The Chicagoist will be launching later but in the meantime please enjoy our archives.

Restaurant News: Autre Monde Launches Brunch, Butcher & The Burger Starts Classes, Big Jones Inaugurates Bourbon Dinners

By Amy Cavanaugh in Food on Jan 8, 2012 8:45PM

2012_01_08_autremonde.jpg

• While I'm not exactly a huge fan of brunch, this one is going to be good—starting Saturday, the excellent Autre Monde Cafe & Spirits (above) launches its weekend brunch service. Available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., head into the Berwyn restaurant for Pannetone French toast, Mediterranean-inspired shrimp and grits, tomato-poached eggs, and cocktails that include an espresso mole martini and a Bellini.

• Meat-obsessed? Learn to butcher your own protein in one ofButcher & the Burger's new butchery classes. The first class is tomorrow, and will focus on how to break down a hog. The class, which is $75, also includes a burger tasting and discount on the freshly-butchered meat. Next month, the restaurant will offer Surf and Turf cooking classes, and March brings a fish class. To register, call 773-697-3735.

• Bourbon-lovers, mark your calendar for January 25. Big Jones, the great Lowcountry restaurant in Andersonville, holds its first Bourbon Society whiskey dinner at 7 p.m. The menu, which is $48 a person (and which seems like a great deal), includes pearl onion soup with mutton dumplings, mince pie, and snowballs with pineapple ice cream. The whiskey pairings include Bookers and Knob Creek. To register, call 773-275-5725.