George Miller, who died at age 91 on May 15, ran a deli in Glencoe during the 1950s and '60s that was a destination for many people, including celebrities such as Joey Bishop and Zsa Zsa Gabor, whom he named menu items after.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 1964.story

John Harney, who founded Harney & Sons Tea Company, has died.

From the NYT obit:

Mr. Harney was part of an informal community of American entrepreneurs and food pioneers who barnstormed the country in the 1980s and ’90s to acquaint restaurant managers, their luncheon patrons and the public — one afternoon-tea demonstration at a time — with the dying art of tea appreciation.

He conducted demonstrations for the waiters and waitresses at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York and for the book club at the public library in Rye, N.Y., introducing the nuances of aroma, body, complexity and aftertaste in loose teas from China, Africa and India to people whose experience with tea had often been limited to what came in store-bought tea bags.

They refer to him as a missionary for tea.

Cathy2 wrote:I learned the surviving fat lady had a youtube program:

Just found out she passed away this year. Pity.

Actually, Clarissa had a very interesting series on Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner -- which is also available on YouTube. The history of where British meal traditions started and how they evolved. Very enjoyable -- and makes me want to try some of the old recipes -- especially the medieval green sauce and the over-the-top Sole a la Colbert. Here's the first episode -- each one is about an hour long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SFoym7 ... TWEYlwemv0

Karl Albrecht, the man credited with bringing discount stores to Europe with the no-frills Aldi supermarket chain, died aged 94 last Wednesday, Aldi said in a statement.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... 6109.story

Elaine Gonzalez, noted chocolatier, dead at 79

Sophie Madej was always let down when one of her regular Busy Bee customers left the Wicker Park neighborhood. She uplifted spirits while serving pierogis, sour cream spinach soup and potato pancakes between 1956 and 1998 at one of Chicago’s most famous diners.

Mrs. Madej died on Aug. 21 in her northwest side home. She was 86 years old.

http://www.davehoekstra.com/

Sophie Madej was always let down when one of her regular Busy Bee customers left the Wicker Park neighborhood. She uplifted spirits while serving pierogis, sour cream spinach soup and potato pancakes between 1956 and 1998 at one of Chicago’s most famous diners.

Mrs. Madej died on Aug. 21 in her northwest side home. She was 86 years old.

http://www.davehoekstra.com/

Wow, that's a hell of an obit, one of the best I ever read. It's worth looking at, whether or not you ever visited Sophie's.

Dave Hoekstra wrote:While all the action was at the front counter, the Busy Bee also included a more sedate dining room north of the diner area. A favorite dining room tonic was the "Busy Bee Stinger" (brandy, white creme de menthe and a dash of krupnik, a Polish honey liqueur.). The bees began buzzing after a few of these drinks.

While I'll admit to having a drink or two with my pierogi, I don't think I ever worked up the courage to order a Busy Bee Stinger. But I'll raise an imaginary glass (with a lemon twist) to the memory of Sophie and one of Chicago's true neighborhood restaurants.

S. Truett Cathy, the fast food entrepreneur who turned a single restaurant into the multi-billion dollar Chick-fil-A empire, has died at the age of 93. http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/08/news/ch ... phoneemail

Phil Freedman, who helped create the iconic Myron and Phil steak and seafood restaurant beloved by generations of Northwest Siders, has died, bringing an "end of an era," family members said Wednesday.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140911 ... end-of-era

Bari Foods- home of the great Italian Submarine Sandwich-
on Grand & May St- next to the equally infamous D'Amatos Bakery
passed recently- and his Obituary could be a movie.
Especially interesting was his P.O.W. experiences while fighting against
The British Army in N. Africa-his imprisonment in INDIA saw about 70% of
his fellow captives- die.

http://www.suntimes.com/photos/galleries/27592337-417/story.html
His son Frank - who runs Bari Foods- supplied much of the backstory.

RIP Joe.

Sally Friedman, Owner of Booby's Restaurant in Niles, Dies

Will Radcliff, 74, Creator of the Slush Puppie, Dies

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/busin ... .html?_r=0

Inventor of Corning Ware dies.

Geo

Gil Marks, a culinary historian who wrote widely on the relationship between Jewish food and Jewish culture in a manner that was both scholarly and friendly, died on Friday in Jerusalem. He was 62.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/11/books ... -ipad&_r=0

Steven Balourdos, Chicago restaurateur and real estate executive, dies

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-s ... story.html

Larry J Cano, the founder of the El Torito restaurant chain that helped popularize guacamole, fajitas and margaritas with the US masses, has died at age 90.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014 ... larry-cano

Dave Potash, longtime owner of Chicago food store, dies

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/obit ... story.html

George Badonsky

It made me very sad to learn the passing earlier this week of a man who was arguably one of the most creative, courageous, successful, but too often unlucky restaurateurs of the last 40 years in Chicago. I am talking about George Badonsky who for the last two decades had retired in southern Michigan. He had been ill for a while but according to a common friend had kept his fabulous sense of, sometimes self deprecating, humor. He always remained a bon vivant and hedonist even in times of hardship.
I will keep great memories of all his restaurants, except for the short-lived last one Maxim's where I never went.
I discovered the first one in 1970, The Brewery on Broadway, by chance. With its selection of good beers, contemporary salads and great burgers, in a very hip and young environment, full of greenery, it was way ahead of its time in the field of what would be called later gastro-pubs for young and active crowds.
My favorite Badonsky's creation was the great Tango opened in 1973 in the Belmont hotel, a very attractively designed double-room large place which combined a very good and creative blend of contemporary seafood and " nouvelle" cuisine and high quality entertainment. The art on the walls, parts of his own collection, and some occasional famous entertainers such as "Bricktop", a spectacular singer who had a great early career in Paris contributed to some of our memorable dinners in the 70s. The restaurant later on had financial and lease problems and had to close abruptly in 1986.
And then, in 1976, he bought one of the most charming and successful French bistro ever in Chicago, Le Bastille, that was opened by two Frenchmen in 1971, at the corner of Superior and State. Under his direction this restaurant became incredibly popular, especially after it started to have big Bastille Day parties outside under a huge tent on its own parking lot with grilled food, wine, beer and dancing that attracted thousands of young and less young fun loving francophiles. He was also one of the first restaurateurs to organize special dinners on the occasion of the Beaujolais Nouveau arrival in November.
But the real pillars of its success were the typical French bistro dishes such as "blanquette de veau" and "Coq au vin", and steaks with very good traditionally-made "frites", the small cheap but well chosen French regional wines, and the jolly ambiance helped by relaxed service from enthusiastic young waiters.
But unfortunately Badonsky did not supervised personally the restaurant as closely as he should have in the late 80's and many flaws and inconsistencies ocasionnally damaged the reputation of this otherwise successful place. It closed its doors in the late 80's.
I personally loved his next creation in1978, George's, on Kinzie, next door to the Merchandise Mart. It was a very lively restaurant and jazz club which offered very flavorful contemporary Italian food, and a great casting of musicians and singers. But with this attractive and good restaurant, which included a very popular bar late at night with beautiful people and celebrities, Badonsky once again showed that he was a pioneer to open such a place at that time when this part of River North was not yet a fancy entertainment district. Unfortunately it burned in the mid 80s and Badonsky was the victim of the bankruptcy of his insurance company. He rebuilt the restaurant but in 1991 after George's closing, Badonsky started to feel a bit disillusioned when he had to deal with too many problems in his personal and professional life and moved definitively out of town to Michigan in 1992.
But in 1984 he had taken another gamble in restoring Maxim's on Astor, which had opened in 1963 and closed in 1982, to its original splendor, and spent a fortune in the process. He also hired a young chef from France, Jean Joho, who would become one of the most celebrated French chefs in America. Joho created for him a very spectacular but expensive menu where caviar was a star. Maxim's in its early months attracted an appreciative crowd of moneyed customers.
But this time it is a legal problem, added to the too large and uncontrolled expenses, that killed this perhaps overambitious project that lasted less than 2 years when the restaurant was forced to close in 1986: Pierre Cardin, the owner of Maxim's in Paris, sued Badonsky over the intellectual property of the name and concept of the restaurant.

With Badonsky's disappearance, it is the whole Chicago restaurant scene and landscape that loses one of its most valuable architects.

George Badonsky:

Fondly remembered and rued in his passing.

Thanks for the post, alain40.

Loved The Brewery, Tango, Le Bastille, and George's. The man had a knack.

The leader of a third-generation meat company in Wittenberg was a kind and generous man who was very involved in his community, acquaintances say. Bob Nueske, owner and president of Nueske's Applewood Smoked Meats, died Monday in Chicago at the age of 67.

http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/story/ ... /21754003/

As with many elite industrial designers, you know his work even if you don't know his name. Decades after Kenji Ekuan created Kikkoman's iconic soy sauce bottles with their red caps, he designed Japan's Komachi bullet train, in a career driven by a desire to make good design accessible to everyone.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/201 ... dies-at-85

Michele Ferrero, Owner of Nutella Empire, Dies on Valentine's Day

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/miche ... ay-n306886

James Wood, a British-born executive who prevented one of America’s best-known supermarket chains from, in his words, “slipping into oblivion” in the 1980s, died on March 26 at his home in New York City. He was 85.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/busin ... -ipad&_r=0

Dave148 wrote:

James Wood, a British-born executive who prevented one of America’s best-known supermarket chains from, in his words, “slipping into oblivion” in the 1980s, died on March 26 at his home in New York City. He was 85.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/busin ... -ipad&_r=0

That chain would be A&P.

DNAInfo wrote:NORWOOD PARK — Maurie Berman, who founded Superdawg drive-in with his wife Flaurie in 1948 and transformed it into a Northwest Side icon, died early Sunday morning from heart problems, his son Scott Berman said. He was 89.

Maurie Berman, founder of Superdawg, dies

Roger Vergé, a Founder of Nouvelle Cuisine, Dies at 85

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/world ... -ipad&_r=0

Walter Scheib, who brought American cuisine prepared in a lighter style to the White House as its executive chef during the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, was found dead on Sunday near a hiking trail outside Taos, N.M. He was 61.

Mrs. Clinton told Mr. Scheib that she wanted to bring a healthier, lighter, American style of cooking to the White House, and he obliged, seeking out small producers to deliver high-quality ingredients to the table.

For his first state dinner, in honor of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko of Japan, he served an appetizer of quail with corn custard and a tomato-cumin sauce with a Southwestern accent. The entree was grilled Arctic char and lobster sausage with wild mushroom risotto, braised fennel, vegetable ragout and a roasted garlic and lime sauce. Field greens, with goat cheese and basil baked in phyllo and a port wine dressing, followed. The wines were American, and so was the service: individually arranged plates rather than large banquet-style platters.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/23/us/wa ... ell-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well

Juli Soler, a restaurateur who put Ferran Adrià in charge of the kitchen at El Bulli in Catalonia, Spain, and helped him transform the restaurant into one of the most innovative centers of gastronomy in the world, died on Monday at his home in Rubí, near Barcelona. He was 66.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/08/world ... -ipad&_r=0

Vincent Marotta, one of the co-founders of the iconic Mr. Coffee brand that helped revolutionize how Americans make their morning brew, died Saturday at his home in suburban Cleveland. He was 91.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html