Pork Belly Caesar Salad?

In August, author Michael Ruhlman posted about his campaign against the chicken Caesar salad, stating:

“I find the chicken Caesar salad to be a metaphor for the mediocrity of American cuisine.”

Ruhlman further rails:

“The Chicken Caesar exists because everything else about American cuisine at the major chain restaurants is of relentlessly dubious quality. Greens are greens, and chicken breast doesn’t taste like anything anyway, and I’ll lay odds that the dressing you get at Ruby Tuesdays, TGIF’s, Cheesecake Factory, Appleby’s—fill in the blank—comes out of the same jug. But the point is, we don’t care really what it tastes like, only that it tastes like the last one we had, that it’s consistent.”

In August, Ruhlman proposed a replacement: the Chicken Fried Pork Belly Caesar. Last week, Ruhlman posted an update to announce that Mark Mavrantonis, the chef at Mike Ditka’s restaurant outside Chicago has decided to start serving a version of the salad:

The Chicago Tribune’s The Stew has been covering the story, and sent someone to review the new salad, reporting back:

“If you accept the premise that the chicken Caesar salad is the most boring dish on earth (and I do), then the ‘chicken fried pork’ is definitely a step up — if not in nutrition, then definitely in style.”

Ruhlman, despite getting the dish on a menu in less then a month, isn’t claiming victory yet, declaring:

“This is just the beginning of the battle to end the chicken Caesar salad. We will fight one diner at a time.”

Fight on Ruhlman, fight on.

If any So Good readers are in the Chicago area, stop in to Ditka’s and report back on how it was.