Travion D. Trapp, 19, was also charged with strong-armed assault for locking the lone clerk in the basement of the bakery. Trapp has a previous burglary conviction on his record and was out on parole after serving one year of a three-year sentence. more ›

Robbers locked cashier in store room while making off with $3,550 from Bleeding Heart Bakery's Oak Park location Monday night. more ›

Six chefs will compete to create the best Buche de Noel, and guests will vote on the winner. Plus food, drink and live music! more ›

- Bleeding Heart, everyone's favorite Punk Rock bakery, has just taken things to the next level. As of today at 6 AM, their new bakery/cafe is open for business! Featuring breakfast/brunch foods, pastries, coffee drinks and a Rare Tea bar, the new spot is sure to be an instant hit. They also have a (very on-trend) donut bar that makes us want to give up on ever being thin - try the Chicago Blues, a yeast doughnut with fresh opal basil and crushed Seedling Farms blueberry glaze. No booze yet, but we'll see how things shape up. 1916 W. Chicago Avenue. more ›

- Bleeding Heart Bakery, everyone's favorite punk rock pasty location, is opening a new location in the suburbs. According to their facebook page, they will be opening a new location in Elmhurst by the end of the summer. The new location will be supplied by their new, huge home bakery in the city which will hopefully open in the next few weeks - the opening has been delayed several times already. In any case, suburbanites rejoice, as you won't have to drive all the way into the city to taste their baked goodies. more ›

Thrifters, DIY-ers and upcyclers rejoice: the Vintage Bazaar is setting up shop again, this time for a one-day stint in Pilsen. The pop-up flea market, curated and run by Chicago design mavens, Katherine Raz and Libby Alexander, is little more than a year old, but has grown quickly in popularity: last year's summer bazaar at the Congress Theater in Logan Square saw more than 8,000 shoppers browsing vintage furniture, clothing and pretty much any and all neat-looking odds and ends. more ›

I scream, you scream, the heat screams for ice cream. And you can get your ice cream free tomorrow night from 7-9 p.m. at Kenmore Live Studio (678 N. Wells St., 312-265-0871) as a preview of the Chicago Luxury Ice Cream Festival. more ›

Yesterday we told you about Earth Hour, the global initiative created by the World Wildlife Fund that encourages individuals and businesses to turn off their lights for one hour to make a statement about conservation and climate change. The event takes place this Saturday from 8:30 p.m. til 9:30 p.m. and the WWF hopes to reach 1 billion participants worldwide. Today we'd like to tell you about some places in Chicago that are holding events to mark the occasion. You can also look at an interactive map on the Earth Hour website to find the closest event to you. more ›

Word from Bleeding Heart Bakery is that they just passed their requested Health Department reinspection with flying colors and will be open for business by the time you read this. To commemorate the drama, Owner Michelle Garcia will be offering a "kitchen sink" cookie special for the weekend. more ›

Yesterday we received an e-mail from the City Department of Public Health announcing the closing of Bleeding Heart Bakery for some health code violations. Rather than go into hysterics, we called the bakery, asked to speak with owner Michelle Garcia and, when told she wasn't available, left our number and asked that she call us back regarding the inspection. After all, the prudent thing in these matters is to get both sides of the story. So we decided to sit on the story until we heard back from Garcia. more ›

Back in April, the Bleeding Heart Bakery at 1955 W. Belmont created a line of Top Chef inspired cupcakes, one of which was a spicy chocolate version topped with a faux bacon rose. At the time, we pined for a real bacon cupcake. Well, Bleeding Heart heeded our call and here it is -- an organic bacon peanut butter chocolate cupcake. Good god. We have not tried one of these bad boys yet, but we will remedy that situation shortly.
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The logistics needed to pull off an event as large as Lollapalooza are enormous. Accommodating the needs of what amounts to a small town within a city take months of preparation. For those vendors and sponsors lucky enough to be able to do business within the gates it also makes for invaluable advertising. more ›

Bleeding Heart Bakery has created a cupcake in honor of "Top Chef" winner Stephanie Izard. Dubbed "The Stephanie" and viewable at Bleeding Heart's flickr stream. It's an organic ricotta poundcake cupcake with organic caramelized pineapple jam and bananas and organic lime frosting. This cupcake's as cute as Izard. more ›

Oh, how we wish that were really a bacon cupcake. But we'll settle for Top Chef–themed treats, which is exactly what Bleeding Heart Bakery is going for. From the bakery: "In honor of our appreciation of Top Chef Chicago, we are going to take the last challenge winner's ingredients and come up with something cool each week." Pictured above, a white chocolate with wasabi treat. Nom nom nom. more ›

Need a three layer cake in the shape of a tea kettle (complete with cotton candy steam) for your grandmother’s 80th birthday and your baking skills began and ended with the penis shaped cake you made for your college roommate’s bachelorette party? Never fear; Chicago bakeries have you covered for your non-penis shaped, special event cake needs. Contact any of these great bakeries well ahead of your next event to describe your cake needs and let them work their sugary magic. more ›

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Michelle Garcia at Bleeding Heart Bakery sent out an e-mail last week to highlight a limited edition run of what she and husband Valentin have planned for Valentines Day. The Sid Vicious cupcake is nice, but we also love the tribute to Sid Vicious (whiskey and chocolate). more ›

In case you hadn’t noticed, Chicagoist was a little cranky yesterday morning. After our second full day of the Green City Market Localvore Challenge, with our ‘allowed’ food pretty much gone, we were feeling a bit deprived. Once again, the feeling of only wanting what we can’t have was rearing its ugly head. Plus, we couldn’t shake the fact that if we knew how to really cook (sorry mom!) our localvore lives would be a... more ›

Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village have no shortage of places where Chicagoist can satisfy its sweet tooth. We love Alliance, Milk and Honey, Letizia's and Bleeding Heart Bakery, to name a few of our favorites. But one thing we've learned is that there is never too much of a good thing, especially when it comes to desserts. When we heard Sweet Cakes, a new bakery on Damen and Augusta was open we went over... more ›

Last year when Chicagoist spoke with the ladies from Girls Rock! Chicago, the camp was in its first year and had been mildly successful, even though they were finding the camp difficult to publicize. This year they are in full force months ahead of the week-long workshop in August, and they'll be holding their second fundraiser of the year at The Empty Bottle on Saturday. The bill is full of bands that include strong female... more ›

Do you remember when Olestra came out? And how it was going to make snacking guilt-free, since it replaced the fat in your favorite snacking products? We do. And we also remember how we decided that the guilt was better than the nasty side effects from eating those potato chips. Thanks to The Bleeding Heart Bakery, now we can snack guilt-free once again, since everything in the bakery in 100% certified organic. Not only... more ›

We admit to being sort of "eh" about Valentine's Day. Single people hate it for making them feel like losers (except Jen Shefft of course), and people in long-term relationships have to come up with some new way to make the yearly holiday "special." Chicagoist thinks that the only people who really dig little cupid and all of his fancy greeting cards are people who are newly part of a relationship. And lots of people... more ›