midwesterndiner.com
Eric Mansavage • The Midwestern Diner
http://www.midwesterndiner.com/interviews/farmhouse.php
Laquo; All Interviews. Eric Mansavage is the executive chef of Farmhouse. In River North and Evanston. How did you end up as the executive chef of Farmhouse? I’m sure it’s a common story for a lot of chefs. I studied political science, business administration, and economics at UW-Stevens Point. I joked about it in college. “If all else fails I’ll become a chef.” I went to culinary school in Chicago, at CHIC [now Le Cordon Bleu]. It translates. Is it political? Yes and no. What is the reach of a chef?
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Jimmy Papadopoulos • The Midwestern Diner
http://www.midwesterndiner.com/interviews/bohemian-house.php
Laquo; All Interviews. Jimmy Papadopoulos is the chef of Bohemian House. When we first met you mentioned your work is “perishable”. Can you elaborate on that? Are you originally from Chicago? What drew you towards cooking? One day I thought: okay, I’m going to culinary school. I’m gonna become a chef, that’s my career. That week I went to CHIC. Do I want to do this? My chef would come in and point out oyster mushrooms: see how these look, the quality. But I didn’t get it, I saw what he was talk...I was s...
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Jonathan Harootunian • The Midwestern Diner
http://www.midwesterndiner.com/interviews/harvest-room.php
Laquo; All Interviews. Jonathan Harootunian is the chef at Harvest Room. You have a long history in the kitchen. When did your career begin? When I was twenty-one I took a job in a kitchen to make money for a fender-bender that I had gotten into. Prior to that I had been doing some heavy-duty, artistic woodworking. No experience, nothing. Just green, greener than it is outside. That was 1981. And here I am. And the Public Landing. And for me, this is what I’m wired to do. Are you originally from Chicago?
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Joshua Dugue and Rich Futrell • The Midwestern Diner
http://www.midwesterndiner.com/videos/counter-culture-coffee.php
Laquo; All Videos. Joshua Dugue and Rich Futrell. Featuring Alicia Bird and Scott Golas of The Spoke and Bird. 177 North Ada Street, Unit 106. Chicago, Illinois 60607. Directed by Vincent Labriola. Edited by Kyle Probst. Jesse Badger, Alicia Bird, and Scott Golas. The Spoke & Bird. Xavier Alexander and Darko Arandjelovic. Tags • West Loop. Bull; Coffee Roaster. A documentary project about food and drink in Chicago. Learn more.
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Jeanne Carlson and James Murphy • The Midwestern Diner
http://www.midwesterndiner.com/interviews/mrs-murphy-and-sons.php
Laquo; All Interviews. Jeanne Carlson and James Murphy. Mrs Murphy and Sons. Jeanne Carlson is the chef and James Murphy is the general manager of Mrs. Murphy and Sons. What makes Mrs. Murphy and Sons a modern Irish restaurant? JAMES MURPHY: The restaurant was my dad Jim’s idea, his vision. He had bought a home in Ireland that was managed as a rental property in Dalkey. Do you find that authentic Irish cuisine is underrepresented in Chicago? JC: It is a challenge. People definitely have preconceived ...
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Aram Reed • The Midwestern Diner
http://www.midwesterndiner.com/interviews/private-chef.php
Laquo; All Interviews. Aram Reed is a private chef based in Chicago. Why did you decide to become a private chef? Or could I be the boss right now, and with enough life experience figure out how to pay my rent? That’s how I chose this direction. A client approaches you for a private dinner at their home: how do things progress from that point onward? I reach out to the client, talk to them, and discuss menus et cetera. If you use Kitchit. I love that challenge. The second thing is: how do I make myse...
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Kurt Guzowski and Thomas Rice • The Midwestern Diner
http://www.midwesterndiner.com/interviews/tete-charcuterie.php
Laquo; All Interviews. Kurt Guzowski and Thomas Rice. Kurt Guzowski and Thomas Rice are the chefs and co-owners of Tête Charcuterie. In the West Loop. Why did you guys decide to feature charcuterie? That’s something Tom and I share, the culture behind food. What made people cook that? It’s a tricky thing to do, we did a lot of recipe testing, we tried and we travelled. We went to Paris, we went to Germany, we went to New York. To eat, to try some of the best and see those cultures. KG: It didn’t ha...
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David Durstewitz • The Midwestern Diner
http://www.midwesterndiner.com/interviews/city-farm.php
Laquo; All Interviews. David Durstewitz is the sales manager of City Farm. On the Near North Side. Please consider making a donation to support educational urban farming; you can find more information here. Tell me about City Farm. City Farm is a project of the Resource Center. The site that we’re on, for instance, is an old broken lot that was part of Cabrini-Green. How long have you been operating at Clybourn and Division? What specifically do you grow here? What is your background? A little college in...
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Nick Lubovich • The Midwestern Diner
http://www.midwesterndiner.com/interviews/argus-brewery.php
Laquo; All Interviews. Nick Lubovich is the brewery historian at Argus Brewery. They went to Pullman hell. The beer that made Milwaukee famous? It’s amazing now that we’re a National Monument. This building is the former Schlitz horse stable, marked by those big terracotta horse heads up there. Real terracotta, they were made in Crystal Lake, Illinois. After the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 everyone was doubting Joseph E. Schlitz’s ability: what’s your plan? When Bob and Patrick Jensen started Argus Brewer...
