NRA Show

Each spring the National Restaurant Association (NRA) holds its annual show at McCormick Place in Chicago. It’s an exciting time of year for those of us in the local restaurant scene.

The city plays host to guests from around the world looking for new ideas to take back with them and to enjoy the local restaurants. On behalf of the chefs and partners of Big Bowl, we welcome fellow restaurateurs and invite them to stop by one of our downtown locations. The new menu will be out just in time for the show. If you mention the restaurant show and show us your NRA show badge we will send out a sampling of our summer rolls from our new menu. We look forward to serving you and showing you what’s new at Big Bowl. It has been an exciting year.

Chef's Blog

Rustic Road Farm, by the numbers

Imagine a painter with a blank canvas, a teacher with a classroom of new students or a builder with a blueprint. Think of the potential or even the possible pitfalls. It can be overwhelming at first, but once you start, there's a momentum.

I'm the first-time farmer with five virgin, unlplowed acres and an empty barn. But a month later with momentum in place, it's looking like this:

100 pounds of seed potato, planted

1,600 onions, planted

1 new tractor, purchased, delivered, working

3 goats, delivered

35 yards of compost, spreaded

Have tractor, will farm

What kind of farmer would I be without a tractor?

It's pricey but much needed. We considerd buying used or even leasing. But at the end of the day, you want a warranty and service for the "just in case."

In honor of Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day, we are getting a jump start on our three year plan at Rustic Road Farm.

We originally had planned on starting the orchard next year, but we've pushed it to the immediate.

Today, we planted 20 apples trees. That's 10 honey crisp, five golden delicious and five jona-red (developed and patented by Cornell University, my alma mater).

Our goal is 20 trees each year for the next three years. We'll soon plant blackberres and raspberries. I'd call today a very good Earth Day!

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NRA Show

Chef's Blog

Rustic Road Farm, by the numbers

Have tractor, will farm

In honor of Earth Day

What's Happening

A gift for Mom on Mother's Day

'A' is for Asparagus

A taste of Big Bowl, any time