Bin 36

Earth Hour at bin wine cafe

2011-03-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

Down here at bin wine cafe, we have made a commitment to getting our protein and produce from local, sustainable farmers. Tomorrow night, we have a great opportunity to really let those farmers shine! Earth Hour is an international grassroots environmental movement. For one hour from 8:30 to 9:30 pm, people all over the globe will be turning out their lights. Many people go above and beyond for this and, down here at the cafe, we've decided to pull an all-nighter. We will be hosting a candlelight dinner all evening. Chef Rubino has also put together some great, all organic and sustainable specials for you. Not to mention, we are excited to highlight the wines we carry that follow sustainable, organic, and biodynamic growing practices. So help us celebrate Earth Hour and come down to the cafe!!

The Specials:

Fire Roasted P.E.I. Mussels
w/ fennel & saffron sugo, crostini topped w/ rouille

Gunthrop Farm Chicken Breast
w/ mascarpone & fingerling potato salad, salsa verde

Cranberry-Pecan Brioche Bread Pudding
w/ mascarpone chantilly & winter compote

big changes at bin wine cafe

2011-03-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

Situated in trendy Wicker Park neighborhood, bin wine cafe has been serving up great food and fantastic wine for 6 years. This winter, we have been undergoing some big changes to bring you even more.

The first big change is our new menu. We are bringing you more small plates so as well as sharing a bottle of wine, you and your friends can share your food too. Now when I say small plates, I don't want you to think about two tiny pieces of meat sitting on a baby bed of lettuce. I am talking hearty veal meatballs. I am talking the already-favorite mascarpone & prosecco arancini with wild boar sugo and shaved dante cheese. And don't worry, our wood oven pizzas aren't going anywhere, in fact, we have a new "pepperoni" pizza with house made giardiniera, red sauce and mozzarella.

We have also changed our hours. We are opening at four o'clock now to sate your pre-dinner munchies and your I-can't-believe-my-boss-did-that post work cocktails. Speaking of cocktails, the bartenders have being mixing up their new favorite winter cocktails like the Snow Plow made with Hendrick's cucumber gin, St. Germaine, lime juice and champagne. If you are into bubbly and want to try something new, ask the bartenders to whip you up one of our 3 champagne cocktails!

So when you are out and about in the neighborhood, stop in and see us down at the cafe!

Wine Flights: Express Yourself & Pacific Rim

2011-02-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

White wines for winter can be a challenge to find. Jan Henrichsen, Beverage Director, was searching for wines with a good body that can stand up to heavier winter cuisine. These next two flights are great examples of big white wines that are just begging you to drink them with food.

Express Yourself - This impressively versatile group of white wines are far from shy, and would never be accused of bashful restraint. Their inherent vibrancy could easily be mistaken for showmanship. Their message becomes crystal clear with food.

2009 Sauvignon Blanc, BIN 36, Mauritson Vineyards, Dry Creek Valley, California.
Our favorite new lip smacking sipper! Deliciously juicy and fresh with mouth-filling grapefruit, melon, and green apple.

2008 Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir), Gutzler Estate, Rheinhessen, Germany
"Reminiscent of Champagne without the bubbles" is how the winemaker describes this is tasty wine. We noticed its voluptuous mouthfeel and classic cherry & cranberry flavors.

2009 Pinot Gris, Willowcrest Winery, Yakima Valley, Washington
If this wine were a movie, it would be in technicolor! Vivid pear, bright green apples and a round, juicy presence that asserts itself with loads of charm.

2009 Pinot Grigio, Castello di Arcania, Fruili, Italy
Wanna fall in love with a Pinot Grigio? Here's your chance. Engagingly juicy with fresh cut and lip-smacking crisp texture.

Pacific Rim - Our friends Down Under are well known for their skill with red wines - shiraz and pinot noir. However, we've been blown away by the quality and variety of white wines produced in Australia and New Zealand. Delicious!

2009 Riesling, Sky Leaf, Warpararia Valley New Zealand
A racy, elegant and zesty dry reisling, chock full of lime peel and passion fruit.

2010 Sauvignon Blanc, Allan Scott, Malborough, New Zealand
Kiwi, hints of pineapple and fresh cut grass are knit together with seamless precision and a round, juicy finish to boot!

2009 Semillon, Torbreck "Woodcutter's White," Barossa Valley, Australia
Semillon is usually bottled with sauvignon blanc in the Bordeaux region of France. Down Under, in the magic hands of winemaker Dave Powell, it is surprisingly rich, silky and complex.

2008 Chardonnay, The Wishing Tree, "Unoaked," Western Australia
Ripe apples, pink grapefruit, and pineapple star in this full bodied, zippy, clean example of the most popular white wine grape in the world.

Wine Flights: "The O.G." Original Grapes

2011-02-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

A few times a year, Jan Henrichsen, Beverage Director, sets out to explore new AVAs and varietals to bring to our guests at the restaurant. Jan tastes through dozens of wines from all over the world (she does use a spit bucket sometimes!). After she makes her choices, she and Brian Duncan, our Wine Maker/Educator/Extraordinaire, sit down to go through a grueling process of choosing which wines to offer by the glass. And because the two of them do not have the same pallet, we end up with a great variety of wines that will satisfy any wine drinker.

As always at BIN 36, we look at the wine flights as much as learning tools as they are a great way to warm up from the cold weather. Tasting wines side by side allows us to more clearly see, smell, and taste the the unique nature of every wine. This season we have some spectacular wine flights to help any beginning wine drinker learn or refresh the pallet of an old pro.

Our first new wine flight for the winter season is "The O.G." Original Grapes. This is where is all started. If you've ever raised a glass of California Chardonnay to your lips or sipped a little New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, it's genesis was in France. Elegant, racy, and original, these whites are classics.

2009 Sauvignon Blanc, Domaine des Fontanelles, Vin de Pays d’Oc, France
Crisp and fresh with grapefruit, lime zest and a clean dose of minerals for balance.

2009 Chardonnay, Domaine Jean Touzot, Macon-Village, France
Ripe apricots and peaches, along with a chalky mineral center make this old-world Chardonnay the center of attention.

2009 Domaine Specht, Pinot Blanc, Alsace, France
Lively white peaches, hints of apricot jam and wet chalk complement a rich, mouth-filling
texture.

2009 Sauvigon Blanc/Semillon/Muscadelle, Château Perenchere, Bordeaux, France
Pleasantly plump! Citrus fruits, white flowers and fresh, mouth-watering acidity just make this more enticing.

More wine flights to come!!

Highlight Cheese: Abbaye De Belloc

2011-01-25T12:17:00.000-08:00

Abbaye de Belloc is a traditional cheese made by the benedictine monks of Notre Dame de Belloc. It is made from the raw sheep's milk of the local red-nosed manech ewes. Because of the climactically frequent rains in this part of France, the ewes have exemplary pasturing. Although they have a healthy diet, the milking season for manech ewes is relatively short. Thus, the cheese making season in the Pyrenees is only from December to July.

image from Yvan Lemeur's photostream

The milk of the red-nosed manech ewe is gathered from local farms. Because Abbaye de Belloc is an AOC cheese (Appellation d'Origine Controlee), the pasturing and breed are tightly controlled by the government. It is then made in the same way it has been made by the benedictine monks since the 1960s. The recipe was originally developed off of the regional recipe for Ossau-Iraty cheese. It is made into about 10 pound rounds and aged 4-10 months.

The cheese has a dense paste surrounded by a firm, red, yellow, and brown rind that has been marked by cheese cloth. The paste has a firm texture but is mild and smooth. It has a nutty, caramel flavor that pairs beautifully with zinfandel or a good Bordeaux.

image from artisanalcheese.com

Valentine's Day Movie in the Loft

2011-01-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

Everyone down here at BIN 36 is excited to bring back movies in the loft. It has always been one of our favorites events and though we have taken a little hiatus, Valentine's Day seemed like the perfect time to start them back up again!

This year we are creating a great setting to celebrate Valentine's Day with your sweetheart. We will be playing Moonstruck with Nicolas Cage and Cher. Both funny and endearing, this love story set in Brooklyn tells the story of the widow Loretta Castorini. Deciding she is ready to get married again, she chooses a safe and reliable man only to fall in love with his wild and passionate brother.

This great story has also inspired our chefs. Being Italian-American himself, Executive Chef John Caputo is planning a fabulous 3 course, Italian menu. While he hasn't given us a peek at the menu yet, we are sure it will help create the perfect setting for you and your sweetheart. In addition, our beverage director, Jan Henrichsen, will be pairing some fantastic wines with all three courses (as well picking the wines for the pre-movie wine reception!).

We can't wait to help you celebrate your Valentine's Day here at BIN 36!!

Bin School Winter Semester

2011-01-12T11:31:00.001-08:00

Many years ago, as a novice wine lover, I remember the uncertainty and apprehension that I felt towards wine. I also remember being subjected to a lot of lectures about how an untrained palate like mine couldn't possible recognize a quality wine. I also remember paying way too much for wine because I felt pressured into it. I wanted to drink "good" wine. Because of this, wine education is really important to me. I consider it the main part of my job at BIN 36. The difference between the education of our staff and our guests is a blurry line because I truly believe that knowledge is power.

That said, I am super excited about our BIN School winter line up and am looking forward to the first "real" semester of wine school I have planned since returning to BIN 36. We have two formats for wine classes; mini bin and full length classes.

Mini bin schools are planned to be about 20 minutes long and we will taste two or three wines with a brief ten or fifteen minute question and answer period. Mini bin school is a little like speed dating. Our goal is to introduce you to the basic concepts, let you taste a couple wines in a more formal tasting environment, and then send you out into the world.

Our more traditional classes are an opportunity to really dig into a subject. We pour six to eight wines and spend about an hour and a half on the subject at hand. This semester we will dig into some of my favorite regions and take a long, hard look at pairing wine and cheese.

I can't wait to see you there!!

(Jan Henrichsen is the Beverage Director for BIN 36 and bin wine cafe and our BIN School professor)

bin wine cafe winter menu

2011-01-11T11:24:00.000-08:00

It's a new year and time for a new menu at bin wine cafe. This year we are changing things up from our small bites and cheese flights to our weekly specials. And while the old specials are phasing out (we know you are going to miss the $5 burger), keep your eyes open for the great deals we will be offering this year!!

After the weekly Farm to Plate and Meatless Mondays, Phil and I have really been inspired to bring healthy, farm fresh items to the daily menu. So while we have our seasonal mixed greens and shaved winter veggies, you will also find that even our meatiest menu items are made with products from local farms and producers. We did keep some of your favorites (yes the crispy tempura green beans are still available!), we think the new menu will help fill you up in these cold winter months. We had a lot of fun putting this menu together and we hope you will have just as much fun eating it!!

image from health.slides.kaboose.com

bin wine cafe winter menu:

Crispy Garbanzo Beans
with cumin, chili scented

Mixed Olives
with fennel, orange, extra virgin olive oil

Hand Cut Fries
with sea salt, garlic aoli

Seasonal mixed Greens
with grapefruit, goat cheese, pistachios

Shaved Winter Veggies
with carrot, turnips, golden beets, parsnip, radish, watercress, red wine vinaigrette, shaved parmesan

Arugala & Dried Figs
with blue paradise, lemon vinaigrette

Grilled Bruschetti
with onion, almond, raisin agrodolce

Chicken Liver Mousse "Torchon"
with blackberry jam, sourdough toast

Veal Meatballs
with shaved parmesan, san marzano tomatoes
Burata
with extra virgin olive oil, toast

Crispy Tempura Green Beans
with citrus aoli

Wood Oven Calamari
with brandade, chorizo, fingerlings, sauce romesco

Mascarpone & Prosecco Arancini
with wild boar sugo, shaved dante

Charcuterie

La Quercia Proscuitto
with roast pears, mint, extra virgin olive oil

Fra Mani Toscano Salami
with ricotta salata, fennel taralle

Fra Mani Sopressata
with shaved fennel salad

Grand Salumi Platter
all three salumi, choose three cheeses

Pizza
(from our wood burning oven)

Red
with oven dried tomotoes, basil, mozzarella

White
with wild mushrooms, thyme, fontina, mozzarella, garlic confit puree

"Pepperoni"
with house made giardiniera, red sauce, mozzarella

Farm to Plate January 5th & 6th

2011-01-05T11:51:00.001-08:00

Another trip to Green City Market, another farm to plate menu for you to enjoy. This week we stopped in to see Nichols Farm, Genesis Farms, Iron Creek Farm, and the Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Co-op. As usual they provided us with spectacular produce in the middle of winter including gorgeous shallots, vitamin c packed turnips, and aromatic tarragon.

This week's main course is braised veal agnolotti. This house made pasta originated in the Piedmont region of Italy and is named after Angelot, the creator of this technique. First we are going to braise the veal which will break down any connective tissue and make it as tender as can be. Braising also allows us to infuse flavor and seasoning into the meat. Next we pinch the meat into each agnolotto. The trick to this technique is leaving an extra little pocket in the pasta to catch the sauce. Then we are tossing it up with a roasted shallot and parsnip cream sauce.

As usual, we are having a blast down here at the cafe and can't wait for you to stop in and warm up with some great food and wine!!

agnolotti image from wikipedia commons

The Menu....

1st Course
Butter Braised Turnips
with tarragon & stone ground mustard

pairing: 2009 Lecole No. 41 "Walla Viola", Columbia Valley, Washington State

2nd Course
Braised Veal Agnolotti
with roasted shallots and parsnip cream

pairing: 2007 Primitivo/Lemburger/Cabernet Sauvignon/Petite Syrah, Thursten Wolfe, Washington State

3rd Course
Roasted Heirloom Apple
with caramel, dark rum cream, puff pastry

pairing: 2007 Late Harvest Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, Chateau Cousteau, Cadillac, France

Sneak Peek of the Winter Menu

2011-01-04T08:09:00.001-08:00

We are now catching our breath after a bustling holiday season. Resting a bit but looking forward to what is going on our winter menu here at BIN 36. Our Pastry Chef, Tom Laurell, is taking a much needed vacation to replenish his creativity. He is planning some exciting new creations for the end of the meal.

This year, our goal in the kitchen is to tackle some new products and challenge the chefs with some new techniques. I have been speaking with farmers and suppliers to see what different products they can offer us for the 2011 winter menu. Coming the last week of January, a couple definates for the winter menu will be a cassoulet with house-made toulouse sausage, smoked pork shoulder and duck confit. We also have an Italian Cotechino Sausage (creamy, mild pork sausage) appetizer coming out. Keep your eyes out for a great red fish being farmed out of the gulf!

toulouse sausage is usually made with pork, smoked bacon, wine and garlic

image from bangersandsausages.blogspot.com

Most of all, we plan to bring you some really great food, challenge your taste buds, and have fun. Looking forward to seeing you down at BIN 36!!

2011 - A Look Forward

2011-01-03T09:44:00.001-08:00

As we head into the new year, I have been thinking about what to expect in 2011. At BIN 36, we are busy planning a wine by the glass change, a food menu change and getting geared up for BIN School which starts in a couple weeks. But, in the end, I am always reminded about what makes any restaurant tick - consistency in the process of innovation, quality in every new idea, and, above all, a genuine empathy for our guests. If you ever thought running a successful restaurant simply required opening the doors and waiting for customers to fill the tables, think again. Each year, the management team at BIN 36 decides an ever-evolving path. Of course, we stick to our core values - great, value-driven wines, surprisingly delicious food and cheese, informed and attentive customer service, but we never want to rest on past success.

In 2010, we began the year with a significant renovation and menu redesign to celebrate our 10th year in business. The changes, both in the restaurant and the plate, really seemed to hit the nail on the head. We had a great year and offered an experience we were all proud of - with plenty of fine accolades in the process. BIN 36 was even featured in the first Chicago Michelin Guide.

2011 promises to be another exciting year, and we have a lot in store for you - revamped BIN School classes, the aforementioned menu changes, a new wine by the glass feature which will rotate throughout the year, outdoor seating - something we have been working on for years! (yes, it will get warm at some point). We will be expanding our retail inventory with more books, wine accessories, and wine features, evolving our artisan beer menu, and, did I mention a new breakfast menu???

We are going to very busy in 2011. Stop by when you have time, have a glass of wine, and see what's happening!!

Farm to Plate - Dec. 29th & 30th

2010-12-29T10:46:00.000-08:00

This week's trip to Green City Market had us visiting Nichol's, Growing Power, Iron Creek and Genesis farms for fresh, local produce. As usual, they delivered some beautiful produce including some crisp escarole, golden beets, and tasty watercress.

Coming in to help the farm fresh produce this week, the cafe is taking on monkfish. This salt water fish can grow up to 5 feet in length and weigh over 100 pounds(the largest recorded was 219 lbs!!). While that is one big fish to catch, the real treat is cooking the monkfish. It has often been compared to lobster for the dense, sweet flavor of the tail meat. Not unlike lobster, monkfish can be a tricky fish to cook. If you don't give it enough moisture, it comes out tough and while it is delicious when served mostly plain with butter, some clever seasoning can bring out the best in this white fish. So we'll be pan roasting it to seal in the moisture then serving it up with some chickpeas, escarole, and calabrian chili vinaigrette to add just a little heat in this cold weather.

Monkfish image from wikimedia commons

The Menu.....

1st course
Shaved Winter Vegetable Salad
w/ golden beets, carrot, fennel, parsnip, radish, watercress, red wine vinaigrette

pairing: 2009 Pinot Noir, Mudhouse, Central Otogo, New Zealand

2nd course
Pan Roasted Monkfish
w/chickpeas, escarole, calabrian chili vinaigrette

pairing: 2006 Merlot, Hyatt, Washington State

3rd course
Persimmon and fig crostata
w/ mascarpone chantilly

pairing: 2007 Late Harvest Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, Chateau Cousteau, Cadillac, France

Meatless Monday at bin wine cafe - Dec. 27th

2010-12-27T08:35:00.000-08:00

Another Meatless Monday has arrived and after all the holidays and big family meals, we thought we would take a look at the environmental benefits of a vegetarian diet. Livestock takes quite a bit more to raise for food than grain or wheat. Different sources say it takes anywhere from 7 to 20 pounds of grain to feed every 1 pound of beef!! Not to mention the some 400 gallons of water it takes to raise that 1 pound of beef vs. the 14 gallons it takes to grow a pound of wheat. Ed Ayres of the World Watch Institute said, "pass up one hamburger, and you'll save as much water as you save by taking 40 showers with a low flow nozzle." Livestock is also a large contributor to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. A 2006 study from the University of Chicago found that most Americans can reduce more greenhouse gas emissions by switching to a vegan diet than by switching to a hybrid electric car!

So while we might not be ready to take the full Vegan plunge, it sure does feel good to commit one day a week to the health of both our bodies and the planet!

image from BBC Planet Earth

This week baby bin brings you...

heirloom apple and fennel salad
w/ pumpkin seeds, evalon goat cheese & champagne vinaigrette

tempura green beans
w/ crispy shallots & citrus aoli

farro & beet salad
w/ swiss chard, toasted hazelnuts, housemade ricotta

baked polenta
w/ wilted spinach, caramelized onions, mushrooms, garlic cream

watercress and persimmon salad
w/ sherry vinaigrette, frisee, goat cheese, crispy shallots

roasted trumpet mushrooms
w/ arugala & basil pesto

butternut squash soup
w/ toasted garlic, brown butter, crispy sage

Chef Caputo's Feast of the Seven Fishes

2010-12-23T11:01:00.000-08:00

We cornered Executive Chef John Caputo today while he was preparing for the Feast of the Seven Fishes. This Italian American Tradition has been in his family for generations. It is held in honor of La Vigilia, the Vigil, to await the birth of the baby Jesus. Chef Caputo reminisced about the Feast with his family growing up. The men would be responsible for shucking the oysters and clams. His mother and grandmother would be in the kitchen whipping up the rest of the meal. Some 30 family members would gather to Feast. Then it was off to midnight mass and opening presents afterward. He said that the presents were their reward for behaving throughout dinner and mass!!

While Chef Caputo may stray from the traditional meal made by his mother and grandmother every year, he has brought the tradition to BIN 36 for eight years in a row. We took a peek at what he was prepping today and it is truly going to be a Feast at BIN 36 on Christmas Eve!

This tasty morsel will be in the Grilled Octopus Salad

The Hiramasu, Conger Eel, and Sea Scallops

This is our 2010 menu:

1st course

Beausoliel Oyster, Prosecco-tangerine Gelee

Hiramasu Crudo, Bottarga, Preserved Lemon

Grilled Octopus Salad, Mint & Chillies

2nd course

Chestnut Pasta, Salt Cod Dumplings, Braised Celery, Parmesan Brodo

3rd course

Traditional "Venetian-Style" Scallops with Blood Orange, Garlic, & Parsley

4th course

Sauteed Conger Eel, Tuscan Lentils, Roast Lobster, Truffled Mashed Potatoes

Dessert

Chocolate Panettone Budino, Manjari Chocolate Anglaise, & Cranberry Granita

Farm to Plate Dec. 22nd & 23rd

2010-12-22T13:15:00.000-08:00

Every week, the chefs take a trip to Green City Market. There we find local, sustainable farmers displaying beautiful produce even in the middle of winter. This week, we visited with Genesis Farms, Nichol's Farm, Iron Creek, and Growing Power to gather our supplies for the farm to plate pre-fixe at baby bin.

Along with other tasty dishes, baby bin is bringing you roasted baby octopus for the pre-fixe. Octopus is used in many cuisines, from Japanese and Hawaiian to Mediterranean and Portugese. These little babies are loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins B3 & B12, and potassium. Not to mention, they are just down right delicious. This week we will be roasting them up on some watercress and radish with an anchovy vinaigrette to top it all off.

We hope you are enjoying the Holidays as much we are down here at the cafe. Loooking forward to seeing you for the pre-fixe this week!

Spanish octopus pots are called nasas, and are similar to lobster
pots you'll find in New England, via catrien's photostream

The Menu:

1st Course

Fire Roasted Baby Octopus

with fingerling potatoes, watercress, radish, anchovy vinaigrette

pairing: 2008 Gewurztraminer, Brandborg, Umpqua Valley, Oregon

2nd Course

Handcut Whole Wheat Pappardelle

with P.E.I. mussels, butter braised leeks, oven roasted tomatoes, white wine cream

pairing: 2008 Chardonnay, Mackenzie Estate, Simons Valley, California

3rd Course

Roasted Heirloom Apple

with caramel, calavados and vanilla cream, puff pastry

pairing: 2007 Late Harvest Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, Chateau Cousteau, Cadillac, France

Happy Holidays from BIN 36!

2010-12-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

As we come to the end of the holiday season, it's a little bittersweet at BIN 36. The Bitter - the parties and exciting flow of guests will slow to a trickle in the coming days. The Sweet - 2 of our favorite events of the year occur in the last week: The Feast of the Seven Fishes and New Year's Eve (Check out BIN36.com for the menus and details) And, we're happy to admit that it is a chance to polish up the restaurant, take care of a little needed maintenance and catch our collective breath as well.

All that said, there are still a few days left to take care of last minute/end of the year gifts. And, BIN 36 Gift Certificates make the perfect gift - for classes, retail purchases, and restaurant dining. There are endless options. As a special gift to you, if you buy a gift certificate between Monday, December 20th and Friday, December 24th, we'll GIVE you another certificate for half the value as a big THANK YOU!! To be fair, the Bonus Certificate must be used by March 31st, 2011 - but think of all the wine you could buy and enjoy for years to come!

Stop by if you have some time over the next couple of weeks (we're even open Christmas Day!). Enjoy a glass of wine, get a gift or gift certificate and say hello to your favorite bartender or server. We'll be waiting for you!!

Happy Holidays from the BIN 36 Family.

Farm to Plate Dec. 15th & 16th

2010-12-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

It is time for Farm to Plate prix-fixe at baby bin! Featured farms this week are Gunthrop Farms, Growing Power, Nichols Farms, and Iron Creek Farm who have provided the great meat and produce for this week's menu. All of these farms are local and either family farms or co-ops. This return to local farms has been a growing trend in the restaurant industry and with the home consumer. Not only is the food fresher and the animals are treated more humanly but buying local means cutting down on transportation and our overall carbon footprint.

This week we are serving up some great treats including a foie gras torchon. No dish for the amatuer cook, this baby takes a couple days to make right. Torchon, meaning "towel" in French, comes from the practice of using dishtowels to wrap the foie gras. We, however, will be using cheesecloth, wrapped around the foie gras in a log, seasoned, poached and left to hang overnight in the fridge. What do you get for all this work? A melt-in-your-mouth, spread-on-anything treat we know you will enjoy.

We are still having a blast over here at bin wine cafe. Every week is something new and challenging for the kitchen but we wouldn't have it any other way!

The menu....

1st Course

Foie Gras Torchon
reisling poached pears and baby arugala

pairing: 2008 Gewurztraminer, Brandborg, Umpqua Valley, Oregon

2nd Course

Crispy Pork Belly
whole leaf winter spinach, pickled butternut squash, roasted garlic and mushroom broth

pairing: 2005 Dolcetto, Palmina, Santa Barbara County, California

3rd Course

Roasted Heirloom Apple
caramel, calvados and vanilla cream, puff pastry

pairing: 2007 Late Harvest Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, Chateau Cousteau, Cadillac, Bordeaux, France

The Feast of the Seven Fishes

2010-12-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

Some people really celebrate the fishes
via Feast of the Seven Fishes' photostream.

The Feast of the Seven Fishes (festa dei sette pesci), celebrated on Christmas Eve, also known as The Vigil (La Vigilia), is believed to have originated in Southern Italy and is not a known tradition in many parts of Italy. Today, it is a completely Italian-American feast that typically consists of seven different seafood dishes. Some Italian American families have been known to celebrate with 9, 11 or 13 different seafood dishes. This celebration is a commemoration of the wait, Vigilia di Natale, for the midnight birth of the baby Jesus.

The Caputo family practiced this tradition all throughout my childhood and to this day my mother still cooks the same meal every Christmas Eve. All her children and grandkids still flock to her house for this dinner, and of course in anticipation of opening the Christmas gifts afterwards. So each year at BIN, I honor my mother by serving my interpretation of this great feast—and because I can’t fly home to eat at her house. Cooking it for you, I'm vicariously at home with my family.

This is our 8th year of celebrating “the feast” at BIN 36, what to me is the grandest meal of the year. I begin to think about the menu starting in September, discussing with my sous chefs which ingredients should make the menu. I work with my seafood suppliers trying to bring in different ingredients from the year before and looking to create a completely different experience. But most important to this menu is to keep it simple so that the delicate flavors of the individual seafood are able to show themselves off.

Mediterranean Conger Eel, one of the seven fishes
via ondaeoliana's photostream.

Please join us and help bring in Christmas together in an Italian-American tradtion.

This is our 2010 menu:

1st course

Beausoliel Oyster, Prosecco-tangerine Gelee

Hiramasu Crudo, Bottarga, Preserved Lemon

Grilled Octopus Salad, Mint & Chillies

2nd course

Chestnut Pasta, Salt Cod Dumplings, Braised Celery, Parmesan Brodo

3rd course

Traditional "Venetian-Style" Scallops with Blood Orange, Garlic, & Parsley

4th course

Sauteed Conger Eel, Tuscan Lentils, Roast Lobster, Truffled Mashed Potatoes

Dessert

Chocolate Panettone Budino, Manjari Chocolate Anglaise, & Cranberry Granita

We Have a Bubble Bath Winner

2010-12-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

Stunning, the zoo's new Nature Boardwalk
via The New No. 2's photostream.

Five you really made this thing interesting. While nobody had a perfect score, the five we posted all can make an argument to be deserving of something close to a perfect score—in some cases all that was missing from a correct answer was the vintages on the Editor's Choice wines or the name of the creamery from which the smokey blue cheese comes from. One of you even posted half an hour after your original posting with a correction to your answers, which happened to be the only question you'd gotten wrong... and the correction would've given you a perfect score! We warned you it'd be tricky!!!

Nevertheless, we hope you guys had as much fun filling it out as we did putting it together. And for us, it was great to be exposed a bit more to facts about the zoo, as I hope those coming to us from the zoo had fun learning a bit more about us.

Oh yeah. The winner. Well... with a near perfect score of 15 out of 16 questions correct, and our first submission received, it's Kimberly Spaeti. Kim only missed the Phil Rubino question when she correctly gave us one of his previous kitchens, but incorrectly gave us a kitchen that didn't receive a Michelin star. And Faye, who also had 15 correct, you missed out only because Kim submitted first.

But as much fun it was to put this together, it's definitely no fun to break the bad news to the rest of you guys... here's hoping you'll still be getting your tickets so we can raise a glass together tonight! As of this moment, we still have tickets to buy here.

And here are the answers, as a perfect score would have reflected, down the the last detail.

Dexter Steer at Farm-in-the-Zoo via greggers2007's photostream.

When was Lincoln Park Zoo founded? 1868

Wine Enthusiast recently named two BIN wines Editor's Choice, each with scores over 90 points. What are they? '07 California Cabernet Sauvignon and '09 Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc

On what day of the year is Lincoln Park Zoo closed? None, the zoo is open and FREE 365 days a year

What do the D and S stand for in the BIN 36 D&S Proprietary Blend wines? Brian Duncan and Dan Sachs

What new exhibit did Lincoln Park Zoo unveil in the spring of 2010? Nature Boardwalk

Earlier this year Phil Rubino was named Chef de Cuisine at bin wine cafe. What Michelin starred restaurant did he work at before manning the kitchen at baby bin? L2O, recipient of 3 Michelin stars

In what year was the Auxiliary Board of Lincoln Park Zoo established? 1985, making it one of the first young professionals' boards in Chicago

BIN 36 will be hosting its 8th annual Christmas Eve Feast this year. What is it called? Feast of the Seven Fishes

What “glowing,” wintery event at the zoo is especially bright in the night? ZooLights

For what California winery did John Caputo serve as Executive Chef before coming to BIN? Jordan Vineyard and Winery, in the Alexander Valley just north of Healdsburg

Name two animals, besides an African lion, that can be found in the Kovler Lion House. Pallas’ Cat, Serval, Puma, Amur leopard, Afghan leopard, Amur tiger, Snow leopard, Red Panda, Jaguar

From what market do chefs John Caputo and Phil Rubino source ingredients for their weekly changing Farm to Plate prix-fixe? The zoo's neighbor, Green City Market

In what zoo exhibit can you find cows, chickens, goats and ponies? Farm-in-the-Zoo Presented by John Deere

BIN 36 turned some heads this year with a new souffle. What award winning cheese was used for it? Rogue Creamery's Smokey Blue, which Chef wrote about here

Fill in the Blank: Lincoln Park zoo is home to the largest collection of lowland ___________ in the country, and one of the most successful captive-breeding programs in the world. Gorillas, with 48 gorillas births since 1970!

What trademark building shoots to the sky from the upper-right corner of the current BIN 36 Facebook profile picture? Marina City

Bubble Bath: A Contest!

2010-12-07T06:32:00.000-08:00

Meerkats at the Zoo via Rana Pipien's photostream.

We gave the heads up yesterday that two tickets would be given away to Bubble Bath... and that happens now!

And getting the tickets will be simple. It's a quiz. Easy as that.

Half of the questions are from the Lincoln Park Zoo, half from the BIN family. Submit your answers in the comment section of this blog post by 9 AM tomorrow morning to qualify—and we'll publish all comments, plus the answer key, soon after. Whomever submits the first perfect score—and only your first submission counts, so please be sure your answers are correct when submitting—will get the tickets! If there's no perfect score, we'll take whomever submitted the highest score first as the winner. And that's it. So easy!

When submitting answers, please include your name, email address, and twitter name, if you have one. And again, we'll only accept your first submission. Read the questions carefully (some might be tricks!) and answer them thoughtfully! We'll be tracking the contest's movement on twitter via the hashtag #bubblebath.

One of our favorites at the Zoo.

When was Lincoln Park Zoo founded?
Wine Enthusiast recently named two BIN wines Editor's Choice, each with scores over 90 points. What are they?
On what day of the year is Lincoln Park Zoo closed?
What do the D and S stand for in the BIN 36 D&S Proprietary Blend wines?
What new exhibit did Lincoln Park Zoo unveil in the spring of 2010?
Earlier this year Phil Rubino was named Chef de Cuisine at bin wine cafe. What Michelin starred restaurant did he work at before manning the kitchen at baby bin?
In what year was the Auxiliary Board of Lincoln Park Zoo established?
BIN 36 will be hosting its 8th annual Christmas Eve Feast this year. What is it called?
What “glowing,” wintery event at the zoo is especially bright in the night?
For what California winery did John Caputo serve as Executive Chef before coming to BIN?
Name two animals, besides an African lion, that can be found in the Kovler Lion House.
From what market do chefs John Caputo and Phil Rubino source ingredients for their weekly changing Farm to Plate prix-fixe?
In what zoo exhibit can you find cows, chickens, goats and ponies?
BIN 36 turned some heads this year with a new souffle. What award winning cheese was used for it?
Fill in the Blank: Lincoln Park zoo is home to the largest collection of lowland ___________ in the country, and one of the most successful captive-breeding programs in the world.
What trademark building shoots to the sky from the upper-right corner of the current BIN 36 Facebook profile picture?

Bubble Bath is tomorrow night at BIN 36 from 6-10pm. Proceeds go to the Lincoln Park Zoo, as well as money raised from the silent auction featuring a 6-course chef's tasting menu from BOKA, a spa package to the Peninsula, jewelry from Erin Gordon and Erin Gallagher, plus packages from us here at BIN and the Zoo, too.

And if you're worried about Bubble Bath selling out—and we expect it to by tomorrow if not today—then get your tickets now!! If you win the contest, you can always sell them to a friend or split the cost together! Buy tickets here.

Good luck everyone!!!

Meatless Mondays: 12/6 menu

2010-12-06T13:12:00.000-08:00

Underside of cauliflower from magda.indigo's photostream.

Staying the course, tonight's Meatless Monday menu:

savory bread pudding

pretzel bread, roasted garlic, mushrooms, watercress, mustard vinaigrette

cauliflower steak
black olives and rosemary

organic mixed greens
pumpkin seeds, evalon goat cheese, champagne vinaigrette

heirloom apple and fennel salad
anjou pears, hook's blue cheese, sherry vinaigrette

poached egg
crispy potato, frissee, pickled shallots, black pepper vinaigrette

arugula salad
persimmons, goat cheese, almonds

farro and beet salad
growing power farms swiss chard, toasted hazelnuts, housemade ricotta

11th Annual Bubble Bath!

2010-11-30T10:59:00.000-08:00

Bubble Bath time via petezpan's photostream.

"Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right." —Mark Twain

There is something truly festive about bubbly—it's not just hearing the "pop" of the cork or the feeling of tiny bubbles in your mouth, but it is something much deeper. Beginning in the mid-1800s, Champagne became the iconic symbol of celebration and success. Today, champagne is not only enjoyed as a beverage but as a symbol of luxury and even used as a "sacrifice." Smashed off the bow of a ship or aeroplane or even at a Formula 1 race. Did you know that a count of over 22 Bond films reveals 35 occasions on which James Bond was portrayed drinking Champagne, of which 17 were Bollinger, preferably Bollinger R.D., and 7 were Dom Pérignon. There's no escaping it, bubbly is where it's at!

No matter the Bond, Bollinger is there.

This year will mark the 11th annual Bubble Bath celebration of all things sparkling at BIN 36. The date is next Wednesday, December, 8th from 6-10 pm. The cost is 50 dollars. There will be over 50 sparkling wines and champagnes from around the globe with incredible bubbly-friendly foods to match. And, as in the past, we will be partnering with a special charity throughout the month of December so that BIN 36 can give back something to Chicago. This year the partner is the Lincoln Park Zoo—the oldest free public zoo in the country. All the proceeds from the silent auction, raffle and a percentage of the ticket price as well as of December retail sales, will all be donated to this worthy example of what is truly great about Chicago.

The Zoo spreads Holiday cheer via Paul McDonald's photostream.

Perfect beak for a Champagne flute via silvioribeiro's photostream.

This guy missed out on the bubbly? via silvioribeiro's photostream.

Swimming through the light via martiger's photostream.

American Beaver via JanetandPhil's photostream.

The frontside of water via mtsarris' photostream.

Chicago for ya via whattheheckallthenamesaretaken's photostream.

Tickets for Bubble Bath 11 are available through the BIN 36 website. Please buy your tickets soon as this event always sells out. The holiday season is near—it's time to celebrate in style!

Meatless Mondays: 11/22 Menu

2010-11-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Panisse fries are chickpea based, via MeetaK's photostream.

There's no doubt this country loves its meat. We eat more meat today than we've even eaten in the history of mankind. It's just a fact—but as most things go, this is beginning to taper off. Sure, California gave us a run with the vegetarian trend a while back, and yeah it's caught on all over, but there's something else happening now. People want to eat more vegetables. They want to learn more about the foods they refused to eat as a kid like cabbage and Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. And, in the process, they're eating less meat, which we know isn't easy for the meat lover to do.

Well, we're making it easy to not miss that protein. The bottom line is, when food tastes good, you wanna eat it. Meat or no meat. And, with yet another Meatless Monday upon us, there's some darn good food to be had tonight at baby bin...

Celery root: world's ugliest food? via hwayungjung's photostream.

organic mixed greens

anjou pears, hook's blue cheese, sherry vinaigrette

farro and beet salad

growing power farms swiss chard, toasted hazelnuts, housemade ricotta

heirloom apple and fennel salad

pumpkin seeds, evalon goat cheese, champagne vinaigrette

panisse fries

harissa yogurt sauce

celery root and potato samosa

basil pesto aioli

cabbage roll

warm quinoa, roasted apples, mustard vinaigrette

mushroom sliders

brown rice, frisse, pickled shallot, pretzel, quail egg

Meatless Monday: 11/15 Menu

2010-11-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

It's artichoke time at baby bin tonight, via sfPhotocraft's stream.

I think people are starting to anticipate Monday for the first time in a long time—because we're cutting out the meat. Check out what we're up to tonight, as baby bin invites you to join us in our effort to "one day a week, cut out the meat."

It's Meatless Monday, and this vegetarian menu is available only tonight:

organic mixed greens

anjou pears, hook's blue cheese, & sherry vinaigrette

farro and beet salad

growing power farms swiss chard, toasted hazelnuts, & housemade ricotta

heirloom apple and fennel salad

pumpkin seeds, evalon goat cheese, & champagne vinaigrette

roasted cauliflower and broccoli salad

toasted almonds & sherry vinaigrette

fire roasted artichokes

oven dried tomatoes, salsa verde, & dante cheese

baked polenta

mushroom cream, lambs quarter spinach, carmelized onions, & taleggio cheese

cheese arancini

prosecco & marscapone cheese, served with spicy aioli

Pinot, Pinot, Pinot—and Taste Washington!

2010-11-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

(By Jan Henrichsen)

Pinot Days "Dinner Party" at BIN 36—Meet the Winemakers!

Pinot on the vine, via Rachel Coe's photostream.

Oh what a night! On this evening only, when you sit down at BIN 36 and order from the menu, items will be pinot-paired! The pinot-paired dishes will be the amazing creations by one of Chicago's most renowned wine and food masters, Chef John Caputo.

Gary Farrell, a pioneer from the Russian River Valley will be pouring his own pinot—his wines are about power and balance, with the capacity to age well. Taste the legend.

Larry Londer, owner of Londer Vineyards, will be pouring his Anderson Valley Pinots. Londers wine's have been compared to grand cru burgundies and we think that Londer's expression of terrior in the Anderson Valley is unparalleled.

Sequana are at the cutting edge of California pinot, with their focus on non-single vineyard pinot noir setting them apart from the pack. James MacPhail, winemaker, will be pouring his Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir.

Deb Schatzlein, of Bink Winery, will be pouring her Wier Vineyard Pinot Noir. We are fascinated by Bink's exploration of the Mendocino County region, and the sense of place inherent in her wines.

The greatest pairing of all might be the stories that the winemakers share with you as you enjoy the fruits of their passionate labor and the menu that matches them. The seats will fill quickly, so call BIN 36 now to reserve a table at 312-755-WINE (9463).

taste washington at bin wine cafe!

A Walla Walla hillside via kalurah's photostream.

and just a few miles away at baby bin you can sit down and taste washington while eating chef phil rubino's tasty bites.

darrell rice of terra blanca cellars will be pouring three lovely wines: merlot, cabernet sauvignon and syrah. terre blanca makes some of the best juice that we've tasted, and we are in love with their merlot!

sandy rowell of mckinley springs will be pouring a selection of hand crafted wines including a beautiful viognier, and an unusual and tasty petite verdot. it is one of the few examples of this bordeaux grape that we've seen bottled alone, and we highly suggest you try it.

forgeron cellars rounds out the line up, and ted pearson will be pouring a chardonnay/rousanne blend for white wine lovers, and an unusual zinfandel-based blend and cabernet sauvignon.

we will be pouring these wines all night, and they will be available for purchase by the half glass, full glass, or as a flight. call and make a reservation to ensure a table for you and your friends, or just drop by for a glass and chat with these wonderful winemakers!

Farm to Plate: 11/10 and 11/11

2010-11-11T09:56:00.000-08:00

(by Phil Rubino)

Love this spinach right now...

Before I get to work in the kitchen, I wanted to give a quick little shout out to this week's prix-fixe we're doing at the cafe. It's a good one.

First off, this is all about the farms. Interest in local farms hasn't just been heightened in restaurant kitchens, but it's happening with the average consumer, too. Business is through the roof at Green City Market and now we have Wal-Mart pledging to carry local produce and product at their stores—never thought I'd see that one coming. But the point of all this is that people want to know where their food is coming from, they want their meal to be more than just food, but to be a story. To know the man or woman you buy the food from at the farmers' market is the same man or woman who helped cultivate that same food is priceless.

This week we're featuring product from Carr Valley Cheese Co, Genesis Growers, Green Acres (a weekly staple), Iron Creek (another), Nichols (yet another), and River Valley Ranch—and also cooking with a bird that's never been featured on the Farm to Plate prix-fixe before: quail. Quail's a great bird to cook with because not only is it more delicate and difficult to handle as a cook, but fewer diners have had the chance to eat it. We always get a kick out of cooking a food somebody has never tried before.

I've said it before and I'll say it again—we're having a great time over here at the cafe. With the newly launched Meatless Monday menu that we started last week, from the trips we're taking to the indoor Green City Market and the weekly Farm to Plate menu, things are constantly changing and evolving for us. And best yet, so are the flavors of the food. We're cooking with the season!

First time with quail on the prix-fixe!

And, the menu...

"classic" spinach salad

lambs quarter spinach, hard cooked egg, billy blue goat cheese, pancetta vinaigrette

2009 rose, pinot noir, meinklang, "prosa," austria

fire roasted quail

cippolini caponata, oven roasted broccoli, garlic, arbol chilis

2008 chardonnay, mackenzie family, sonoma county, california

heirloom apple and fig crostata

marscapone cheese and vanilla bean chantilly

2009 moscato d'asti, cascinetta vietti, italy

It's all for $25, and just another $15 for the wine pairings. Don't be surprised if you see a familiar face when you're coming in, either—the staff has been coming in for the prix-fixe on their off nights!

(Phil Rubino is Chef de Cuisine at bin wine cafe and is taking Wicker Park to a whole new level!)

Pinot Days and BIN 36

2010-11-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

Brian at last year's Pinot Days.

Before heading to Saturday's Grand Festival where you can taste over 350 pinots, you'll want to take this crash course in great pinot noir with Brian Duncan, our very own celebrated pinot noir fan.

Under Brian's tutelage and with 16 of the finest pinots on the market before you, you will discover why everyone raves about pinot noir (and about Brian himself, who is tall on charm, knowledge and wit!).

Finally, if you listen carefully during this tasting, you can answer trivia questions that may result in winning a bottle of one of these stellar wines to take home. Sound like a good reason to start your weekend early? This will be a fun-filled, educational, once-in-a-pinotphile's lifetime event that you should not miss.

The following wineries are participating: Willamette Valley Vineyards, Perception Wines, Inman Family Wines, MacPhail Family Wines, Hitching Post Wines, Bink Wines, Benovia Wines, Joseph Swan Wines, Tantara Winery, Native9 Wine, Rodney Strong Vineyards, Le Cadeau Vineyard, Bueno Vista Carneros, La Follette Wines, Clos Pepe Vineyards, Cargasacchi Wines, and August West.

Tickets are $80 however, please use the code 17PINOTS20 for an exclusive 20% discount!

Space is limited, click here to buy your tickets!

That tasting room at Gary Farrell via armstrk's photostream.

And don't forget about the Pinot Days dinner we're throwing at the restaurant Thursday night either...

The featured wine maker is Gary Farrell, a pioneer from the Russian River Valley. He will be pouring his own pinot noir along with other pinots for this special event! The greatest pairing of all might be the stories that Gary shares with you as you enjoy the fruits of their passionate labor and the menu that matches them. The seats will fill quickly, so call to reserve a table at 312-755-WINE (9463).

Meatless Monday: 11/8 Menu

2010-11-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

King oyster mushrooms via Ninaroid's photostream.

We're back with our second week of aligning with Meatless Monday at baby bin, and here's the menu, available only tonight:

organic mixed greens

anjou pears, hook's blue cheese, sherry vinaigrette

farro and beet salad

growing power farms swiss chard, toasted hazelnuts, housemade ricotta

heirloom apple and fennel salad

pumpkin seeds, evalon goat cheese, champagne vinaigrette

crispy polenta fries

lemon and herb aioli

taleggio fondutta

seasonal vegetables

fire-roasted king oyster mushroom

fennel, shallot, watercress, and mustard vinaigrette

polpette di pane braised in salsa pomodoro
shaved parmesan

Cheers!

Meatless Mondays

2010-11-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

We've taken the pledge to go veg.

Starting tonight, and continuing every Monday, bin wine cafe is turning to the veg—all in the name of Meatless Monday.

On average, Americans consume 8 ounces of meat per day, 45% more than the USDA recommends. As you may know, red meat typically contains higher levels of saturated fat than plant based foods. Obviously, something's amiss here.

Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns Inc. in association with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Center for a Livable Future.

The Meatless Monday concept focuses its initiative on Mondays for multiple reasons. Monday is typically the beginning of the work week and the day when individuals settle back into their weekly routine. Unhealthy habits that prevailed over the weekend can be forgotten and replaced by positive choices.

Industry superstars Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich have
committed all 14 of their restaurants to the cause.

So beginning tonight, November 1st., I and bin wine cafe Chef Phil Rubino will be initiating a Meatless Monday Menu in response to our guests desire for more healthy choices when they go out to dine, and, our strong belief that a healthy diet is the key to a long and healthy life.

The Meatless Monday Menu will be in addition to our regular menu and feature 7-8 completely vegetarian selections procured from local farms. The menu items will change from week to week and be compiled in a small plates format. All plates will be priced at $8 (except a vegetable pizza, priced at $12). The weekly menu will be posted on our Facebook page every monday.

Here's what you might be seeing tonight:

heirloom apple and fennel salad

warm farro and beet salad

bin wine cafe mixed greens and pear house salad

celery root and potato samosa's, basil pesto aioli

potato, taleggio, rosemary pizza

crispy eggplant napoleon, arugula, parmesan, pickled red onion, oven dried tomato vinaigrette

butternut squash fritters, creme fraiche sage dipping sauce

From Salt Cod to Brandade

2010-10-27T12:44:00.000-07:00

by Phil Rubino

The dish that prompted this blog post—and the brandade is hidden!

I saw the post we put up last night on our Facebook page about the brandade filled calamari dish we have on the menu right now at the cafe, and was inspired to talk a bit more about this funny food called brandade.

Brandade, in the simplest of terms, is salt cod and olive oil, whipped with potatoes. And if you haven't noticed, the chefs here in Chicago love to cook the stuff. Koren Grieveson is known for her brandade at avec and I hear Steph Izard has a pumpkin brandade with one of her dishes right now—and that's just not surprising. This is some damn tasty stuff with roots all over western Europe. It's old school cooking. But it still I think leaves one stone unturned that people might overlook: what the heck is salt cod?

Grand Banks cod salted and drying circa 1890 via I Am Provincetown.

Well, that's where this gets fun. You can find a Mark Bittman piece he wrote for the New York Times a few years ago that points out how some people might easily assume salt cod would just be a salted piece of codfish—because yeah, a chef would naturally salt his fish before cooking it. But, as Bittman says, "There is a big difference between salt cod and salted fresh cod." Like, thick as a tree trunk kind of a difference. Salt cod can't be eaten without lengthy preparation, unlike a fresh piece of cod, salt or no salt. See, salt cod is hard as wood. I mean seriously hard. You could hurt somebody by whacking them across the head with a large piece of the stuff it's so stiff. Which means it's obviously nowhere near edible off the market shelf. But before thinking about how to cook something like this, I think it's worth looking at why anybody would ever even think to make it happen in the first place.

The answer is actually pretty simple: refrigeration. Before refrigerators, if a fisherman didn't pack his cod in salt and dry it on the ship-deck, his catch would rot and he'd make no money. So salt cod was born out of necessity.

Salt cod at La Boqueria in Barcelona via ggmackem's photostream.

There's a great book called Cod by Mark Kurlansky, and he goes up and down the whole history of the fish dating back to hundreds of years ago. He points to some of the first people to salt cod as the fisherman in the Basque region of Spain, who salted whale meat before transferring the practice to cod. He says, "When the Basque whalers applied to cod the salting techniques they were using on whale, they discovered a particularly good marriage because the cod is virtually without fat, and so if salted and dried well, would rarely spoil." And we're talking about a way of preserving food that dates back to over one thousand years ago.

Pick up a regional cookbook for any European country with access to the Atlantic, and you'll find recipes for salt cod. In Italy it's baccalà and in Portugal bacalhau. In France, it's bacalao. For those countries, this food was for years and years a crucial source of nutrition and health—Kurlansky even argues that that United States would never have declared its independence if it weren't for the cod trade with European nations. This taken-for-granted fish plays quite the role in history.

And despite all this complex and in depth backstory, the food itself is pretty easy to prepare. Whether making brandade or something else using salt cod, the stuff has to soak for hours in order to extract some of the salt and add moisture back to the fish. In our case, we poach the fish in milk with garlic and thyme to enhance the flavor while it softens—and for the brandade, we take the fish and whip it together with potatoes and extra virgin olive oil. I'm telling you, other than the amount of time it takes to soften the fish, this is easy stuff.

Brandade and toast via tiny banquet committee's photostream.

And that's it, really. It's been mentioned that the cooks love this dish over at the cafe, and that's 100% true. This is one of those rustic dishes that take big flavors and slow cooking and create the result of a warm, comfort laden plate of food.

As a chef, I'm driven by the little things. With this dish for example, the brandade is just one element of a whole plate full of components. And yet, I can write a blog about it—and someone else can write a book on it. That's the power of food, and I think we often take it for granted. Just a little something to think about next time you're out to dinner and stumble across a food you may not know, or a dish inspired by a rustic classic.

But in the meantime, come try ours. And in true BIN style, have it with a glass of wine—I hear the Pacific Rim, Gewurtztraminer is a perfect match.

Thanks for reading.

(Phil Rubino is Chef de Cuisine at bin wine cafe and is taking Wicker Park to a whole new level!)

Free Tasting of Lieb Family Cellars at BIN 36

2010-10-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

by Jan Henrichsen

Making great wine in Long Island via jpm44's photostream.

On Wednesday evening, we're hosting Gary Madden of Lieb Family Cellars from 6:30 to 8:30.

He's a Chicago native, helps make really wonderful wine in New York, and we're super glad to have him! Here's a bit about him:

In his role as general manager for Lieb Family Cellars, a small winery located on the North Fork of Long Island, Gary Madden has merged his passion for wine with his entrepreneurial business zeal. “Wine has been a persistent passion for me from my college days working in restaurants and serving/tasting wine, through my computer industry career where it was a weekend hobby as I trekked through Napa, studied wine at UC Davis, and made wine at home. It finally emerged as a fulltime job when I switched careers after the Internet bubble burst.” Gary’s marketing and business skills include corporate development and marketing at Apple Computer, product planning at Texas Instruments, and market research for the Gartner Group and Dun & Bradstreet.

Working with owner Mark Lieb, Gary has grown Lieb Cellars into one of the most highly respected producers in the North Fork of Long Island wine region, offering varietals including Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, sparkling wine, Merlot and Meritage. The Pinot Blanc vines are some of the oldest on Long Island, producing critically acclaimed award winning wines that are offered at many of the best restaurants in New York City. The winery added Cabernet Franc and a dry rose to the product line in 2005.

Gary grew up on Chicago’s South Side in the shadow of Midway airport and attended Loyola and DePaul before moving to California.

The cork from North Fork via lenndevours' photostream.

We'll be pouring four of the Lieb cellars wines by the glass (which is a special treat...usually these wines are only available by the bottle) and we've put together a special flight available exclusively at the restaurant for those who are curious about what Lieb does, and why it tastes so good.

We'll have their sparkling, the reserve Chardonnay, the white merlot (not like white zin at all!) and the reserve Cabernet Franc.

Stop in, taste some great wines, nibble some cheese and talk to Gary.

Nonna Caputo’s Lasagna Bolognese

2010-10-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

Taken from the dining room of the now closed A MANO,
the lasagna was a perennial favorite.

The beauty of having a blog in this day and age when you're a restaurant? As a chef, I can communicate and share things never before possible. Like recipes. Which is exactly what I'm sharing with you today.

You might remember the piece I wrote for the Sun-Times a couple years ago on my nonna's lasagna, and I thought it'd be the perfect thing to revive and share here on the blog. This was a staple at A MANO, and is the perfect dish when entertaining in the coming cold nights ahead.

The secret to my grandmother’s perfect lasagna was the long, slow braising of the meat. It takes extra time to produce, but it is most definitely worth the work. So here it is:

Nonna Caputo’s Lasagna Bolognese

Serves 8-10

Bolognese Ingredients:

2 lbs pork butt, boneless, cut into 2 inch cubes
2 lbs veal shoulder, boneless, cut into 2 inch cubes
2 lbs short ribs, boneless, cut into 2 inch cubes
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
1 onion, peeled, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 head garlic
3 bay leaves and 2 oz. fresh thyme twigs tied together with butcher string
3 cups red wine
1 gal chicken stock or water
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cups tomato-based pasta sauce (Rao’s is a good brand)
salt and pepper

Braising Procedure:

Add the olive oil to a large sauce pot over high heat, and get very hot. Season all the cubed meat with salt and pepper, then place carefully in the hot oil and sear on all sides. Do at least 2-3 batches; if you add too much meat, it will cool the pan down too much and won’t allow a good caramel color to develop, which provides flavor.

When all the meat has been seared, add the vegetables and sauté about 5 minutes until they develop some color. Add wine and cook until reduced by half (about 5 minutes). Add the chicken stock and herbs and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. Cover and simmer about 2 hours until the meat is falling apart tender. Remove from the stove and allow to cool slightly.

Strain the broth from the meat and reserve it in the sauce pot. Remove and discard the vegetables and the herbs. When the meat is cool enough to touch, shred it by hand and add it back into the broth. Return the pot to medium heat and reduce the liquid around the meat until pan is not quite dry, making sure to stir every 5 minutes so the bottom does not scorch. Add the tomato sauce to the mixture. Reserve some of the bolognese to spoon over the lasagna when serving.

Other Ingredients:

1.5 lb mozzarella, shredded
1 lb ricotta cheese
1/4 lb fresh basil leaves
1.5 lbs dry pasta sheets (preferably De Cecco), cooked and cooled in ice water bath

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In an 8 x 11 roasting pan, place a ladle of tomato sauce without any meat along the bottom of the pan. Fill the bottom with a layer of pasta, then spread a thin layer of ricotta across the pasta sheets with a spatula. Sprinkle some mozzarella on top of the ricotta, and follow with a ladle of the bolognese sauce with lots of meat. Finish the layer with some torn basil leaves. Repeat this process until all ingredients are gone. The final layer should pasta topped with mozzarella cheese. Place the lasagna in the oven, covered with aluminum foil, and cook about 45 minutes. At the 35 minute mark, remove the foil, turn the oven up to 400 degrees and allow the top to crisp. Remove lasagna from oven and let rest 10 minutes before serving. Serve with the reserved bolognese, fresh grated parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

This recipe originally appeared on November 19, 2008 in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Rockin' Out For Harvest

2010-10-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

Brian sent us this from Hahn.

Harvest. Such a simple word that means so little to most people. But not to the BIN family. Not at all.

When Harvest comes, a lot comes with it. It means the grapes on our California vines are packed and full of juice, destined for bottles that will be stamped with the BIN 36 label. It means Brian Duncan hits the road, leaving Chicago in the dust, for the West Coast sunshine—where he plays a crucial role in the winemaking process. Harvest means labor and long hours and lots of volunteer work from friends and family. It means laughs and good food and even better company. And behind that dust, back here in Chicago? It means we kick up our heels too, not letting Brian and the winemakers take all the fun—because it's party time!

The Hahn barrels, where BIN magic is made!

And last Sunday, that's exactly what we did.

We held our 8th annual Harvest event at the restaurant this past weekend, and nearly 200 people joined us to help bring in the oenophile celebration—each of them walking out with a bottle of wine when all was said and done. And it's that bottle that's become the symbol for Harvest at BIN. Because of our unique structure as both restaurant and winemaker, we're equipped with the tools to on hand to give people that chance to create their own blended bottle of wine, based on their own palettes and adjustments as they go on tasting the wine.

What to blend, what to blend...

It's simple, really. We introduced everyone to Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah, and in true BIN style broke down the characteristics of each varietal with fruit and spices and other descriptors so that everyone could see firsthand what elements are in each grape, and how they might compliment the others.

Getting those characteristics down.

Then, it's experimentation time! With the help of the BIN staff, everyone had the chance to create their own blend using these grapes—and make adjustments if they weren't quite confident with the first attempts. So cool, taste the grapes; blend the grapes; then take a bottle home. Not too shabby, right?

Blending it... from a beaker!

Well, the real fun comes months later. Months later after Brian's gone back to California and personally made the blends of each person's specific blend at Hahn Family Wines. Months later when the blends are bottled and shipped back to Chicago, personally labeled for each person whose ordered wine. Can you imagine having five cases of your own wine in your closet? Gifting them to co-workers or sharing with family over the holidays? I'm bordering sentimental here, but come on, I don't even have to point out how rare this is for people to experience. Your own wine!

Empty bottles waiting to be filled...

And Harvest also means a change in season—and when it comes to BIN, a change in season means a change across the board. Those who stayed for dinner Sunday night saw this first hand as we've completely revamped the wines, the cheese, and the food, which means there's just a whole heck of a lot going on over here in River North. So yeah, now might be a good time to stop in for a glass of wine!

And where the grapes are coming from.

Thanks to all who joined us on Sunday—it's always a thrill to see familiar faces who have returned, and new ones we hope we'll see next year and the year after. And for those lucky enough to have actually lent a hand on a vineyard during Harvest? Well, I guess you can rub elbows with Brian Duncan now...

Cheers!

A Restaurant Evolving

2010-10-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

I think it's safe to assume that most of the traffic driven to this blog is generated by some sort of experience with our restaurants, or possibly our wine if you're elsewhere in the country other than Chicago. BIN 36, our first restaurant, has been open for ten years. She's the one that started it all, but she hasn't been the only one. In fact at the start of the year, we had two additional restaurants in Cook County: A Mano and bin wine cafe. Sadly, and I say sadly because we truly believed in the restaurant and loved having it, A Mano closed early on in the year. But bin wine cafe? It's still going strong!

A little Wicker Park flavor.

The Wicker Park restaurant is something of an anomaly when you compare it to it's older, more equipped sister downtown. To begin with, Wicker Park is a neighborhood for locals. There are no hotels. No swanky night clubs. It's just a different breed. What you'll find are second-hand stores and Chuck Taylor clad window display models, tattooed clerks and old underground music venues that have left a large imprint on the Chicago music scene over the past two decades. Some might call this area the center of hipsterdom in Chicago, but it's a lot more than that. Certainly, it's a place that embraces alternative lifestyles, but Wicker Park also is home to families and young professionals. It's where tourists in the know come to experience true Chicago, something different than deep dish pizza and neon-green hot dog relish.

And that's exactly why we opened our (baby) wine bar in the center of it all. We've written often about the way the landscape of wine has changed over the past ten years—but what it all comes down to is that more people drink wine now than ever before, and they want to try new and adventurous wines that don't cost half a week's salary. Through our wine flights at the cafe, people have been exposed to wines in a way, and at an affordable price, never seen before. Wine was the focus, and cheese was an important supporting element, and so was the food. But what it came down to was developing a concept that let the wine really shine.

Hand Cut Tagliatelle.
button clams, crispy pancetta, orange segments, toasted bread crumbs.

But things change, and sometimes you need to evolve. Well, there's certainly something of an evolution happening over there now. We announced Phil Rubino's hiring at the cafe on this blog a few months back, and however transparent we might be in having this blog, I'm not sure it's obvious how important of a move this was for the restaurant to take. Phil has an impressive resume—have you been to L2O, what an experience—and with his youthful enthusiasm plus vibrant commitment to locally sourced and farmed foods, plus a flare for molecular gastronomy in the kitchen, we hired a chef who would lead the restaurant to a whole new level.

Gunthorp Farms Chicken Breast.
rock cornish hen, crispy mushroom risotto cake,
braised chicken roulade, caramelized onion sauce.

Much was made by the media about his first menu, which featured an Alaskan Halibut dish that had, among other things, 'bacon dust' on the plate. And you might've seen the short video we put together in which he made 'Olive Oil Powder'. This just shows Phil's talent, his ability to put familiar flavors on your plate, but masked in a way you've maybe never seen or felt on your tongue before. But what these things don't show is that the guy can flat out cook. That when we hired Phil, we gave him the power to restructure his kitchen and bring in a new staff if need be to help support his vision as he moved forward. That was months ago.

Pan Roasted Trout.
artichokes, baby leeks, purple potatoes, brown butter powder.

So what's the point—I mean, why bring this up now?

Well, we rolled out a brand new menu at the cafe last week—and Phil's getting married this weekend. He'll be out of the kitchen for ten straight days. Sure, that's a little nerve wracking for me to think about, but you know what? I'm not nervous. These guys know what they're doing, and what they're doing is cooking some damn fine food.

Seared Flat Iron Steak.
smokey home fries, "creamed spinach dumplings,"
pink peppercorn reduction.

In the hands of Phil's sous chef Jack Stankovic, the baby bin team rolled out this week's Farm to Plate menu after a morning spent at Green City Market—a job Jack will take over for the next two weeks. Quite the task given the new menu is still just a few days old!

So I'm writing to say how proud I am of this transition. We're working closely with Chicago's surrounding farmers and are often hand selecting ingredients from the farmers' markets that'll be used later in the night for service. The restaurant, a cute and cozy place for wine and cheese, is now boasting a menu with stellar plates, and new techniques, from top to bottom.

Chicken Liver Mousse.
house made blackberry preserves, toast.

I want to give a huge congratulations to Phil on his wedding, and for also putting a team in place that we hope will make a name for its food in the coming months. You guys should all give yourselves a good hard tap on each other's shoulders. In the meantime, I think it's time we start eating...

Thoughts on Food and Wine Pairing

2010-10-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

By Jan Henrichsen

Tasting wines to pair with the new menu at bin wine cafe.

Even the pros don't get it right all the time...

We have had a flurry of menu changes...dessert, cheese, dinner and lunch downtown, and along with our seasonal by the glass changes, it all adds up to a lot of moving parts.

A lot of pairings.

A lot of tastings.

A lot of things that taste really great together, and a couple that really don't.

I remember the first time had to pair wine and food professionally, and all the research I did. I bought the books. I tried the wines. I learned how the food was made...and still, I make mistakes all these years later.

Pairing is personal...sort of. Most wine professionals have their own process to good pairings. I have a rather dry, chemistry based approach (how rich is the food, how much butter, or fat is in the food, how much protein is in the food...you get the picture). Other folks have a more imaginative, intuitive approach. Both are pretty valid, and odds are, anybody who is really good at pairing, no matter what their approach, gets pretty good at it with time.

Brandade stuffed calamari is salty, but spicy with romesco and chorizo,
and intense from the smoke of the wood oven. Not easy to pair.

I bat pretty high, even under the conditions that most pairings are made under... which is absolutely theoretical. We read the menu specs, we pair a wine with that dish while remembering what that wine tasted like, and once everything is all printed out, we cross our fingers and actually try the actual food and wine together.

So, when you're trying it at home, and it doesnt work exactly how you thought it would, I know how you feel.

The advantage that I have that most people don't, is that when push comes to shove, I have hundreds of options to choose from, and at least 50 wines that are open to taste... it is pretty easy to figure out where I went wrong, and to find my way back to something that works.

The staff takes notes while getting to know the new menu,
but that doesn't mean they're not thinking about wine, too...

Out of all the menus that we changed, I personally think that desserts are the most difficult to pair— and also think dessert wines are universally under rated, that most folks think that dessert/dessert wine is an either/or proposition. It most certainly think not. But, I digress.

The trick to dessert pairings is finding the exact level of sweetness to match between the wine and the dessert. If one is even the tiniest bit sweeter than the other, it either makes the wine taste sour, or the dessert taste flat. How much butter or cream is in the dessert is also important, because a raspberry sorbet tastes lovely with a light moscato, but a raspberry tart will bully that same wine into a position that is just sad.

In short, pairings are not always easy for the pros—even though we have special tools that you dont have. And sometimes, believe it or not, it's not the most glamours pairings that I find to be the best, but rather the most challenging. And that's wine for you, isn't it? Always a changing landscape, always a challenge.

(Jan Henrichsen is Beverage Director for BIN 36 and hosts the mini-bin classes. After years spent at Pastoral, Jan has a bevy of knowledge on cheese and wine: the heart of BIN.)

Blend Your Own Wine (Then Take it Home!)

2010-09-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

Why in the world is there a video of Letterman and Homer on the BIN 36 blog? Truthfully, it's been my dream to have these two guys associated with the restaurant some how, and this was my way to do it—that, and we put together our own top ten list, and really, is there anyone better at it than Dave?

Our own top ten list. Yup. We went there. And why?

Well, we're kind of excited for the upcoming Harvest Event this Sunday at BIN 36. We're expecting a couple hundred of our friends to hang out with us, as we all dip our hands into the world of blended wine. Literally. Vineyards are harvesting their grapes left and right in California this week, and this shindig is our way of getting in on the action Chicago style—by blending and bottling your own wine, and then taking it home to save and drink later on!

Honestly, how many people can say they've ever done that before? Up until we started this, we couldn't either.

Barrel blending by bigred925's photostream.

So, that top ten list?

TOP 10 REASONS TO ATTEND THE 8TH ANNUAL BIN 36 HARVEST EVENT

10. Understand the differences of some key grape varietals.
9. Learn the art of blending, mixing, and experimenting.
8. 'Cause you can always TIVO the Bears game, this event only happens once a year!
7. Eat some yummy BIN 36 grub, not to mention some delicious artisan cheeses.
6. Uh....hello? You get to drink a lot of our BIN 36 wines.
5. Purchase your very own hand-blended wine.
4. No need to run out an buy "Menage a Trois" or "Fat Bastard Wine" just because you like the label - come up with your own witty and personalized label as part of the deal!
3. A FAN-freaking-TASTIC gift for the holidays for under $17.
2. Meet and mingle with other wine geeks and oenophiles.

(said in the voice of Dave) And the number one reason to attend the 8th annual BIN 36 Harvest Event is...

1. All this for only $36 a person, Click here to purchase tickets.

The Driving Force of a Restaurant: Its Staff (and this is an ode to ours)

2010-09-24T10:17:00.000-07:00

By Shelu Bhandari

Going over new cheese and dessert menus with Chef Caputo and Dan.

Front of the house at BIN 36 and their extensive wine and food knowledge ...

Before I became a part of the restaurant industry, I was always curious about bartenders and the service staff at fine dining restaurants. They were generally very courteous, charming, and bright. They were hip and knowledgeable and their memories spot on. But, I had lingering questions: did they like telling strangers about food? How did they maintain their cheery personalities after being on their feet most of the day and dealing with the inevitable grumpy customer? How did they stay motivated pursuing a part-time serving career while also pursuing their dreams on the side? And most of all, how did they know so much about every item on the menu?

Muriel Montgomery and Michele Burford.

I figured out it’s not as effortless as they make it seem. Take the BIN 36 menu—it’s broad, and with a ton of detail. First off, the wine: wines from different regions, varietals, and varying vintages. There are 48 wines by the glass, not to mention the highly allocated and more exclusive wines on our bottle list. Then the cheese—another 48 of those to learn, and I'm just thinking about how hard it was to learn the fifty states as a kid—cheeses from all over the world from different animals, with different textures, smells, and of course, tastes.

And finally, the BIN 36 menu: from snacks to charcuterie to entrees. The servers feverishly take notes during menu changes, painstakingly study the menu and attend mandatory wine class every week taught by our in house wine and cheese savant, Jan Henrichsen. The owner, Dan Sachs, recently dropped a pop quiz on the staff and actually graded their answers as well as their performance. If you thought being a server was “taking the easy route to fast cash,” think again. You need a wealth of knowledge about really obscure items. I mean, really, who knows about a "marjolaine cake" or a “banoffee purse?” Well, our staff studies it.

Roberto Izquierdo.

And just like in the movies, every day at 4:30pm, either Jan or Dan sits down with the staff and a representative from the kitchen (either Sous Chef Alec Walker, Chef de Cuisine Willy Hewitt, or Executive Chef John Caputo). The chefs present the off-menu specials and the ingredients and methods of cooking are discussed. The manager on shift carefully matches a wine pairing based on the flavors of the meal and which wine would best finish each bite. Once presented, everyone digs in so that their palette is acclimated with the new dish, complete with its wine pairing. So if you’ve ever wondered how the server is able to describe the potential dining experience of what you may order, it’s because of the routine pre-shift meeting that they attend.

Billy Henderson.

Over my years at BIN, the staff has had relatively low turnover. There have been some staff members that have been here for 10 years or more—Roberto Izquierdo and Sergio Gomez, our breakfast managers and banquet servers. Jimmy Baclig, a BIN 36 bartender favorite, has been taking care of guests and mixing up a ready drink at the bar for years. There are also the part-timers who pursue acting careers like Muriel Montgomery who has a gig at Second City and Billy Fenderson who is always growing a moustache for his latest part in a local play. And the adorable and bubbly Michele Burford, who is also crafted in the gift of party giving, as an event coordinator. Each one of our staff is filled with character and knows the BIN menu like the back of their hand. So, feel free to ask lots of questions on your next visit to BIN 36—our staff is up for the challenge.

Sergio Gomez and Roberto Izquierdo.

That, and you never know if you're talking wine and cheese with the next Vince Vaughn or Kate Winslet...

(Shelu Bhandari writes the checks at BIN, and is that glue that helps hold us all together—and and she likes to drink wine! A perfect fit.)

The Challenge: More Cheese!

2010-09-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Taking flight with the cows via DIGISEA's photostream.

I don't know if you can tell or not, but I really like writing about cheese—but I still like eating it more. That's why, when I was talking about one of our flights the other day with the wait staff, I had the idea to approach this flight as an educational flight. I know, you just left the classroom or office and you don't want to participate in any kind of educational endeavors—heck, you think I wanna 'teach' all over again!?!? Well, endure we both shall, because doing so will lead to nothing but pleasure, especially if you back up this flight with a glass of wine!

The flight in question? The Cows through the Ages flight. It's simple what we're doing here: trying to show how a milk ages in a cheese, based on their rind (or lack of) and the time it is allowed to age. The rind is that sometimes moldy, sometimes stiff, sometimes even cloth exterior to the cheese. And yes, some cheeses have no rind at all. With me so far?

A love sight. Mozz via Kilo 66's photostream.

Our first cheese is our Cow's Milk Mozzarella. Made in New Jersey (and in your head I know you're thinking, quality comes out of the Garden state?), this is a fresh cheese with no rind. You will find this cheese absolutely fresh tasting, full of sweet milk flavors and a nice tangy acid which is common in non-aged cheese.

Morbier via gabo_'s photostream.

Next is the French Morbier. This is a washed rind cheese, semi-soft aged at least forty-five days and up to about two months. The interior paste as it ages will become softer, more runnier.

Grayson via artizone's photostream.

Next is another washed rind cheese called Grayson. It is also a semi-soft cheese, but is a much more typical washed rind cheese in that it is very assertive in aroma and flavor. This comes from the process of literally washing the exterior rind of the cheese on a daily basis with a wet brine, with cultures added. This usually develops a reddish brick colored rind which gives the cheese it's identity, which usually turns out to be a stronger smelling and tasting cheese. In the case of the Grayson you will find it to have a sweet beefy flavor with nutty under tones, which develops during it's sixty days of aging.

That's the goods. Loads of Parm via Marion's photostream.

Lastly, we move up to Parmigiano-Reggiano. Aged fifteen months, you can taste the sweetness of the milk which has developed to counter-act against the salt which is needed to help age the cheese. In our case we bring in a parmigiana that comes from the Vaccha Rosa, or red cow. It is said they have a lower production of milk, but some think their milk is superior to other breeds of cattle.

And then? Well, that's it. No and then! See... a painless class that I'm guessing has your pretty darn hungry. The difference between us? The cheese is right here in front of me! So please, come taste for yourself, and savor this cow's milk goodness for yourself.

$10 Flights. Robert Camuto. And Reading up on Wine.

2010-09-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

By Jan Henrichsen

All right. This is it. The final stretch! It's crunch time, and we learn who has the cajones to man up and finish off the wine and cheese gauntlet we've thrown down—but we're merciful, so we wanted to make it a little easier for you...

Tonight, simply by muttering the password 'CORK' to your server when ordering, you'll unlock $10 wine and cheese flights. Every. Single. One. Once again, here we go digging our own graves... And it's only good for tonight, so cancel your plans, skip the homework, and do whatever it takes to get down to BIN and finish off this challenge! Unless of course you just are insane enough to miss the chance to drink wine and eat cheese for a year, plus be bought dinner for two on us, that is.

And while you're munching on those $10 flights tonight, you may just want to pay attention to a little something else going on...

We are super excited about the upcoming visit of Robert V. Camuto.

He has written a fantastic, informative book on sicillian wines, and the people who make them.

Inspired by a deep passion for wine, an Italian heritage, and a desire for a land somewhat wilder than his home in southern France, Robert V. Camuto set out to explore Sicily's emerging wine scene. What he discovered during more than a year of traveling the region, however, was far more than a fascinating wine frontier.

There will be a tasting of the exclusive Italian wines tonight from 6:30-8:30pm in the BIN 36 market and a chance to meet and chat with the author, Mr. Camuto, along with a wonderful selection of BIN 36 artisanal cheeses.

This book is so much more than just a travel book...I am pretty convinced that in a couple of years, many of these wines are going to be sought-after, hard to find cult classics.

As well, special visitors from the wineries will be present, like Frank Cornelissen & Alberto Graci. Of Frank Cornelissen, Matt Kramer of Wine Spectator says, "Winegrowers like Mr. Cornelissen are now stretching our understanding of 'greatness.' Mr. Cornelissen's best red wine, Magma, is like no other version of Nerello Mascalese, nor any other red wine of my experience." Really, if you are interested in the future of Italian wine, love reading about wine, or just love to drink and eat...you shouldn't miss this event.

And finish that Challenge!!!

Changes to the List and Even More on the Challenge

2010-09-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

By Jan Henrichsen

Changes in the season mean changes in the wine...
via koffiejunkie's photostream.

The Challenge:

I'm thrilled to see some of our regular customers break out of their routine and try new things as part of our Flight Challenge. I think it's a really cool aspect of the Challenge. The white wine drinker trying reds, or the cheddar lover branching out after trying four different blue cheeses.

I've had some cool discussions with our guests in the past week. Some have been surprised, some have found new favorites...and some haven't, but all have pushed their boundaries a little bit, and isn't that really what a challenge is?

* * *

Fall Changes.

We've been tasting away for months, looking for the best wines to showcase on our by the glass list. This week is our last big push to find the very best for fall. Many folks are curious as to how we make the choices we do, so I thought I'd give you a list of some of our criteria.

1) The wine must be well made. Period. We look for wines of quality, no matter what the flavor profile.

2) The wine should be food-friendly. We are, after all, a restaurant.

3) Does the wine have personality? Does it over-deliver?

These are the two qualities that can not be under-estimated. That is what separates the "fantastic" from the "meh."

Lastly, very few people are going to love every wine on any list, but we try very hard to make sure that there are a wide range of flavor profiles, weights and textures...I want to make sure that there's something for everyone.

I'm looking forward to cooler weather, richer foods, and gorgeous, opulent wines. I hope you are too.

(Jan Henrichsen is Beverage Director for BIN 36 and hosts the mini-bin classes. After years spent at Pastoral, Jan has a bevy of knowledge on cheese and wine: the heart of BIN.)

Guest Post: Paige Worthy, "I'm Challenged"

2010-09-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

By Paige Worthy

Love me those Gougeres!

I can't resist a good challenge.

I've faced a few doozies in the very recent past: instigating a breakup, hurrying through a move across town after living in the same place for three years, quitting my job to become a full-time freelancer.

Those are the kind of challenges that really test who you are as a person. For some, the kind that could drive you to…drink. Or eat a lot of cheese.

But for some others, the drinks and cheese are a challenge in themselves. For those strong-willed go-getters, there's the BIN 36 flight challenge, which began August 15 and continues through September 18.

The gist—which you already know if you've read this blog before—is simple but breaks down into three parts:

1. Drink all 12 wine flights. Get one free flight every month for the next twelve months.

2. Eat all eight cheese flights. Get one free flight every month for the next twelve months.

3. Do both of these things, certifying yourself a lush and a fat kid (or, in my case, obviously, a true lover of BIN 36). Enjoy all the aforementioned perks, plus a $100 dinner for two.

I read BIN's initial blog posting and immediately started polling my friends: Who could I count on to embark on this epic challenge with me? Who would be at my side on August 15 to start strong and finish…well, probably more than a little tipsy?

I attempted a full-blown tweetup, but in the beginning, there were only three: My friends Owen and Douglas joined me. We were a ragtag group: a music lover from New Zealand who knows his Kiwi wines, a guy who got into wine because it was a better way to meet women than beer was, and a girl from Kansas who…just outgrew drinking $4.99 André sparkling wine a few years ago.

Good times.

My first flight was the "Express Yourself," a sweet foursome of Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc, Vouvray and Riesling. The nicest little Riesling you'll ever try, as a matter of fact: Dr. Loosen, from Germany, is just what the doctor ordered.

Flying in style...

Throw a basket of gougeres into the mix, and this girl is feeling all right.

Sipping flights in the company of serious oenophiles can lend itself to great wine talk. In the end, our flight sipping lent itself to…an entire bottle. Owen and Douglas, not as serious about the challenge as I am, quickly tired of hopping from wine to wine. We split a bottle of rosé and called it a night.

Wimps.

I've returned two more times in pursuit of victory, once on my own after work, and once with my friend Adrienne. Adrienne and I dove into the cheese portion of the challenge last weekend, but I'm not sure how strong I am. (Also, having just quit my job, I'm a little low on cash. I will consider sponsorships from the right organization. Inquire on my site, www.paigeworthy.com. No, really.)

All this being said, I'm not a wine person—in that I wouldn't know a floral nose or note of black fruit if it came up and punched me. So I'll just tell you what I've had so far. And you can assume that I liked it, because I trust Brian and the BIN team. You should too.

· Well Traveled Whites

· Habla Español

· Sexy Reds

· BIN 36 Flight

Five down, seven to go. I already know how I'll wrap up the challenge: the Bubbles wine flight and the Fat Cats cheese flight. (I'm crying for that Brillat Savarin right. now.) Now that I'm "working from home," I'm considering turning one of those sweet sofas into my office for the next couple of weeks…

Headed to BIN? Send a tweet—come flight with me! I'm @paigeworthy.

(Paige Worthy—yes, that’s her real name—writes in Chicago. A refreshing blend of New York sass and Midwest sweet, she was blogging before everyone was doing it, eating obsessively before “foodie” was a thing, and overanalyzing life and love long before Carrie Bradshaw made it sexy. Love her as much as she loves you? Read more at paigeworthy.com.)

The Challenge: Wine and Cheese Found, via Craigslist

2010-09-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

By Shelu Bhandari

Bourdain via sammo371's photostream.

Don’t know much about much, but I know now that I love wine and cheese….

Three years ago July, I was introduced to the wonderful world of the restaurant industry. Fully disenchanted with the corporate world, I was perusing Craigslist ads for off-beat job opportunities and came across an ad that requested a purchasing manager with computer skills, particularly Microsoft Excel. The qualifications fit my background and so I sent my resume and shortly thereafter met Chef John, Dan, and the wonderful world that is BIN 36. A few months later I found myself smiling at the customers at the front of the house and cursing with the cooks in the back of the house, but best of all, titillating my taste buds with foods and cheeses and wines that I may never have experienced had I not been offered this unique job opportunity.

Within weeks I was speaking with cheese makers in Montreal and interacting with wine distributors purchasing highly allocated wines. I was able to chit chat with family and friends about grape types and aged cheeses. Instead of eating a slice of processed cheese I was more interested in nibbling away at 10-year cheddar. I was more interested in drinking wine that didn’t come in a box or massive jug. It seemed absurd that just a minute ago I was satiating my appetite with the nearest, sloppiest fast food joint. Let’s be honest, this is how most of us spent our twenties and perhaps early thirties: eating crappy food and getting loaded on whatever was convenient. We ate. We drank. We drank. We drank more. Then we ate again.

Spotless aprons, dirty mouths. The cook's way via willvelarde's photostream.

As we mature, hopefully our tastes refine. We are curious and interested in things we haven’t tried. The media has encouraged us to explore the unknown. Anthony Bourdain tells us to and we believe him. Gordon Ramsey has us intrigued. Top Chef has glamorized the kitchen. And it’s all true. The restaurant business is wild, in all ways good. The passion of the chefs, the madness of the kitchen, the part-timers who are pursuing acting careers, the quirky and informed restaurant managers, the hard working immigrant laborers, the afterhours partying after the hard day is done—it’s all for real. Quite frankly, it’s a cultural experience we should all expose ourselves to because it helps us appreciate the hard work that the business requires. It is truly magic how the back of the house chaos arrives to you in a beautiful plate and a luxurious libation with restaurant chatter and music in the background.

But I digress. The refined palates of the BIN 36 resident experts are something we all must enjoy. They have made this easier by presenting us with flight after flight of wine and cheese in a thoughtful, less threatening, and affordable manner. I can’t imagine why anyone wouldn’t want to try every single wine flight and cheese flight. It is a cultural experience that BIN 36 provides remarkably well. And one that I have come to experience now, because I didn’t know any better before.

I can’t tell you which wine or cheese flight is my favorite. The flights are set up for you to experience a series of flavors in a way that each selection has been rightfully showcased. They have been meticulously paired and presented on the menu in a way that no other restaurant has quite done. In the end you will leave learning something new about your palate and hopefully a new item to add to your own kitchens. We challenge you to try every wine and cheese flight in these final weeks of summer. Sitting down to a plate of cheese with the fig puree, the crispy house made crackers, the house mixed nuts, and washing it all down with just the perfect glasses of wine will not be disappointing. I promise.

That said, I will share 6 cheeses and 6 wines from my BIN 36 everyday-layperson's must-not-miss list:

Cheese – Regale de Bourgogne, Burrata, 10-year cheddar, Sophia, Barely Buzzed, Tartufo.

Wine – 2007 Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, Fattoria Laila, 2007 Pinot Blanc, Chateau D'Orschwihr, "Bollenberg," 2007 Chardonnay, BIN 36, 2007 Pinot Noir, BIN 36, 2006 Proprietary Red (Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah/Petite Sirah/Petite Verdot/Merlot), Duncan and Sachs, "D&S," 2008 Barbera/Dolcetto/Nebbiolo, Montaribaldi, "Tres Stelle,"

We challenge you to be disappointed!

(Shelu Bhandari writes the checks at BIN, and is that glue that helps hold us all together—and and she likes to drink wine! A perfect fit.)

Reds, Cheddars, Bubbles, and Fat Cats!

2010-09-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

(By Jan Henrichsen)

Working through the Challenge requires a song and dance,
I'm thinking something like Dorothy once sang... via Nick Owens.

One thing I've refused to take for granted since we started the Challenge is that this isn't going to be easy. Without a doubt, people are going to be drinking a heck of a lot of wine and eating a heck of a lot of cheese, and somewhere along the way, they're gonna find stuff their palette may just not agree with. Especially when drinking a wine flight and eating a cheese flight at the same time...

And that's why I've come here to share some flight pairings—which, let me say, is not necessarily the easiest thing to do. With such a variance in wine types within each wine flight, and so many of our cheese flights displaying different milk types and styles from around the world, it's really just a big mish-mosh of wine and cheese, isn't it? Kind of hurts my head just writing about it!

But I was able to sort through the chaos and came up with two different flight pairings to start. I know some of you are well in to the Challenge now, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on pairings, too. What have you had together? What's worked? What hasn't? And what do you think of the pairings below?!?

Cheers, everyone!

We know that oysters and bubbles go well, but so
does this... via Cornichon.org

Bubbles and the Fat Cats

The bubbles flight is a delightful selection of sparkling wines from around the world. From light bodied crisp prosecco, to a rich, full bodied California rose made especially for BIN 36.

What all these wines have in common is a beautiful, mouth-watering acidity that makes this flight a perfect pairing with the fat cats flight.

The fat cats flight is four rich, creamy cheeses with opulent buttery textures and flavors. Pairing wines with these cheeses is tricky business. Big, tannic full-bodied reds often overwhelm the delicate flavors, and many whites don't have enough acidity to provide contrast to the cheeses...that can lead to palate fatigue, and we don't want that.

Our goal is to keep your senses engaged through all four wines and cheeses!

Though it's an older flight, can you spot the cheddar
in this pic via jeffdenapoli's photostream?

BIN 36 Reds and the Cheddar Flight

All four reds on the flight have been carefully crafted by the dynamic duo of Adam Lazarre and Brian Duncan, and all four reds are big, full of ripe fruit and chocolate...and utterly silky.

Texture is a big deal when pairing reds and cheeses of all kinds, but firmer cheeses, like cheddars, are pretty demanding. They need and want full-bodied reds with smooth tannins, and that's exactly what we provide.

The cheddar flight showcases all the different sides to this style...from a goat's milk cheddar, to a classic bandage wrapped cow's milk cheese, to an American cheese maker who decided to cover the outside of his cheddar with coffee!

Versatility is one thing you should always find in a flight—and you're finding it here!

(Jan Henrichsen is Beverage Director for BIN 36 and hosts the mini-bin classes. After years spent at Pastoral, Jan has a bevy of knowledge on cheese and wine: the heart of BIN.)

Guest Post: The Broke Wino

2010-08-31T07:01:00.000-07:00

A special post to the blog—thoughts on The BIN 36 Challenge from the other side of the bar...

By Sam Klingberg

BIN, House of Blues, and the cobs,
via abaynoash's photostream.

Tucked away between the House of Blues and Harry Caray's is BIN 36. It's a Chicago watering hole, literally, as on any given night it's populated with a blend of regulars, business travelers, tourists, winos, and whoever else finds themselves in need of some good juice just north of the Loop. But BIN 36 is also something of a conundrum.

It's a wine bar that refuses to carry well-known producers at the sacrifice of well-made artisanal wines from virtually unknown places in the world: Burgenland, Rueda, or even New Mexico, for example. Try to order a Napa Cab, they don't have one.

A Rueda vineyard, where Verdejo reigns,
via reflejandome's photostream.

It's a restaurant that dares to offer 46 different cheeses in a country that all but assumes Cheddar is yellow, Mozzarella is white, and both come in a shrink-wrap homogenized eight ounce block in the refrigerated section of the supermarket.

It's a cathedral for all things under-appreciated, but not in an elitist, socially awkward hipster way. Even though it's located in the center of River North, a restaurant Mecca and a natural habitat for the upscale Chicago epicure, the staff is unpretentious, casual, and passionate about who they are and what they serve.

They wear t-shirts and don't use made up accents, yet they can still guide you through the esoteric wine list, suggest a good pairing for items off their menu, or just talk animatedly about the crazy sparkling Chenin Blanc from Peru they just poured for you.

Their enthusiasm for wine is not only tangible, it's contagious. I love bringing non-obsessed friends with me because it's a comfortable environment, the wine is fantastic, yet affordable, and it's a guarantee that someone will leave almost as much in love with the fermented juice as I am. Almost.

Though, what makes the BIN 36 Challenge so exciting to me is that I'm forced to explore and expand my palate through their extensive wine and cheese selection during a one-month binge course, and I'm basically doing it for free. Even though I've been around the oenophile block a time or two, artisanal cheese is a whole new frontier for me, and at any rate, I can never taste enough wine.

Plus, once they revamp all the flights after the challenge is over, I get to do it all over again.

(Sam Klingberg is also known as the Broke Wino, which he's used as the namesake for his wine blog, The Broke Wino. You can also follow him on twitter like we do. He's @brokewino.

And Sam? Thank you—you're the man!)

New Farm Menu and TasteLive at BIN

2010-08-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

Nichol's Farm beets

It's Thursday, and when Thursday rolls around it means one thing. Phil's working his Green City Market magic over at the cafe in Wicker Park. But this week, there's a bit more going on than that...

First off, here's Phil's prix-fixe menu for tonight:

nichol's farm baby beet salad

growing power farm arugula, iron creek watermelon

goat cheese marshmallow

pairing: 2008 sauvignon blanc, "silex," blanc preys tourain

day boat scallops

river valley ranch chanterelles, tapioca pearls, growing power farm baby swiss chard,

leaning shed farms tomato vinaigrette

pairing: 2007 gewurztraminer brandborg, umpqua valley

strawberry shortcake

orange scone, fresh strawberry compote

creme fraiche chantilly

pairing: 2007 brachetto d'aqui, "rosa regale,"

castello banfi, piedmont, italy

The scallops

It's been great to watch Phil evolve with this farm menu concept over the Summer—he's really hitting his stride now with these dishes. I mean, just look at those scallops. Truly beautiful. And I can't even begin to tell you proud we are of what he's done with this concept.

But like I said, there's a bit more going on tonight. Obviously, the Challenge is underway and if you've been paying attention online, you've seen that people are really embracing this idea. We had someone finish all eight cheese flights and all twelve wine flights in the first week alone! And if you haven't started yet, there's really nothing to worry about. There's still three more weeks before the deadline. Plenty of time, right?

And we make it easy to entice you into the restaurant. Every Wednesday we're still hosting our mini-bin school classes, which are just a half hour long and if paid in advance, only $10. Each class is themed, and held in the kind of way that you might talk about wine with your friends at home. It's casual and interactive and not only are you tasting some cool wines, but we're giving you 20% a store or dining purchase after the class. As you can see, we like the incentives. But mini-bins aside, tonight we've got a little something special going on at BIN 36. We're participating in TasteLive!

TasteLive is an online community of wine drinkers, producers, and retailers, built around the idea of sharing information and tasting notes via the internet—and more specifically, via twitter. Our tasting tonight is centered on Argentina wines, and to give you an idea of the capabilities of this thing, we're co-hosting the event with The Cheese Store in Beverly Hills and NY Vintners in New York. And I quote,

"Wines of Argentina and TasteLive will host wine bloggers from around the United States and winemakers from Argentina for a virtual tasting of Trophy and Gold Medal winning wines selected from the prestigious Argentine Wine Awards, whose judges include Masters of Wine from countries around the world.

Simultaneously, The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, NY Vintners of New York and Bin 36 in Chicago will host TasteLive Tweetups in-store with these stellar wines. Guests will follow the winemaker and blogger conversation on a TasteLive computer screen hosted by CellarPass, the online reservation tool for planning and booking wine country events, as well as post their own notes through their iPhones and Blackberries using the hash tag #winesofargentina."

We'll be tasting wines like the '09 Salentein Reserve Chardonnay and '09 Dominio del Plata Ciros de Susana Balbo Malbec Rosé 2009, plus a Torrentes or two, a Viognier and more. So yeah, between Wicker Park and TasteLive at BIN, we obviously won't be having any fun tonight.

If you think the Argentina tasting is up your alley, then don't be shy and hang out with us tonight by emailing your reservation here. And if tonight doesn't work out? Well don't sweat it, we're doing it all over again next month just before the Challenge comes to a close! But of course, not being at BIN tonight should only mean one thing—you're with Phil, chowing down on his 3-course prix-fixe in Wicker Park.

Right?

Farm Fresh and Olive Oil Powder

2010-08-19T12:49:00.000-07:00

By Phil Rubino

Olive oil powder—it puffs in your mouth!

I know BIN 36 has everyone excited about The Challenge and free wine and cheese and even dinner and all that, but I want some attention, too! Tonight will be the second and final night of this week's Green City Market prix-fixe menu, and we took some time yesterday to break down a bit of what went into the menu I came up with—for those unfamiliar to the prix-fixe, I'm doing this every week for Wednesday and Thursday, centering the menu around what I find at the market that morning that the farmers have and is in peak season. Check it out.

Peaches and plums from Mick Klug.

For the first course, I was really impressed by the stonefruit Mick Klug had yesterday morning. His peaches have been spot on this summer, and though the plums aren't at their peak anymore, they're still solid—and what you see above is the fruit getting pickled. That bit of acid plays off the sweetness of the fruit, and complimented the main component of the dish really well. And that main component was...

We made these bad boys Sunday, then let them age and
do their wonderful drying magic.

Pork and lamb sausage! The dish is simple and a bit rustic, but with homemade links and the pickled fruit from Klug, I was pretty happy with the result.

The sausage with a stonefruit panzanella.

I was really inspired by some incredible eggplant for the main. Genesis Growers, a local farm that had quite a bit of trouble with rain and flooding earlier this summer, had these stellar baby eggplants called fairytale eggplants, and as you'll see in the finished dish, I really wanted to showcase the vegetable. But there's more to a dish than that—a lot more. Nick Nichols had some great looking red and white striped Swiss chard yesterday and Green Acres had some truly incredible garlic.

Garlic puree using Green Acres' awesome garlic.

In the end, I had some great tuna from Carl Galvan at Supreme Lobster and seared that to go with the rest. Here's the final plate—and notice the whole, oven roasted eggplant:

Nichols farm red & white striped Swiss chard,
Genesis Growers fairytale eggplant, Green
Acres'garlic puree, warm anchovy vinaigrette.

And that white powder on the plate? Yeah, easy to make a joke about what absolutely inappropriate thing it might be, but no matter how far in the gutter your mind is, it's not that. It's an olive oil powder. Yup, olive oil powder—just having a little bit of fun with the diners! And the powder? Just a small bite of the stuff and it blows your mind. Like taking a bite of a cloud. Literally. Only, the cloud tastes like olive oil!

That's Green Acres' garlic on the right.

And the strawberry shortcake was such a huge hit last week, that I brought it back for this menu to close out the dinner. Each week we're noticing more and more people are coming in for the prix-fixe, which is great to see—I'm literally buying from the farmers at the market, so in reality buy eating with us for this menu, you're only one person removed from directly supporting the farmers. And that one person? Well, it's just little ol' me.

And for $25, it's really easy to take an hour or so in the middle of the week and enjoy a well-paced, limited time offered, seasonal dinner. Cheaply!

If you can't make it tonight, I hope you'll at least start thinking of us for next week and then on. As you can see from my fluffy clouds, we're having a blast.

(Phil Rubino is Chef de Cuisine at bin wine cafe and is taking Wicker Park to a whole new level!)

The Challenge: White Flights

2010-08-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Globe trekking via lovelydesign's photostream.

For more than 10 years now, I've been traveling the world, searching high and low for the latest and greatest wines, which basically makes me your personal wine shopper. What's more, I've brought these wines home to BIN 36, where they can be enjoyed at your leisure. Each flight offers you the opportunity to travel the world of wine without baggage, lines or delays. Take a look at some of the exciting flights available for you now:

Bubbles. Bubbles. Bubbles—via Becca923's photostream.

BUBBLES

Nothing lifts the spirit or says “Let’s Celebrate" quite like a glass of sparkling wine. I recently found a real gem from Peru ... that’s right, Peru! The Non-Vintage Brut, Chenin Blanc, from Tabernero, Peru, is like Chenin Blanc on steroids. Gorgeous flavors of white peach, apricot and citrus will dance on the tongue all night long.

SAUVIGNON BLANC v. CHARDONNAY

I love a good smackdown, and in different ways, this flight offers four. Here’s the lineup:

- Sauvignon Blanc, (France v. California)
- Chardonnay, (France v. California)
- Grape v. Grape: Sauvignon Blanc v. Chardonnay
- California v. France: In this battle, the BIN 36 Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc and Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay bring it to the French. You decide the victor.

ITALIAN WHITES

Italy produces some of the cleanest, mouth-watering wines in the world. A few of my new favorites include the 2008 Tocai, Vinjuli, from Friuli, Italy, and the 2008 Pinot Grigio, Castello di Arcania, from Grave-Friuli, Italy. The Tocai is a real crowd pleaser, and the Pinot Grigio has more personality than any Pinot Grigio I've ever tasted. Get in and get some!

The original wine cave—it's since caved in—at
Wollersheim via Lance and Erin's photostream.

WELL-TRAVELED WHITES

This flight showcases delicious white wines from unique places, such as this lively wine—the 2008 Seyval "Prairie Fume," from the Wollersheim Winery in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The flavor is a cross between Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, combined with bright citrus and fresh cut grass. Neighbors great with Chef's Chevre, a California-style goat cheese, one of America's first artisinal producers.

NO GRAPE STANDS ALONE

Winemakers who successfully blend multiple grapes are like great chefs who produce delicious and beautifully balanced dishes. This flight celebrates such skill, and the 2007 Verdejo/Viura, Monte Palma, from Rueda, Spain, delivers fresh, white peach notes with pristine, nutty minerals for some lip smackin' satisfaction.

Alsatian slope via wilsondaniels' photostream

EXPRESS YOURSELF

This flight is devoted to the real SHOW-OFFS! You'll find vibrant white wines that don’t believe in restraint, especially the 2007 Pinot Blanc, Chateau D'Orschwihr, "Bollenberg," from Alsace, France. One of the best I’ve ever had. Sip in style with this wine—that's definitely full of personality.

The Challenge: Thoughts on Cheese

2010-08-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

A little truffle love in this Pecorino via
A Glutten-Free Guide's photostream

Well in the spirit of our contest, I was going to start talking about a different cheese flight with each blog entry. An ambitious challenge on its own, but if we're asking you to commit to us, well I'm ready to commit to this!

We all are excited about The Challenge, but I am especially excited because it brings our cheese program front and center. You have to understand that I have always been extremely proud of the cheese program here, not only because of the quality and varities that we offer, but because we really put a lot of effort behind each cheese we bring into the restaurant. Like wine was ten years ago, for a lot of people cheese is is an uncharted frontier. So many countries, and regions within each country, and towns within each region... and they all put out something different. Cheese-making is a truly global craft that is all at once complex, yet to so satisfying. And what a cool way to explore the world, you know what I mean?

Buffalo mozzarella via Cicius' photostream

Which is why I'm first going to write about our We ♥ Italy flight. Lately, the food of the mother country has been on my mind constantly, and cheeses from the "boot" are a part of these thoughts. People have been making cheese in Italy for hundreds of years, and in some cases thousands. And a good hand-crafted cheese? True art. So of course, I'm going to begin with the buffalo mozzarella. If the only mozzarella you've ever had is cow's milk mozz, then you really are missing out—and seriously need to high tail it to BIN to try this stuff. There's nothing like it. The cheese has a soft, almost liquidy texture from the delicate buffalo milk—light as a cloud—and offers a sweet and tart mouth experience. Honestly? You may never want cow's milk mozz again.

Pecorino Toscano in Tuscany storefront via thrown_art's photostream

Then there's our sheep's milk offering; the Pecorino Toscano. Italians love their sheep's milk cheeses—you'll understand why when you taste this one. It is both sharp and slightly salty, yet still a bit nutty in your mouth, but, you will taste the rustic side of Italy with this sheep's milk cheese. And this is cheese is PDO, which is an Italian classification that stands for Protected designation of origin. It protects things from happening like growing Georgia peaches in Arizona and still calling them Georgia peaches.

But wait, there's another Pecorino! Also a sheep's milk cheese, this second Pecorino we chose this cheese to contrast the Toscano—because this one is flavored with the earthy essence of truffles! I promise, it'll bring out your gutteral side. Enough said!

Imported gorgonzola dolce via Might Marta's photostream

And of course, no trip to Italy would be complete without a taste of Gorgonzola Dolce. Dolce meaning sweet, this cheese is rich, soft and slightly blue tasting. And let me say it again... this bad boy is rich! Both experieced blue eaters and neophytes will enjoy this wonderful, sweet Italian blue.

That's all I've got for now, but there's still seven more flights to touch upon. Man, I don't what's tougher... writing about eight cheese flights, or eating them!

Remember, The Challenge started yesterday and runs through and Sept. 18, and those who eat all eight cheese flights earn a free flight of cheese a month, for the next twelve months—wine, too—and if you do conquer both cheese and wine, we'll buy you dinner for two. Last night we already saw a small tweet-up gather in the lounge to encourage one another on, so let's see what happens in the days to come...

Feel free to comment with any questions you have on more information or even pairings with the cheeses.

And good luck!

Game On!

2010-08-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

This is it. Your chance to prove your loyalty to BIN 36 for five weeks, with a hefty reward waiting for you on the other side, is here. We've got all sorts of stuff geared up for the blog—from tasting notes to cheese profiles and maybe even a guest blogger or two—but for now, I'm keeping this simple. Here's the gauntlet we've thrown down:

STEP 1:
Try all 12 BIN wine flights...

STEP 2:
Get 1 FREE wine flight each month for the next 12 months!

STEP 3:
Try all 8 BIN cheese flights

STEP 4:
Get 1 FREE cheese flight each month for the next 12 months!

Complete the 4-step program? We'll throw in dinner for 2.

It's that easy—if you have the cojones to step up to a little wine and cheese that is.

The Challenge

2010-08-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

(Cheese, cheese, and more cheese via sergioesse's photostream)

Yes. It's true. These are the dog days of summer—it's hot and humid and the occasional rain only seems to make it even more steamy. So, as we were sitting inside the nice air conditioned restaurant, we came up with a great excuse for everybody to come on in and join us. It's the 1st annual (yes, we're hoping this will become a yearly event), BIN 36 Wine and Cheese Challenge.

The concept could not be any easier. All you have to do is come to BIN 36 at Marina City (sorry, the Wicker Park restaurant is not included this time around). Try all 12 of our wine flights between August 15th and September 18th (that's 35 days!) and drink a wine flight a month for the next year—for FREE. Or, if wine's not your thing, you can try all 8 cheese flights over the same time period, and eat cheese (one flight a month) for the next year for FREE. Yes. You can eat and drink for a year for free—maybe all the heat has gone to our heads???

(Will you take down The Challenge? via Loving Earth's photostream)

Maybe we have. Because, if cheese and wine for a year wasn't enough for you, if you conquer both challenges, we're throwing dinner for two into the mix. Two people. On us. A $100 night out, without even having to lay a hand on your wallet.

And, following "The Challenge," we'll be changing up the wine flights and cheese flights so there's no risk of getting bored. Kind of a last hurrah to our summer list, for all you die hards out there.

(John McLain is a die hard... via cdevroe's photostream)

And as far as how we'll keep track of all of this? Don't worry, we'll handle it all ourselves, so all you have to do is show up, eat, drink and have fun!

When you stop and think about it, it really comes down to this: we're asking if there are any hardcore wine and cheese loyalists out there who'd commit themselves to a month of wine, cheese, or both from just one place—us. And in return? We reward you. Big time. It's as simple as that.

So yeah. We're throwing the gauntlet down. It's a challenge—and no meek shall inherit this reward.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Cooking with BIN

2010-07-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

(The Corzetti Stamp)

Hey y’all...

Just a few words of what we will be doing in the next few days. Both Phil and I are going to teach a couple of classes.

Starting off this saturday july 24th we will be teaching at the Green City Market in Lincoln Park. Beginning at 10:30am we will be doing a 40 minute or so cooking demo using ingredients from the Market. I was out at the GCM scouting ingredients yesterday and it looks like we will show two different and simple light summer pasta sauces along with two pasta shapes.

One of the pasta shapes I am excited about is the Corzetti. An ancient cut with historical significance from the Genoa region of Italy. I have been in search of the Corzetti Stamp, which is needed to make this pasta cut, and about a week ago I finally found a local artisan who is hand making this wooden stamp. Local in this case is Sonoma County, California, since the only other person I could find making these stamps is Franco Casoni who is practicing this little appreciated art in his small village in Italy.

In the pasta vein, we are also doing a cooking class and at the bin wine cafe this coming monday july 26th beginning at 7pm. The basis of the class is Pasta and Pizza. We will be teaching the basics of making both doughs. Showing how to make a pizza dough, how to get it rise properly and how to throw a pizza dough.

We will be also teaching how to make a pasta dough, the uses of semolina in pasta dough and how to roll out the dough. We will also demonstrate a “raw” pizza red sauce, and a couple of pasta sauces.

The course will also come with a three course dinner. Pizza will be served during an Hors d’oeuvre hour. First course will be Phil’s Heirloom tomato and watermelon salad, two different pastas with corresponding sauces will come as the entree and our new chocolate semi freddo popcicles will be dessert. Of course wine will be poured all for a $38 ticket price. Please call us for reservations.

Bon appetito, we hope to see you at both events.

New Summer Menu at BIN

2010-07-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

(The new CLT at BIN—read on for more...)

Recently we completed our summer menu changeover. In general, entrees and appetizers have been lightened, and of course seasonal products are highlighted.

Some of my favorites are...

Pork Ribs from Swan Creek Farm. We first put a dry rub on them overnight and then the next morning we slow roast and smoke them for four hours. Then they are lacquered with our house made Blackberry-espresso BBQ sauce and served with a refreshing watermelon-mint salad.

(Slow Smoked Stack of Pork Ribs, Blackberry & Espresso BBQ Sauce, Watermelon-Mint Salad)

I also like our wood rotisserie chicken. It picks up great flavor from the slow cooking over the sweet smokey wood and we are serving it with jalepeno cornbread, a corn and arugula salad and we sauce it with a light vinaigrette I am very proud of. We call it a lobster vinaigrette, and we make it by roasting lobster shells and pouring oil over them and lightly heating the oil for a few hours to pick up that sweet lobster flavor. Next, we reduce red wine vinegar to almost a syrup so it has a different weight than the oil. We mix the two and serve it with the chicken for a nice light sauce on a hot summer night.

Chicken with a lobster sauce is an old school french combination that we have lightened and modernized. And in the seafood category, well, what everyone is ordering is the Halibut dish. We get these beautiful halibut from Alaska and poach them in butter—decadent! We are serving it with a sweet fennel puree, tempura fried asparagus, and this great light lemon confit broth-like sauce. It has already been getting great reviews. But though I can’t argue with the many who are enjoying the halibut, I personally would prefer the soft shell crab that we've been previewing. We call it the open faced “CLT." Crab, lettuce, tomato. Semolina crusted soft shell crab, red mizuna lettuce from Growing Power Farm and nice, sweet and acidic heirloom tomatoes. We serve it with a corn and bacon butter!

(Butter Poached Alaskan Halibut, Fennel Puree, Tempura Asparagus, Lemon Confit Jus)

Enough said, time to cook. Come in and taste some summer.

This Week's Market Menu at Baby bin

2010-07-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

(by Phil Rubino)

(Working the ravioli!)

Last week Dan did me the favor of introducing something I'm super pumped to be doing at bin wine cafe—a weekly pix-fixe menu inspired by my morning trip to Green City Market every Wednesday. For a chef, it doesn't get much better than this. The menu is seasonal, affordable, and by ordering it, you're doing your part to help the small family farmers that continually put out some absolutely incredible product for restaurants to work with—it's a moral battle these farmers are fighting against the big corporate farms, and something as simple as a dinner out helps the cause!

And does it get much better at the market than these few weeks in July?

Yesterday morning I was really impressed by the beets at Green Acres Farm. I realize beets are an acquired taste, but I think a part of the reason so many people have a strong dislike for them is because at some point or another, they'd been exposed to canned beets—and honestly, who would ever choose to eat those? Fresh beets, with the soil still caked to the roots... man, now you're talking about something special. And when those beets are roasted? Get out of here! And that's what we did, which just brings out a wonderful sweetness to balance the earthiness of the beet. I was in a pasta kind of mood, and with our upcoming Pizza and Pasta Cooking Class at bin wine cafe on July 26, I thought there was no better way to open the menu than with a ravioli—which we're doing with house-made ricotta and spiggarelo, and finishing with a parmesan foam.

(Homemade riccota and pasta dough makes all the difference...)

I also was impressed by the beans from Nichols Farm and the tomatoes at Iron Creek—a tomato jam is a simple way to highlight the tomato in a light way, preserving it's natural sweetness while introducing new flavors too, hence the saffron. And hanger steak being a more lean cut, the dish really just reflects the way I like to eat at this time of year. With the crunch of those fresh beans, this dish hits complimenting elements in different ways and people really seemed to enjoy it last night.

(The plated dish!)

Rounding out the meal with a choice between our killer gelato or creme brulee just accentuates what I think is a picturesque Summer dinner—outside of eating on the farm, it doesn't get much better!

And here's the menu...

1st

Housemade ricotta and spiggarelo ravioli, green acres farm warm beet salad, and parmesan foam

2nd

Hanger steak, nichols farm wax and green salad and iron creek farm tomato and saffron jam

3rd

Gelato or creme brulee

Because I'm shopping for the menu on Wednesdays, we're only able to offer the prix-fixe on Wednesday and Thursday nights—and at $25 for all of this, is there a better place to be mid-week?

Hope we'll see you tonight, but if not, I'll be back soon with the next menu!

(Phil Rubino is Chef de Cuisine at bin wine cafe and taking Wicker Park to a whole new level!)

Green City Market Chef's BBQ

2010-07-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

(The BBQ is this Thursday!)

Each month we get asked to do a huge variety of charity events. It is impossible to participate in them all and run a successful restaurant simultaneously. So we pick a couple each month to participate in, where we feel that it is a not only a worthy cause but also where we can get good exposure with other great restaurants and chefs.

Coming up this Thursday is my favorite charitable event of the entire year. It is the Green City Market Chef’s BBQ. Why my favorite? Well, let’s see: It supports local small producers of sustainably grown foods, it’s outdoors in Lincoln Park and there are over 95 restaurants and chef’s preparing dishes made from some of the highest quality ingredients available to us in the Chicago area.

(Interactive at the market via greencitymarket's photostream)

Both of our restaurants will be represented this Thursday, Phil Rubino at the wine cafe will be assisting along with his brunch cook Zach (speaking of brunch cook, did you all remember we just changed the brunch menu at bwc, and I am very proud of it), and, Willi Hewitt, my chef de cuisine at the downtown restaurant will be in attendance along with Tom Laurell, our pastry chef.

We will all be preparing a peach panna cotta with peaches from Seedling Farm with a prosciutto foam and prosciutto dust prepared with prosciutto from La Quercia (made in Iowa) and lastly garnished with mizuna greens from Growing Power Farm.

So if you think that sounds yummy, come by Lincoln Park this Thursday from 6pm until 8pm and taste not only our dish but the food of all of chicago’s culinary world. You won’t be disappointed. You can get tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com. They cost $100 for all you can eat and drink and it goes to a very worthy cause. See you there.

The mini-bin

2010-07-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

(A play on rosé via honeybear16's photostream)

(by Jan Henrichsen)

What is a mini-bin? Simple. It's a half-hour class that focuses on one discrete topic—essentially, it's the shorts and sandals, less glorified version of a BIN School class. This past week's discussion and tasting covered wines for grilling and outdoor entertaining, and this coming week's topic will be pink wines.

Rosé wines from all over the world enjoy high esteem, because they are exceptionally food-friendly and delicious. Made from the same grapes as red wine, these juicy, dry wines are not your mother's white zin. We're going to taste through four fantastic pinks, and explore the wide range of flavors, styles and weight that these exceptional wines have to offer, along with some good old myth busting and figuring out how to choose the right rosé for your meal.

(A vineyard in Chinon, whose Caberenat Franc makes some of the

most celebrated rose in the world via epeigne37's photostream)

We'll hold a mini-bin class once a week all summer long. They are $15 at the door, and $10 in advance. Seating is limited, so I highly suggest purchasing in advance. And added bonus is that we will offer all of our students an additional 20 percent off any purchase, retail or otherwise, after class.

But the best part? Anyone who joins us for just five of the many classes we'll be offering through September gets rewarded by us—a $25 gift card. That's half off the total amount you'll have paid for the five classes back in your pocket!

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to tasting with you in the coming weeks and can't wait to push on with the mini-bins!

(Jan Henrichsen is Beverage Director for BIN 36 and hosts the mini-bin classes. After years spent at Pastoral, Jan has a bevy of knowledge on cheese and wine: the heart of BIN.)

Things Are Happening at bin wine cafe!

2010-07-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

(English peas via geekspeaklic's photostream)

A few weeks back, the wine cafe welcomed a familiar face to its kitchen: Phil Rubino. Phil is young, energetic, and the ladies might say he's easy on the eyes—you see, we can have fun with Phil! But he's also a damn talented cook—we know this because he once served as a Sous Chef to our own Executive Chef John Caputo. After he left BIN 36, Phil spent time with Laurent Gras at L20 and more recently as Executive Sous at 33 Club. So what does all of this mean? Well, Phil has taken over the kitchen at bin wine cafe.

With a transition like this in any kitchen, the new Chef brings his approach to the food—and working with John, Phil has certainly left his thumb-print in Wicker Park. Here's a sample of his new dishes at the cafe:

smoked trout salad

growing power farms red mustard leaves, pine nuts and creme fraiche-chive vinaigrette

hiramasa crudo

lemon peel puree, radish, wild watercress

hand-cut tagilatelle pasta

heirloom tomato salsa crudo, torn basil leaves, shaved parmesan

alaskan halibut

bacon "dust," potato gnocchi, manhattan clam chowder

oven roasted lamb

chick peas, roasted red peppers, crispy panisse, growing power farms red mizuna

A keen eye might catch something of a pattern in this menu... Phil's working closely with seasonal product, and doing so with Growing Power Farms. As so many of you can attest to, there's a definite movement within urban areas to source food from the surrounding rural farms. This is something we've written about before with our partnership with Nichols Farm at BIN 36—and restaurants everywhere are also diving into. Farms have become something of brand names for Green City Market shoppers and foodies in this city. That's why we're so thrilled to have a guy like Phil taking over the cafe. Wicker Park is the perfect neighborhood to continue spreading the knowledge and product of these local farms...

(This isn't Phil Rubino, but he'll be at the market like these kids, too...

photo via green city market's photostream)

Which is exactly why, a couple weeks back, we decided to give Phil Wednesday and Thursday nights to try something out: a $25 Market prix-fixe menu. The idea is simple... every Wednesday morning Phil shops at Green City for his product, and spends the rest of the day developing the menu—which is three courses. It provides Phil the opportunity to keep things moving, which is always so important for a chef, and gives the neighborhood something to get excited about. Because really, are the cafe's $5 burgers on Tuesdays enough? Okay, maybe they are...

(Harvesting at Mick Klug Farms via Dishes and Dirt's photostream)

But we're rolling with this! In fact, we started last night. And if you didn't join us, there's still a chance to do so tonight... and here's what you'll get:

1st

Seared Diver Scallops

Trio of Mick Klug Farm Cherries , Nichols Farm English Pea Puree and Pistachio Powder

2nd

Roasted Swan Creek Pork loin

Braised Nichols Farm Spigarello, Heirloom carrot salad and a Nichols Farm garlic scape vinaigrette

3rd

Trio of daily gelato or vanilla creme brulee

Between Mick Klug (one of the nicest guys on the planet, with a beautiful family that's at the market every week), Swan Creek, and Nichols, Phil had lots of goodies to play with. And yeah, we're pretty excited about it.

Things are definitely changing in Wicker Park. There's a new energy at the cafe and I'm not gonna lie, we're all a little bit giddy about it—and Phil will be contributing to the blog soon, too. Soon enough, you will see for yourself...

Free BIN Cash and 1st Growth Bordeaux (giveaway!)

2010-06-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

(Bordeaux grapes via prgrisleyco's photostream)

As new and foreign and uncharted as the Twitter universe still is, BIN 36 serves to stand as a beneficiary of its potential tonight. A couple days ago I was looking through our twitter account and came across a tweet from someone mentioning a tweetup tonight at the restaurant. You should recall the tweetup we held with Metromix and RedEye a few weeks back—which was something we helped coordinate and had a hand in from the get-go. In fact, it was our idea. Well, tonight's tweetup—I knew nothing about it!

So, being the savvy and cunning business owner, I tweeted back (I'm still not used to saying, "I tweeted"). Well, wouldn't you know it, a little something started happening and as of this morning our twitter stream was full of tweets and retweets and all sorts of accounts with names like @personalwine and @MrMixologist and @WinesCom buzzing along about wine. What in the world does all of this mean?

There's going to be a gathering of wine lovers tonight at BIN—and Twitter made it happen!

In fact, if I've been able to put all the pieces together correctly (I told you we had no hand in this), tonight's gathering is being held to ring in the launch of the new website at wines.com. So what does it cost you to come hang out? Nothing! Who do you have to know to come hang out? Nobody! And what should you do when you're here? Drink wine. Live well. Have fun!

But there's one more thing to consider if this sounds like a good time (the gathering begins at 6pm, which I mean come on—just shoot over after work), today is the last day of our matching gift card promotion.

So what in the world am I talking about yet again? Simple. All week we've matched the value of any gift card that's been purchased online or in any of our restaurants. People in Wicker Park and River North have been stopping by and buying $50 worth so that with our matching $50 gift, they have $100 to spend on wine from our retail store. Other people have bought $100 in credit to give as a gift for a night out, and kept the matching $100 for a night out themselves. Pretty cool, huh? And you can buy them here!

If you're coming by tonight, why not take advantage of it? Even if you buy a $25 card, we still match it and give you another $25 card. Whatever fits your budget, your taste. But again, this promo ends tonight. The only catch is that they're good to use only through the end of Summer, but you can use it on whatever you want. We're sick and tired of the horror stories we've heard from restaurants losing money on Groupon, so we took the idea into our own hands. And it's been fun.

So stop by the bar after 6pm tonight. Drink some wine. Make new friends. Check-in on Foursquare for $10 wine and cheese flights. And get hooked up with free BIN cash from us!

Oh, and one more thing. The tweetup organizers are giving away these absolutely insane bottles of wine tonight:

1st and 2nd growth Bordeaux right there! And all you have to do is come hang out to get all this!!

Cheers!

Nichols Farm at BIN!

2010-06-09T12:22:00.000-07:00

(Greens! via greencitymarket's photostream)

We're excited at BIN 36 - finally, there is life in the Farmers' market.

Late spring is always a slow time for the market. While it's warm and sunny outside, we want new crop to be ready for harvest right away but need to remember to be patient. There's plenty of asparagus, spring greens and herbs but not too much more just yet. That said, we are trying to take advantage while we can - which we are tonight! Using delicious broccoli rabe from Nichols Farm in Northwestern Illinois, Chef Caputo has chopped it fine with extra virgin olive oil, spring garlic, some freshly shaved parmigiano reggiano from our cheese bar and orecchiette pasta. The staff are going nuts for this dish.

We've paired the dish with the new verdicchio from our wine by the glass list. The whole thing screams summertime, and it's perfect on a beautiful day like this.

Welcome Jan, and $10 Flights!

2010-05-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

I live a busy, busy life. With all the endeavors that BIN 36 has trekked upon over the last ten years, there's the requirement to not only operate a restaurant, but to operate a national wine business and more. That's why, when that right blend of knowledge, personality, and creativity comes alone, I become a happy, happy guy - then again, wouldn't we all be happy if surrounded by people like this? I should be more specific: we've hired a new Beverage Director at BIN 36!

Many of you might even know her, or recognize her face, as she first started working for BIN 36 as a server 2001 and has taught wine classes since. How about that for commitment, huh? So I hope you'll join me in giving a heartfelt welcome, and welcome back of sorts - she's been with Pastoral for the past six and a half years - to Jan Henrichsen. Not only has Jan already been a huge help in assisting with the major change in our wine list recently, but she'll also be writing once a week for the blog. You'll get to know her very well!

And, with the holiday weekend upon us, what better way to ring in our newest piece to the BIN puzzle than with $10 wine and cheese flights for Sunday and Monday. Take advantage of the short weekend, and be it for a quick stop for wine and cheese before a show or that rare Sunday night out with friends, we'll be pouring the vino and slicing up the cheese all day!

Here's to a good ten bucks worth of eating and drinking, and here's to Jan. Cheers!

Foodie the App and Foursquare

2010-05-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, this post will be quick and painless...

For a few weeks now, we've dabbled within the realm of foursquare - and once we started, there was a real push in numbers, or "check-ins," to both restaurants. Foursquare is pretty infantile at this stage, as business integration and involvement with the product is fairly minimal. Sure, you can find businesses offering specials out there, but I'd be curious how many of you foursquare users actually have cashed in on specials to the places you go - or if you've even landed at a place just because you knew they had a special. And in our case, we offer a special - a free wine flight to the mayor on Tuesdays and Fridays - but it's exclusive to just one person, even though we've opened it up to two days a week. The rest of those check-ins, they're just playing the game for kicks.

Well, that's about to change. Starting next week, all check-ins to both BIN 36 and bin wine cafe will have the chance to cash in on $10 wine flights. If you're reading this blog, chances are you've had one of our flights - they really are or signature offering, aren't they? And at ten smackers, you're potentially saving a decent amount of cash if you're ordering some of the more expensive options. We're confident in foursquare, and it costs us nothing to be involved. What's so different from offering a special this way, than a more traditional route? It's a similar idea - only foursquare is more involved. More fun!

And then there's Foodie the App. Ari Bendersky made quite the splash with his iPhone exclusive program last fall, and some of the city's best restaurants hopped on board and offered some super original offers to Foodie members. The one hurdle Ari had with the app was that because of its iPhone exclusivity, his marketing reach was limited. Imagine if OpenTable was only offered to those who had an iPhone - it just wouldn't be as big as it is today.

For those who aren't familiar with Foodie, it's a free service that gathers the restaurants all over the city and every day posts offerings, or specials, from those restaurants - again, exclusive only to Foodie members. And the restaurant has the ability to offer anything they want! I actually saw a restaurant offer 20% off the bill if you brought in a wine bottle dated 1972, empty or full. Pretty cool, huh?

But still, cool only for those with an iPhone. Well, not anymore.

Foodie the App now has a blog, weekly newsletter, and a website where anyone can register and book a reservation for an offering. And BIN 36? That's right, we're right there with the changes! In fact, if you go to the site now, you'll find this...

Not too shabby, huh?

As a business owner, I of course worry about "giving the house away." But at the same time, we've talked before about how we've recognized an opportunity to make new friends with the advent and progressive shift in technology. We could pout and whine and refuse to reform to this "social media" blitz, or we can embrace it and learn a thing or two or three along the way to insure ten more years of wine and cheese!

So personally, I prefer the latter. Cheers!

Now Drinking at BIN 36: Beer?

2010-05-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

(Chicago's own Goose Island via kyleroth's photostream)

Okay - I am ready to believe that spring is REALLY here. So, it got me thinking about spring and summer wine - and BEER. Yes. I know you think that BIN 36 is all about wine but, beginning Friday, we are introducing a whole new beer list. It's not going to be extravagant by any stretch of the imagination, but I think you will find the new selection thoughtful and, most important, tasty! For me, as the weather turns warm, a good artisanal beer really does the trick. And, while I may not drink beer all night long (fills me up so that I can't eat all the cheese!), I LOVE BEER!

Okay, let me tell you about some of the newbies:

(Classic Duvel via ralph&dot's photostream)

Duvel - A classic golden Belgian ale - though still light and delicious for the warmer weather. This beer is triple fermented and has a wonderfully complex aroma and flavor.

Goose Island - Sophie: Fermented with wild yeasts and aged in wine barrels with orange peel, Sofie is a tart, dry, sparkling ale. A subtle, spicy white pepper note, a hint of citrus from the orange peel and a creamy vanilla finish make Sofie an intriguing choice for Champagne drinkers and beer drinkers who are fond of Belgian Saisons.

Brooklyn - Summer Ale: Available from April through July, this lighter ale is a modern rendition of classic English "luncheon ale" named because they were refreshing and flavorful without being too heavy. The beer has almost a light "bready" flavor with crisp, citrus aroma - really refreshing.

Goose Island - Pere Jaques: Brewed with loads of malt and Belgian yeast, Pere Jacques is a wonderfully fruity, malty ale. Pere Jacques’ complex flavors stand shoulder to shoulder with the Belgian Dubbels enjoyed in the world’s finest beer bars. At the dining table it’s the perfect alternative to a glass of vintage port.

(Brooklyn Brewery at its finest via Samer Farha's photostream)

These are just a few to get your mouth watering, but I am sure you get the idea. We'll keep changing the beers all year long so if you are in the mood for something other than wine, stop by for a BEER at BIN 36.

The Tweetup

2010-05-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

It took a week of remission and recovery, but the tweet up was a hit! But let's take a step back...

It was a revelation when computers were introduced to restaurants, when no longer servers passed their orders off, written in perfectly legible penmanship, to the kitchen's expeditor or chef after it was taken. Remember those days? The wheels - you'll see them still in country diners - that orders were clipped to so the expeditor and cooks could easily be on the same page, remember those? Seriously, a revelation computers were! And touch screens, no less!

You have to realize, those days really aren't too far back in our history. So, when writing about what in the world took place out our restaurant last Wednesday night, it's pretty fun to look at it with this perspective. And what exactly did happen?

Well, we shut down a large part of the restaurant, first of all. We pulled away tables and chairs and draped white tablecloths over other tables and lined them with row after row of BIN 36 wine. We lined up tables of cheese and hummus and other snacks and our cheese bar up front glistened with Riedel stemware 8 deep, stretching across its length. But for who?

Well, technically, for you.

Anybody could have come to the event, but as many things now go these days, all of the legwork leading up to the event was conducted online. In fact, in order to attend, every guest had to RSVP on Facebook. Again, restaurants and Facebook? Anybody see this one coming five years ago? But that's the way it goes and sure enough, the response was so overwhelming, we had to cut the RSVP list off. We had nearly 250 confirmed guests a week before the event, and that isn't even including the 100 maybes and who knows how many other potential friends we could've made that night - and our dining room barely fits 150! So yeah, overwhelming is one way to put it.

And we have to thank Metromix and RedEye for helping make it all happen. Between their impressive and talented staff of bloggers and writers and their loyal following and network of readers, the event was in great hands - and, we like to think, our guests were as well with the wine that just kept flowing all night!

So here we stand. Questions were asked about wine, some shy and some educated, but the event is over and the waiting game begins as to when the some-200 guests that evening might return next. Will we even seem them again? Well, that was the point. Let's see if this generation takes to BIN as well as the previous, huh?

Cheers to that!

And, to give you a feel for the night, some pictures courtesy of Metromix.

Tweet Up Tonight at BIN

2010-05-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

(Vineyard in Puligny Montrachet, France's Burgundy region,

via Dave Aragona's photostream)

For those who follow closely on Twitter and Facebook, you know that tonight's a big night at BIN 36. We've partnered up with Metromix and RedEye to host our first ever tweet up - and what that means if you don't know? A bunch of people gathering in one place with their smart phones, networking the night away!

We first gave more attention to our social media a few months ago, so we're all giddy with excitement to finally have an event that helps culminate our stance within this scene. Events like this in the past have attracted fifty guests - last Wednesday we had to cut the RSVP list off because we were at nearly 250!

So I thought it'd be great to go back to the interview series I'd been posting with French winemakers, sort of as a prelude for tonight. Those who'll be joining me - I really hope you see how painless it is to talk about wine, even when you've got two bottles in front of you with words you can't understand!

I sat down with winemaker Patrick Leflaive of Olivier Leflaive wines - a Burgundy house - with two completely different looking bottles on the table: Grand Cru Puligny Montrachet and Corton Charlemagne. If you're shaking your head because I've lost you, well hold on a second. Both of these wines come from the same place, which is Burgundy, which is a wine growing region of France (a very famous one at that). Not only that, but both are white wines, and thus known as White Burgundy. The kicker? They're both Chardonnay!

You see, it might seem intimidating at first, but the world of wine is far more familiar than you might think... hope you enjoy the interview, and can't wait to meet all of you tonight!

Recipe Time: Crispy Tempura Green Beans w/ Citrus Aioli

2010-05-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

(Green beans! via upturnedface's photostream)

It wasn't so long ago that I wrote about the new menu at bin wine cafe in Bucktown and its bounty of Spring foods. Well, given today's crumby weather, I thought maybe we could take a sneak peak into the cafe and lift our spirits just a tad - I don't know about you guys, but there's just something about the gray clouds that makes it so hard to get out of bed in the morning, you know? Anyone else feel the same way?

So I wanted to share a recipe and make it simple, bright, and easy - the opposite of these rainy days! And there's one dish at the cafe that really falls smack dab within those categories: our Crispy Tempura Green Beans with Citrus Aioli. Have you had 'em before? You agree with me?

I mean there's just something about that light batter and the snap of the bean when you bite into it... and then that pop of the citrus like the sun breaking through within that cool aioli. Obviously, I'm craving these bad boys right now - can you tell?

Give 'em a chance. Or, if you'd rather have us do the dirty work, stop by the cafe for a glass of wine at the bar even - don't feel the pressure to sit at the table if that's not in the cards. And lemme tell you, a Sauvignon Blanc, and I'm thinking more specifically of the Mason Cellars' Pomelo that we have on the list right now, would just pair so beautifully with this snack. It's light; it's crisp; and boy, it sure dances sweetly with its citrus notes, showcasing the gorgeous notes of grapefruit for which the wine takes its name. But what do I know? I wanna hear what you think!

(Pomelos via psycho röy's photostream)

Crispy Tempura Green Beans with Citrus Aioli
bin wine café
Yield: 6 servings

What you'll need:

1 lb haricot vert, trimmed of stems
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1 cup club soda
3 ice cubes
salt to taste

2 Qts Peanut oil for frying

2 egg yolks
1 cup orange juice, reduced to a syrup
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup canola oil
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

The dirty work:

First make the citrus aioli, by reducing the orange juice with the sugar to a syrup. Remove from heat and let it cool. In a mixing bowl, add your egg yolks, slowly whisk in the canola oil drop by drop at first to allow the yolks to accept the oil. Then slowly add the rest of oil in a light stream, while continuing to whisk. You should have a thick mayonnaise when done. Next add approximately 1 ½ tablespoons of the orange syrup. Season with both salt and the lemon juice, cover with plastic wrap and set aside until ready to serve.

Begin to heat your peanut oil in a large sauce pot to 350 degrees.

Make your tempura batter by putting the club soda and ice cubes in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in both the flour and corn starch until you get a thin paste. Season with salt.

When the oil is at 350 degrees, place a handful of green beans in the tempura batter, coat them well. Now carefully drop one at a time in the oil until and cook for approximately 1 minute until they are golden brown and crispy. With a slotted spoon, remove the beans from the oil, again being careful not to splatter hot oil on you, and strain on absorbent paper. Serve immediately with the citrus aioli.

Buon appetito!

Upcoming Events at BIN

2010-05-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

We have a pretty loyal following, but there's still people out there who know nothing of our Movies in the Loft program. It's a simple idea, really, that a) gets you off the couch and out of the house and b) pits you with, naturally, good food and good wine - three courses paired with wine to be exact. We've been running the program for five years now, which in and of itself is hard for me to believe. Time flies!

So this Friday, we're at it again. If you talk to people who have joined us before, I think you'll find a general consensus that what makes the night so successful is the types of movies we show. I wouldn't go as far to say they're cult classics, per say, but they're by and large off the beaten path sorts of films. The point? We're showing something you probably haven't seen before, or maybe so once years ago and have been dying to see it again... we recently showed Waiting for Guffman. Yeah, need I say more?

If you're even a mild film buff, the name Ang Lee should ring a very familiar bell. Ang directed the Eric Bana driven Hulk, which okay, may not have been his greatest achievement, but followed the film up a couple years later with a movie everybody talked about, if they hadn't also seen: Brokeback Mountain. You might remember it:

Right?

Well, before even Hulk, Ang Lee had directed a series of extremely successful foreign films, the last of which we'll be showing Friday night at BIN.

With its opening nearly sixteen years ago, Eat Drink Man Woman is a classic in so many ways - but my favorite part? The father, our sympathetic protagonist of sorts, is a chef. And a damn good one! Which makes the dinner we'll be serving with the movie pretty unique, because, we're creating dishes inspired by the film! So far, rumor is seaweed, rice cake stew, roasted pork, and kimchi are in the works...

And check out the incredible opening scene of the movie, and the skills and ease at which the character works in the kitchen.

Puts you in a trance, doesn't it?

Obviously, I wouldn't be writing this today if tickets weren't still available. But going off past events, even if tickets are around the day of, they could easily sell like you wouldn't believe in a flash. Call us if you're curious for more, and don't forget Wine 102 is right around the corner, too. In fact, it's this Sunday!

BIN School, movies, and lots and lots of wine. I've got a fun week ahead of me...

It's Spring (I think...)

2010-05-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

(Peruvian vineyard via ImAnAmericanIdle's photostream)

Along with all the other changes at BIN 36, we've revamped the wine by the glass program - even have an AMAZING sparkling chenin blanc from Peru of all places. You've got to check it out - fresh and crisp and mouthwatering and delicious - a great warm weather bubbly!

Whenever we change the wines by the glass, it is a momentous occasion. There are many layers to the selection process, the descriptions, the pricing (yeah, somebody's got to do it...), and, then, the execution - reprinting all the menus, hangtags and food and wine pairings.

First, Brain Duncan and our new Beverage Director, Jan Henrichsen, meet with distributors in their warehouse to find all the surprises and hidden treasures. Then, if there is enough quantity, and we think the wine is a good fit within the program, Brian and Jan begin to think about categories and arranging the new selections,

Then, as we work on pricing - and making sure we can provide value to our guests, Brian and Jan work on those descriptions. Often, wonderful selections are rejected in the process because we do not feel the wines drink well for the price. If the quality is in the bottle but the distributor is asking top dollar, we might place the selection on our bottle list, but it will not make the grade by the glass.

The wines by the glass are only for wines that drink beyond their price - not below it. As you might imagine, it is a complicated affair - especially when you change out more than half the selections as we did this time around.

So, there will be a lot of new favorites to discover and enjoy as spring slowly turns into summer. And, now that the wines by the glass have made the transition, Executive Chef John Caputo is working on the new summer menu as I hear it will be warming up any day now... Typically, as the late spring harvest and early summer crops make it to market, John starts to experiment with new items - ramps and fava beans are plentiful right now and on the menu. Soon, we'll have the first of the season tomatoes and even some market lettuces, radishes and beans. And, of course, summer means a whole new style of cheese - summer grass gives the milk at the small producers a special flavor only sunshine can produce. Truly, this is my favorite time of year - everything seems fresh and new and full of potential. So, please stop in when you have some time and see what's new at BIN 36.

Well Armed with the Bounty of Spring

2010-04-21T13:19:00.000-07:00

(Wrigley in the snow via jtwex's photostream)

It's strange to think Mother's Day is already upon us, isn't it? Despite the open patio umbrellas and grandstands now packed with blue at Wrigley, I somehow feel as though when I open the door in the morning, there should snow banked along the streets. Trust me, I don't wish that upon us one bit - but boy, is time flying by or what?

And so, here we are. Spring time. The great thing about Spring time for those in chef coats is the abundance of product from the farmers that is suddenly at our disposal. The great thing about Spring for you is that when we in the chef coats are armed with this produce, we have fun! And yeah, the team and I have been having quite a bit of fun...

So, starting tomorrow, bin wine cafe is gettin' spanked with a whole new menu littered with the gems of Spring. We're adding Orecchiette that we'll toss with Rapini Greens, Peas, Carrots, Garlic, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and Herb Ricotta as well as one of the few sustainably recognized fish types available on the market, Alaskan Halibut - and I'm really excited about this dish. We'll be pan searing the Halibut, and highlighting the best of spring on the plate with Fava Beans, Olive Oil Poached Grape Tomatoes, a Pesto made with Basil and Mint, and a Spring Onion Potato Cake. And then there's the pizza element of Spring - with such a bounty, one never knows what we might throw at you for our daily pizzas...

(Rapini from the Farmer's Market via La Pomme de Portland's photostream)

But, for a restaurant, this time of year also marks what is often the busiest day of the year, hands down. Mother's Day. For those who follow the blog regularly, you should remember the pictures we shared when smoking our Easter Ham a few weeks back - the ham was a tremendous hit on Easter Sunday. Well guess what, moms. You're getting one, too! And this time we're pretty early in the process of getting the ham ready - yes, we really do work on it this far out - so I thought it'd be fun to keep a running picture report throughout the process.

To cut it short, the ham!

(Mother's Day may be in the distance, but we're already preparing)

At this point we've scored the exterior of the ham and are doing something I'd imagine not many of us have done before - how many of us have ever cooked a ham this big even - we're brining the ham, which is to say beginning a long process of love and care that will, when your piling Mom's plate from our craving station, smell, look, and taste like you wouldn't believe...

This should be a lot fun, chronicling the ham. It's not often we chefs have the chance to capture these day-to-day tasks and look back on them in retrospect. Hope you'll join me for the ride!

When the Internet is Like a Glass of Riesling

2010-04-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

(Workers of a German vineyard in the Black Forest,
photo dated 1965 via mazdamiata's photostream)

With the surge in phone-based applications and tweets and status updates and so on and so forth, we all realize that a new generation of diners and wine drinkers are getting to know BIN for the first time. So, though for some of you learning about BIN School for the first time might seem like a head scratcher, for so many others it's sort of a revelation. Tonight we're hosting another session of BIN School's popular Wine 101, which got me thinking a bit more about how to continue wine education outside of a tasting or hands-on lesson like we offer with BIN School.

Isn't there one obvious tool that makes learning, no matter how much you already know about wine, so simple? So yeah, no duh, it's the Internet! But then, where do you begin?

For one, I say start with one source and follow that source for a short time. In doing so, you're more than likely to learn about more writers and more websites, which will obviously open more doors for exploring the world of wine through your computer. But then, where to start? Well, one popular source is wine writer Eric Asimov of the New York Times, formerly of the wine blog The Pour, which was recently combined with other Times blogs under the title Diner's Journal.

On the heels of the second video in our YouTube series about Alsatian wines, Eric recently wrote a great piece on neighboring Germany's hand in Riesling, or more specifically Kabinett Riesling. So here's how I'd imagine people stand: some might say yeah, I love Riesling, but have no idea who Kabinett means - to which I say, all the more reason to read the article. But then others might say, heck, I not only love Riesling, but I more specifically love Kabinetts - to which I say, again, all the more reason to read the article! Regardless of how much you know about wine, it's through writers like Eric that we're provided the opportunity to expand not only our knowledge about wine overall, but our involvement of current trends and stories in the wine world today.

(The smell via CoCo Fire's photostream)

And then there's the quirky side to something like a blog, especially a writer with the talent and wherewithal like Eric, who recently wrote a piece titled: "The Wine Critic’s Week Without Drinking Wine," which he wrote after breaking his nose - yeah, for a wine writer, the nose is kind of a crucial thing to have, huh?

And by singling out Eric I'm not suggesting there aren't other writers you should explore. Heck, in Chicago alone Bill Daley and Ari Bendersky and so many others do us proud! It's just that, as with so many things, if you think too big with wine you won't be able to fully enjoy what it is that's in your glass - or in this case, on your computer screen.

So whether you're new to BIN School and will be tasting with us tonight for the very first time or well beyond that first lesson of Wine 101, we're still all, in some ways, riding this journey in the same boat. Which is why I have to ask, who and what else do you turn to in the world of wine when you're hungry for more?

Cheers!

Kitchen Inspiration

2010-04-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

(An enchanting smell, when peppers roast...)

While working in this business certainly has its pitfalls, wandering through the restaurant today I was reminded of those little things that make this industry so special - so obviously, I'm sharing!

Even the most composed and polished restaurants are machines that chug along at a rapid pace. What separates those restaurants from others is how those intermittent parts manage the rapid pace. Parts like the waitstaff, bus staff, and bar staff. The front desk that greets you and the garde manger who makes your salad. The sous chef who is filling in for the sick fry cook and the chef de cuisine who is expediting the tickets as they come in and the food as it leaves the dining room in the runner's hands. All of these parts combine to present you with an experience, and not only do few restaurants make it look easy, but how many types of businesses, of any kind, function under such pressure day in, and day out?

I have to say, I'm incredibly proud of the many intermittent parts that make up BIN 36. When I was walking through the kitchen and could smell peppers roasting on the grill, could hear the sound of a knife as it worked through a fish at the hands of our chef John Caputo, it just kind of hit me, you know? Sometimes, things like that just happen - because everyday I beam with pride for what we've accomplished and present to you, but there's just those moments when you really come to grips with what you've got going...

And so, brought on by inspiration, maybe you'll smell and hear and feel just a glimmer of what I feel right now:

(Super fresh and for our Lobster Shepherd's Pie)

(A beautiful fish... Sturgeon steaks!)

(Two words: Tuna. Nicoise.)

(And instant mouth-watering gratification...

Brown Sugar cured Pork Loin.)

And if you've read this far (and haven't heard yet), a result of such fortuitous events? We've dropped the price of all wine flights at BIN 36 to $10, but only for tonight... so I don't know about you, but it's time to get my wine on!

The Wines of Alsace

2010-04-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

(Beautiful Alsatian vineyard via

Wolfgang Staudt's photostream)

Last week the video was of Méthode Champenoise, which is simply the French method of making Champagne. Did you see how, when listening to the winemaker himself, there's so much information to be had? Not just in what he has to say, but in how he says it? In that first video, and also in this second one, the passion these men have for their wines, the regions they're growing in, it's apparent in every movement they make! Be it a shrug of the shoulders or wiggle of the fingers, there's truly something special to take away from these videos.

So what about this video then? One word: Alsace. Aside from the French linguist or wine student, one might not know where Alsace is - or, a wine drinker who drinks Alsatian wines might easily confuse Alsace to be a pert of Germany - because no, Alsace is not in Germany. After all, the bottles are the same, aren't they? And Riesling and Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, these are well known German wines, right? But Alsace is in France!

(Map of Alsace via plc9's photostream)

In fact, Alsace is on the very eastern border of France, which is why many of the grapes grown their are the same as grown in Germany (Alsace varietals: Riesling, Pinot gris, Gewurztraminer, Muscat d'Alsace, Sylvaner, Pinot blanc, Klevener). However, for those who've compared, the difference in style is just night and day.

My guest in the video, Etienne Hugel of Hugel and Fils (whose site is pretty cool - I'd check it out), has so much to say about Alsatian wines, despite the short two minutes the video lasts. You might learn more about the region than you have since you've been drinking wines from there!

And, one last thing before the video, because it's great to always think about pairing wine with food, Alsatian wines are marvelous food wines - but I bet you knew that. Enjoy the video!