Today in restaurant news: A chef shakeup at Graham Elliot and Publican Quality Meats is opening soon. more ›

2012 started off with a shocker of an announcement by Charlie Trotter. The chef who helped lay down the foundation for Chicago's modern restaurant scene announced he would be taking a "sabbatical" from cooking and closing down his eponymous restaurant at the end of August. more ›

If your afternoon is wide open tomorrow, then head to Bin 36 for their ninth annual harvest event. more ›

This year, Chef Graham Elliot will be bringing even more great food to Lollapalooza, continuing last year's efforts to improve the offerings at the festival. Elliot's Lolla work was well-received last year and promises to get even better. Eater Chicago reports that new restaurant participants include Saigon Sisters, Sola, The Gage, Henri, Jam and Wao Bow. We're particularly excited about Henri, which will be serving up a "Henri banh mi" and pork rinds with vadouvan curry. more ›

Grahamwich changed over to a new menu on April 1st, booting many of the sandwiches on the original menu and replacing them with the likes of Wagyu beef and a lamb gyro. Previously, all the prices on sandwiches were $10, but now they range between $7 and $10. We stopped in to check out the new eats and find out if Grahamwich worked out the limited kinks we identified at its opening. more ›

We were tipped off to this sake by a reader, who claims to have done a double take when he saw it at a sushi restaurant in Sacramento. Since we haven't heard of Graham Elliot making a sake (and believe me, if Graham Elliot does anything, everyone hears about it) this "g-joy" brand sake must be an unfortunate coincidence. The name "g-joy" is almost too good to be true - Caitlin has g-joy every time she thinks about eating at Graham Elliot! If Elliot hasn't already trademarked/patented/copyrighted his signature lowercase "g" he should get shaking - otherwise copycats will start popping up everywhere! What else could we put that g on? more ›

In today's Time Out Chicago, Julia Kramer penned a review that may cause Graham Elliot to start throwing rocks through her living room window. With all the hype and hoopla surrounding the opening of Graham Elliot's fancy new sandwich shop, finding a negative voice has been hard. Phil Vettel loved it on the opening day, as did our own Caitlin Roth. Kramer thinks that there isn't anything behind the hype, and gave Grahamwich one star. 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 ›

We're not quite sure if it's hubris, business saavy or a healthy level of confidence in himself, but whatever you want to call it, Graham Elliot has it in spades. Before Grahamwich had even been open for a full day, and despite months (years!) of difficulties in finally getting the sandwich shop ready for the public, Elliot announced to Eater Chicago that he would be scouting locations for even more restaurants. more ›

It’s here! It’s finally here! The long-awaited Grahamwich opened yesterday, and foodies across the Chicago blogger universe are asking: Was it worth the wait? Before we begin, we must admit to being big Graham Elliot fans. We correctly predicted Graham Elliot’s Michelin star back in November, and we love the chef’s larger-than-life personality. That being said, we think that Grahamwich is worth the hype. It obviously has some growing pains ahead to wade through, but after experiencing all that is Grahamwich, we predict that it will become a destination hotspot for Chicagoans and visitors alike. more ›

Just in time for your morning rush and the final shopping days of the holiday season, grahamwich, the sandwich, soft serve and homemade soda shop from Graham Elliot Bowles, is open right now. more ›

With the city's food media and assorted foochebaggery on pins and needles for next week's release of the Chicago Michelin Guide, the Tribune's "Chicago Live" series at the Chicago Theatre, produced in conjunction with the Second City, will focus on all things food in next week's installment. more ›

Grahamwich is like a mirage, always just out of reach and never quite real. Yesterday, it got a little real-er, and we got even more desperate for a taste. If it gets taken away from us, we might just have to get violent. Eater Chicago got a look at the full menu for the upcoming sandwich joint, and it looks pretty amazing. Unfortunately, even their insider sources could only say that it "may or may not" open later this month. more ›

Lollapalooza was not the only big show in Chicago this weekend. The Jonas Brothers tore into town, creating a frenzied mile-long queue to get into the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre (you may know it as the Tweeter Center, or just Tinley Park) last night. Chances are, most Chicagoist readers do not fall into the Jonas Brothers’ fan demographic, but we thought it might be a good exercise to compare and contrast the two monster music event experiences. more ›

Every year, we plan and plot our attack on the megafest that is Lollapalooza and every year we run ourselves ragged trying to see it all. It's an impossible feat, trying to squeeze in as much as possible while scurrying about Grant Park, trying to get in a little of too many bands. It never works. Something goes amiss, half a set is missed, moments pass and aren't appreciated. Lollapalooza, after all, is an experience, a marathon: the music, the people, the food, etc. For better or for worse. So this year, rather than spend 15-20 minutes at each stage, we decided to target a few bands and spend a little time taking in the festival experience as a whole. After all, that's what most people do, right? Day One was bright, sunny, and warm, and while it didn't present the overbearing heat the weather can bring in early August, it was still a good day to take it easy and get the lay of the land as the marathon fest kicked off. more ›

You're the President of the United States. It's your birthday, your wife and daughters are across the ocean and you swing into your hometown for a whirlwind frenzy of rest, relaxation, photo opportunities, fundraising and gift suggestions from smart-aleck bloggers. But you have a small window of opportunity for a quick birthday dinner and you have a reputation for knowing the hip restaurants in town. Where do you go? more ›

Lynn House, the former actress and jam enthusiast whose cocktails at graham elliot were highlights of our visits there, has moved over to Blackbird. Our mind boggles at the cocktails House could possibly come up with to pair with the food from Mike Sheerin, particularly since her cocktail style is seasonally focused and House often incorporates ingredients from her home garden into her cocktails. more ›

Who says tech in Chicago is in a rut? Quick on the heels of Groupon's cool $30 million in VC funding comes Foodie, the little iPhone app that opens the doors of the city's elite restaurants to anyone with an appetite for great dining experiences. And for once, yours truly was on the cutting edge of a new social trend. more ›

Thursday night some of Chicago's best chefs will be preparing dishes for Toque, an event to benefit Children's Oncology Services, Inc. The benefit takes place at Harold Washington Library Center (400 S. State Street) and will includes cocktails and a degustation menu as well as both a silent and live auction. Tickets are $250 each. Bill Kurtis, founder of Tallgass Beef Company, will be the Master of Ceremonies and the Chef Coordinator for the event is Michael Kornick of MK, one of our favorites. Featured Chefs include: more ›

The big question with Graham Elliot's "Sexy Burger," besides recalculating your life expectancy with every bite, is what beer is bold enough to pair with it. Say hello to Mendocino Red Tail Ale, people. This amber ale, brewed with Caramel and Pale malts along with Cascade and Cluster hops, was up for the challenge. more ›

Yesterday's episode of "The Cheeseburger Show" ended with Kevin Pang challenging Graham Elliot Bowles to place his indelible stamp on the cheeseburger. The result was something that could easily have been the product of a three-year-old's imagination, if that toddler had the kitchen skills of Bowles. more ›

• More Graham Elliot feedback, this time from Erin Shea, who's settling in nicely at FohBoh.com (Full disclosure: Shea was part of the dinner party that accompanied this writer in his review of Graham Elliot that ran on Monday).
• Rob's our resident Tiki God here and forwarded to our attention news that Trader Vic's looks to be re-opening at 1030 N. State in October. Moreover, many of the decorations and flair that made the Palmer House Trader Vic's such a kitschy place will be at the new location.
• The Beer Drinker's Light Beer is doing some serious promotion in Wrigleyville tomorrow with their 10-seater Dutch Beer Bike (pictured, above). The bike will be making stops the Irish Oak (3511 N. Clark), the Cubby Bear (1059 W. Addison), Casey Moran's (3660 N. Clark) and the Mystic Celt (3443 N. Southport) throughout the afternoon.

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 ›