Food

We are now just days away from that day which rivals Thanksgiving as few can in the annals of American gluttony: Super Bowl Sunday. Whether we're parked on a couch in front of our friend's new 60 inch plasma TV or watching the game at a sports bar that's stumbling distance from home, the food and drink often take precedence over the game itself - especially when our Bears aren't in it this year. more ›

Chicagoist's general rule toward our vegetarian tendencies is, if we wanted a dish-chock full of meat, we'd eat it. As such, plates full of fake meat masquerading as juicy animal parts (a vegan Reuben sandwich, for instance) generally hold little appeal, and we instead opt for dishes full of clearly identifiable veggies or simple marinated tofu. more ›

Last October the Healthy Schools Campaign hosted its "Cooking Up Change Healthy Cooking Contest" on a stormy night at Salvage One. Today, the winning entrée from students at Chicago Vocational Career Academy will be served at all high schools in the Chicago Public School system. more ›

The Gawker-affiliated travel site Gridskipper took a look at the local dining scene yesterday. Laura pointed out to us - and after reading the post we concur - that the tone of the post strikes the balance between "yeah, that's about right" and "this is why people in New York shouldn't write about Chicago." Seriously, they consider moto to be overrated, when we found it to be the most fun we've had in a restaurant in years. And Violet Hour is so six months ago, according to them. more ›

"Whether or not this new kid will go on to become the prom king or get his head stuck in a toilet is unclear," we wrote when Sunflower market first opened, "but we certainly will come back for more." But we, and others, didn't come back for enough. Minneapolis-based Supervalu will close all five Sunflower locations (there are three in Ohio, one in Indianapolis and the Chicago location.) Supervalu had at one point hoped to open 50 Sunflower stores. The five current stores employed a total of 140 people. A company spokeswoman said only that the stores did not meet the company's goals. more ›

Sick of eating side dishes of chips or heated frozen vegetables, we're always on the lookout for easy sides to make. Adding an exciting side can make your lunch sandwich feel like a real meal. They can also spice up your dinners. more ›

To say that it isn't hard to stumble into a taqueria in Pilsen is an understatement. Focus on the Blue Island corridor, however. and the question becomes trying to avoid one. We took advantage of yesterday's thaw to walk around, enjoy the weather buy some pirated movies (you should see our copy of "Untraceable"). Then, after we worked up an appetite, we headed into the first taqueria we saw for a quick bite, which wound up being an old favorite. more ›

In addition to an extensive (38) list of tea shops, Ms. Blumberg also includes 3 other sections. For tea tourists, or those who love the formality and dignity of an afternoon tea service, the guide lists everywhere in Chicago where you can find a formal Afternoon Tea, as well as how much they cost and what you can expect for your money. Ms. Blumberg includes a list of restaurants that serve "Bubble Tea" - that wonderful cold drink filled with tapioca balls that are sucked up with a giant straw. Links to popular tea websites are also provided. All the Tea in Chicago is attractive and pocket-sized, and it provides a needed look at an often-overlooked topic – go pick it up! more ›

As every committed localvore knows, the best way to get fresh local produce (aside from a farmer’s market) is to join a CSA. A CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a farm that has decided to sell directly to the public. By investing several hundred dollars in the spring, you can receive deliveries of fresh produce throughout the summer and fall. However, some of us aren’t ready to commit several hundred dollars up front to the cause of fresh produce, or we might not be around in the summers. But we still want to help out local farms, and we cringe a little every time we pick up shallots shipped all the way from Uruguay at Whole Foods. more ›

Some days, we just don't feel like cooking and can't be bothered to start the car. That's when you realize that you've underestimated frozen food. Ahh, frozen food. The bachelor's friend. The easy girl at your favorite bar. Let's enjoy her, shall we? Our bar today is Trader Joe's. Let's see what he has to offer. more ›

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Over the holidays we received some lavender tincture from John Kinder, the sick talented bartender/mixologist at mk (some readers might remember Kinder from his days at moxie). more ›

With four basic ingredients, you can put together a flavorful, healthy soup to sip during the deep freeze gripping Chicago. Skip the pre-made, boxed versions of butternut squash soup and opt for a very easy to prepare, from scratch version, instead. Also, no one is sure what the hell else you can do with a butternut squash. more ›

After months of spying and accounts of shooting around town, Bravo finally announced the contestants for the next season of "Top Chef" today (you can read the release here). While the lineup of chefs vying to impress Padma and company are largely from the coasts, three of the contestants have Chicago ties: more ›

We chronicled our Saturday night earlier this week, and we need remind no one that it was colder than a witch's tit in a brass bra all day long. more ›

When this Chicagoist writer left a job in Ravenswood late last year, we knew we'd miss our officemates dearly. We also lamented the fact we'd no longer be within walking distance to First Slice Cafe for lunch. The cafe, located on the first floor of the Lillstreet Art Center, is home to a small menu of fine creations, one of our favorites being the Chicago-Style vegetarian sandwich. more ›

Some chef news for you: Monday both Chicago Mag's Dish and TOC broke the news that Avenues' Graham Elliot Bowles will be leaving the AAA five-diamond award winning restaurant in April to open a new restaurant in the former Harvest on Huron space (217 W. Huron). more ›

Someone apparently reads the site: former Chicagoist staffer Lisa Shames attended Sunday's beer and charcuterie seminar at Custom House and e-mailed us to say that there were at least four people in attendance beside her who found out about the seminar via Chicagoist. We ran into at least that many people last night who said the same. more ›

Attention, Chicagoist readers who live in Florida: Check, Please! is launching in the Sunshine State next week. (There's already a Bay Area version, too. And it's exactly like the Chicago version, clumsy puns and all.) And locally, the show's producers say they're looking to use the fancy schmancy website to expand to other cities. more ›

Common sense dictated that we should have stayed in Saturday night in the slightly drafty but hospitable environs of our apartment. However, when the fine folks at Unibroue plan a beer dinner, it's usually a great event. What made Saturday night's event stand out was the location of the dinner. more ›

It's the 4th week in January. Do you know where your diet is? more ›

GrubHub users concerned about how your Thai food delivery impacts the environment needn't fear. Last week the online restaurant delivery service began purchasing carbon credits to offset the environmental costs involved with delivering to customers here and in San Francisco. more ›

To complement the raccoon post, we did some digging (well, not much, but digging was involved) and found video of Homaru Cantu and company creating the twisted roadkill plating. It exemplifies why we love dining at moto. more ›

The Tribune would like to remind you that we live in a state where, sometimes, people hunt and eat raccoons. It's forms the basis of their story today regarding the "word-of-mouth raccoon meat market" in Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri, and how people across the state are turning their appetites to the critters. Can't say as we blame them; raccoon is pretty tasty as a stew meat. more ›

Different cultures around the globe have certain foods that are purported to bring about good luck if served and eaten at the start of a new year. While researching a story idea last month we spoke with Professor Bruce Kraig, President of the Culinary Historians of Chicago. Professor Kraig told us that, in Italy, lentils represent coins and that eating lentil soup is regarded as wishing for prosperity for the eater. more ›

Last week we wrote about a beer and charcuterie dinner co-hosted by Custom House and Unibroue this Sunday for an all-inclusive $35. Since Spring Restaurant Group announced the dinner, it's become one of the hottest fixed-price dinners in town. more ›

For some people, the ultimate gift is something techy, like a Wii, an iPhone, or a GPS device. For us, it's a growler of beer, which we received over the holidays. The beer inside, "312." was nothing special. the growler, however, was refillable. more ›

The first time we ate the chicken focaccia sandwich from Miceli's Deli and Food Mart in the Heart of Italy neighborhood, the weather was markedly different. Specifically, it was about seventy degrees warmer and we didn't appreciate it as much. Focaccia sandwiches are much more agreeable in cold weather, don't you think? There's something about all those heavy ingredients and flavors that simply cry out for consumption when the mercury takes a nosedive. more ›

When Hyde Park Co-Op opted to take the buyout plan proffered by the University of Chicago last month, we knew that the university would act fast to fill the space with a grocery store that would better serve the needs of Hyde Park residents. With yesterday's convenient announcement through the U of C Chronicle that they signed a lease with Treasure Island to fill the space, it almost seems as though the university had the deal lined up before the co-op's members cast their ballots. more ›

This time of year is usually a slow period for restaurants, what with the cold weather and all. Add to that some scary uncertainty on the job front and people are eating in with more frequency. more ›

Grapevines, like everything else in nature, have a limited life span. The older a vine becomes, the less fruit it produces. But the fruit that these vines yield is bursting with flavor and character that like fruit from younger vines lack. It takes a patient winemaker to make a quality wine from this fruit. more ›

Like many Chicagoans, we cried a little in 2006 when the Berghoff restaurant closed its doors after 108 years in the loop. While the Berghoff was never known for its “gourmet” cuisine, it did serve up hearty portions of German cooking and nostalgia for old Chicago. We were delighted to see that part of the Berghoff legacy would carry on “17/West at the Berghoff.” more ›

We spent much of last weekend at home watching the NFL playoffs. Whenever there's a chill in the air and football on the tube, we want to make something hot and classic and satisfying to eat. Saturday we made this twist on our old favorite, the potpie. Using ground sirloin keeps it lean and makes it easy, because who can't brown some hamburger? And the sauce is rich without being too heavy, which we liked because there's nothing worse than eating a heavy meal then sitting on the couch for 6 hours watching football on TV! more ›

One of the more anticipated restaurant openings in recent weeks has been Takashi, which opened its doors December 30th at 1952 N. Damen in Bucktown. more ›

Remember in Moulin Rouge when Ewan McGregor's character drinks some green liquid, the camera tilts to a canted angle, the crazy music starts playing, and you felt like maybe someone had slipped a hallucinogen into your popcorn? The green liquid, of course, was absinthe, and its purported psychoactive properties have been well extolled by the likes of Oscar Wilde, Outkast, and Johnny Depp. more ›

This classic peanut butter and chocolate combination is simple to make and will impress your friends because who doesn't like chocolate and peanut butter together? More than one Chicagoist has made this recipe and we all give it the thumbs up. Try it for yourself. more ›

The Tribune has what they say are their best food photos online today. And they sure are pretty, although, for our two cents we'll always take a shot like Zesmerelda's beautifully framed photo of Crofton on Well's Indian Pudding. more ›

For all you whiskey buffs out there, now you can vote on your favorite brands of the past year, as well as your favorite and most hated marketing campaigns, at the 2007 Drammies. more ›

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Last weekend we had the opportunity to eat at the recently opened Takashi in Bucktown (we'll have a full review of that later this week). Normally when we frequent the chef-driven concepts we try to take a seat at the bar - when there is one - and watch the goings-on around us. Sometimes, the bar is where you find all the real action and, if you're lucky, find out the behind-the-scenes dirt. more ›

If Fox & Obel's new owners have their way, you'll be seeing a lot more of the gourmet markets throughout the city in the near future. more ›

Does it surprise anyone by now a lobby might donate money to a politician's campaign fund as a "favor" for supporting their special interest? If not, we can move on. more ›

When it comes to sandwiches, we rely on a Miesian philosophy. “Less is more” is our sandwich motto (it used to be “MORE SPAM”, but we changed it). The Fountain Blue at Frances’ is the simplest, most delicious sandwich ever. more ›

We'd been hearing rumors recently that Schwa was going to reopen, but didn't want to get our hopes up to much before something was confirmed. And confirmed it now is. Michael Carlson's BYOB spot will be reopening in early 2008, the end of this month being the earliest. more ›

Anytime an event is held every few years instead of annually, it takes on some added importance (we're thinking, for example, presidential elections, the Olympics and the World Cup). In the culinary world, this event is the Coupe De Monde De Boulangerie, a bread-baking contest that takes place every three years in Paris. This year, it's part of the Europain exhibition, held March 29–April 2. more ›

We're at home today fighting a cold and trying to take things easy. The last thing we need is to become violently ill reading a newspaper. Yet that's almost what happened when we read this story in today's Tribune by reporter Lauren Viera, endorsing the Master Cleanse fasting plan. more ›

Food writer John T. Edge, in the latest edition of the under-appreciated Oxford American magazine, profiles scientist and serious eater Ken Ford, who has a depth of culinary knowledge that is earned only with constant searching. In profiling Ford, Edge raises an interesting observation about a common slang term used to describe a gourmet: more ›

From today’s Sun-Times: joining the ranks of Weight Watchers (sorry, “don’t call it a diet”, although Valerie Bertinelli on the Jenny Craig plan is looking fierce these days), NutriSystem, and Seattle Sutton in town are the Mike George Fitness System personal chef Program and Alter EatGo. more ›

Like a lot of you, we took advantage of yesterday's weather, donned some shorts and ate brunch (Vella). On the way home we decided to make a detour and taste some wines. The weekly tasting at Lush focused on the staff picks for 2007. more ›

One of our favorite dinners last year was a fixed price dinner at Custom House featuring beer pairings from Unibroue. The dinner was so successful that they're teaming up again on January 20 for a beer and charcuterie seminar from 6-8 p.m. The six-course event will match select Unibroue brands with two different types of charcuterie selections each. The full menu can be read here. more ›

The long-threatened lawsuit challenging the city's bottled water tax was finally filed in Cook County Circuit Court yesterday, five days after the tax went into effect. more ›

Metromix describes Jake Melnick's Corner Tap as "a casual neighborhood pub specializing in traditional American bar cuisine; burgers, salads and homestyle specials such as barbecued ribs and chicken." You know, like the typical, run-of-the-mill River North bar. But things are about to heat up (ha!) at 41 E. Superior St. more ›

If you're downtown and if you're near any of the Salad Creations locations at 60 E. Jackson, 555 W. Monroe or 500 W. Madison, and if you want to save some lunch money for Happy Hour this evening, then haul your ass down to the one closest to you now. more ›

It's pretty light this week as folks recoup from the holidays. There are plenty of events starting early next week for gourmands throughout the city. more ›

Having tasted the Holy Grail of coffee in October, we were curious to see how some also-rans fared, in comparison. By chance we came across a second place winner from last year's Nicaragua Cup of Excellence while making our monthly bean run at our local coffee shop. more ›

The tuna melt is to a menu like a sweater vest is to a wardrobe. One of the most versatile fashion staples, a vest can be dressed up, or dressed down. The tuna melt comes in as many varieties as there are restaurants that serve it up. We’ve found some restaurants add spices for zing, while some keep it simple. Others serve it open-faced for more formal fork-and-knife consumption, while others piece it together for casual, two-fisted power chowing. more ›

We're still suffering from the post-New Year hangover, so we're going to start off this year's run of "BotW" with a crisp, refreshing palate cleanser. more ›