A couple weeks back we attended the Green City Market farmer's dinner at Goose Island's Clybourn brewpub. That was the one that featured dishes from a host of chefs including Dean Zanella of 312 Chicago; Brian Huston of Paul Kahan's the Publican (opening in mid-autumn); Elissa Narow of Custom House and Paul Virant of Vie in Western Springs. Virant's dish was easily the most ambitious of the courses, utilizing lamb in unexpected ways. Virant......

Lots of festivals, tastings and food-related events this week, people. Tonight: If you want to learn about warm weather wines, the Chopping Block's Merchandise Mart location is hosting a Wine Goddess class on the subject this evening from 6-7:30 p.m. You'll also be able to sample some lighter reds, whites and blushes. Suite 107 in the Merchandise Mar, $60. Tonight-Sunday: Chuck's Southern Comfort Café in Burbank is throwing their annual Cajun Fest, sponsored by Abita......

One of the great things about shopping at farmers markets is having the luxury to grab a quick bite while looking for deals. Green City Market has Hoosier Mama pies, fresh crepes, organic baked goods from Bleeding Heart Bakery, fresh juices and smoothies, among noshables. A new addition to the market this year is Eat Green Local, a subsidiary of the folks from Sunday Dinner Club. We met Sunday Dinner's Jason Stern during our......

A couple of localvore items of note to start: If you haven't checked out Fruit Slinger, do so. This blog chronicling the life of a freelance writer working on an orchard in southwest Michigan and his interactions at local farmers markets is engaging without over-the-top snark. It's a wonderful addition to the RSS feed. There was an interesting article at Salon.com on the concept of "food miles" and whether buying local is better for the......

Travel + Leisure, CNN.com and Headline News tag-teammed a really arbitrary survey of 60,000 people about the "best" cities. And we did pretty OK, so...awesome poll guys! According to the story, we have the best skyline and the worst weather. Worse than Minneapolis. Ouch, dudes. Ouch. We ranked first out of 25 cities in: best food and dining overall, best pizza, best home design shopping, best business trip (that's secretly fun), and sports' fan......

Angels will get their wings this Saturday night at Custom House. From 6-9 p.m. Shawn McClain's South Loop steakhouse is hosting a fundraiser to benefit Blue Sky Inn. Frequent shoppers at area farmers markets might be familiar with Blue Sky Inn for the work they do with their transitional work program, "A Taste of Success." The program hires and trains homeless youth in baking pastries, which are then sold at farmers markets and through catering......

A couple years back we had a Chicagoist alum who chronicled his attempts to grow his own tomatoes from seeds. If you click those links, you'll notice that he wasn't very successful. Now, we have something of a green thumb. Our apartment is full of various ficuses, cacti, African violets, rhododendron, split leaf philodendron and other plants we've been tending for a friend for so long, they now qualify as ours. Still, we were hesitant......

We don’t know about you, but Chicagoist always feels healthier just by walking around a farmers market. And that’s even before we get home and sample any of our beautiful bounty. That’s especially true at the Green City Market, which features products from local, small-scale, certified organic/sustainable vendors twice at week at the south end of Lincoln Park. Perhaps it’s the colorful array of produce, soothing live music, pristine flowers and giggling kids here that......

File this under "chutzpah." An antitrust lawsuit (Adobe PDF file) filed by the Federal Trade Commission this week against Whole Foods, which seeks to block the organic food giant's purchase of its closest competitor Wild Oats, revealed that anonymous postings to business and financial forums criticizing the price of Wild Oats stock were actually authored by Whole Foods CEO John Mackey. Mackey's postings, made under the name "radoheb" from 1999 to 2006, consistently criticized the......

Saturday the sun and heat agreed with Chicagoist. So we saddled up on our seven-year-old Schwinn Mesa GS and beat a straight line north on Halsted to the Lincoln Park farmers market. We just had some chicken butchered for us at Chicago Live Poultry House in Little Village, and had some ideas of how we wanted to prepare the cuts. First, we stopped at the tent manned by Froelich's Finest Fruits & Vegetables of Berrian......

As you listen to the heat mercifully click on again, perhaps ushered in by the tell-tale blonks and cloinks of the radiator, you might be inclined to give in to the idea that winter is already here. That, once again, the icy chill will force you to wear a jacket over your Halloween costume. We know -- sigh. While it may be true that winter is a-creeping in, don't forget entirely about fall -- it......

We have never made it a secret that we like bees* and the good work they do. However, we know that people tend to be wary of bees. And ex-convicts. The public at large tends to get anxious at the sight of, starts backing away from, and doesn't have a really friendly relationship with bees or ex-cons. But in the neighborhood of North Lawndale, there are people working hard to make a difference in the......

If you’re like Chicagoist, summer is usually a time for a renewed effort to eat better and exercise more, mostly to offset our time spent at various drunkfests. We usually find inspiration for healthy, or at least more wholesome, eats at local farmers markets, which are now in full swing around the city. Green City Market in Lincoln Park is the city’s only all-organic, all-sustainable market, and it offers a variety of programs and......

Bloodshot Records has teamed up with Farm Aid to bring music to the farmer's markets around the city next week. These performances are early, and we all know the early bird gets the best produce. All shows are free and are scheduled as follows. Tuesday, September 13 Lincoln Square Farmer's Market Located on Lincoln, Leland and Western The Deadstring Brothers play sometime between 8:30 am and 10 am Wednesday, September 14 Chicago Green City Market......

Sorry, we're just not a fan of Whole Foods. It's one of those buzz phrases- "Starbucks", "Irish pub", and "Golden Tee" are others- that makes us break out in hives and forces us to crane our heads looking for ballcap-wearing graduates of Big Ten universities. Chicagoist is a frugal lot and has often asked itself whether we're paying for the products Whole Foods sells or the privilege of shopping at Whole Foods. Besides when we......

20 years after the first Farm Aid concert occurred in Champaign, Illinois the concert is coming back to our fair state on September 18th at the Tweeter Center. So far the usual Farm Aid players are confirmed: Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellancamp, and Dave Matthews. Wilco has also been slated. Tickets for the fundraising concert go on sale July 30th at 10 a.m. A contest from Organic Valley for free tickets is going......

Chicagoist is happy to announce the addition of two new foodies to help Erin and Kevin out in their local food coverage. Chuck Sudo, who hails from the northwest side and currently lives in Bridgeport, will handle all neighborhood eating on the south side of town, as well as All-Things-Alcohol. The man has mad knowledge of booze. Taking care of the cooking and recipe beat is Little Italy's own Colleen Hines. Colleen also will delve......

“Ain't nothin' in the world that I like better Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes Up in the mornin' out in the garden Get you a ripe one don't get a hard one Plant `em in the spring eat `em in the summer All winter with out `em's a culinary bummer I forget all about the sweatin' & diggin' Everytime I go out & pick me a big one Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes......

Seems Martha Stewart isn't the only felon who will supporting herself by getting all domestic. In spite of Chicago's budget deficits, Mayor Daley found $259,367 to help ex-cons make honey. The grant to the North Lawndale Employment Network will finance programs designed to help former inmates readjust to life on the outside. Unemployment in the neighborhood runs at 26% -- in part because it has become particularly difficult to find work due to post-Sep. 11......

Farmer's markets are cool. Period. You got your fresh tomatos, greens, maybe some fresh eggs, and then there's the whole thing where you get to meet the people that grew your food. When you live in a city, that kind of connection to the earth is a nice thing, and starting June 24, the Fulton Market area will have a night farmers' market every Thursday, 4pm to 8pm through October 28. For those of us......

Chicagoist is excited because the season of farmers markets around town has begun. Whenever we can cut out the middle man we are happy because that usually means lower prices. Also, the fruits and vegetables and flowers sold at the markets are always so much fresher than the ones you can get in your local supermarket. Chicagoist also enjoys the fact that at most farmers markets they let you sample the goods for free. So......