The Chicago way

Once characterized "Hog Butcher for the World" by poet Carl Sandburg, Chicago has not only shed the stench of its stockyard past but emerged as an improbable mecca of innovative cuisine, according to this entertaining ragout-to-Zagat debut from James Beard award-winning food writer Gebert. Drawing on dozens of interviews with industry insiders, Gebert's oral history begins in 1963, when Chicago took its first step into the world of modern cuisine with the opening of Hungarian-born chef Louis Szathmary's The Bakery. A former food scientist for Armour, Szathmary "reinvented himself in the image of a classic European chef" and became a TV celebrity through appearances with daytime hosts like Oprah Winfrey. In the 1970s, chefs like Jovan Trboyevic and Jean Banchet led a "French revolution" that put Chicago on the national culinary map. In the 1980s, Charlie Trotter's eponymous establishment forged "an American style of high-end cooking" that ended French cuisine's dominance. Throughout these first-person accounts, themes emerge like the increase of emotional abuse in fine-dining kitchens (which interviewees reveal came to a head at Trotter's restaurant) and the ways in which the city's depressed post--white flight real estate market fostered the rise of several culinary empires. Readers also encounter delightful Kitchen Confidential--style hijinks, including tips on how to get "invited... to do shots with the cooks." This is a must-read for Chicago's foodies. (Feb.)