Road Tips: January 2007

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January 2007

The Circus Begins...

Less than three months since the 2006 general election and 50 weeks from the Iowa caucuses, the field of Democratic presidential hopefuls is now up to eight candidates with another three or four looking to possibly toss their hat into the ring. Senator Joe Biden from Delaware announced that he will officially announce his candidacy on Wednesday.

Add in four to six legitimate Republican hopefuls - all of whom haven't entered the race yet - and that's a lot of candidates who will be criss-crossing the state in the next year.

Since Iowa sits as the first presidential challenge in the nation we're already beginning to see the first candidates come to the state to begin stumping for the nomination.

And it's only going to get worse. We're going to see a ton of candidates, be overwhelmed with political ads and unsolicited political phone calls, and we'll be tired of all this by the time July rolls around.

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton was in Davenport for a town hall meeting at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds. Originally, the town hall meeting was to be held at a restaurant near where we used to live in west Davenport called Hickory Grove Family Restaurant - we used to call it the "Old Farts Cafe" because of the amount of old people that would eat at the place. But because of Hillary's "rock star" status among the Democratic candidates, the banquet room at that restaurant wouldn't have been able to handle just the press who was following Hillary's every step in Davenport. So they moved it out to the fairgrounds, also because there's ample parking there.

After attending a church service at our friend's Scott and Marcia Schroeder's church (Scott and Marcia weren't there - they went to the earlier service to avoid the crowd), Hillary went to Davenport Central High School for a news conference at the school's media facility.

Through all of this visit, the City of Davenport is expected to provide peripheral security for Hillary Clinton. And it wouldn't be just for Hillary Clinton, but for every candidate that will come to the city in the next 50 weeks and beyond up to the 2008 election. Davenport - like other cities across Iowa - is expected to pick up the tab for the increased security and police presence during the candidates visit.

The City of Davenport has been contemplating asking candidates to help foot the bill when it comes to providing more security and escorting candidates motorcades through the streets. Actually, I think that's a great idea.

One of the most infamous happenings in the history of Davenport occurred when presidential candidates John Kerry and George W. Bush held political rallies at the same time in the city on August 4, 2004. Even with normal patrols on the street, three banks were robbed during the rallies. All the robbers were eventually caught, but it showed how thinly spread the police officers were and underscored the need for increased patrols during these high profile events - meaning more overtime for the already overworked police force in Davenport.

The aspect of Iowa taxpayers having to foot the bill for security and protection for presidential candidate visits is mind-boggling. But this year with the prospect of upwards of 15 to 16 total candidates in the field, we're going to see our share of candidates in our towns for the next year. That's going to be a lot of money spent on making sure crowds stay in line, escorting motorcades and providing peripheral security in conjunction with the Secret Service.

I'm about as apolitical a person there is when it comes to campaigning and I think the jump the candidates have taken on the 2008 race is just ludicrous. It's less than three months from the time of the last congressional election and I'm still reeling from all the ads and pre-taped phone calls we received for months up to the November election.

I'm sure it's not going to be any different and I - for one - will be more than happy when the Iowa caucuses are done and over with next January. But until then, I guess I just have to grit my teeth and live with it.

January 29, 2007 in Observations and Rants | Permalink | Comments (0)

Piero's - Las Vegas

As much as Andiamo is a hidden gem on the Las Vegas restaurant scene, Piero's is well-known among the locals as a place to get great Italian food in the city.

Located within walking distance from both the Las Vegas Hilton and the Convention Center, Piero's has been serving great Italian food for nearly 25 years. Freddie Glusman opened the original Piero's in 1982 and they moved to their present location in 1987 (see map). Piero's is a favorite for the local celebrities who can go to the restaurant without getting bothered by fans or autograph seekers. Freddie won't allow it to happen.

One rumor I'd heard for years is that Piero's is also an establishment favored by members of organized crime. There's also an interesting story from 2000 regarding an alleged assault on notorious Las Vegas business man and wanna-be politico Bob Stupak. And before Glusman took over the property in 1987, the restaurant was known as "Villa d'Este". It was the restaurant favored by mobster Tony Spilotro and his local gang during his years in Las Vegas. In fact, scenes from the Martin Scorsese film Casino were shot inside Piero's.

Piero's decor features lithographs by Aldo Luongo, original oil paintings by local artist José Bellver (right), and large floral displays on antique pine tables. The atmosphere is classy, cozy and warm.

The menu is the same menu they've had since the day they opened. Their wine list is extensive with a number of wines from all around the world to choose from. And the service is top notch.

The night we were at Piero's, we were seated at a long table in a small alcove off a main dining area. On one end of the room there was a large wine closet. In the dining area off to our side, there happened to be a large table of what we surmised were adult movie starlets seated at a table next to us (the Audio Video Nudes convention and award show coincide with CES). I have to admit it was difficult to keep our eyes off these flamboyantly dressed ladies.

After starting out with a combination of hot and cold anti pasto, we ordered our dinner. I went with the veal piccata cooked with mushrooms in a white wine and lemon sauce with a side of fettuccine alfredo. One of my colleagues next to me went with the "Zuppa di Pesce", a cioppino-styled seafood soup. And one of the guys to the other side of me got the Suprema Pollo di Vesuvio - a grilled chicken with tomato, egg plant and mozzarella. Actually, it all sounded damn good.

My colleague who is well-schooled in Italian wines picked the 2000 Solaia Antinori red from the Tuscany region. It was expensive and very good.

We were served a house salad before our meal and within about 25 minutes after we'd ordered our food, it made it to our table. My veal piccata was outstanding. The chicken Vesuvio to my right was great, according to the guy eating it. And the report on the "Zuppa di Pesce" was equally outstanding.

And, no, I don't think we saw any underworld types in the restaurant.

Piero's is one of those old time places in Vegas that has withstood the onslaught of the upscale restaurants that have come into the area since the mid-1990's. The charm and charisma of Piero's is what sets it apart from the others. It's a great place for Italian food in Las Vegas.

January 26, 2007 in Italian, Las Vegas, Restaurants | Permalink | Comments (0)

Landry's Seafood House - Las Vegas

We have a ritual within our company when it comes to trade shows - one night we have to go out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. This year, I tried to make reservations at Harry Morton's infamous Pink Taco restaurant at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. However, I was told that reservations had to be made a week in advance for parties of 8 or more.

I then made a reservation at Macayo, a Phoenix-based chain of Mexican restaurants that has pretty good food, even for a chain. It was to be a night of food and margeritas.

About 4 p.m. in the afternoon, Dominic Baker, the international sales manager and chief engineer for Focal loudspeakers, invited our guys to dinner at Landry's Seafood House. Actually, we were invited to "crash" the Focal car audio international distributors dinner at Landry's. Since they were paying for it, my boss thought it would be good to forego the Mexican food night and do dinner with the people from Focal.

Dominic asked me, "Is Landry's a good restaurant, Will?"

I said, "Honestly, no. It's not that great."

He got a pained look on his face and jokingly said, "You're a salesman, Will! You could have lied to me!"

I've eaten at Landry's about three times - the first time at the one in Dallas, then the one in St. Louis, and we ate at the one in Las Vegas a couple years ago as guests of Focal's owner Jacques Mahul. The food is basic seafood, not bad, but definitely not great.

The history of Landry's doesn't lend itself to becoming a chain of seafood restaurants. In 1934, Don Landry opened a bar in Lafayette, LA. His brother, Ashby, joined the bar in 1939 and they began to cook cajun specialties and seafood in the place. Don's Seafood is still in business today, owned by Ashby Landry, Jr.

In 1980, the first "official" Landry's Seafood House opened in Katy, TX, outside of Houston. This restaurant satisfied the wants of area residents who would drive 4 hours to Lafayette for a fix of gumbo, shrimp etoufee or red beans and rice.

In 1986, Tilman Fertitta (right) bought controlling interest of the Landry's in Katy and two years later took sole ownership of the business. With an eye on expansion, Fertitta expanded the operation to 11 locations by the end of 1993. Since then, Landry Restaurants, Inc. has acquired or started many other restaurant ventures including Chart House, Willie G's, Rainforest Cafe and Joe's Crab Shack (look for an upcoming "Why I Won't Go There" post on Joe's). Fertitta also owns the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and is a minority owner of the Houston Texans football franchise.

The menu at Landry's Seafood House highlights a number of cajun varieties of seafood, shrimp and shellfish. They do have steak on the menu, as well as pasta, salads and specialty sandwiches, but they're mainly know for their seafood dishes.

Every Landry's has a movie-type marquee over the front door with some witty saying or pun on it. And like each Landry's, the decorative motif of the inside of the restaurant tries to capture the mood of an old time Louisiana crab shack. It's not as over-stated as the decor in a Joe's Crab Shack, but it's tastefully comfortable.

We were in a group of about 50 people at Landry's that evening. And because it was a banquet style, they wouldn't let us order off of the regular menu. They had a pre-planned menu for us which consisted of our choice of a char-grilled steak, a grilled chicken breast, grilled Chilean sea bass or a grilled tuna steak. I figured the easiest - and safest - choice would be the tuna steak.

First of all, I have to say the service at every Landry's I've ever been to has been suspect, at best. This evening was no exception. They had 2 waiters and one runner working the room. They were woefully understaffed. And because of this, the comedy of errors in ordering drinks, wine and appetizers grew exponentially.

When our food came, I will have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the tuna steak and how well it was cooked. It was a perfect medium rare and tasted very good. But it didn't overcome the effects of the poor service we experienced. Bad service trumps good food in any instance, in my book.

Dominic was mildly pissed about the service and somewhat embarrassed that he had us come to the restaurant for dinner. He told me the next morning, "OK, Will. From now on I'll ask you before we book a restaurant."

Landry's Seafood House is OK, not great. It wouldn't be my first choice of restaurants if I had to go for seafood. But I'd go to a Landry's long before I'd go to a Red Lobster.

January 25, 2007 in Las Vegas, Restaurants, Seafood | Permalink | Comments (0)

Benihana - Las Vegas

Just like I say everyone should go to Las Vegas just once in their life, I think everyone should try a Benihana restaurant just once, as well.

Rocky Aoki (right) opened his first Benihana of Tokyo in New York City in 1964 after migrating from Japan. He had previously worked in his parent's restaurant in Tokyo, also named Benihana (which means "red flower" in Japanese) before moving to New York. His father taught him the theatrics that are now famously part of the dining experience at Benihana.

Aoki's first Benihana of Tokyo was a small four table restaurant that served grilled steaks and seafood. Aoki struggled for the first few months before receiving a rave review from a noted New York restaurant critic. Suddenly, he had to begin turning people away at his little restaurant.

Aoki prepared his food table-side in a manner called "teppan-yaki". (Teppan means "steel grill" and yaki means "broiled.) Because Aoki's restaurant was situated near Broadway theaters, the theatrics of the chefs was very important to the success of the place. Food was flipped in the air, knives whirled, forks flew - it was quite a sight to see for people who had never experienced Japanese cuisine before.

Within a year after opening, Aoki had made enough money to pay off the restaurant. He then opened a second and larger location just three blocks from the original Benihana of Tokyo. In 1969, he opened a Benihana of Tokyo in Chicago and the expansion was on. Today, there are 70 locations in 25 states and the District of Columbia in the U.S., and 19 restaurants in 15 countries around the world.

After setting up our suites for the Consumer Electronics Show, we decided to go downstairs for dinner at the Benihana Village restaurant in the Las Vegas Hilton. Getting eight people around one of the table side grilles proved tricky, but we managed.

The Benihana Village at the Las Vegas Hilton is like walking into a little Japanese garden setting. There's a little gold fish pond with a small stream with a bridge going over the water. There's fake plants and trees throughout the garden area. But it is sort of neat to see.

We were taken upstairs to a small room toward the back of the restaurant. A Japanese waitress - probably in her mid-50's - greeted us, gave us our menus and took our drink orders. I ordered an Asahi beer, but they were out of Asahi. So I ordered a Sapporo instead. The beer tasted great after a hard day of setting up.

She came back with drinks and took our food order. I went with a strip steak and scallops. One of my Canadian colleagues seated next to me went with "Rocky's Choice" - which is a steak and chicken combination. And we also ordered some spicy tuna rolls to share before the meal.

They first bring out a small bowl of lettuce and shredded carrots in sort of a ranch type dressing. It's a nice little starter. Then the spicy tuna rolls came, they were OK.

Then the entertainment began...

A tall oriental chef wheeled out a cart of food, utensils, bowls and plates. He introduced himself as "Kong" ("You know, as in 'King' Kong," he joked) and started in with making some grilled shrimp for everyone at the table. He then threw some vegetables and rice on the grill and then made the famous Benihana Volcano (click on the link to YouTube to see the onion volcano in action).

Knives flew, bowls of rice flipped of spatulas, grilled shrimp was tossed on to plates. It's quite the show at Benihana (check out this cheesy Benihana commercial from Russia to get a small idea of what the chefs do when they prepare the food table-side).

Kong breaded my scallops and grilled them along with the steak, chicken and other seafood. I ordered my steak medium rare and it came out medium. (I guess I'm going to have to start ordering my steak rare in Las Vegas - every place I've ever had a steak out there, they tend to overcook it.) But that's OK, Benihana's food would never get confused with a top-notch steak or seafood place.

My colleague next to me who got the "Rocky's Special" had a LOT of food on his plate. The grilled chicken breast was bigger than the steak. Coupled with the shrimp, rice and veggies, he had a ton of food on his plate. "This is definitely too much food," he declared as he offered pieces of steak and chicken to the rest of the group.

As I said, Benihana's food is good, not great. The chef's theatrics are a little corny at times, spell-binding at others. It's good to go to Benihana with a group of four or more - single couples are usually stuck at a table with complete strangers and it can make for awkward conversations. But if you're into that, more power to you.

I've now eaten at a Benihana three or four times and it's been pretty much the same experience each time. But, like I say, everyone should try Benihana at least once.

January 24, 2007 in Las Vegas, Restaurants | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sinclair Broadcasting Vs. Cable Providers

One of the more interesting skirmishes going on in the world of television these days has to do with the one between Mediacom cable and Sinclair Broadcasting.

Sinclair broadcasting has denied Mediacom to carry the signal of 22 of their stations in eight states unless Mediacom pays the broadcaster $1 million dollars above and beyond what the cable provider is willing to pay.

It hasn't impacted any television viewing here in the Quad Cities television market, but it has in the Des Moines and Iowa City/Cedar Rapids and Waterloo markets - especially in regard to Iowa Hawkeye Basketball.

I first heard about the simmering feud between the two companies when I was having a beer with Scott Schroeder one evening just before Thanksgiving. As a Iowa basketball season ticket holder, Scott was telling that he got a form letter from Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta explaining that his department was looking into contingency plans if Mediacom drops KDSM in Des Moines and KGAN in Cedar Rapids from its line-up. Both stations are contracted to show Iowa basketball games in their local markets.

I said, "What?! Hold it - what's all this about?" Scott explained to me that it had something to do with those two stations not broadcasting with a digital signal yet. I was incredulous on two fronts - one, that these two stations aren't broadcasting in digital; and two, that Mediacom would do something like that.

I did some digging and found out that the real reason is that Mediacom is upset at the Sinclair Broadcasting Group who has demanded the cable company pay a premium above what the cable company is willing to pay to carry the KDSM and KGAN signals on their system. Mediacom and Sinclair are embroiled in a lawsuit that the cable company is accusing the broadcasting group of violating anti-trust laws for strong-arming Mediacom into making what they deem as excessive payments to Sinclair.

Just before Thanksgiving, a Federal judge refused a request by Sinclair to stop the lawsuit:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611220373

On the day after Thanksgiving, Mediacom announced that it would show same-day, tape-delayed broadcasts of Iowa games in Central and East Central Iowa through an agreement with ESPN:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611250338

An even more detailed article on the situation was chronicled in a later Des Moines Register article. Officials from both Mediacom and Sinclair Broadcasting had been summoned to Washington for a meeting with the Federal Communication Commission to head off the Dec. 1 midnight deadline for Mediacom to pull the plug. After that meeting, both parties agreed to extend the deadline to January 5, 2007. After continued talks throughout the month of December proved to be fruitless, Sinclair told Mediacom to "pull the plug" at midnight on January 5.

One of the interesting aspects is that Sinclair began offering people in the Central and East Central viewing areas a $150 rebate to pick up DirecTV:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006611260339

And why did Sinclair not make the same offer with DirecTV's main competitor, Dish Network? Because Sinclair and Dish Network's corporate owner - Echostar - were embroiled in their own little skirmish regarding the carrying of local Sinclair owned stations over that satellite provider's system. That dispute was just resolved last week.

I understand that Mediacom is offering free "rabbit-ear" antennas to consumers who want to pick up the local stations (See article here.) But KGAN is one of the WORST stations to pick up with even a top-of-the-line, over-the-air broadcast antenna. My father-in-law lives just south and east of Cedar Rapids and he gets horrible over-the-air reception with KGAN.

And it's not just Mediacom who has been having trouble with Sinclair Broadcasting. Time-Warner was been told they have to shut down retransmissions of local channels beginning January 12. But an eleventh-hour agreement to extend the current agreement ended that stalemate.

And Comcast Cable has been told they have until February 5, 2007 to pay Sinclair more money for the retransmission of local stations over that cable providers service or be forced to drop the signals altogether.

Iowa's congressional delegation has urged Sinclair Broadcasting to enter into binding arbitration with Mediacom to get the impasse settled. Mediacom appealed to the Federal Communication Commission to force Sinclair to allow the local signals back on the cable provider. That appeal was subsequently denied.

Mediacom then urged Congress to intervene over the Federal Communication Commission's ruling, while also agreeing to go to arbitration with the FCC's Media Bureau (something they had resisted up to that point). But a few days ago, Sinclair chairman Dave Smith wrote Congressional members in the affected states to "back off".

In a press release after sending the letter to Senators and Congressmen, Smith said "Mediacom, having failed in both the courts and at the FCC, would now try to obtain intervention from the legislative branch of the federal government is not surprising. Mediacom's efforts represent nothing more than the desperate attempt of a private enterprise to seek congressional assistance to remedy its failure to reach agreement during private negotiations."

Sinclair Broadcasting, some of you may remember, was the group that ordered all of its stations to air an anti-John Kerry documentary in the days leading up to the 2004 Presidential Election. They also pulled the plug on a "Nightline" broadcast with their ABC affiliates where the names of those killed in the Iraq war were read. Sinclair deemed the broadcast to be "anti-war".

Sinclair seems to be holding the cards in this matter. The corporation is very close to the Bush administration and the favorable rulings by the FCC seem to reinforce that notion. Still the big losers are the American public. If the FCC says that Sinclair is justified in charging the re-transmission fees they're seeking, Mediacom and other cable companies will have no choice but to raise rates.

And with the U.S. Senate conducting hearings on the rapidly rising cable rates (a nearly 90% increase in 11 years), the cable providers are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They have to raise their rates to keep up with the payments they're making to networks and broadcast companies, but at the same time they're facing increased pressure from Congress to curb rising rates. It's a no-win situation for them.

January 23, 2007 in Audio/Video Info | Permalink | Comments (0)

Andiamo - Las Vegas

One of the best kept secrets of Las Vegas cuisine is Andiamo located in the Las Vegas Hilton. This quiet little Mediterranean/Italian restaurant is sort of hard to find, but it's one of the better Italian restaurants in the Las Vegas area.

The atmosphere among the marble floors and terra cotta walls is classy, yet intimate and cozy. Linen tablecloths top each table and the service is top notch. I've eaten there a couple times now and both experiences have been absolutely outstanding.

Executive chef Ray Sansotta fixes up an eclectic mix of pasta and seafood with a spicy and flavorful flair. And the Maitre d', Mr. Apicella, is one of those old time greeters that makes you feel important when you walk up to his stand.

As I said, Andiamo is sort of hard to find (see map). You walk through the Plaza Bar and it's situated next to the Hilton Steakhouse (also another very underrated and very good place to eat in Vegas). It's tucked away around the corner from the bar area so it gives it an even more intimate feel to the place.

We ate as a group of 10 for dinner one evening after a full day of appointments during CES. Actually, we had an addition of one just before we were seated. But Mr. Apicella made arrangements with tables and chairs and our 7:30 seating went very smooth and seamless.

We started out with two huge plates of hot and cold anti-pasto - Italian meats, calamari, shrimp, roasted peppers, pickled mushrooms and other wonderful starters. The wine list was impressive with a number of Californian and Italian wines. Once again, I yielded to my colleague who knows Italian wines much better than I. And he picked out a great Italian red that was light, yet robust. (I wish I could remember the names of these wines or at least write them down).

I ordered a spicy seafood dish that consisted of fettuccine noodles in a tomato-cream sauce with flakes of red peppers, topped with ample amounts of huge shrimp, scallops, lobster meat and clams. I had loaded up on the anti-pasto before the meal, so I opted out of getting a salad before the meal.

When my meal arrived, I was served this huge plate loaded with seafood and pasta. And it was - in a word - killer. Unbelievably great. There was so much seafood on the plate that I couldn't tell if it was a seafood plate with pasta, or a pasta plate with seafood. The spicy tomato-cream sauce was very good and packed with flavor. (One of my Canadian colleagues at the other end of the table got the same dish and he thought it was TOO spicy.)

Andiamo can be a little pricey. Per head cost of the meal was around $60 bucks and the wine was about $80 a bottle (we had three bottles). Compared to Il Fornaio, Andiamo blew away the meal we had the first night we were in town. Andiamo is one of the great hidden treasures in Las Vegas. I hope they stay that way.

(Update - Andiamo closed down and replaced by Casa Nicola. Click here to see my entry on Casa Nicola.)

January 22, 2007 in Italian, Las Vegas, Rest In Peace, Restaurants | Permalink | Comments (0)

XM - Sirius to Merge?

One of the more interesting pieces of news to come out of the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was the possible merger between the two satellite radio companies - XM and Sirius. Rumors have floated for sometime that the two satellite radio companies may be in low-level talks to merge the two entities. But the talk about a possible merger seemed to be more prominent at CES.

Sirius had a good year in 2006 with an 82% increase in subscribers. On top of that, Sirius gave its marquee star Howard Stern $83 million in stock bonuses to share with his agent for helping the satellite radio company surpass their subscriber projections for the year. Stern and his agent received over 22 million shares of Sirius stock.

XM ended the year short of subscriber projections, but it was still ahead of Sirius in subscriptions (7.63 million vs. just over 6 million). XM also had missteps that included a forced modification of hardware to bring it into compliance with the company's Federal Communications Commission license, and a messy resignation of board member Jack Roberts.

Still, both companies are hemorrhaging money because of lower than expected advertising revenue. However, Sirius' advertising income quintupled in 2006 vs. 2005 from $6 million to $30 million. Coupled with subscriber sales of about $650 million, the company turned a positive cash flow profit for the 4th quarter of 2006. However, it is still far below the $1 billion in annual income the company needs to offset previous and projected losses.

One person is not so certain a merger would go through. Ryan Saghir of Orbitcast.com listed five reasons on his site over a month ago why a merger between XM and Sirius would never go through. Some of his reasons are pretty cogent.

However, Wall Street is taking notice with the on-going conversations between XM and Sirius. And Sirius chairman Mel Karmazin is not down-playing the talk of a possible merger. "We are responsible for acting in shareholders' interest, and creating value," Karmazin said. "One of the ways you create that value is through consolidation – particularly in a fragmented industry like the radio industry."

And FCC chairman Kevin Martin is not certain they would allow a merger of the two companies (read here). The precedent is the FCC's decision to block planned the merger of the two satellite television providers Dish Network and DirecTV back in 2002.

If a merger were to go through I'd probably sign right up for satellite radio. The choices on both systems are too numerous for me to make a decision on right now.

Merging the two systems would definitely be in the best interests of electronics manufacturers who are also planning on including satellite radio in home stereo and surround sound receivers. At this moment, the manufacturer's hands are tied figuring out whether to make their products XM or Sirius compatible. It's beginning to be a minor mess in the electronics world, and one that could get bigger if satellite radio subscriptions continue to grow.

January 19, 2007 in Audio/Video Info | Permalink | Comments (0)

Binion's Ranch Steakhouse

One of the great old time restaurants in Las Vegas is Binion's Ranch Steakhouse on the 24th floor of Binion's Horseshoe Casino and Hotel. The place has been around since the 60's and it's one of the finer, well-kept secrets in Las Vegas, especially since the explosion of four and five star restaurants in the city over the past 10 to 15 years.

I first ate there about 15 years ago with a buddy and his wife. The view of the downtown area to the Las Vegas strip is pretty nifty. At one time, the Horseshoe Casino and Hotel was the tallest building in Las Vegas. Now, it's not even the tallest building downtown. But the view is still very nice.

We had a group of 10 of us go downtown to the restaurant for dinner one evening. Actually, one of our guys made the reservations, blindly. He had no idea what to expect. I told him that I thought Hugo's Cellar in the basement of th Four Que ens was a better downtown restaurant, but I'd eaten at the Ranch Steakhouse before and I thought it was good from what I remembered from long ago. And we were committed as he had to give his credit card for the reservation, so we went.

The restaurant hasn't really changed in the 15 years since I was last there. In fact, I'm not sure it had really changed since the 60's. It was still cozy and comfortable, but it was tired in a lot of instances. You could see some wear and tear on the place, but it certainly didn't detract from the warm feel the restaurant had.

We were promptly seated and I was handed the wine list while everyone looked through the dinner menu. One of the first things I noticed was how low the prices of their wine was compared to other restaurants I've been in. So low, in fact, that they had the 2002 Jordan Cabernet for only $75 bucks! (I know, ONLY $75 bucks. But I've seen it as high as $125 in some restaurants and is usually around $100 to $110 dollars.)

When I pointed out the price of the Jordan, my boss immediately said, "Wow! That's a great price. Let's order two of those right away!"

The menu is pretty basic - beef and seafood. The appetizers are all seafood oriented and the sides are extra with the meal. I started off with Caesar's salad which was only OK, not as flavorful or made with the table side pizazz you get across the street at Hugo's Cellar. One of my colleagues, however, got the French Onion soup as a starter and proclaimed it to be, possibly, the best he'd ever had. (And, like me, this guy eats at a lot of restaurants.)

I ordered the Binion rib-eye, blackened, medium-rare with a side of their famous peppercorn sauce. (I almost went with the Steak au Poivre - a New York strip covered in peppercorns and peppercorn sauce. One of my other colleagues got that.) And I ordered some of their garlic-mashed potatoes as a side.

One of our guests that night was a Frenchman from one of the companies we distribute. He ordered the 21 oz. Porterhouse. He asked me, "Is Porterhouse a good steak, no?" I told him it was a great cut of meat and he'd be lucky to finish the whole thing. He took that as a challenge and he ordered that.

Our meals came out and I was somewhat disappointed I didn't get the Steak au Poivre. My rib-eye was a little overcooked (probably from the blackening process) and it didn't seem to have the spiciness I expected it to have. Even with a side of their pepper sauce (not the peppercorn sauce, which was brought out a little later by our mildly absent-minded waiter), it still wasn't all that zippy in taste. But when the waiter finally brought out the creamy peppercorn sauce, it was a perfect compliment to the steak.

My boss had a rib-eye un-blackened and he really liked it. In fact, everyone liked their meal. Even the Frenchman across from me who devoured his whole Porterhouse steak in less time it took me to finish my rib-eye thought it was very good. He told me, "We don't get beef like this in France."

I don't know - maybe I'm a little jaded from living in the Midwest and having great steak cut on a local butcher's block all the time. I thought the food was good, not great, but good. Service was a little iffy, but competent. You couldn't beat the wine prices. (We figured the reason the wine prices were so low is that the restaurant has to compete with a number of upscale restaurants located all throughout Las Vegas.) And it's tough to beat the view of nearly the whole southern half of Las Vegas.

Binion's Ranch Steakhouse was nice, but I want to try Hugo's Cellar again the next time we go out.

January 18, 2007 in Las Vegas, Steakhouses | Permalink | Comments (0)

Il Fornaio - Las Vegas

I got into Las Vegas a week ago last Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Considering my body was still on Central time and the fact that I hadn't eaten in 9 hours, I was pretty hungry. When I met up with my colleagues at the Monte Carlo, I found that we were just getting ready to go next door to New York New York to eat at Il Fornaio. It didn't matter where we ate, I was starved.

Il Fornaio is an Italian restaurant situated on the "streets" of the casino/hotel. It has a little "sidewalk" cafe look to it with tables on the outside of the restaurant. Inside the door, the restaurant's decor is likened to a New York City Italian restaurant - lots of dark wood paneling with a number of antique fixtures throughout the place.

Il Fornaio (see corporate web site here) - which roughly means "The bakery" in English - started out as a baking school in Italy in the early 1970's. In an attempt to save the dying concept of neighborhood bakeries in Italy, they opened their first bakery in Milan in the mid-70's. Today, there are over 2500 Il Fornaio bakeries scattered throughout Italy.

American retailer Williams-Sonoma bought the rights to open an Il Fornaio in the United States in the early 80's. They opened four of the Il Fornaio bakeries in the San Francisco area soon thereafter. Williams-Sonoma then sold the bakeries to a group of private investors, who in turn sold the bakeries to restauranteur/investor Larry Mindel in 1987.

Mindel expanded Il Fornaio's offering to include a full service restaurant in Corte Madera, CA. Over the next seven years, Mindel opened a number of Il Fornaio Cucina Italiano's in the Northern California area. Their first expansion to the east was in 1996 when they opened the restaurant at the New York New York casino/hotel in Las Vegas. Today, Il Fornaio boasts 23 restaurants in 4 states.

Similar to the Francesca restaurants in the Chicago area, each Il Fornaio has a specific owner/partner running the restaurant. At the one in Las Vegas, Sicilian-born chef Gianni Spatola (left) and general manager Lino Chini run the operation. Both Spatola and Chini have been associated with Il Fornaio at other company restaurants for a number of years.

It was loud in the main dining room when we walked in. But the hostess paraded us back through a series of hallways to a little quiet room that had four or five large tables in it. There was already a party of 10 seated at one of the tables and our party of 8 sat opposite them in the other corner. Even with other people in the room, it was quiet and cozy. My boss is big on conversation at dinner and he loves places where you don't have to shout from one side of the table to the other just to be heard.

Almost as soon as we were seated, we were given baskets of their homemade breads which were devoured immediately. The menu at the Il Fornaio restaurants are somewhat similar, but each chef/partner gets to add their own special twist to items.

A couple of things stood out for me - the veal scallopine caprese, which was a thin slice of veal topped with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella cheese; and the Turtei con Aragosta, which was ravioli stuffed with lobster and topped with shrimp and a cream sauce.

But one of my colleagues pointed out the Petto di Pollo al Peperoncino - a full chicken breast marinated with sage, rosemary, thyme, crushed red pepper, white wine, Dijon mustard and lemon. It sounded good. And since it was late, it was a lot lighter than the other two dishes. I ordered that with the Il Fornaio house salad of mixed greens, garlic croutons, fresh shaved parmesan cheese and a house vinaigrette.

The wine list was adequate. Most of the wines were Californian in origin, but there was a good number of Italian wines, as well. One of my Canadian colleagues is well versed in Italian wines having spent a lot of time in the country. He picked out a couple bottles of a good red wine for dinner.

Our dinner came and I have to say that my food was OK. Not great, not bad - just OK. Everyone else thought the same thing. The food was deemed "serviceable" by my boss. My chicken was a little overcooked and somewhat dry, but it was edible. The herbs and spices were a little overpowering, but it was interesting to say the least. I don't know if we all were a little tired or a little hungry or maybe a lot of both, but there wasn't much conversation at dinner.

Would I recommend Il Fornaio? Yeah, but not as a first or second choice. And maybe not even as a third choice. There's a number of much better Italian restaurants in the Las Vegas area than Il Fornaio. Even with local chef/partners, it's tough to get out of line from the corporate path with a chain like Il Fornaio.

January 17, 2007 in Italian, Las Vegas, Restaurants | Permalink | Comments (0)

CES - 2007

The 2007 Consumer Electronics Show was recently held in Las Vegas. It was my 21st year attending the annual show which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. Since my first show in 1987, the show - and the city of Las Vegas - have both changed dramatically.

But even as things change, sometimes they stay the same. As in 1987, video products still dominate the show floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center; but computers, whole house control, personal communication devices and accessories make up the bulk of what is shown at CES. Most of the main stream companies in the specialty audio/video world either do not show at CES any longer, or they show at a hotel near the convention center. This year, as with last year, my company showed our products in four suites on the 28th floor of the Las Vegas Hilton.

The highlights at CES were many including the "mine is bigger than yours" posturing going on between Sharp and Panasonic. Panasonic showed a 103" Plasma display unit (above), billing it the world's largest plasma television, beating out the 102" Samsung plasma display unveiled at last year's CES. The Panasonic plasma retails for about $70,000, but is significantly less than the over $100,000 price tag the Samsung plasma was introduced at last year.

(Just to give you an idea as to how plasma display prices have dropped over the past year - LG's 71" plasma display now has a suggested retail price of $15,000. It was $75,000 when it was first introduced last year.)

Sharp immediately unzipped their pants to unfurl a 108" LCD display unit. This unit will be available in the fall of 2007 and a suggested retail price hasn't been announced. But guesses are that it will retail at or around $75,000.

The biggest problems with these units are - of course - the price, and the size. Getting them into any conventional home will be a nightmare. Plus the fact that they weigh so much, special installation brackets will not only be needed to hold the panels up, but it could be that a fork lift may be needed to maneuver the unit to it's final resting space. That's not to feasible in the vast majority of today's homes.

LCD displays have come a long way in the past year in terms of size (many units over 40" are available on the market place) and in technology. Manufacturers have finally doubled the frame rate on the televisions from 60 frames per second to 120 frames per second to cut down on the motion artifacts that plagued LCD panels - especially during fast motion scenes or sporting events. This now puts them on a par with many plasma display units in terms of picture quality.

Industry forecasts call for nearly 20 million flat panel displays to be sold in the United States in 2007 with 75% of those units sold being LCD displays.

Other big revelations at CES this year included the Apple Iphone, but Microsoft and Sony announced plans that will close the gap between television and personal computers to allow complete access to communications and internet use, as well as distributing personal video content to the user.

Users will be able to watch their favorite television programs on demand on a personal viewing device, similar to a laptop computer. And in the future they may be able to watch sporting events live as they happen. Industry experts say this process - called "connectivity" - is the next wave of how a person will view television programming.

Microsoft's Bill Gates also heralded the arrival of products that will connect the video, entertainment and gaming experience all bundled into the Xbox 360 game console. Similar to a personal viewing device, users will download content from Microsoft's Xbox 360 Live web site.

Panelists on a television program that was broadcast live to Las Vegas hotel rooms during the Consumer Electronics Show said the cable television industry and satellite providers could ultimately be the ones that feel the hurt over personal viewing devices. And with the mini-skirmishes going on now between cable providers, satellite providers, broadcast companies and specific networks, "connectivity" could play a big role as to how these factions work together in the future. (I'll have more on the little wars going on in the broadcasting world in a future blog post.)

The Venetian was the home to the high-end audio exhibits this year. I talked to a number of dealers and manufacturers representatives who spent some time at the Venetian. While they all said it was a great change from the Alexis Park in terms of display areas, it was so overrun by techno-geeks and end-users that it was difficult to get around in the hallways and to talk with manufacturers one-on-one.

For years, I've been sold on DLP technology over other formats for rear or front projection televisions. I'm starting to change my mind. One of my companies, DreamVision, unveiled a new front projector - the DreamBee - (I know, it's a stupid name) that featured a three-chip Digital Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier, or commonly known as D-ILA. The picture on the DreamBee was stunning. We had industry press people and critics saying it was the best video display at the show. I have to say I was overly blown away at the picture quality of the unit, as well.

The biggest obstacle with D-ILA continues to be the price. D-ILA projection units still are much higher priced than their DLP counterparts. (The suggested retail price of the DreamBee is $7799, while DLP rear projection televisions are beginning to come down below $2000.) And as DLP projection televisions continue to drop in price, many of the ones on the market are still very good for the price.

However, the biggest advantage with D-ILA is that you don't get the "rainbow" effect from the color wheel DLP televisions use, the contrast ratio (the mathematical formula that figures the difference between the darkest blacks and the brightest whites) is very high on D-ILA units vs. DLP, and the colors are about as true as you can get on any television.

The HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray format war for high definition DVD's was still hot and heavy in Las Vegas, even though most video aficionados have declared HD-DVD the winner when it comes to providing top drawer video content. Blu-Ray, with their higher capacity for storage of digital video information, may be relegated to the computer gaming industry and multi-media storage; while more companies are pushing HD-DVD for movies.

Blu-Ray isn't going out with a whimper, however. During a press conference at CES, the Blu-Ray consortium - headed by Sony - announced the format war was over and the winner was Blu-Ray. However, their creative mathematics hid the fact that more companies - both electronics companies and movie studios - have embraced HD-DVD over Blu-Ray.

Blu-Ray pointed out that their software sales were up over 700% in 2006 vs. 2005. But most of that had to do with the introduction of Sony's Playstation 3 which uses Blu-Ray discs for much of the games.

For those of you who are confused about the formats and would like to have one video player to play both, LG Electronics introduced a dual format high definition DVD player. The player will be available in the first quarter of 2007, but will carry a hefty $1200 price tag. I think you'll see more of these combo machines from other companies, but it's my firm belief HD-DVD units will be the choice of most manufacturers and end-users in 2007 and beyond.

There's so much more that I could go on and on about that was featured at this year's CES. But the best thing to do is to go to your local audio/video store and see the bulk of these products when they're introduced later this year. Going to CES is truly like looking into the future.

January 16, 2007 in Audio/Video Info, Events, Las Vegas | Permalink | Comments (4)

Ted's Montana Grill - Schaumburg, IL

Teds_logo_2 I recently had to run our daughter into Chicago for her to fly out to England to meet our other daughter who is studying in Spain this year. She said that since she wasn't going to be eating for awhile while traveling, she wanted a "stick-to-your-ribs" kind of meal before she left. I decided to take her to Ted's Montana Grill.

I've written about Ted's here first as a steakhouse; then again as a burger joint. They bill themselves as a classic American grill that happens to serve comfort food. I do like their bison steaks and burgers - the best of their kind that I've ever had. But they also serve something called bison pot roast and I've always wanted to try it.

We got in to the Ted's in suburban Schaumburg just before noon and we were promptly seated in a spacious booth. Our waitress was a red-haired Scottish lady with a big smile, Wilma. Within 90 seconds we found out that Wilma retired from United Airlines after working 30 years as stewardess, she was working part-time at Ted's because the airlines cut 50% of her pension, she celebrated her 60th birthday in her native Scotland, and the actor Sean Connery kissed her on the cheek on her birthday. She was a real trip and I liked her immediately.

She asked if we'd ever been to Ted's before. Oh, yes. I told her I'd been to different Ted's Montana Grill's many times before. She said, "So you're a veteran, now. You know the story, then."

I said I did, but my daughter didn't. She talked about the lunch menu and the daily blue plate specials. The special that day was a slow roasted pork loin with cooked carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Out of the blue she offered us a sample of their bison pot roast. I hadn't completely been sold on getting the pot roast as of yet. (I thought about getting a bison burger, only cooked a little longer this time than the last time I had a burger there.) She brought us out two small bowls with shredded bison meat over mashed potatoes with a little gravy. I have to say it was very good. So, I went with the bison pot roast (which is available daily) and my daughter went with the pork loin blue plate special.

While we were waiting for our food, the day manager came over, introduced himself, shook my hand and said, "I understand that you're a veteran of Ted's Montana Grill." I told him that I travel a lot and I try to stay away from chains, but I've never been steered wrong by eating at a Ted's. I was hoping he'd give me a gift certificate, but that never materialized.

Wilma brought our food out and the pork loin with carrots and mashed potatoes was exactly what my daughter was looking for. And the bison pot roast with mashed potatoes, gravy and a side of green beans was just great for me. The bison meat was tender and the gravy was a excellent complement to the meal.

I was intrigued by the gravy so I asked Wilma after I'd finished what was in it. She said, "Oh, you know I should know this, but I'll check in the kitchen."

She came back out and said the gravy with the pork loin was a combination of chardonnay wine, cream and natural juices, while the beef gravy was also a combination of natural juices from the meat and Kitchen Bouquet. I could have sworn there was some red wine in there with it, but Wilma said, "Nope, Kitchen Bouquet and juices. I know it doesn't sound glamorous, but it's good, isn't it?"

It was a spot hitter.

I'm always looking for a "stick-to-your-ribs" meal on the road and I'll be going back to Ted's Montana Grill for the bison pot roast again.

(Update - Ted's Montana Grill closed a number of restaurants in the fall of 2010, including the one in Schaumburg. That's too bad because many of them were in places that I travel to - Wichita, Omaha and Kansas City. I suppose with such strong competition for steakhouses in those markets, Ted's Montana Grill felt it would be better to focus on markets where they could succeed. Another reason why this particular Ted's probably shut down was that a Weber Grill Restaurant opened just up the road from the old Ted's location in late 2006. That particular Weber Grill location was always packed. However, I'm not without a Ted's in my travels. There are still 3 in the greater Chicago region and a couple in Indianapolis.)

January 12, 2007 in Chicago, Chicago Suburbs, Comfort Food, Kansas City, Rest In Peace | Permalink | Comments (0)

The NFL Network

I've been following some interesting aspects in the world of television broadcasting over the past few weeks. There are a number of little "wars" going on right now between different factions - cable companies vs. satellite providers; broadcast companies vs. cable companies; satellite providers vs. broadcast companies; networks vs. cable companies. The posturing and preening going on in television broadcasting right now is bordering on the absurd.

I've shared some of my insights with some friends of mine who are part of a little group of Iowa Hawkeye fans who talk about Hawkeye sports and/or other things going on in the world.

A couple of the guys felt the information was pretty interesting and suggested I put it on my blog. One of the things that I've been talking with them about is the situation with the current fight that is pitting the NFL Network versus cable television companies.

The NFL Network is available in about 1/3 of the nation's homes right now, primarily over Dish Network and DirecTV, but also with cable providers Cox and Comcast. But the remaining large cable companies (Time-Warner, Cablevision, Charter Communications, Adelphia, Bright House and Mediacom) are balking at the demands the NFL is putting upon them to carry the network on their systems.

The NFL wants the network to be part of the cable provider's expanded basic service, while cable operators want it to be part of their digital service. Cable operators want the NFL Network and the upcoming Big Ten Network to be choices the viewers will make if they want the new networks or not.

The cable companies are already under fire from the U.S. Senate about rapidly rising basic cable rates. The proposed pay package the NFL Network is demanding from cable operators is causing a number of them to balk at the league's demands. Right now, the league is demanding .70 cents per subscriber from the cable companies (up over 300% from the initial demand of .20 cents a subscriber in 2004). And cable companies believe that's too high of a price for a network in which the pertinent content is broadcast only six weeks a year.

The NFL is continuing to have negotiations with cable companies - especially those in states where NFL teams are located. Case in point - Wisconsin. The NFL has designated that "home markets" can receive the NFL network game via over-the-air broadcasts.

However, in Wisconsin, the designated "home market" is Milwaukee and Green Bay, which effectively left the rest of the state out in the cold (so to speak) when Green Bay met Minnesota a couple of weeks ago. Packer fans proliferate the state of Wisconsin and the outcry was none louder than in Madison, a market that is three times the size of Green Bay and home to arguably more Packer fans than those in the Green Bay area.

Charter Communications, the local cable provider in Madison, has ceased negotiations with the NFL network saying that the league is "blackmailing" and "strong-arming" cable companies into paying the fees to show the games of interest. They, like other cable companies, are not willing to pay out more money that would, in turn, raise cable rates - again.

The director of communications for Charter said that the NFL is continuing to demand the network be part of an expanded basic plan, when the cable companies want it to be part of their digital package.

(Locally, here in the Quad Cities and across Iowa - I've heard that Mediacom is wanting to package the NFL network as part of the new sports tier of channels that include ESPNU, CSTV and the Fox College Sports channels. No word yet if ESPN Classic would be brought back as part of this package.)

Ironically, Charter was one of the first cable companies to carry the NFL network in 2004, only to drop the network when the NFL demanded that it be part of Charter's expanded basic cable package instead of part of the digital package Charter was offering subscribers to show the network.

Right now, ESPN gets $3.00 per subscriber for their basic service of ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN News - by far the highest per subscriber fee charged to cable companies. At .70 cents a subscriber, the NFL network would be the fourth priciest cable network providers would carry.

The Wall Street Journal said that the NFL left about $400 million on the bargaining table with over-the-air networks during their last negotiations to be used in reserve for the six Thursday night and two Saturday regular season games the network is going to show each year for the next three years. If cable companies don't pick up the network, the NFL could be out as much as $250 million dollars.

And that doesn't seem to faze NFL owners who are showing solidarity behind the NFL's negotiations with cable companies. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft recently told the Wall Street Journal that NFL owners have no problem waiting a year or two for positive results, clearly a sign the owners will stand firm in negotiations with the unsigned providers.

"There's a desire and a need for this," Kraft said. "I don't think we should sell our soul for a bowl of porridge in the short run."

It will be interesting to see who blinks first in this...

January 11, 2007 in Audio/Video Info | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pippin's Tavern - Chicago

Pippin's Tavern is an old town Irish tavern situated on N. Rush Street just off the Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago (see map). Our friends Scott and Marcia Schroeder always stop at Pippin's for a beer or two when they're in downtown Chicago.

Scott was describing the place to me one time and I said, "Does it have a square bar?" He said it did and I said, "I think I've been there a couple times before."

When we were in Chicago recently, we were shopping not far from Pippin's so I told Cindy that I'd like to go in for a beer, just to make sure I was thinking about the same place. Walking up to the place, I immediately recognized the outside of the building. And then after going inside and seeing the square (actually more of a rectangular) bar, I said, "Oh, yes. I've been here before."

Back when I worked for Bang and Olufsen of America in the 80's, I was part of a group of people in for training. But we were stuck out in the suburbs with a bunch of guys from all over the country wanting to go see the night life in Chicago. Since I was the only guy with a car and a sense of how to get around Chicago, I was suddenly the most popular person there. I piled four guys and a gal into the car and drove into Chicago. Getting off the Kennedy Freeway at Ohio and then a left on Rush St., the first bar we encountered was Pippin's.

A couple years later, we were in the Chicago suburbs for another Bang and Olufsen training and a couple guys came up to me and said, "Hey, you've got a car. Let's go into the city to that funky little bar on Rush Street." So we did.

Pippin's hasn't changed much from the last time I was in over 15 years ago. It's a cozy little funky Irish place that serves bar food and has 16 beers on tap. The bartender said, "The Italian beef sandwiches are the best in the city." Too bad we were still full from lunch.

But if you're shopping Chicago and want to take a break to get a cold beer and a sandwich, Pippin's is a pretty cool place to go to.

January 10, 2007 in Beer Bars/Pubs, Chicago | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bobak's - Chicago Area

Bobaks_logo Bobak's is an interesting place - it's the size of most Midwestern supermarkets, but it is more of a Polish grocery store than anything else. They have all types of Polish food and meats. They make their own Polish sausages and deli meats in their meat shops.

Bobak's started in 1967 as a butcher shop operation. They've grown over the years to have three large full service stores (a fourth was to open in south suburban Orland Park in the fall of 2006) with a huge meat and deli counter filled with all different types of Polish meats. In fact, they make over 100 different types of Polish sausages and deli meats.

But they also have regular meat counter items such as steaks, chops and ground beef. And they also make their own soups (including an interesting sauerkraut and pork chop soup), sauerkraut and Polish cabbage rolls. Their bakery is great, too. Lots of Polish breads and desserts, in addition to other ethnic fare, as well.

Bobak's also has restaurants in two of their grocery stores (I've only been to two of the three, so it could be that the Burr Ridge location has a restaurant, too). They bill themselves as "European Style Buffets". You can sit down in the restaurants, or take items from the buffet home to serve there. They make everything right there at the restaurant/store. It's a great concept.

Bobak's are mainly on the southwest and south side of Chicago. It's really worth the visit, even if you aren't planning on picking anything up. But do like I do - always take a cooler because you never know what you may find.

January 09, 2007 in Burger Joints, Chicago Suburbs | Permalink | Comments (0)

Harry Caray's - Chicago

Christmas Eve in Chicago is sort of weird, especially Christmas Eve on a Sunday night. We were sort of worried as to which restaurants - if any - would be open for us to have dinner. One place that wasn't far from our hotel that was open was the venerable Harry Caray's restaurant in the River North area of downtown Chicago (see map).

Started in 1987 by the legendary baseball play-by-play man, Harry Caray (right), and restaurateur Grant DePorter, the restaurant calls itself an Italian Steakhouse. It features steaks, seafood, pasta and the famous Chicago dish - Chicken Vesuvio.

The restaurant is housed in a historic building that began as the distribution plant for the Chicago Varnish Company in 1895. It was subsequently used as a food processing plant and distribution building for cheese products. During the hey-day of Chicago mob influence, gangster/enforcer Frank Nitti was said to have an apartment on the fourth floor of the building.

After a number of changes in ownership, the Miller family eventually bought the building in the early 80's. Part of the building was used as the family's heating and air conditioning business, while the other part was a steakhouse - one of the first of its kind in the burgeoning River North area.

Harry Caray's took over the steakhouse in 1987 and eventually took over the whole building, leasing the property from the Dearborn Kinzie property management firm who had bought the building from the Millers the year before.

In 2001, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks gave the historic building "Landmark" status. Harry Caray's management was fearful the owners would then make the restaurant vacate the property given the "Landmark" designation. A group of investors including Harry Caray's wife Dutchie, DePorter, former Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandburg and sportscaster Bob Costas bought the building in 2002, ensuring the restaurant would never have to move.

During our Christmas trip to Chicago, we were out walking around on Christmas Eve day. We were walking back toward our hotel on Dearborn - a route that we hadn't taken before. As we passed over the Chicago River and walked past the House of Blues, we looked up the street and saw Harry Caray's. We got up closer and saw they were open. She suggested we stop in and get a beer.

Bless her heart.

Now, I've eaten at the Harry Caray's out in Rosemont, but that was in the bar late at night with a couple colleagues who had just flown in from Montreal. And it was just sandwiches. I knew they had an extensive menu for dinner and I was interested to see it.

We sat at the bar and watched some of the Bears game on TV. We got to talking with the bartender, a younger lady who had a Santa's hat on her head. I asked if we could see a dinner menu and she passed one along to us.

It looked interesting enough and I asked her, "How late are you guys going to be open tonight?"

She said, "I really don't know. You may want to check with the restaurant manager before you leave."

We finished a couple beers and headed toward the exit. The manager was on the phone at the front reception area and we stood around and looked at the autographed pictures of famous sports figures and entertainment celebrities. He finally got off the phone and I asked, "How late are you open this evening?"

He said, "We're going to play it by ear. I'm taking reservations up to 6:30 and then we'll see how it goes from there."

Since we normally go to a movie on Christmas Eve - and that was on our agenda for the evening - I told him that we'd be back at 6:00 p.m.

Before we left, we took more of a look at the pictures on the walls of the celebrities and sports figures who have come into Harry Caray's and had their picture taken with the impressive sculpted bust of Harry at the front of the restaurant. Speaking of impressive sculpted busts, here's a picture of actress Shannon Elizabeth next to Harry.

We got back to Harry Caray's about 5:45 that evening and they sat us immediately. The very nice dining area was about half full. Linen table cloths, lots of dark wood paneling and a ton of sports memorabilia lined the walls of the dining room.

One of the things that jumped out from the menu to us was the Tall Grass Beef selections they were offering. Tall Grass Beef is owned by Chicago broadcast icon Bill Kurtis. Kurtis owns a ranch in Kansas that specializes in growing beef cattle that only eat the range grass at the ranch. They're not corn fed, they're not injected with growth hormones. It's as close to being organic beef without saying it's organic beef.

(And here's one little bit of trivia - American author Laura Ingalls Wilder once lived on the ranch that Kurtis owns.)

Our waitress, whose name escapes me know, informed us that they're famous for their aged steaks and offered to bring a tray of their featured steaks out to show us before they're cooked. I couldn't resist just having a peek at a bunch of good looking beef before it's cooked.

She brought out the tray and showed us seven or eight different cuts of steak. I asked where the Tall Corn Beef was and she said, "Oh, we don't have that for showing. But I can bring some out to show you, if you like."

I told her that I guessed the Tall Corn Beef was very lean with little marbling and she said, "That's exactly what you get with the Tall Corn Beef." It sounded intriguing, so we went that direction.

I went with the Tall Grass strip steak and Cindy went with the Tall Grass filet. We shared a side of their grilled asparagus and I topped the dinner off with a great bottle of a 2002 Jordan Cabernet. What the hell - it's Christmas and we're in Chicago.

The strip steak was very similar to bison meat - very lean with not a lot of flavor. Actually, Cindy's filet was more moist and tender than the strip steak. (I actually should have gotten the rib-eye which wouldn't have been as lean as the strip.) I can't say I was overly joyed with the taste of it, but I can't say that it was bad, either.

And the best part of the meal was the grilled asparagus. It was cooked to perfection. I've never grilled asparagus on the Weber Grill, but I think I may have to give it shot sometime soon.

We split a homemade tiramisu dessert and we were both full - not uncomfortable full, but full enough.

We splurged at Harry Caray's - the bill with tip came to about $240 bucks. But it was Christmas, we were in Chicago, we were having a great time and I thought we deserved it. The Tall Grass Beef cuts were about 15% higher in price than the comparable beef steaks Harry Caray's served, so that helped jack the price up. Well, that and the bottle of the Jordan Cabernet.

In any event, Harry Caray's was a pleasant surprise and a great meal. I won't have an problem either going back or recommending the restaurant to anyone.

January 05, 2007 in Chicago, Restaurants, Steakhouses | Permalink | Comments (0)

Heaven on Seven - Chicago

A little bit of Louisiana in Chicago is what Heaven on Seven is all about. It's some of the finest Cajun and creole cooking that you'll find anywhere.

Heaven on Seven is owned by Jimmy Bannos and his brother, George (right). The story of how Heaven on Seven started is sort of unique. Jimmy Bannos and his brother began to wash dishes in the family restaurant at an early age. His love of cooking was evident as a growing teen-aged boy.

Jimmy Bannos went off to cooking school and rejoined the family in 1980. The Bannos' family then opened a small coffee shop on the seventh floor of a the Garland Building on N. Wabash in Chicago (see map) and called it the New Garland Coffee Shop.

Jimmy Bannos began to make Cajun and creole dishes in addition to selling coffee and snacks. People would crowd the restaurant sampling the Cajun and non-Cajun foods that Jimmy would prepare.

Jimmy Bannos and his wife went to New Orleans on vacation and fell in love with the culture. He became friends with noted chef Emeril Lagasse and immersed himself in learning more about Cajun and creole cooking.

Bannos came back and after a while, the family coffee shop had turned completely to a Cajun and creole menu. Food critics hailed the little seventh-floor restaurant as having the most authentic Louisiana style food outside of the city of New Orleans. Heaven on Seven was born.

The Bannos brothers opened a second location on N. Clark, but that has since closed. Their third location, which is also their biggest location, is the one on N. Rush just off of Michigan Ave. (see map). That's the one we went to for lunch when we were in Chicago recently.

Heaven on Seven's decor reminds you of a Louisiana fish shanty. There's one full wall at the Heaven on Seven location on Rush - dubbed "The Wall of Fire" - that is nothing but a collection of hot sauce bottles the Bannos' have collected over the years. It's pretty impressive.

Here's a picture of Jimmy Bannos in front of the wall of hot sauces. And they keep a number of the hot sauces on each table, too.

It was sort of cool outside the day we went in, so I thought something warm from their menu would be perfect. I ordered a bowl of their gumbo along with a side of their jambalaya while Cindy got a cup of their gumbo and a side of the red beans and rice. I also got one of their famous Bloody Mary's followed by an ice cold beer.

The food is so rich and filling at Heaven on Seven. Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs. I finished the bowl of gumbo, but had problems with finishing the small side of jambalaya. Cindy, too, finished her cup of gumbo and only had about 5 or 6 bites of the red beans and rice. So filling, but - oh! - so good.

The one thing about Heaven on Seven is that it leans to the expensive side. The food we had, a Bloody Mary and a beer, and a soft drink for Cindy came to about $43.00. For lunch. Ouch. But the food is so damn good, I didn't bitch much.

The original Heaven on Seven is now open only a couple days a week and only through the lunch hours. The location on Rush is the flagship location and they have a third Heaven on Seven restaurant in suburban Naperville (see map). And the Bannos brothers just opened a new restaurant that specializes in breakfast and lunch called Juicy-O in Downers Grove (see map).

Heaven on Seven is one of my favorite restaurants for the atmosphere, the food and the taste sensations. It's definitely a treat each time we go.

(Update - In January of 2015, a judge in Chicago ordered Heaven on Seven's Michigan Ave. location closed due to non-payment of back rent. Owner Jimmy Bannos said that they were planning on closing this location before the judge's decree to focus on the original Wabash St. location and the location out in Naperville.)

January 04, 2007 in Cajun, Chicago, Rest In Peace, Restaurants | Permalink | Comments (0)

Christmas Eve in Chicago

The weather in Chicago during the days leading up to the Christmas Holiday was nothing short of beautiful. Although most people would like to see a white Christmas, I was happy that we didn't have to slog through snow and ice during our weekend stay there.

On Christmas Eve day, we took a walkabout the downtown Chicago area. We walked down to Millennium Park and checked out the Cloud Gate sculpture, or what is affectionately referred to by locals as "The Bean." This was the first time we'd been around it during the daylight hours and the mirror image was pretty cool.

The McCormick skating rink at Millennium Park was packed with skaters. The wait to rent skates was over 60 minutes - and that was at 11:00 a.m. The temperatures were in the low 40's and it was a beautiful day to skate.

We walked over to the Pritzker Pavilion and I took this shot from the back of the Great Lawn looking toward the stage. With the buildings in the background, I doubt if there's many other outdoor venues that look so architecturally striking.

Here's a shot of the Chicago skyline and the stage area of the Pritzker Pavilion. This picture was taken from atop the BP Bridge that goes over Columbus Dr. and connects Millennium Park with Daley Bicentennial Plaza.

Here's the Crown Fountain sculptures with the skyline in the back. Even on a brilliantly sunny day, you can still see the video projected faces of Chicago residents on the face of the monuments.

We walked down from Millennium Park to Daley Plaza. They were celebrating their annual Christkindlmarket open air German market festival in the plaza. A number of small shops are set up and vendors sell small gifts from around the world. Many are handmade and one of a kind works. By the way, here's the big Christmas tree in the plaza.

Here's a picture of some of the shops that are in the plaza for open air Christkindlmarket. The market is open from just after Thanksgiving thru Christmas Eve. In addition to gifts, they also sold food there. Cindy and I shared a bratwurst smothered in sauerkraut. It was pretty good, but not quite worth the $5.50 they charged for it.

Here's a shot of the famous Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza with the Christkindlmarket buildings in the foreground. We hung around for about a half hour looking at stuff, but we quickly realized it was probably more of a tourist trap than anything else. Still, it was sort of quaint to see these little buildings at Christmas time.

It was sort of strange being in Chicago at Christmas, but it was neat at the same time. Cindy wants to do it again next year. If we don't have anything going on, we may do it.

January 03, 2007 in Chicago | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gendler's

(Note - Gendler's has, indeed, closed their doors)

The oldest wine store in the Quad Cities may be shutting their doors soon. Gendler's Wines and Spirits has been in business since 1916 when Russian immigrant Max Gendler opened a grocery store at a location near downtown Rock Island. With the repeal of Prohibition, Gendler began to sell beer and liquor at his grocery store in 1934.

Over the years, Gendler's daughter, Rosalyn, and her husband, Jerry Zeffren (right), ran the business from the little building that seemed to be bursting from the seams. In the late 50's, Jerry and Rosalyn took a trip to Europe and were told to drink wine and not the water. Jerry had some interest in wine before that, but really began to learn about wines after that trip.

In 1963, Jerry began to sell wine in addition to beer and liquor. Eventually, Gendler's ceased being a grocery store that sold liquor. The Zeffren's then changed the name to Gendler's Wine Cellar and began to sell gourmet food items along with the ever growing stock of wines from Europe and eventually California.

When I first moved to the Quad Cities over 15 years ago, I was told Gendler's was the place to go to get beer and wine in the area. Jerry, and his longtime manager, Jim Stephens, were great guys to work with. Jerry taught me a lot about some obscure wines and could special order me Capital Brewery products. He ended up stocking some varieties of Capital beers because I was ordering a case or two a month from him. I honestly miss Jerry.

In 2001, Jerry and Rosalyn, both well into their 80's, sold the business to local businessman Tom Getz. Getz, who owns Moline Forge, a long-time local foundry that makes forged steel parts for John Deere, moved the business to its present location in Moline in John Deere Commons (see map) and changed the name to Gendler's Wine and Spirits.

The new location was definitely a step up from the old building Jerry and Rosalyn were in. It was easily two and a half times larger than the old location, with double the amount of parking. The display racks were easier to get to and they added more wine to choose from.

But it didn't have the same charm of the old building. Even though Jim Stephens was still on hand, it just wasn't the same as Jerry greeting you, taking you by the arm and showing you some obscure wine that he just got in from California or South America. Jerry never steered me wrong on a wine.

About a year and a half ago, Tom Getz and his wife, Karen, were driving home from Chicago when Tom Getz fell asleep and lost control of his vehicle. Karen was seriously injured and has been in constant need of medical care. Getz recently announced that Gendler's has been losing money and the stress of his wife's slow recovery has been taking a toll on him. He said that they were looking at closing the business because of the number of competitors in the market, most notably the Hy-Vee Food Stores that have an extensive wine and liquor department in many of their stores here in the Quad Cities.

I have to admit, I don't go to Gendler's like I used to. Even though they do have a good selection of wines, I don't know if it's because I shop for wines while I'm on the road, or if it's because the old time charm is gone in the new location, or if it's because Jerry Zeffren is no longer around. It's probably a combination of all three.

Getz said that he'd make his mind up sometime in the next few days as to the fate of Gendler's, but he's leaning toward closing. And it's sad. To me, it's another instance where new owners took the charm out of a business by trying to make it bigger and better.

January 02, 2007 in Beer, Wine and Liquor Stores, Quad Cities, IA-IL, Rest In Peace | Permalink | Comments (1)

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