thick wrote:The beans were truly wonderful, unlike anything out of a can and super filling. It was on the west side of State, just south of the State-Lake Theatre. Whenever I am in the area, I always think of the late, great Reick's.
Over the years Rieck's had a series of locations on State near Randolph—first 170, then 167, finally 160 N State. You're remembering 160 N State, a couple doors south of where the Gene Siskel Theater is now.
thick wrote:The big memory, and the reason that I liked a counter seat, was the large heated display case/food warmer that held the hot crocks full of Rieck's beans. It sat behind the counter and beckoned to all who entered. That display, the accompanying aromas and the sight of everyone eating beans makes me smile even after all of these years.
walter wade wrote:Didn't get much better.
Fond, fond memory.
Thanks for sharing your memories. It seems everyone loves the Beanery. I, too, would have fought for a counter seat near the bean cabinet. I haven't been able to find any photographs yet. I guess it's time to get off my butt (and away from the computer) and do some real research. Has anyone found pictures of the establishment itself?
JeffB wrote:This is fascinating stuff. I'm interested in the idea that a one dish "concept" place could do so well for so long in what was at the time something like the center of the universe serving a regional poor man's Sunday supper from a town that historically hates the bean connotation. Something to do with the New Englanders that helped build Chicago in the 1800s maybe?
The more I look into it the more interesting it becomes. It seems that Boston-style baked beans were a big deal in early-20th-century Chicago. Besides Rieck's, there was Pixley & Ehlers—another small chain of lunch counters centered in the Loop—who also specialized in baked beans. Incidentally, brothers George and Albert Pixley started off working for Emil Rieck. Compared to Rieck's tightly focused menu, Pixley & Ehlers' offerings were somewhat more extensive but beans were always a favorite. I learned that the beans for both chains were baked at the same establishment opened by Emil Rieck in 1912. It still stands on the near west side (the tan brick facing is more recent, I suspect).
The building housed four great ovens with revolving soapstone racks, each of which could cook over two tons of beans at a time. Did lunchers in the Loop really pack away 10,000 pounds of baked beans each day? That's a lot of beans.
I'm sure plenty of baked beans are consumed in New England for Sunday supper, but I thought more traditionally it's Saturday evening fare.
The Yankee Cook Book, sort of the bible of classic New England cookery, devotes a full four pages to baked beans.
Imogene Wolcott wrote:Of all the Puritan influences which fastened themselves on New England, the Saturday night baked bean supper is one of the most lasting and widespread in its effect on other parts of the country. Beans are still eaten every Saturday night and Sunday morning by thousands of New Englanders. All religious significance has been lost many years ago, but the baked bean holds popular favor in its own right.
Imogene Wolcott, The Yankee Cook Book, Coward-McCann, New York, 1939 (reprinted many times).
Cathy2 wrote:I think the baking soda is a more modern addition for those who understand food chemistry.
I think you may not be giving old Emil enough credit. Emil Rieck looked into the question of sodium bicarbonate over a century ago and concluded it was unnecessary and even undesirable for preparing a delicious and digestible pot of beans. An article from 1932, "Chicagoan Gives 32 Years' Study to Baking Beans," outlines some of his investigations. At the time, it was thought that sodium bicarbonate removed "resins"—probably what we'd now call hemicellulose (
On Food and Cooking, p 489)—from the surface of the beans, allowing water to penetrate more easily, thus speeding cooking. Mr Rieck determined that water enters the bean mainly through the hilum—the little scar of attachment—whether or not baking soda is added (he did presoak and scald the beans before they were baked). Furthermore, he thought the soda's alkalinity interferes with digestion by neutralizing digestive juices. Whether or not all this is true, he clearly thought about the process and was able to produce delicious baked beans that are fondly spoken of even to this day.
Edited to correct spelling of Pixley & Ehlers (removed apostrophe).
Last edited by
Rene G on October 22nd, 2013, 9:40 am, edited 1 time in total.