We braved the ravenous hordes on Saturday to bring you a recap. more ›

Baltzley has become a media sensation and a (sort of) celebrity chef. Should we care? more ›

During the Chipotle Cultivate Festival, we sat down with two culinary stars who support sustainable eating. more ›

Yesterday, a strange, heart warming or terrifying (depending on how you look at it) story hit Gawker about the London riots. Rioters attempted to invade a Michelin 2-star restaurant, and the staff, normally concerned with crystal and linens, fought them off with rolling pins. Things are getting scary over there, folks, and we hope that it ends as soon as possible. Frankly, the restaurant angle seemed a bit too much like a bad movie - so of course that's exactly what it put us in mind of! It got us thinking: if we had to ride out something really bad, say a zombie invasion, which restaurant would we want to hide in? Which chefs would we count on to defend us? more ›

- We reported last week that award-winning pastry chef Patrick Fahy had left Blackbird to find a job that would, according to Paul Kahan, "allow him to start a family." The Stew now tells us that Fahy has found a new home at the Sofitel, the job recently vacated by Nomi Kitchen pastry chef Meg Galus. Apparently, after fielding several job offers outside of the city, Fahy decided to stay. One more reason to check out the Sofitel. more ›

Here we go again - the behemoth of the food festival scene has returned for another year. Chicago Gourmet is back for the fourth year in a row, again sponsored by Bon Appetit. This year, the festival will be held on the 24th and 25th of September. For all of our complaining in the past, Chicago Gourmet has improved dramatically since the first incarnation, and the list of chefs, exhibitors and demos still makes us squirm with foodie glee. The $90 price tag ($175 for the weekend, another $175 for the grand cru tasting) bring us back down a bit, but there is nowhere else that you can see all of these chefs together in the same place. Plus, those are the pre-order prices. If you buy tickets later, they will cost $150 per day. So, if you are sure you want to go, buy now - sales open at 10 A.M. and the number of pre-order tickets is limited. more ›

Last month, we posted a gallery of chefs' tattoos, in connection with this month's National Restaurant Association expo in Chicago. The work was gorgeous, and all of it showed off the participants' deep commitment to their craft. Apparently, people really like to show off their tattoos - after that post, we got a ton of submissions from readers and chefs. Here are our favorites, including shots from Naha, Park Grill, Feast and Mana Food Bar, as well as from a couple of our readers. These belong to chefs, pastry chefs, sommeliers and home cooks - and we want to see yours. Chefs and civilians alike, keep the submissions coming and we'll pick our favorites. Email a picture of your food-or-drink-themed tattoo to Anthony@chicagoist.com. more ›

We've always been amazed at the number of chefs with food-themed tattoos, and the sheer amount of awesomeness contained in those tattoos. Apparently, others have noticed too. The National Restaurant Association, as part of the run-up to its upcoming show at McCormick Place in May, is collecting "Kitchen Ink" - the best chef's tattoos. We present a selection of them for your viewing pleasure. Many of these are from Chicago chefs. NRA is still looking for contributions, so if any chefs are reading this, send in your tats now! Or, if you have an interesting food tattoo, send a picture to us and we might feature it in an upcoming gallery! more ›

Last summer, I spotted Chicagoist editor-in-chief Chuck Sudo inconspicuously scarfing a burger at my business’ (Sunday Dinner) booth at the Green City Market. The ink barely dry on my first piece in print in Chicago Magazine, a rare moment of boldness came over me and I straight up asked him if there were any writing opportunities available on the news blog front. I expected, at best, to be taken half seriously and at worst, to be gently ridiculed. After all, I’m a chef not a journalist. I enjoy writing but it doesn’t come as easily to me as making chocolate mousse. I admit to having a well-worn thesaurus and a hefty arsenal of “freditors” (friend editors) whom I bribe with snacks to check my grammar. So why would I want to write for publication, and more to the point, why would anyone want to read what I write? Well, Chicagoist reader, lemme tell you. more ›

If you're a food lover and you weren't at Family Farmed Expo on Saturday, you'd better have a darn good excuse. The Expo, which showcased chefs, farmers, producers and retailers over three days, opened to the public on Saturday for a blow-out event. The delicious extravaganza also included chef demos and workshops, appearances by local celebs, and a lot of great samples. Most of all, the Expo had a great sense of community and purpose - a gathering of people who care about great food, local farmers and protecting the environment. more ›

The best piece of food writing we've read this week is Chris Borrelli's profile of Grant Achatz in the Tribune. Borrelli's article — the culmination of spending seven months hanging around the Alinea chef/owner — is the rare article that manages to find a new wrinkle in a story that's been seemingly covered beyond reason. And Borrelli does it by placing the focus not on Achatz's much-lauded fight with cancer, but his creativity and drive in the kitchen, even as his celebrity grows. more ›

For the latest in the “Women Behind the Stove” interview series, I sat down with Chef Carol Wallack. Chef Wallack is the Executive Chef and owner of Sola and the soon-to-open Ohana, and is possibly the most fun interview subject I have ever had the good fortune to drink coffee with. I would rouse rabble with her any day. Chef Wallack and I talked about the “lifestyle” of being a chef, the challenges for women in the kitchen, and why no one should ever start screaming in her restaurant. more ›

Or, at least according to Chubarama.net, one of the hottest men of the year. Eater Chicago clued us into the blog, which is dedicated to "the beauty of big men." Chubarama is running a series of the hottest men of... substance, and Graham Elliot has placed sixth on the list. Last year, he only made #7! Though, with his many restaurants, national TV exposure and vibrant Twitter feed, we're not sure that this award will be at the front of his trophy case. He joins such elite company as Jonah Hill, Kevin James and Andy Richter more ›

Eater Chicago reached out to Bill Kim after hearing reports that someone was crank calling restaurants as the Urban Belly/Belly Shack owner, then getting straight-up "ooophh, nasty- you kiss your mother with that mouth" with the folks at the other end of the phone. more ›

The Michelin Guide releases its first rankings for Chicago on Wednesday. We've already expressed a bit of cynicism about the rankings, and others have criticized the guide for using out of date standards, pandering to Yelp and including some mysterious choices on their existing lists. Last week, the Bib Gourmand, the Michelin awards for best value, were released to a flurry of attention, and it's only going to get more intense as the week progresses. more ›

• Steve Dolinsky's top five sushi restaurants list caused a lot of discussion in the Chicagoist offices this week. Even Tankboy got involved. [Dolinsky/WBEZ]
• The Sun-Times let Neil Steinberg unleash his Thanksgiving pizza — with a stuffing crust — on the masses. [Sun-Times]
• Gourmet (remember them?) rolls out Thanksgiving recipes for the iPad. [The Stew]

Perhaps no one is more hungry for redemption than Levitski, whose rise, fall, and second rise were famously chronicled in articles by the Trib and Time Out Chicago around this time last year. The Cliff Notes version: after the show, Levitski returned to Chicago, fell into a depression, suffered financial hardship, became addicted to daytime television, and started drinking. His mother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away, and his dream of opening his own restaurant, Town & Country, fell victim to the economic downturn. Eventually things turned around when Levitski took over Sprout restaurant, a French-American Bistro in Lincoln Park, with his friend (and fellow Top Chef contestant) Sara Nguyen. more ›

• Steve Dolinsky turned over his blog to his intern Samantha Rollins, who reviewed Café Hoang on Argyle. [WEBZ/Dolinsky]
• Koval Distillery is set to release the aged rye and oat whiskeys we first reported on at WhiskyFest Chicago. [Reader]
• David Hammond takes over the Sun-Times "Food Detective" column, goes on a hunt for India's "ghost pepper." [Sun-Times]

On Monday mornings, we invite our readers to gather around our table and discuss a culinary issue of the day. If you have anything you'd like to talk about, send it to anthony@chicagoist.com more ›

• Thomas Keller was in town last week to promote the Michelin Guide and judge Chicago Gourmet's Hamburger Hop. He also said he would love to try Hot Doug's and has been to Wiener's circle, ostensibly not for the chocolate shake. [Grub Street Chicago]
• Gotta like a lot of Graham Elliot Bowles's mayoral platform at the Onion A.V. Club. [Onion A.V. Club]
• When he isn't posting video updates on the cocktails being created for the Aviary, grant Achatz sat down for a Q&A with Epicurious. [Epicurious]

One of the more surprising developments that came from the brewing of Sai-Shan-Tea was the decision of Goose Island to showcase it at the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver. The festival has grown by leaps and bounds over the past five years — this year's version sold out five weeks in advance — with an estimated 49,000 attendees. more ›

• Grub Street Chicago's Nick Kindelsperger has been a man about town this week. Check out his galleries of Chizakaya, Chicago Q, and La Boulangerie [GS Chi 1,2,3]
• Renee Barone claims to have the perfect recipe for tailgate dip [Drive-Thru]
• With Happy Bodega and Simple Sandwich joining the fast growing food truck brigade, the tribune's Chris Borelli asks if there's a shark to jump yet, now that Sizzler and Subway are launching their own trucks in LA. [The Stew]

• Kim Severson of the New York Times profiles Roger Ebert, his new cookbook dedicated to rice cooker recipes and how he still uses the cooker to entertain, despite his inability to eat solid food. [NYT]
• Steve Dolinsky agrees with me, says the little hotties at Take Me Out in Pilsen are the best hot wings in town. [Dolinsky/Vocalo]
• Monica Eng looks at the growing arguments between localvores and conventional food advocates. [Tribune]

Hours after Phillip Foss sent out a press release announcing that he and wife Kenni were turning the Gaztro-Wagon's brick and mortar storefront into a pop-up kitchen to showcase their street food concepts, Foss announced (via Twitter) that he was out as chef of Lockwood at the Palmer House Hilton. Although Foss has yet to detail the reasons why he was let go from Lockwood, he's looking at the parting as a golden opportunity. more ›

• For the one in your life whose eyes are bigger than his stomach - Gluttony Pants. [Betabrand]
• Half Acre is releasing three new specialty brews. [Drive-Thru]
• Michael Nagrant's been eating his way through Las Vegas. [New City]

• The next chef to take on Phillip Foss's "Foss Hog" at Franks 'N Dawgs is cibo matto's Todd Stein and his "Frank 'N Stein:" a foie gras and beef short rib sausage topped with caramelized onion, crispy shallot, and a mustard aioli. Vote with your mouth, Chicagoans. Early and often. [Grub Street Chicago]
• A short but detailed roundup of Assyrian-Iraqi restaurants in the Chicago area. [Reader]
• Mercadito's Daniel de Oliveira leaves the River North restaurant to, among other things, help open the upcoming Watershed, in the former basement lounge of Pops for Champagne. [312 Dining Diva]

It's been said that chefs are the new rock stars. The most media savvy chefs, from Food Network mainstays to the chefs who are only known by one name, are successful because they sell their fans on a lifestyle: if you cook and entertain according to their guidelines, your life will be enriched. When a chef reaches the level of celebrity of Rick Bayless, with the tv show and the accolades and the endorsements and the cookbooks and the pop culture afterglow of being the first "Top Chef Master," a fawning cult of personality is certain to follow. At that level, like in politics, control of the message and the brand is paramount. more ›

• The Graham Elliot Bowles/Chicago mag conflagration won't go away, almost entirely because GEB won't let it. Having written what I felt about it yesterday I'm gonna make like Pontius Pilate, wash my hands of this and let Audarshia Townsend take over. This kind of story is right in her wheelhouse. [312 Dining Diva 1, 2]
• President Obama, honoring a World Cup bet he made with British Prime Minister David Cameron, presented Cameron a case of Goose Island 312, which Obama calls "outstanding" and Cameron agrees is "very good." Get the President some Sai-Shan-Tea now! [Inbox]
• Steve Dolinsky sent his intern to a City Provisions farm dinner at Seedling Orchard. Lots o' pictures. [Dolinsky/Vocalo]

Unlike last year, when a fast but furious downpour hit just as the gates opened, the weather cooperated at last night's Green City Market Chefs BBQ. With the talents of most of the city's best chefs and cocktail alchemists on display, some folks have called the annual event "the real Taste of Chicago." It's certainly a Bizzaro version of Taste. While there weren't any turkey legs bigger than a baby's arm or random acts of violence, there was beer can chicken (courtesy of the folks at NoMI) and an estimated 2,000 people paying $100 a ticket for the chance to get their grub on during a hot and muggy Chicago evening. more ›

• One restaurant at Taste of Chicago played off the Gulf Oil Spill in promoting its food. [Reader]
• Top national chefs, led by Rick Tramonto, went down to Louisiana to vouch for the safety of Gulf seafood. [Time Out Chicago]
• Lockwood's Phillip Foss took some time during a Tuesday night cocktail reception celebrating the Chicag Michelin Guide selection to press Mayor Daley about food trucks. [Sun-Times]