| | The
Slow Food Guide to Chicago: Restaurants, Markets, Bars,
edited by Kelly Gibson
and Portia Belloc Lowndes.
Slow
Food, a movement started in Italy almost twenty years
ago, aims "to protect the pleasures of the table from
the homogenization of modern fast food and life." The
popularity of the movement is evident in this well-crafted
book, the second in a series on American cities that began,
naturally enough, with New York City. While not all places
in the book fit their definition of Slow, those that do
are noted with the snail logo. Not surprisingly, the most
snails fall under the American category, where local ingredients
are more appropriate than popular international styles like
Thai, French, or Italian. It was pleasing to see that unlike
other guides to culinary Chicago, this one does not have
an overwhelming North Side bias, with the inclusion of many
South Side locations that the typical Slow Eater might now
know about. The guide does have its shortcomings, though
these are small, such as the fact the photographs sprinkled
throughout have no relationship to the text, writing that
can be a bit trite at times, and the lack of decent, detailed
maps. Overall it offered many surprises and helpful recommendations,
something a good guidebook should accomplish.
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