Wait a minute, you can get a kimchi taco at Courtright's?

ld111134 wrote:

HungryZ wrote:While I agree Vettel is generous in many of his reviews, is he truly that far off the mark? Who is he trying to appeal to? There are the 5% hardcore foodies out there who seek absolute perfection and will voice their opinion about anything less. Then there is the majority of food lovers/diners who are looking for a nice evening out and to be able to enjoy a great meal. Have I visited his newest 4 star restaurant, no. Would I enjoy it as much as Vettel? Maybe. We on this forum are the extreme food lovers and are probably in the minority when it comes to Mr. Vettel's readers.

Then again I could be wrong

I don't think it's simply a matter of Vettel catering to a middlebrow, non-foodie audience. Vettel is bad when compared other restaurant critics in Chicago (Heather Shouse and David Tamarkin at Time Out Chicago, Dennis Ray Wheaton and Jeff Ruby of Chicago magazine, David Hammond at the Chicago Reader and even Vettel's colleague at the Tribune Kevin Pang). Furthermore, the quality of other criticism elsewhere in the Tribune in quite high (Michael Phillips on film, Chris Jones on Theatre, Blair Kamin on architecture, Greg Kot on pop music, John van Rhein on classical music, Howard Reich on jazz - whether you agree with them or not, they are all knowledgeable and passionate about their subjects, qualities that Vettel sorely lacks).

"Phil Vettel, the Chicago Tribune’s dining critic, was once Zagat’s Chicago editor."
--from Dish 6/30/10

A plus or a minus for Phil's skills?

What is "Dish"?

Darren72 wrote:What is "Dish"?

It's a weekly email update from Penny Pollack and others at Chicago Magazine -- well worth subscribing to: www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/New ... r-Sign-up/

Sula has written about the kimchee taco at Taco Chino in The Reader, and Nagrant wrote about it on his blog. Someone upthread commented on all the local critics presumably more skilled than Phil Vettel, and someone else added Sula to the list. That's what I was responding to.

Katie wrote:Sula has written about the kimchee taco at Taco Chino in The Reader, and Nagrant wrote about it on his blog. Someone upthread commented on all the local critics presumably more skilled than Phil Vettel, and someone else added Sula to the list. That's what I was responding to.

Still don't get it. What does the kimchi taco stuff have to do with their skill or knowledge?

And what does it have to do with Courtright's?

What to you call a person that is a Critic of a Critic?

How many stars would Phil get for this review?

GAF, not about Courtright's at all, because this thread has become about Phil Vettel.

Eatchicago, my point was, for a very short time the kimchee taco at Taco Chino was all the shiznit because a couple of prominent local food critics had given it big thumbs up, and suddenly, people were posting here that they'd tried it and were disappointed. So if you don't agree with a professional critic, are you the idiot? Or is he? Or neither, or both? Can't think how to make it much clearer than that.

Katie wrote:GAF, not about Courtright's at all, because this thread has become about Phil Vettel.

Eatchicago, my point was, for a very short time the kimchee taco at Taco Chino was all the shiznit because a couple of food critics had given it big thumbs up, and suddenly, people were posting here that they'd tried it and were disappointed. So if you don't agree with a professional critic, are you the idiot? Or is he? Or neither, or both? Can't think how to make it much clearer than that.

Whether or not you agree with a critic's opinion can, and should, exist independently of whether or not you think they possess reasonable critical skills or knowledge. I disagreed with Mike Sula's assessment of the kimchi taco, for example (a fact that could have had everything to do with the inconsistencies of restaurants), yet it casts no doubt on my belief that Mr. Sula is a knowledgeable and skilled critic. Furthermore, I am a film fan and I read many, many film reviews. Some of my favorite critics are writers that I disagree with frequently.

The argument being about Mr. Vettel, started by ld111134, had to do with his passion and knowledge for the subject he critiques (a fight I am not on either side of, I rarely read Mr. Vettel). GAF doesn't take a side here either, he simply provides a direct counterpoint to Mr. Vettel's four-star review of Courtright's, another side in a debate.

In short, I find your analogy off the mark. No one is "the idiot" in a disagreement on taste. Furthermore, taste exists independently of knowledge, passion, or skill.

Best,
Michael

The first line of my post, to GAF, was only in response to his question, what does this have to do with Courtright's?

eatchicago wrote:In short, I find your analogy off the mark. No one is "the idiot" in a disagreement on taste. Furthermore, taste exists independently of knowledge, passion, or skill.

Michael, I like Taco Chino's kimchi taco, you do not. Life is a series of absolutes, one of us must be wrong, possibly even an "idiot".

The actual wording was "... catering to a middlebrow, non-foodie audience... bad when compared [to] other restaurant critics in Chicago ... whether you agree with them or not, they are all knowledgeable and passionate about their subjects, qualities that Vettel sorely lacks."

G Wiv wrote:

eatchicago wrote:In short, I find your analogy off the mark. No one is "the idiot" in a disagreement on taste. Furthermore, taste exists independently of knowledge, passion, or skill.

Michael, I like Taco Chino's kimchi taco, you do not. Life is a series of absolutes, one of us must be wrong, possibly even an "idiot".

The taco was fine, but I have no problem being called an idiot. I must be, since I still have no idea what this thread is about.

Michael, I didn't call you or anyone else an idiot. I disagree with ld1111134 calling Phil Vettel, basically, an idiot.

Since the previous thread on Courtright's seemed to derail, I started this new thread. Mods: please feel free to merge it to the previous thread if you do not agree.

I was there this past weekend and was looking forward to it. I will post some pictures and details about the dishes later. Overall I was underwhelmed if not disappointed. We had the 5 course (summer) truffle degustation menu and while all dishes were good, with some highlight and lowlights, none was outstanding. Portioning was off, I had just had a light brunch but was getting full by the end of the second course. The service was half pretentious, half unprofessional. We were asked a couple of times, if we wanted something to drink before dinner, even though we had already said we would probably do the wine pairing. We were served a consome with no spoons on the table, but thats no big deal at all. What I find amusing is that all our waiters were so cold and distant for the whole time, and then our waiter out of the blue came to take the rest of my unfinished 4th (and main course) and commented on how she wasnt surprised we didnt finish it because we were "such little people". Really, really?

Courtright's reminds me a lot of Les Nomades, with Les Nomades being much better. The garden is very charming but the whole experience is totally not worth the drive there. I am not sure why this place got such high reviews.

Courtright’s Restaurant
8989 Archer Avenue
Willow Springs, IL 60480
708-839-8000
http://www.courtrights.com

x

Courtright's, the four-star restaurant in the south suburbs (8989 Archer Ave. Willow Springs), will serve its last meal on New Year's Eve.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/ ... 3966.story

Dave148 wrote:

Courtright's, the four-star restaurant in the south suburbs (8989 Archer Ave. Willow Springs), will serve its last meal on New Year's Eve.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/ ... 3966.story

Never been. Should one go?

Though I have enjoyed the meals I have had there (and the wine is terrific), I feel the atmosphere is stuck in the 90s. Though beautiful, it feels dated. The decor is over the top fussy. The view from the dining room is very nice. It just doesn't feel like 2013 when you eat there (something Tallgrass, at least in their upper dining room, does). I say go to Tallgrass instead.