twenty years or so is that it makes you really, really appreciate not attending Taste in a way that people who never attend Taste never could.

wow, that's a mouthful and a conundrum, wrapped in paradox, inside an enigma!

I had a gig with my kiddies for about ten years at the late lamented Fox stage. It was fun as a gig, stage was good, sound system fabulous, crowds big and appeciative. But after it was over we split. The only good thing I ever got out of the taste was an introduction to Billy Goat's cheeseburgers.

I’ve never been to ToC and I’ll probably never go just because I despise large crowds of sweaty people crammed into a small area. I used to go see the fireworks on the 4th but we went by boat, which was a lot of fun except for the sunburn the next day.