Smile Politely: Food & Drink

Big Grove Tavern set to open with farm-to-table focus

Susanna Kline — 2012-05-23T11:00:54+00:00

“It’s kind of cool getting to know your farmer … petting the cows at Kilgus [Farmstead],” said Jessica Gorin, Executive Chef of Big Grove Tavern, which will open May 31 on the ground floor of One East Main in downtown Champaign. Gorin, a chef for 14 years and proponent of using local food, makes the farm-to-table concept a reality for the new restaurant by visiting many local farms to meet the farmers and source the ingredients.

Photo by Justine Bursoni

Although taking the place of Jim Gould Restaurant, Big Grove Tavern’s renovated space and concept both depart completely from that of the former. With double the bar space and about half the seating in the restaurant, the place feels warmer and cozier than its cavernous predecessor. The menu features classic-style comfort food, but with a modern, elevated twist. The beer list reflects as many local, yet diverse, craft beers as possible, with all being Midwestern brews.

The chef

Gorin, a timely transplant from California, arrived in town with a tenure-track professor husband and a desire to find an executive chef job as fulfilling and as focused on local foods as the one she had in San Francisco. Even though she had an early interest in food and recalls trips her parents took her on by, “the place where we had the pidgeon … or the rabbit stew,” she said she didn’t start out hoping to become a chef, but a scientist.

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Champaign pulls rug from under food trucks

Joel Gillespie — 2012-05-18T17:00:12+00:00

Zach Ware, owner of the Crave Truck, thought that he had all of his ducks in a row regarding compliance to the City of Champaign's food peddler regulations (available online here, Chapter 25). When he was starting his business in August 2011, he worked closely with Champaign City Clerk Marilyn Banks to make sure he was licensed properly as a transient food peddler, filling out the necessary paperwork and paying a $225 annual fee.

Ware even went so far as to engage Mayor Don Gerard and CPD Sergeant Donald Shelton, who, Ware says, "both gave me the go-ahead to park at meters in Champaign." In the months since he began operating his business, which sells street waffles and coffee, he's never been cited or even approached by city officials or police officers letting him know that his business was doing anything outside of city code.

So, when Ware visited the City offices to renew his license, it came as quite a surprise to learn that he was not allowed to park in metered spaces (or anywhere in the City right-of-way), and that his $225 annual fee was now $1,350 ($225 each for every employee who handles money, of which Crave Truck has six).

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The Market Watch: May 19, 2012

The Market Watcher — 2012-05-18T15:00:14+00:00

So everyone is safely graduated and ensconced in their summer sublet or is living it up, summer-style, in their usual digs, correct? It totally feels like summer out there, even though it's May. And the best thing to do on a summery Saturday morning is head to Urbana's Market at the Square over at the corner of Illinois and Vine from 7:00 a.m. to noon. It just feels good to roll out of bed at a respectable hour and go, all sleepy-eyed and sporting your favorite t-shirt (and shorts, too, don't be gross), ready to pick out some food for the weekend/into next week and maybe some breakfast to bring to the slackers back home. Back in the olden times, MW did just this — get up, find Market-appropriate clothing, grab tote bags, buy food and baked goods, and redistribute to the slackers at home, which at that time included a spouse and two young children. Occasionally, we would all return as a family. There are lots of ways to enjoy the Market, y'know?

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BEST Food & Drink

Smile Politely Editors — 2012-05-16T11:00:06+00:00

Few things in life are more personal than the food and drink that we each love to love and love to hate. Food love stems from the way you remember things, from your own childhood experiences through now. And the people we’re with when we experience it form the way we feel about the food we eat. Only two of us compiled this list, and we even quibbled a bit before we finished, but we hope you find something in our subjective compilation of C-U’s best food and drink that maybe you didn’t know about when you started reading.

Best water: Cafe Kopi

Complimentary water.

There is little doubt in America when it comes to this particular nicety. Walk into almost any cafe, restaurant, oil change shop, hospital — whatever — and you are likely able to wet your whistle with some sort of glass or bottle of water. After all, we live in the USA, and this is something we should simply be grateful for on a daily basis. After all, the commies had a different plan until...

But of all the spots to get a glass of water in these fair cities, there is one spot that is simply a cut above the rest. And that spot is Cafe Kopi.

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The Market Watch: May 12, 2012

The Market Watcher — 2012-05-11T13:00:13+00:00

Market season done begun last weekend, with spectacular, late-June-style weather and an abundance of produce, people, and good vibes. Goodness, it was fabulous. Now, this weekend? It's a busy time in C-U, what with graduation and Mother's Day and alla that, but the Market is a good Saturday morning adventure and a GREAT way to show off our area to visitors. Farmers markets are familiar to most people who live in other places, and people from other places seem to really like ours.

The food situation this weekend will be similar to last weekend's: lettuces, chard, mixed greens, spinach, green onions, napini, baby carrots, radishes, surprisingly-popular turnips, and more asparagus and strawberries. The strawberries went particularly fast last weekend, so MW is recommending the reader to get to the Market early if you want some. Buy enough of them and you can make some of your own jam, which is really easy and very tasty, to go on toast or in yogurt or over some of that CRAZY GOOD gelato that Prairie Fruits Farm is offering up. MW likes this recipe, because the green apples provide the pectin, which is kind of cool. Don't forget your carnivorous grillables, your cut flower bouquets for the mom in your life, and plant starts from local farmers who get them started so you don't have to.

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Cafe Zojo steals the show

Paul Dudley and Bonnie Dudley — 2012-05-09T11:00:25+00:00

There are places to get good coffee in C-U, there are swarms of places to get a cup of liquid containing a legal stimulant that vaguely resembles the stuff, and then there are places where the baristas have won awards for their work. We check out a contender in the latter category, Cafe Zojo.

Cafe Zojo celebrated its grand opening last week at The Pines at Stone Creek Commons development at Windsor and Philo Roads in Urbana. Tucked in between Kinex Fitness Studio and yet another Subway (%!@$#!), Cafe Zojo is a welcome addition to an otherwise factory-fresh, sterile-feeling retail park.

For their first week, Zojo offered free brewed coffee, charged $1 for all other beverages, and it turned out to be a huge success. The owner, Teresa Baldwin, told me they were expecting about 200 people to walk through the door on their first day, and instead the final number reached well over 500. This venture is not a huge leap for Baldwin—before opening Cafe Zojo, she was the coffee side of the operation next door at Wines at the Pines. With a surprising lack of cafes in southeast Urbana, the demand for a good cup became overwhelming, and the idea for Cafe Zojo was born.

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The Market Watch returns!

The Market Watcher — 2012-05-04T16:00:07+00:00

Farmers’ Markets in this area generally get going sometime in the month of May, but the elder statesman of them all, Urbana’s Market at the Square, launches first — and it launches THIS SATURDAY. It’s about time, too — with winter barely registering, and spring/summer trying to happen in March, it feels like the Market should have started a month ago.

The Market, for the uninitiated, is one of the largest and most diverse markets in the state of Illinois and is certainly a dominant market in downstate Illinois. This Saturday morning fixture, which runs from May 5 through November 3 this season, features locally-grown fresh produce, plants, and flowers available directly from the grower, locally-produced prepared foods and baked goods, and locally-produced handmade textiles, jewelry, wood items, paintings, photographs, and much more.

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Triptych bypasses another hurdle, waits for results

Jeremiah Stanley — 2012-05-03T15:50:21+00:00

Triptych met its next round of challenges from Savoy business and homeowners Wednesday night at the Village of Savoy Board of Trustees meeting, held at the Savoy Municipal Center.
After nearly three hours, the Village of Savoy Board of Trustees voted to table their vote until the next meeting in two weeks.

The majority of residents’ apprehensions were based on noise concerns, traffic issues (both vehicle and foot traffic), and safety.

One of the opposition’s lead opponents, Joe Snell, was not in attendance because of what some cited as a concern for his safety.

Leaders of the Arbour Meadows Homeowners’ Association led the opposition against Triptych last night, expressing fears and concerns for the presence of a “tavern” in their community.

Board President Heather Mangian said that homeowners learned about the situation with Triptych just last Thursday and have been busy trying to catch up: “We want the rules that we live by.” Mangian said that Triptych patrons likely wouldn’t follow the rules and that Triptych would be “injurious and detrimental” to public welfare.

Mangian added that she was disturbed by Benjamin’s call to action on Facebook that included Joe Snell’s phone number: “Being afraid in our homes is a big change. This is intimidation in the worst form,” she said.

Triptych Head Brewer Anthony Benjamin said a friend told him that Triptych would put Savoy on the map. “I had to argue and say that Savoy is already on the map. This is just going to add to the legend.”

Namsoo Hyong , owner of the HMD Tae Kwon Do Academy, expressed his concerns for the children in the area: “I didn’t want the children to see the wrong image. Or see a tragedy around my business.”

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Farm-to-Table Recipes: Green Garlic

Susanna Kline — 2012-05-02T15:00:47+00:00

Whenever I see produce I don’t recognize, I buy it and figure out how to use it. It’s a game for me that started years ago with the cherimoya. As you might imagine, some experiments turn out better than others. So when I saw something that looked like a bunch of overgrown, discolored green onions or undersized leeks at the Moraine View Farms vendor table this past weekend at the last Prairie Fruits Farm breakfast, I had to ask. It was green garlic.

The young, bulbless garlic shoots originally made their way to tables as farmers weeded out the weaker garlic shoots most unlikely to produce large bulbs. Good farmers, like good chefs, waste nothing. Once the product caught on with consumers and demand rose, farmers like Phillip Swartz of Moraine View Farms in East Central Illinois started planting a softneck variety of garlic specifically designed to harvest as green garlic.

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Aroma Cafe, putting the sexy back in toast

Paul Dudley and Bonnie Dudley — 2012-04-27T09:50:45+00:00

Aroma Cafe, nestled in between Pekara and the Blind Pig Brewery in downtown Champaign, reopened under brand new ownership as of the first week of April. In general, it feels the same, but once you find your seat and begin to look around, you’ll begin to notice the changes — new pieces of artwork, new menu items, and a beautifully painted menu board to showcase them. Many of the dishes are almost exactly the same as items found on Aroma’s old menu (Cuban, Quesadilla, Aroma salad, and Chicken Wrap are old, familiar favorites); however the most striking addition is a selection of open-faced sandwiches called "Sexy Toasts." I’ll get to that in a moment.

The service was extremely friendly and very knowledgeable. Our coffees, and later our food, were served right to our table. The one issue I came across with the overall operation is that there is only one table for three or more people to comfortably sit and eat. There is, of course, the big, comfy couch area in back, but we would have smeared balsamic all over their furniture if we’d gone that route.

When all of the plates arrived, I was immediately struck by the plate presentation. In my mind, one of the very best moments of a meal is the two–four seconds in between the time the plates hit the table and everyone picks up their forks. For one brief moment, your mind is flooded with colors, smells, hunger, and anticipation. I have to admit, I could have taken some really nice pictures if I hadn’t been so unspokenly hurried along by my mouth-breathing dining companions. I wasn’t too patient either. We were all starving, so I snapped a few quick shots and dove in.

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