Windy City travels and finding an Aura in the Twin Cities

FANCY FOOD SHOW FUN…What better way to greet the on-coming sunny days of summer than an early getaway to the lakeshore city of Chicago, eating your way through town. Better yet, my trip tied in with the 8th Annual Chicago Fancy Food Show at McCormick Place. After 50 years of shows each summer in New York and 30 years of hosting the Winter Fancy Food in San Francisco, spring in Chicago was deemed in 1998 the perfect time and spot to salute the specialty food industry.

It’s a foodie delight with hundreds of sampling tables featuring everything from the finest chocolate, cheeses, imported wine and exotic teas to pastas and frozen sweet desserts from more than 350 international exhibitors with thousands of products. How can you lose? You can discover new finds as well as old favorites with a new twist. One of my old favorites, Jack Daniels, was offering more than spirits. We sampled a new winner—their Jack Daniels Whiskey Praline Pecans created by Indianola Pecan House. Nuts with spirit! Yummy. Plus, I now have a new respect for salt—after seeing the huge chunks on display and tasting one of mother nature’s all-natural sea salts, sold as RealSalt, and mined in Redmond, Utah. Try it, you’ll like it—I’m hooked.

Best of all was crossing paths with old favorite friends as well. It was like magic! I found myself face to face with another of my favorites, Paul Prudhomme. I had not seen him in at least six years, when I was on a bayou tour and stopped in New Orleans. He updated me on his Katrina survival with his Magic Seasoning factory taking a hit with the flooding, but the French Quarter stayed dry and his K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen was one of the first to reopen. His K-Paul’s teams prepared over 30,000 meals for those in the devastated areas where the residents, volunteers, police, firemen, and the remaining military troops were working to clear out and rebuild many parts of the city. These efforts were funded through the “Chefs Cook for Katrina Foundation” that was founded by Prudhomme. He was and is my hero, with a great spirit, nary a frown and always a smile on his face. Bravo!

BEWARE THE “F” WORD IN CHICAGO…I mean “F” as in “foie gras,” or as they will soon be saying in the windy city faux gras. Will any chefs dare to serve it after June 26? That’s the deadline when Chicago will officially become the first American city to outlaw this cruel “delicacy.” The penalty will be $250 to $500 for serving the precious fattened goose liver. What next? Will they send out undercover police tasters to try to order the foul fowl’s liver to catch a chef in the act? Or will they stalk the restaurant as they do a liquor store watching for minors? Maybe a dinner guest will get tagged if they ask for this illicit seared favorite.

According to the ordinance passed by the Chicago City Council in April: “Restaurants, supermarkets, delicatessens and other food establishments will be prohibited from selling products made from the fattened livers of force-fed ducks and geese as of June 26, 2006.” This is the result of months of effort put forth by a diverse alliance of Illinois animal activists, veterinarians, celebrities, some restaurant owners and concerned city officials, all of whom stood up for the ducks and geese who suffer over-feeding so that their fattened liver can be made into foie gras. So now it’s a crime?

What’s next? Could they cuff French chef Jaques Pépin who recently sliced up a live lobster on TV? Or grab the chef flipping open live oyster and clam shells at our happy hour oyster bars? And watch out for veal—we went that round before. As for over feeding the ducks, I had even heard years ago their twice-a-day over feeding of cornmeal finds them standing in line for more. In reality Izzy Yanay, co-founder and vice president of the internationally respected Hudson Valley Foie Gras explains the treatment of the ducks is no crueler than many other things done to animals we raise and kill for food. They use every part of the bird but the quack, and these ducks naturally overeat before they migrate. In addition, their esophaguses are calcified, so the funnel and tube used for feeding are not seriously abrasive to the ducks.

So what made it news again? The support of several celebrities who brought media attention to the issue, for one. But the final nail in the foie gras coffin this year can be attributed to Chicago’s most famous chef, Charlie Trotter, who also advanced the cause by announcing that he would no longer serve foie gras.

Hence, my dining run around Chi-town was for a some foie gras. Each and every spot we tried had it available seared the way I like it. It ranged from the award-winning Tru to magnificent mile hot spots like Spiaggia and neighboring NoMi, to the newer River North restaurant Naha, named after Chef/Owner Carrie Nahabedian (who was a nominee this year for James Beard’s Best Midwest Chef, along with our local chef Lucia Watson). One chef at NoMi said they are still trying to grasp the ordinance. Since they can’t legally sell this gourmet classic, maybe they could consider selling a small toast plate for $30 and offer a side of complimentary foie gras—free. Cheers to his humorous alternative.

SALUTE TO SAPOR…Meanwhile, back on the home front where chefs still have the freedom of choice on their menu, it was a delight to see Sapor Café and Bar (428 N. Washington Ave. in Minneapolis) has obtained their full liquor license. Now you can sit outside on their dock cafe with a Mochatini (vodka with coffee and Godiva liqueurs) or mingle at the cozy bar and have a glass of cognac or maybe their new North Loop cocktail (bourbon, sweet vermouth and Framboise)—it’s like our own Raspberry Manhattan. Delish! They even have created an old-fashioned Washington Ave. Streetcar (cognac, cointreau and their housemade kumquat marmalade and orange).

Co-owners Julie Steenerson and Chef Tanya Siebenaler tempt us with their new short cocktails menu all day, but also promise a happy hour weekdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. with a “One Bite, Two Bite” menu, too. I was too late for that teaser menu, but I can’t wait for a warm weather happy hour run soon.

SUPPER AT AURA IS AWESOME…I found another great happy hour hideaway at Aura, tucked into a narrow sidewalk spot at Calhoun Square, facing Hennepin Avenue. They call their 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. specialties the “happy Aura” and offer a tempting mini menu of 15 items, including miniature hot sandwiches, small plates like baked brie and polenta fries and pizzas, with special prices on wine and beer. Dinner includes fresh pastas, coq au vin with a potato gnocchi, and an old-fashioned treatment for a filet mignon—it’s garnished with a giant beer battered onion ring—and a parmesan-crusted grouper.

The young, talented chef behind the scene, Matt Sohlo, cooks for the 50-seat dining room like he’s cooking for you in his own home, and he sometimes comes out to serve guests their entrees. The open kitchen gives you an entertaining view of Matt at work where he’s busy making each order from scratch from the fresh produce and fish he picks up daily on his way to work. He honed his skills and love for island spices and flavors with a twist—like a poached pear with pulled pork wrapped in a puff pastry—from a six-year stint at the San Pedro Café in Hudson, Wis. Now, Matt offers his own creative versions for supper nightly at Aura. Good luck.