In+1 please

Requested:
Cathy2
pairs4life's +1
2Utah2 +1
Santander's +1
stevez's +1
Lerdawg
turkob's +1
mgmcewen +1
mbh
-11-

Confirmed LTHers:
turkob
boudreaulicious
RAB +1
Santander (1)
The GP +1
stevez (1)
ronnie_suburban +1
dicksond
JoelF +1
pairs4life (1)
nr706 +1
leek +1
edc +1
DClose +1
Darren72
Jean Blanchard +1
glennpan
milz50 +1
fropones +1
Teresa
laikom
-32-

Confirmed Honorees:
Ward Eight - 5
Sanabel Bakery - 2
-7-

GNR Hosts:
Edzo's - Eddie Lakin
J.P. Graziano Grocery - Jim Graziano
-2-

=R=

2 please

1 please.

In for me and laikom.

In other news, I'm celebrating my 100th post! Woo!

♪ヽ( ⌒o⌒)人(⌒-⌒ )v ♪

Requested:
Cathy2
David Hammond
2Utah2 +1
Santander's +1
Lerdawg
turkob's +1
-7-

Confirmed LTHers:
turkob
boudreaulicious
RAB +1
Santander (1)
The GP +1
stevez +1
ronnie_suburban +1
dicksond +1
JoelF +1
pairs4life +1
nr706 +1
leek +1
edc +1
DClose +1
Darren72
Jean Blanchard +1
glennpan
milz50 +1
fropones +1
Teresa
laikom
mgmcewen +1
mbh +1
GAF
-40-

Confirmed Honorees:
Ward Eight - 5
Sanabel Bakery - 2
Big Guys Sausage Stand - 2
Uncle John's BBQ - 3
Fat Rice - 2
-14-

GNR Hosts:
Edzo's - Eddie Lakin
J.P. Graziano Grocery - Jim Graziano
-2-

Assorted Media:
-6-

=R=

1 please.

Apologies for not chiming in sooner.

Is it possible to get a press pass for LoganSquarist.com?

If there are still tickets, I would like one.

I'm bringing a friend, so I'm now a +1.

I had a satisfying evening at the 2013 GNR Awards Dinner, but this year (back in late January), I booked myself into Tokyo, Japan for Tokyo Beer Week 2014, which is 13-20 April. I will have a few more things I want to do in Tokyo & Yokohama, so I won't be back in the U.S.A. until the 26th.
I congratulate this year's LTH GNR recipients.

pudgym29 wrote: I had a satisfying evening at the 2013 GNR Awards Dinner, but this year (back in late January), I booked myself into Tokyo, Japan for Tokyo Beer Week 2014, which is 13-20 April. I will have a few more things I want to do in Tokyo & Yokohama, so I won't be back in the U.S.A. until the 26th.
I congratulate this year's LTH GNR recipients.

We'll miss you. Have fun!

Separately, if there's anyone who has requested tickets and has not yet received the information for purchasing them, please let me know.

Thanks,

=R=

Requested:
2Utah2 +1
-2-

Confirmed LTHers:
turkob +1
boudreaulicious
RAB +1
Santander +1
The GP +1
stevez +1
ronnie_suburban +1
dicksond +1
JoelF +1
pairs4life +1
nr706 +1
leek +1
edc +1
DClose +1
Darren72
Jean Blanchard +1
glennpan
Pigmon
trixie-pea
milz50 +1
fropones +1
Teresa
laikom
mgmcewen +1
mbh +1
GAF
nukegirl
Lerdawg
David Hammond
-47-

Confirmed Honorees:
Ward Eight - 5
Sanabel Bakery - 2
Big Guys Sausage Stand - 2
Uncle John's BBQ - 3
Fat Rice - 2
Rainbow Thai - 3
Rand Redhots - 2
-20-

GNR Hosts:
Edzo's - Eddie Lakin
J.P. Graziano Grocery - Jim Graziano
-2-

Assorted Media:
-9-

=R=

We are ready to go and looking forward to a terrific event!

Just a couple of quick reminders:

1) It's a cash bar tomorrow night and we do mean cash--Bar DeVille doesn't accept credit cards. They do have an ATM on site though in case you need it.

2) Parking may be quite challenging--please consider public transportation or carpooling--and be careful about the neighborhood parking restrictions.

Here is the final menu for Taste of the GNRs--so let your eating strategy planning commence:

DINNER

Tac Quick (2005) Grilled Pork Neck Salad, Crispy En Choy, Fresh Spring Rolls*

Johnnie’s Beef (2006) Italian Beef and Sausage mini-sandwiches with sweet and hot peppers

Smak Tak (2008) Pierogies (mushroom & sauerkraut*, cheese & potato*)

Graziano’s (2009) Mr G subs, Artichoke subs*, Giardiniera

Kabul House (2011) Sabzi* (spinach, garlic & onion), Banjan* (roasted baby eggplant & tomato) and Kadu* (sauteed & baked baby pumpkin cooked in honey & spices, Vegetarian Aushak* (scallion & leek filled dumplings cooked in spices and topped with vegetarian lentil sauce), lima bean rice*

Lao Hunan (2012) Jade Tofu*, Tai Gan*, Fu Qi Fei Pian, Hunan Chilis with Black Beans*

Dancen (2013) Fire Chicken

*Vegetarian

DESSERT

Old Fashioned Donuts (2007) Apple Fritters

Edzo’s (2011) Mini-Shakes

Thanks to the GNR committee volunteers, as well as milz50 and mbh, who are picking up food and helping with set up!

Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!

Man, I can't wait!

Very excited for tonight. It should be a great time and the menu looks awesome. Dessert alone is going to be legendary.

I do want to let everyone know that we are completely maxed out on attendance, so if you haven't already purchased a ticket (or tickets), we're sorry but we won't be able to let you into the event.

Thanks -- see you all tonight!

=R=

I am still stuffed. What a fantastic event!

Kudos to the organizers. I just can't decide what flavor those kudos should be.

Lao Hunan stewed chilis over Johnnie's Beef and sausage forever, yo.

Always so much fun to plan events for this group--the joy and enthusiasm that everyone expresses during and after make it really rewarding

My favorite part of the night, after the cheering and celebration for our new inductees, was, definitely, hearing about everyone's favorite unique food combos. In addition to Matt's pairing, I heard Jade Tofu & Johnny's hot peppers, Graziano's giardinaire on grilled pork neck salad and, my own personal favorite, crumbled apple fritters in Edzo's salted caramel bourbon shake.

Thanks to everyone who contributed--and to Bar DeVille for being a terrific host. It was a great night!!!

Arghh... what I forgot to do was a head-to-head comparison of Johnnie's and Graziano's giardinara.

I echo the praise for a great evening and a special thanks to boudreaulicious for doing such a great job of organizing the food and space. The left hand milk stout shake from edzo was no slouch either.

Sounds like a blast

AlekH wrote:Sounds like a blast

Oh yeah, it was.

Big thanks, to everyone who made the event such an enjoyable one, especially Jen for her amazing menu and event planning. Thanks also, to the rest of the committee members and all the other LTHers who volunteered their time, made pickups and provided logistical support. Thanks, Onur, for doing such a great job running the GNR program. You made this cycle a true joy. Brad, Luke and Ryan at Bar DeVille also deserve a big round of applause. They were great hosts. Ed Lakin -- very cool of you to spend the evening with us and create those spectacular shakes. Many, many thanks to you, too.

Here are a few shots of from the event . . .


turkob, Brendan O'Connor of Big Guys Sausage Stand and Santander



leekman, Abraham Conlon and Adrienne Lo of Fat Rice and leek



Watching The Presentation



Pramote, laikom and Wan Pen of Rainbow Thai Cuisine (well, not laikom )



turkob and the owners of Rand Redhots



turkob, Garry Kennebrew and his crew from Uncle John's BBQ -- including Aja and pitmaster Darrick -- and glennpan



Anne, Cody, Pedro, Anders and Matty from Ward 8 with nr706 in the foreground



Eddie Lakin of Edzo's pours off the final milkshakes of the evening

All in all, a great GNR season capped by a wonderful event at Bar DeVille. Hey, let's do it again next year!

=R=

I couldn't find an introductory sub-forum, so I guess here would be the best place to post...

I was one of the white shirts helping run around for the GNR Awards dinner last night.

I did not know about LTH before yesterday. I like websites about food in Chicago. Especially websites about good food in Chicago. Had a great time last night serving all you cool peeps! I'll definitely be bookmarking LTH for the good articles and tips for good eats in and around Chicago (the meetups on the Events sub-forum seem intriguing, too).

Everything was amazing! Delicious food, great drinks, lively presentation.

BTW I learned that giardiniera goes amazingly with Szechuan food.

Hi there Kobayashi and a big welcome!!! You and the rest of the team were wonderful and I soooo appreciated your help. Glad you are interested in participating and I look forward to seeing your posts. And, definitely be on the lookout for the announcement about our annual picnic in September - if you thought the food last night was good, wait til you see the extravaganza of deliciousness that our members put out there-- you'll love it!!

mgmcewen wrote:BTW I learned that giardiniera goes amazingly with Szechuan food.

What does giardiniera NOT go well with? One of laikom's best inspirations was when he discovered that Bari giardiniera is the ideal "salsa" for the carne asada burrito from Asadero. Now we bring a jar with us whenever we go. (No one has said a word.)

Thanks to everyone whose hard work went into putting on the event last night! It was a blast!

kobayashi wrote:I couldn't find an introductory sub-forum, so I guess here would be the best place to post...

I was one of the white shirts helping run around for the GNR Awards dinner last night.

I did not know about LTH before yesterday. I like websites about food in Chicago. Especially websites about good food in Chicago. Had a great time last night serving all you cool peeps! I'll definitely be bookmarking LTH for the good articles and tips for good eats in and around Chicago (the meetups on the Events sub-forum seem intriguing, too).

As always, you guys (you, Wes, Alicia and Cameron) did a tremendous job last night and we are truly appreciative.

It's great to have you on-board here and please do keep an eye on the Events Forum. It'll be great to cross paths with you at some "official" LTH events.

=R=