Some of the best food in Chinatown, courtesy of Serious Eats Chicago. more ›

Korean-influenced burgers dominate the menu at the new location of bopNgrill in Rogers Park. On a day like today, some kimchi fries sound awfully good. more ›

Nestled in the busy North & Clybourn shopping corridor, Sono Wood Fired serves up some seriously tasty and artistic wood fired pizzas. more ›

Last week, I was berated, quite aggressively, by the greatest chef in the Western world. In some circles of foodie-ism, that might be some sort of perverse claim to fame, like finding and saving Anthony Bourdain's used cigarette, but in my world, it was frightening and unpleasant. More importantly, it forced me to reflect on the food/media world in which I live, the hype that sustains restaurants, and the fundamental responsibilities of chefs, restaurant owners and service staff. Oh, and I got to peek inside The Aviary. Want the whole story? 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 ›

The official Chicago Restaurant Week starts February 18th, and with over 200 restaurants participating, it might help to have a few suggestions before you starting making reservations. Restaurants will be offering prix fie menus, costing $22 for lunch and either $33 or $44 for dinner. At those prices, it makes sense to make reservations now. Below, the Chicagoist food staff gives you our recommendations for some great meals and great deals. more ›

Yesterday we brought you news of America's brimming craft spirits movement. So today, we thought we'd follow up by highlighting a local cocktail (just one among many, we should note) that features a fine specimen from the growing roster of small-batch American spirits to hit the shelves as of late. The delightful Sullivan's Wake cocktail is the handiwork of Clint Rogers, the inventive spirits director and mixologist at Henri. We've noted Henri's cocktails before, but they just keep getting better. more ›

Social networking has already transformed the way we communicate, work, and play. Now it is promising to change the way we eat. Chicago start-up Grubwithus is on the forefront of this new "social dining" experience. In just its first few months of existence, it has garnered favorable press attention, acquired loyal core of followers, and provided some fantastic meals. Think of it as all the best parts of Groupon, Open Table, and Facebook rolled into one fun and tasty package. more ›

(For Part 1, click here.) more ›

• Stephanie Izard is slowly getting the Girl & the Goat into shape for a scheduled late June opening. [Stephanie izard]
• Rick Tramonto announced that he's officially leaving Tru, several years after he stopped cooking there on a regular basis. [Rick Tramonto/Twitter]
• Commit to the Indian Head Pizza. [My Vegetable Blog]

Many chefs in town have tried, but one man is taking on the Asian carp menace one plate at a time. The name of this culinary crusader is Chef Phillip Foss and he is whipping out invasive species creations at Lockwood in the Palmer House. more ›

Pairing wine and sushi has always been a challenge. Every so often, an article will appear announcing Riesling or Gewurztraminer as the perfect wine for sushi - and every time we try to drink it, we sigh and go back to drinking sake. That all changed on Thursday night. Usagi Ya, and their wine expert Juan Guardia, invited us to a sampling that expanded our horizons. more ›

Picture if you will two well-informed dining adventurers. Clad in their safari hats and clutching their Zagat guide - or, dressed in work clothes and clutching a Google map printout - they close in on their prey, their restaurant of choice for the evening. They venture into a strange neighborhood, eyes wide and scanning for an unfamiliar sign. There it is! They crow with victory. Approaching the door, their stomachs growl with anticipation. Inside, the restaurant is awash in inviting yellow light. They pull the handle. Nothing happens. They pull harder. Nothing happens. more ›

Anthony was impressed by the food at the Drawing Room when he visited a couple months back and we've always loved the cocktails of Charles Joly and Tim Lacey. Now the Drawing Room and the LUNGevity Foundation have teamed up to raise funds for lung cancer research. more ›

Monday night we attended LTHForum's fifth annual Great Neighborhood Restaurants Awards dinner at Marie's Pizza and Liquors in the wunnerful Mayfair neighborhood, itself a previous winner of a GNR. 13 restaurants, 1 bar and 4 bakeries were added to LTH's already expansive list of GNR recipients; you can download their pocket guide here. more ›

More people are moving south to Pilsen and Bridgeport in search of cheap housing and rents, and that's led to a slow but steady increase in dining options for our part of town; we'll have a review of Nana Friday. 18th Street in Pilsen has even seen some diversity with the recent openings of Ristorante al Teatro and Ciao Amore, and Honky Tonk BBQ before that. more ›

We've been looking forward to seeing Nana (3267 S. Halsted St., 312 929 2486), an organic breakfast/brunch spot in Bridgeport by Omar and Christian Solis, whose father Jose owns nearby Tacos Erendira, open for months. Chicago Brunch Blog reports that they're finally taking the paper off the windows and are slated to open 6 a.m. Monday with a menu including buckwheat pancakes with banana and mulled hemp seeds, liege (a leavened batter with beads of pearl sugar that burst and caramelize in the waffle iron) and the "Nanadict:" a pupusa topped with crumbled chorizo, poached eggs and poblano sauce. Coupled with the packed houses at HAN 202 nightly and Nightwood, my backyard could be on the cusp of destination dining. [via Grub Street Chicago] more ›

His Elective Majesty and the Illinois Restaurant Association trotted out some of the city's best chefs and sommeliers yesterday to announce the second annual Chicago Gourmet festival, taking place September 26-27. Reader reporter Julia Thiel noted that the IRA is looking to atone for last year's inaugural edition, which was heavy on the wine and spirits. And that's an understatement. more ›

Travel & Leisure magazine announced their list of 50 Best New American Restaurants. Stop us if these four local entries to the list sound familiar; L2O, the Publican, Perennial and Urban Belly. L2O and the Publican also made the "Hot Tables" list at Conde Nast Traveler. more ›

The economy may still suck, but it's been a banner year for restaurants, bars and their PR firms. At least from a marketing perspective. They've been able to smoothly segue from offering "economic stimulus" packages to "tax day relief" specials. To be fair, some of the offers are pretty damn good. Following is a list of some of the better deals around tomorrow for you to dole out what cash you didn't send to the IRS. more ›

Rogers Park is one of the city's most ethnically diverse neighborhoods; organizing an "Alphabet of Nations" tour of its restaurants seems eminently feasible. From 4-8 p.m. Sunday, that's exactly what's going to happen. more ›

One of the big happenings fine dining fans were looking toward was the opening of Charlie Trotter's planned restaurant in the Elysian Hotel downtown. Trotter said at the time of the announcement of his deal with the Elysian in 2006, "We're very choosy about who we get into bed with, to put it bluntly." more ›

Here's something to consider for that person in your life who lives to dine out but is a pain in the ass to shop for. à la card Chicago is an update on the clichéd and tacky coupon book. It's a deck of cards offering $10 off the tab at 52 of the area's best restaurants. Looking through the deck we saw a slew of restaurants we love, such as Mundial Cocina Mestiza, Hot Doug's, Mana Food Bar, Le Lan, Naha, Lula Café, MK, Manny's, Mado, Kitsch'n. more ›

• Chicagoist hasn't been the only one covering the event. Here are some other reviews of Chicago Gourmet.
• I don't know what festival Phil Vettel attended, but it sounded really fucking good. Mr. "One fork per plate" found no "shortage of richness"; at one point, Stolpman and I had to go to America's Dog to grab a bite.
• Apparently, Vettel didn't bother to share that same spoil of riches with fellow Stew correspondent Chris Borrelli. I don't mind a lot of wine at a gourmet food festival, either. But the ratio of wine tents to food tents was ridiculous.

We attended the soft opening for Graham Elliot, the new River North "bistronomic restaurant" from former Avenues chef Graham Elliot Bowles at 217 W. Huron, last month and were sufficiently impressed by what we sampled to put it on our list of restaurants to return, keeping in mind that soft openings are generally where a new restaurant does its best to maintain initial appearances more ›

There have been a lot of things said on this site about Taste of Chicago over the years. There are over 750,000 people who head downtown every year to sun, frolic and get their fill of giant turkey legs and corn on sticks. 'Course, that isn't all Taste of Chicago has to offer; even with Chicago Gourmet set to launch in September, Taste is still the food event for the everyman. more ›

One could make the argument that a zoo, by nature, is already organic. But this weekend, the Lincoln Park Zoo is implementing one step in a five-year plan to reduce the attraction’s impact on the environment when they open the Cafe at Wild Things. The cafe will only feature organic, sustainable, locally produced snacks. Even the utensils will be made of biodegradable cornstarch-based plastics. more ›

From Crain's comes word that Le Lan Executive chef Bill Kim is leaving behind the river North French-Vietnamese outpost to open a noodle shop/casual eatery in Logan Square. more ›

There's plenty going on this weekend in Chicago, like UFO symposiums, science fairs, and no shortage of places to eat. But if none of those things float your boat, maybe one of these events will. 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 ›