For weeks after Chicago Gourmet's 2008 debut, media and public relations types would ask me if it was true that there was such a lack of food that Stolpman and I had to go to America's Dog to grab a bite to eat. (We did.) I thought about that circling the Pritzker Pavilion forty-five minutes into the first tasting sessions Saturday and found Black Dog Gelato's Jessie Oloroso still waiting for her product to arrive; a 300-person deep line at the stand-alone Frontera kiosk; minimum 50-person deep lines at any tent or tasting pavilion serving food and another tasting pavilion set up at the bottom of the steps separating the Pritzker Pavilion lawn from its seating, making it next to impossible for guests in wheelchairs to access the food. more ›

A federal judge yesterday upheld Chicago's ban on foie gras, disappointing chefs across the city, and of course, giving renewed energy to both sides to persevere. In dismissing the Illinois Restaurant Association's lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning ruled that the city does have a constitutional right to prohibit the sale of foie gras. On a related note, we were alerted yesterday to a tiny section (Section 123) of the pending USDA Farm Bill that... more ›

Le Francais, the Wheeling restaurant that was the gold standard of fine dining in the Chicago area during its heyday, closed down during Memorial Day. The Sun-Times reports today that the restaurant filed a notice with the Wheeling fire department that it was no longer operating. A busboy and food runner who requested anonymity said that owner Michael Moran did not tell his staff of the closing ahead of time, and that he only found... more ›