Chicago food books and Modernist Pizza

We Chicagoans are sensitive about what outsiders say about our pies. [READER]( [Food & Drink]( I left out a couple of key contributors to this week’s roundup of [upcoming Chicago food books]( I wrote for the Reader’s Fall Arts Preview. That’s partly because Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya are not Chicagoans, nor is their massive three-volume [Modernist Pizza]( focused on Chicago pizza. Mostly it’s because I haven’t seen it. Myhrvold, you may know, is the former Microsoft CTO and inventor who published 2011’s jawdropping five-volume Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, and then several subsequent encyclopedic treatments on home cooking, food photography, and bread. Over the past four years he, along with chef Francisco Migoya and their team, tackled the world of pizza, leaving their Bellevue, Washington, kitchen lab to explore pizza styles in 17 cities all over the globe. Out of 255 worldwide, they visited 16 Chicago pizzerias and included a section on that particular adventure. But like most Modernist Cuisine titles this three-volume set is priced out of reach for your average aspiring pizzaiolo at $382.50. And they don’t just send out review copies to every food writer who asks. as we Chicagoans are sensitive about what outsiders say about our pies, I did ask them to send me the pages for the two Chicago-style recipes they included—deep dish and what they call “sausage and cheese thin crust pizza,” which you probably know as tavern style or cracker crust. These recipes are typically meticulous and exhaustive, though one photograph is particularly troubling: a deep dish pie topped with figs and flowers. They’ve also developed a recipe for deep dish pizza made with Neapolitan pizza dough, which I want to believe is an improvement, but I’m still waiting for the publicist to send me the Chicago chapter. I’ll let you know what comes of it. Meantime, there’s an important update on [Monday Night Foodball](. [Mona Sang’s]( eight-course Cambodian prixe fixe at the Kedzie Inn is sold out. I’d love to see you there, but if you don’t have tickets please save yourself a trip. No walk-ins this time. But take comfort: [Funeral Potatoes]( will be dropping their September 27 menu on Tuesday. And on October 4? [Pizza]( tavern-style, of course. [Ethan Lim of Hermosa]( is October 11, and after that? Stay tuned. We’ll be announcing a new group of chefs very soon. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT . . . [Autumn is about to drop a cornucopia of local food books]( Definitive guides on Chicago pizza, Japanese cocktails, Keralan specialties, and more by [Mike Sula]( [Nobody’s Darling is for everyone]( The Black- and queer-owned space in Andersonville serves cocktails for the city’s “outcasts.” by [Adam M. Rhodes]( [Don Pablo’s Kitchen is one man’s ode to empanadas]( Pablo Soto is the Pablo Neruda of Chilean hand pies? by [Mike Sula]( [The Iconic Chicago Restaurants Map]( A guide to longtime, affordable, and excellent eateries in just about every Chicago community area By [John Greenfield]( [Devon Market? Divine market!]( The perfect grocery store does exist. By [Maya Dukmasova]( 2013 [Who does Brandon Baltzley think he is?]( A chef whose mesmerizing creativity is deserving of fame? A drug addict in recovery who rightly eschews sobriety? A twentysomething memoirist whose brief history is worth your time? Or is he none of those things? by [Sarah Nardi]( [Issue of Sept 16 - Sept 29, 2021 Vol. 50, No. 26]( [Download Issue]( (PDF) [View this e-mail as a web page]( [DONATE]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2021 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. You are receiving this e-mail after having opted in to one or more of our newsletters, memberships, or e-mail lists via our website, Facebook, or at an event. Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader 2930 S. Michigan Ave. Suite 102Chicago, IL 60616 [Add us to your address book](