Table for Two-dining out in Morton Grove

After being in production for the past six weeks or so, the Morton Grove Municipal Channel, (M.G.T.V.), has launched their food series both on cable channels 6 & 99 in Morton Grove and on the village's YouTube channel. The first episode features the newer Indian Food venue on Dempster street, TAVA. For those who do not live in Morton Grove, the program can be viewed by clicking on:

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Upcoming episodes will feature Crazy Jaws; Kappy's Pancake House; Giordano's Pizza; China Chef and many of the smaller ethnic venues in the village, (including a wonderful retro cheeseburger at the Bringer Inn).

The second program in the series is now available on YouTube.

Kappy's restaurant, recently names as one of the top breakfast places in the Chicago area, is proudly called a diner or "joint" by it's owner, George Alpogianis.

The 20+ minute program can be seen at:


If there is a place in Morton Grove that you believe should be featured, drop me a message.

Big fan of China Chef. Looking forward to watching that one!

Pequods and Burts Place are obv choices though Bourdain did Burts.

tortminder wrote:Kappy's restaurant, recently names as one of the top breakfast places in the Chicago area, is proudly called a diner or "joint" by it's owner, George Alpogianis.

I love Kappy's! The food really is very good indeed. One of the things I love about it, not mentioned in the program (although you can infer it at the end), is that George treats everyone like family. Many of the customers are regulars, of course - but we were greeted warmly by George the first time we went, and he remembers us every subsequent time.

The 4th episode in the series is now up on YouTube featuring Giordano's in Morton Grove.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HATnBEgPsic

Just finished taping the program for China Chef this afternoon.

The editing will take a few days.

Peter and Julia, the owners and Jeanene and Dolen the managers could not have been more hospitable...

...and head chef Lide Zhang was very patient with the production crew tramping through his kitchen while his staff was working hard to get orders out quickly and accurately.

The production staff and I got to sample Head on Shrimp...

...the fried chicken skin, (it's not on the menu... you have to ask for it)

...the Pancit Guistado

and the Pine Cone Dover Sole, (which was heavenly)

and many other goodies.

Watch for the program on MGTV, (cable channels 6 and 99 in Morton Grove) and on the Morton Grove YouTube channel at http://www.youtube/user/mortongroveilyt coming in mid February.
Giordano's is currently running and a visit to the Grill at Classic Bowl should go up later this week.

Enjoy!

Hi,

...the fried chicken skin, (it's not on the menu... you have to ask for it)

It is mentioned on the menu as a dish supplied with a banquet, though it is not a line item with a price.

In your interview, I hope you inquired about their connection to a Chinese restaurant in the Philippines or at least that is what I understand from their menu.

Regards,

Cathy2

The connection to the Manila restaurant is covered in the interview, along with many other things. The current owners are the Godchildren of the Fongs. Many of the current employees have been there over 20 years and Jeanene, (one of the managers), has been with the restaurant since it was opened.

All in all it was a fun show to do and I hope that you will find it a fun show to watch.

Episode #5 of Table for Two is now running on MGTV, (Morton Grove Cable channels 6 and 99) and available on the MGTV Youtube channel...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OMDm6tX ... msa8FALjvI



Videotaped between the Christmas and New Years holidays...


it documents a real and retro greasy-spoon joint like you remember from your high school days...



Jim, the owner, is, so far, the only restauranteur I have met who wears a larger size pants than I do...


The Chicago char-dog and double cheeseburger "heart attack on a bun" were worth every calorie they cost me...



Nothing fancy, nothing gourmet but a worthwhile cholesterol challenge located in the Classic Bowl bowling alley on Waukegan Rd in Morton Grove...


Worth a gander on YouTube and worth a Saturday night bowling and burger date with your sweetie.

With the Chinese New Year celebration in full swing, be sure to watch for the MGTV debut of a visit to China Chef restaurant.

Peter and Julia Si, (the co-owners), and their entire staff graciously welcomed the Table for Two crew.

One of the highlights of the visit was when we were allowed into chef Lide Zhang's kitchen to see masters of the Wok performing their culinary magic. The wok is a versatile round-bottomed cooking vessel which originated in China. Its most distinguishing feature is its round shape. Hand-hammered woks are sometimes flipped inside out after being shaped, giving the wok a gentle flare to the edge that makes it easier to push food up onto the sides of the wok.

Wok cooking is done with a long handled chahn (spatula) or hoak (ladle) The long handless of these utensils allow the cook to work with the food without burning the hand.

A few of the dishes we were happy to sample after seeing them prepared were; hand-made gee rolls, Pancit Guisado, Salt and Pepper "head-on" shrimp and "Pine cone Dover Sole.

WARNING: Watching this program will lead to an overwhelming desire to order "Chinese" for dinner! Watch for the premier of China Chef on MGTV's "Table for Two - Dining out in Morton Grove" on Comcast channel 6; U-Verse channel 99 and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDrqOfsn ... msa8FALjvI

HI,

Thanks for linking this video here.

My family chuckled with your comment, "My favorite vegetable is prime rib."

At time marker 11:28, there was a demonstration of their rolling eggrolls. Do you know if they made fresh daily or are they frozen for future use?

Happy New Year!

Regards,

I've long been a fan and proponent of China Chef. I'm going to try to carve out an extra half hour to watch this!

Cathy2 wrote:At time marker 11:28, there was a demonstration of their rolling eggrolls. Do you know if they made fresh daily or are they frozen for future use?

Peter assured me that the egg rolls are made fresh daily. The line cook making the egg rolls is truly an artist. He actually slowed down is movements for the camera so we could see the technique.
The Pancit Guisado is a nice combination of flavors and texture. I still felt a little weird eating the salt and pepper shrimp, (I'm not used to my food watching me as I bite its' little head off and for an occidental, consuming what I am used to using as stock ingredients, [the shrimp shells] was just a bit off-putting.

Old school is defined as anything that refers to a previous generation. Typically, they are highly regarded and sometimes the very thing that started it all.

Morton Grove is lucky in the fact that we have a number of "old school" pizza establishments. One of these is Nano's located at 5906 Lincoln.


Until about 1830, pizza was sold from open-air stands and out of pizza bakeries. The first "official" pizzeria in America was founded by Gennaro Lombardi in Little Italy, Manhattan. Lombardi opened a grocery store in 1897 which was later established as the first pizzeria in America.

An employee of his, Antonio Totonno Pero, began making pizza for the store to sell that same year. The price for a pizza was five cents but, since many people could not afford the cost of a whole pie, they would instead say how much they could afford to pay and they were given a slice corresponding to the amount offered.

Pizza was introduced to Chicago by a peddler who walked up and down Taylor Street with a metal washtub of pizzas on his head, crying his wares at two cents a chew. This was the traditional way pizza used to be sold in Naples, in copper cylindrical drums with false bottoms that were packed with charcoal from the oven to keep the pizzas hot. The name of the pizzeria was embossed on the drum.

Nano's may not have the copper drum, and a slice will cost you more that 2 cents a chew, but Chris and Vicky Nano keep many of the old traditions alive today. They make their own dough from scratch; they fresh grind their beef and pork and the meatballs and Italian sausage is made "in house" from their own recipes. Attention to detail and the old school pride of craftsmanship is evident in every dish that comes from their kitchen.


A visit to Nano's by "Table for Two-dining out in Morton Grove" is currently running on MGTV cable channel 6, (Comcast) and cable channel 99, (UVerse) in Morton Grove. If you live out of town, you can view the program on the Morton Grove YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmDDPfWwEnw&list=UU1l6enhk3oDaUiflUjEwQaA&index=4&feature=plcp


Stop in and enjoy a slice.

"Chicago-style" Tube Steaks
There are over 1800 "Hot Dog Joints" in the Chicago metropolitan area... more than all the McDonalds, Burger Kings and Wendy's outlets combined. One of the proud Morton Grove examples of this genre is Nicky Nolo's located at 9402 Waukegan Rd.

Nick Nolo and his chef Brian Miller have quite the culinary resume. Nick owned and operated two pizzarias in the Carribean before locting in Morton Grove while Brian has taught cooking and been in catering for over 20 years.

The Chicago-style dog that is served at Nicky Nolo's got it's start in 1929 when greengrocer Jake Drexler who had a vegetable stand in the old Chicago Maxwell Street Market, decided that his son, Abe Drexler, needed an occupation. Jake converted the family vegetable stand into a hot dog stand and created the "Chicago-style" dog by using the fresh produce to dress up the sandwich. Thus, Abe, "Flukey" Drexler began peddling the "Depression sandwich" for a price of 5 cents each, and a Chicago tradition was born.

The two most critical parts of a "Chicago dog" are the sausage and the bun. Traditionally, "Chicago-style" hot dogs are served on a MaryAnn or Rosens high-gluten, (to hold up to the steam warming), poppyseed bun. Wimpy buns do not make for great "Chicago-style" hot dogs.

The banquet on a bun requires a fine frankfurter at it's core. That means a snappy, Kosher-style, beef hot dog. Snap is that distinctive bite that comes from a natural casing hot dog rather than a skiness frank. The natural casing helps give the dog that essential "snap" and burst of flavorful juicyness when you bite in. Arguably, the best "Kosher-style" beef hot dogs come from Vienna Beef or Red Hot Chicago, two companies that are run by descendants of the original Ladny-Reichl families that introduced hotdogs to Chicago on pushcarts during the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in the 1890's.

To see the creation of a true "Chicago-style" hot dog, served on a MaryAnn poppyseed bun and dressed with the traditional yellow mustard, chopped white onion, electric-green pickle relish, sliced tomato, new dill pickle slice, sport peppers and a shake of celery salt, (as well as a traditional "Maxwell Street Polish", a "Texas Burger" and other Nicky Nolo's specialties, watch the Nicky Nolo's episode on MGTV "Table for Two" currently running on Comcast cable channel 6; or UVerse channel 99 in Morton grove, or on the Morton Grove YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOfBFls8Puk&list=UU1l6enhk3oDaUiflUjEwQaA&index=1&feature=plcp

Mexican Street Food in Morton Grove
Mexican food is the third most complex cuisine in the world and the first example of fusion cooking.

The verb "antojar" can be explained in several ways: it can simply mean to feel like, as in "I feel like eating Mexican food tonight"; or it can be stronger and more forceful, as in "I crave" or "I long for" Mexican food. I prefer this second, more dynamic definition, which somehow seems to encompass the whole concept of Mexican street food.

There is no real, legitimate and literary translation for the word "antojitos". A quick investigation in two separate dictionaries has come up with "typical Mexican snacks, usually bought at street stands" and "Mexican appetizers", both of which are absolutely correct but fail miserably to convey the true essence of antojitos and the role they play in every day Mexican life.

A brief trawl through the kitchen of El Sol restaurant has come up with considerably more inspired and imaginative suggestions: MGTV Table for Two treating our viewers to a feast of Mexican street food such as Tacos, Burritos, Shrimp Diablo, home made guacamole and tamales.sudden cravings, hankerings, little whims or fancies - all of which evoke gastronomic pleasure and spontaneity. Muy bien!