Digging in

Reporter Mary Houlihan, who profiled Hagen's Fish Market on the Northwest Side a few weeks back, has the scoop in today's paper on another local gem for fresh and fried fish of all stripes.

Calumet Fisheries, 3259 E. 95th, is one of the five winners of the James Beard Foundation's American Classics Awards, to be doled out at a fancy schmancy ceremony in New York in May.

Calumet Fisheries isn't anywhere near fancy schmancy, and that's the point. Congratulations to them.

In other award news: Jennifer Petrusky, a 23-year-old sous chef at Charlie Trotter's, didn't take home the top prize at this past weekend's prestigious Bocuse d'Or national competition. She did, however, snag the prize for best fish dish -- salmon done four ways, though that description really doesn't do it justice. Petrusky used every bit and bone of the salmon for her platter, which included a roulade, tartar, confit and cured preparation. Congratulations to her.

Cheers to Sal Bednarz, the owner of a cafe in North Oakland, California. I hope what he has done at his cafe catches on.

It's amazing, in a way, that what Bednarz has done has gotten so much attention, but maybe the more attention he gets, the more widespread the practice will become. Quite simply, he has asked the patrons of his cafe to unplug the laptops -- or better yet, leave them at home, at least just for one day. He's asked that patrons of his cafe go "unplugged" from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today, in hopes that people may actually interact with one another, instead of hiding behind their laptops and other such devices.

Why is he doing it? Well, as he told a San Francisco paper, "When we opened this place we wanted to create a community. Instead it's just been a room full of laptops."

Even worse, for someone trying to earn a living by operating a cafe, the story points out, is to discourage the practice by patrons of "buying a $2 cup of coffee and spending all day using a table that could be taken by a customer purchasing lunch, visiting with friends or otherwise spending money and then leaving." That's why even the cafes that haven't instituted "unplugged" days now charge for wireless access or give wireless passwords that expire after an hour.

Another North Oakland cafe -- which billed itself as an Internet cafe when it opened -- has reduced its electrical outlets to just one, and it's had a positive impact on the vibe of the place.

"Chatting is now starting to overcome the keystrokes," said Ricardo Moran, manager at the Nomad Cafe. "It's really changed the feeling of the place. It's really nice."

Some people search a good part of their lives for a heavenly wine, an elusive truffle, a cassoulet that they once found by accident years ago in France, or the first time they enter a restaurant they may insist on trying the filet.

Me? I'll always look for the ultimate Reuben sandwich. I can't remember exactly where I first had a Reuben, though I'm guessing it might have been at someplace such as What's Cooking, on Lincoln, or Sally's, on Harlem and Higgins, both places that my parents and I would go to with some regularity when I was a kid. What I do know for sure is that it was love at first bite. Wherever it was, the combination of ingredients overwhelmed me -- the toasted rye bread, the warm corned beef, crunchy sauerkraut, melted Swiss cheese, and a layer of Thousand Island dressing, dripping over the edges. The thing I must have liked the most, besides the combination of tastes, was the fact that while the Reuben is called a "sandwich," there is so much going on inside those two slices of rye that it's a meal. Combine it with a bit of chopped liver on the side and maybe a bowl of kreplach soup, and well, if I had to die at a restaurant table, this would not be such a bad way to go.

Over my past few decades, then, I have looked for a Reuben that lived up to my first impressions of the sandwich and I've judged any place that dares call itself a deli or diner on how it makes a Reuben (yes, my Jewish friends, I know that this sandwich is remarkably non-Kosher, and I'd like to find out just how it was born and if there were any religious/dietary conflicts along the way, especially in the kitchens of ostensibly Jewish restaurants).

What I do know about the history of the Reuben is that there are a couple claims to its origin. One says that Reuben Kulakofsky, a grocer from Omaha, Nebraska (!) came up with it sometime in the 1920s, and the other says that Arnold Reuben, owner of Reuben's Delicatessen in New York, put together the first Reuben, around 1915.

I'll be sharing the results of my search for that ultimate Reuben here. I'll have my mental checklist of the required ingredients, how good the beef is and how the bread holds up, as well as the overall taste and just the impression, if I detect it, as to whether whomever put it together knows what a good Reuben is. I intend to check out the places you'd think you could get a good sandwich at, and I hope to uncover some surprises, as well. There won't be a trophy or prize to the best Reubens, other than the appreciation of someone who really enjoys a good one. I welcome your recommendations and impressions, too.

Do you remember how you celebrated your 23rd birthday? Did it involved beer, a beer-soaked bar, beer-soaked friends -- or perhaps, all of the above?

Go on and keep repressing that memory, if you even have one of that night. Jennifer Petrusky's 23rd birthday, on Friday, will be nothing like yours.

Petrusky is a sous chef at Charlie Trotter's -- so we could just end the story right there, because clearly her life is nothing like yours, or mine, or even that of other sous chefs in other restaurants around town.

But let's keep going: On her birthday, Petrusky will be competing in the Bocuse d'Or USA at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. Translation: she will be cooking her ass off.

The Bocuse d'Or is the closest thing to the Olympics in the culinary world. The winner of the national contest will represent the United States in the world competition next year in Lyon, France.

In Europe, the Bocuse is a huge deal. Huge. To place or win the Bocuse d'Or is a point of national pride. It's front page, above-the-fold news. But here in the States, outside of certain culinary circles, the competition registers but a blip. Perhaps not coincidentally, no American chef has never finished in the top three in the world contest.

Also: No female has won the Bocuse d'Or.

Petrusky's boss believes -- says -- she is the one to finally do it.

"It's a foregone conclusion," Trotter said Tuesday with his signature wry smile. "I told her she has a one-way ticket."

I think I know why I don't make pancit that often. I don't like, nor want, to compete with my mother.

I made pancit according to my mom's recipe in today's Food pages, and I must say, it tasted almost -- almost -- like hers. But I let the noodles soak too long in water before draining them (yes, I know the recipe says 5 minutes, and I went over 5 minutes), and when I added them to the wok, they just fell apart. Filipinos eat noodles for good luck, as the Chinese do. Long noodles signify a long, prosperous life -- get it? Lesson learned for next time.

Also, here's a short list of my go-to Filipino food stores around town:

Carl & Ching
3349 W. Irving Park
(773) 267-9007
A relatively new discovery for me, though I live mere blocks away, but a gem. The tiny store makes the most of its two narrow aisles.

Unimart
5845 N. Clark
(773) 271-8676
Everything you need, including some killer baked goods. There are locations in the burbs, too.

3R Oriental Food
A little grungy, but it stocks most everything, including some fresh produce and meat.
2712 W. Montrose
(773) 478-2599

Blackbird and Sepia cleaned up, you could say, at the 2010 Jean Banchet Awards for Culinary Excellence, announced Friday night at the Fairmont Chicago. Congratulations to them and all the winners:

Best sommelier: Scott Tyree, Sepia
Best rising pastry chef: Stephanie Prida, Blackbird
Best rising chef: Michael Sheerin, Blackbird
Best celebrity pastry chef: Cindy Schuman, Sepia
Best celebrity chef: Rick Bayless, Frontera Grill/Topolobampo/Xoco
Best neighborhood restaurant: Piccolo Sogno, Tony Priolo
Best fine dining: Vie, Paul Virant

Hey, look, it's a yogi foodie fight!

The New York Times looks at the growing overlap between food lovers and yoga lovers, a movement being nudged gently along by David Romanelli, a yoga teacher in regular dude clothes. The article lays out the arguments on both sides of the fence on whether one can indeed have her bacon-wrapped scallops while in eagle pose and eat them, too.

Can't say I feel so up in arms about this whole yoga-dinner movement, which we wrote about in December. Let them get sweaty and then indulge at the table. If it feels good -- and tastes good -- I'm all for it. Yes, yoga has gotten watered down, to say the least, in the last decade, but hasn't everything? Is the Food Network about cooking?

Speaking of tasting good, what follows is Province chef Randy Zweiban's menu for the event, which suit-wearing stiffs that evening will be glad to know will take place behind closed doors in the restaurant's private dining room.

Menu after the jump.

In case you haven't picked up your Sun-Times today (or logged in, or fired up your Kindle, whatever your case may be), it's chock full of food-related reading -- and it isn't even Wednesday!

Item 1: Columnist Esther Cepeda reflects on the demons chasing our nation's overweight kids -- parents whose own diets are loaded with junk foods. The idea came to her while at an elementary school event for honor roll students, where the main course was syrup-drenched French toast sticks.

Item 2: Reporter Stefano Esposito delves into the bastardization of bolognese worldwide, and Italy's campaign to set cooks straight. (Though he may be a redhead with a British accent, Stefano knows his bolognese. His father is Italian - as in, was born in Italy and lives in Italy, and Stefano visits the mother country regularly).

Item 3: The obligatory get-to-know-the-candidates feature -- mini-profiles of the six Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate -- asks corruption-buster David Hoffman and Company, among other things, the tastiest thing they can cook. Hoffman promises a mean linguini with spicy shrimp. Lealan Jones trumps his more vague-sounding "good shrimp pasta," while Cheryle Jackson, smart woman, touts her sweet potato pie. There isn't a bolognese in the bunch.

I was intrigued recently to see the transformation of a storefront at Irving and Broadway into a Taco Del Mar restaurant. Founded in 1992 by brothers James and John Schmidt in Seattle, the restaurants emphasize the freshness of their ingredients, have surf shack-like decor and continuing the California Baja theme, feature fish tacos on the menu. Not that we don't already have plenty of little independently-owned Mexican restaurants around here, but this could be an interesting addition to the mix (and fish tacos really intrigue me).

The Chicago location is the first Taco Del Mar in Illinois, but now I wonder if it will open as planned, in light of the news that Taco Del Mar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

According to the Seattle Times story, "The chain's roughly 225 stores in the U.S., Canada and Guam will continue to operate, and individual Taco Del Mar franchisees are not in bankruptcy. Larry Destro, who has been CEO since May, said he expects to slow growth at the company, which lost $2.8 million between 2006 and 2008."

Pie people like to have each other's backs. They're just good like that.

How else to explain the recent email from Craig Siegelin, husband of pie-baking Paula Haney of Hoosier Mama Pie Company? Haney and Siegelin are on a quest to sponsor a local pie enthusiast who plans on competing in the amateur portion of the National Pie Championships in April in Celebration, Fla.

Wrote Siegelin: "We were thinking we would provide a little cash to help offset some of their traveling expenses. We might also put a donation jar in the pie shop for them since we think our customers are pretty enthusiastic about promoting pie culture. Let us know if you have heard of anyone."

I haven't heard of anyone yet; neither has the Lake Forest-based American Pie Council, which organizes the championships -- but the call is officially out.

Linda Hoskins, the pie council's executive director (honestly, who wouldn't want that title?), was pleased as punch to hear of Haney's and Siegelin's offer. The contest draws about 100 amateur bakers from across the nation, many of them repeat competitors, Hoskins says. The grand prize: $5,000 and a Sears range.

"Oh my gosh, it's like a family," Hoskins says. "It's fierce competition, but very friendly."

While we're on the topic, Saturday is National Pie Day. (For her part, Hoskins will be out and about in the Chicago area, delivering 300 pies to fire stations, police stations and elsewhere.) Go get some pie.