The Chicago Traveler

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
This season’s finale aired Wednesday night, and Chicago’s very own Stephanie Izard won! After a long, dramatic, and stressful competition, Izard won an editorial feature in Food & Wine Magazine, an appearance at the Food & Wine Classic in Colorado, and $100,000 to help start her own restaurant. Perhaps most importantly, she has made history in becoming the very first female Top Chef.
The final challenge was kept simple but …read more

4 Comments

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
The competition is almost over, down to the final four contestants. In the first part of the finale, the four chefs actually left Chicago to visit the beautiful country commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
If you want to enjoy the flavors and culture of La Isla del Encanto (“the Island of Enchantment”) but can’t make the 2,000-mile (3300-km) trip, visit Humboldt Park on the northwest side of Chicago. This neighborhood, where …read more

1 Comment

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
The last Quickfire Challenge tested the five remaining contestants’ butchering skills. Each chef was given 20 minutes to cut and clean seven “tomahawk” chops from a side of beef. They were then given an additional 30 minutes to cook two of those chops to the guest judge’s (Rick Tramonto) preference: medium-rare.
Chicago has a long history with beef and livestock. Chicago was home to the Union Stock Yards, the …read more

2 Comments

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
During the last Quickfire Challenge, the competitors took turns working a short-order line at the egg station of Lou Mitchell’s during the incredibly busy breakfast hours. Eggs can be tricky enough to cook well, but the chefs also had to deal with a small cooking space, keep track of multiple orders, and interpret the foreign diner lingo.
Lou Mitchell’s has been well-known for its breakfasts for the past 80 years. …read more

Comments Off

This week, the b5media Travel & Culture Channel is celebrating a Theme Day, this time having fun with all things “T”. So what does The Chicago Traveler have to offer?
How about tall buildings? Chicago’s three tallest buildings are the Sears Tower, the Aon Center, and the John Hancock Center, all standing well over one thousand feet tall (305 m).
The Windy City also has plenty of restaurants that begin with the letter “T”…

Table Fifty-Two
Tavern on Rush
Tel Aviv Kosher Pizza
Terragusto
Thai Pastry
Tokyo 21
Tony’s Italian Beef
Tony’s Italian Deli

The annual Taste of Chicago will be coming up in just a few weeks, where you …read more

10 Comments

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
This week’s Quickfire Challenge gave the chefs 45 minutes to create a modern salad using fresh produce. Forty-five minutes is a long time to prepare a salad, so the judges were looking for something spectacular.
Salads have slowly moved their way from appetizer to main course. Even here in Chicago, known for its meats, you can find great places to get tasty salads. Try Sopraffina, which offers “fast food” in …read more

Comments Off

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
This week’s Quickfire Challenge divided the contestants into two teams of four and pitted them against each other in a mis en place relay race. (Mis en place is a French phrase literally meaning “put in place” and refers to the process of preparing ingredients usually before the restaurant opens for the day.) Each team had to supreme oranges (remove the skin, pith, membranes, and seeds), prepare artichokes, fillet …read more

Comments Off

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
This week’s Quickfire Challenge required each chef to create an entrée in only 15 minutes, using Uncle Ben’s Rice as a primary ingredient. (Product placement, anyone?) As you can probably figure out, trying to cook anything in that short amount of time is very difficult, especially when the contestants are trying to impress guest judge Art Smith. I can’t even decide what I want to eat in less than …read more

1 Comment

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
This week’s Quickfire Challenge required each chef to make a unique dessert. It may sound simple, but desserts have been the downfall of many contestants in previous seasons. Desserts can be more complex than the entrees that precede them. While chefs can often throw ingredients together to make a meal, using “a pinch of this” and “a handful of that,” desserts frequently require exact measurements and recipes. Cooks may …read more

Comments Off

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
This week’s Quickfire challenge allowed each contestant to taste three beers from several different brands before choosing one of them. The chefs then had had to create a dish that paired well with their selected beers.
If you’re looking for a spot where you can check out some great brews, stop by one of the following:

Crabbby Kim’s
Fizz Bar & Grill
Hideout
Jake Melnick’s Corner Tap
Kitsch’n on Roscoe
Mitsuwa Marketplace
Moody’s Pub
Paramount Room
Red …read more

Comments Off