All Intensive Purposes

One of the best meals in my life was at the Frontera Grill in Chicago. The San Francisco Chronicle talks to its owner, Rick Bayless. This surprised me:

"People in California don't particularly like hot food. Chicagoans love hot food," he says. "If there is any criticism of our restaurant, it's that we make our food too authentically, and therefore it is not hot enough. The hottest chile known is the habañero. We have to keep habañero salsa in our fridge all the time, because it is the only sauce that will satisfy our guests."

I saw a book once about the kitchens of various chefs, and Bayless's kitchen left a real impression. Among other things, he had wonderful soapstone counters; since then, I dream of soapstone counters. Here is another glimpse (perhaps a little fawning) of that kitchen, a few years back:

Scene change to the Bayless kitchen, a warm, functional, comfortable arrangement of soapstone, knotty pine, and the stainless steel of a commercial-grade stove. Ibrahim Ferrer, the Cuban musician, croons “Dos Gardenias” on the stereo, his airy voice floating up to the tops of cabinets where a profusion of pottery adds color to the picture. Down below on the kitchen island, a lacquered wood tray from the Mexican state of Guerrero holds salt cellar, olive oil, pepper grinder. A traditional Mexican chocolate-beater, carved of wood, is a sculpture in a bouquet of paddles, spoons, and whisks standing in a crock.

Anyway, more about soapstone counters here.