If you’re at the office, it’s going to be a quiet week, so quiet you could fire a T-shirt cannon and not hit anybody. So we’re going to help you kill time by looking back at the year in food 2012, as we chronicled it here at Grub Street Chicago. Today we go through the dozens of slideshows we’ve run this year to tell the story in pictures. It’s chefs you know and love, it’s food to salivate over, it’s events from EMP at Alinea to Edzo’s at Lollapalooza— it’s 50 carefully curated (to use a very-2012 word) examples of food porn, mostly by our man Huge Galdones and ourselves, but with some other shots by various friends-of-Grub-Street. Watch it below (each one links to the original slideshow it came from, if you want to see more of anything). Then come back tomorrow for great interview moments, and Friday for a look back at our favorite videos.
Ryan Poli at work at the grill shortly before the opening of
Tavernita.
Photo: Galdones Photography LLC 2012
Jared Van Camp showing off his just-installed pasta cookers at
Nellcôte.
Phil Rubino and John Des Rosiers at
Moderno in Highland Park, shortly before opening.
Kevin Hickey (Allium) and Jared Rouben making beer at
Goose Island.
Jean Banchet congratulates Dave Beran and Will Douillet on Next’s
Jean Banchet Awards.
Photo: Galdones Photography LLC 2012
The caipirinha from
Next El Bulli.
Photo: Roger Kamholz/? Roger Kamholz
Eddie Lakin of Edzo’s at Lollapalooza’s
Chow Town, with the special French fry paper cone he found which includes a compartment for ketchup.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
Tagliolini Nero with crab, sea urchin at
Balena.
Sixteen: Four Story Hills Farm poussin and New Zealand langoustines, with ramps, artichokes “en barigoule,” and first of the season morels.
From Andrew Brochu at
Graham Elliot: Soft-boiled farm egg, crumble of brioche and mustard-coated sunflower seeds, asparagus, mustard gel, cherry bomb radish, mustard greens, baby petite red mustard and radish flowers.
Dessert at now-gone
RIA.
Photo: Derek Richmond/Derek Richmond 2012
The dish is called Allium, but the restaurant is
Acadia: baby fennel, garlic scapes, spring onion, leek ashen potato, onion soubise.
Whipped foie gras, cassis de Bourgogne, fresh herbs and pink peppercorns, at Telegraph, from our
foie gras roundup.
A levitating appetizer plate at
Tru.
Stephanie Izard with the main course for a
Virtue Cider debut dinner at Girl and the Goat.
Barbecued mutton, from Kentucky bourbon dinner at
Big Jones.
Whole hog decked out for judging at
Praise the Lard in Murphysboro, Illinois.
Jason Vincent of Nightwood crowned King of Porc at
Cochon 555.
Grayson Schmitz, briefly a Chicagoan, looks over student-made pretzels at an event with 5 Lizard Cerviceria.
Laurent Gras and Thai Dang at the
Embeya pop-up preview.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
Jacques Torres at a private choucroute garni
dinner by his friend Jean Joho at Everest.
Black olive and sesame crusted sea trout, fresh garbanzo bean hummus, roasted beets, sumac at
The Trenchermen.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
Smelt, fermented leek, Indian cucumber, rue, at the short-lived Beverly Kim version of
Bonsoirée.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
Embeya: sea snails, pork, lemongrass, garlic.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
Fried fish head special at
Fat Rice.
Photo: Photographer: Huge Galdones/Copyright: Galdones Photography LLC. All rights reserved.
Trout at
Table, Donkey and Stick.
Photo: Photographer: Huge Galdones/Copyright: Galdones Photography LLC. All rights reserved.
Smoked Edwards Surryano ham with avocado, apple, mint and mojo verde, at
Avec.
Art Smith and Takashi Yagihashi at
Chicago Gourmet.
Photo: Photographer: Huge Galdones/Copyright: Galdones Photography LLC. All rights reserved.
Alpana Singh and chef Christian Gosselin at a walk-through of the
Boarding House space.
Kristine and Mama Subido debuting Pecking Order fried chicken at
Dose Market in May.
Amy Morton and Nicole Pedersen at
Found.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
A
wedding at Publican Quality Meats, performed by Craig Perman (Perman Wine Selections).
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
Phillip Foss and crew plate their
80s Week menu.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
Midnight ramen at EL Ideas, put on by Kitchit Chicago.
Photo: Photographer: Huge Galdones/Copyright: Galdones Photography LLC. All rights reserved.
Matt Kirkley wrestles a crab at
L2O.
Thomas Keller at a
dinner at The Bristol.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
Michael Ruhlman, Brian Polcyn and Rob Levitt at the butchering
demo at Floriole Cafe & Bakery.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
Achatz and Humm during Eleven Madison’s Park’s visit to
Alinea.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC
Nathan Myhrvold, Maxime Billet, Jim Clendenning and Charlie Trotter at Trotter’s
farewell dinner.
Photo: Eugene (Huge) Galdones/? 2012 Galdones Photography LLC