Marcus isn't the only one taking a breather this week. Grub Street Chicago's Helen Rosner is also doing some much-needed decompressing. more ›

Update your bookmarks: Menupages Chicago (and all the MP blogs) was re-branded this morning as Grub Street Chicago in a very beautiful redesign. The (re)launch allows parent company New York magazine to extend the Grub Street brand into other cities through corporate synergy while losing none of the knack for hard news, aggregation and criticism that made the MP blogs must-reads. MP Chicago editor Helen Rosner is still at the conn, still obsessing over Grant Achatz, and still keeping tabs for a Pat Bruno slip-up. more ›

For many food writers, the mere mention of the name John Mariani is enough to raise hackles and raise voices in protest. The "food and travel correspondent" for Esquire makes for an easy target with his byline at Esquire, Wine Spectator and Bloomberg News, ostentatious prose and numerous accusations of questionable ethics, including one instance relayed by moto's Homaru Cantu that's now become legend. more ›

This has been making the rounds at other blogs, but we still wanted to share it with you. Mike Gebert at Sky Full of Bacon followed around localvore hero Rob Gardner as Gardner acquired a pig's head from the Oak Park Farmer's Market, then took it to Mado, where chef/co-owner Rob Levitt promptly made testa (aka "head cheese") out of it. This video is not for vegans or the queasy, nor should it be. more ›

Helen Rosner at MenuPages Chicago was all over the "can you top this, MF" between Mikes Nagrant and Gebert Friday regarding their respective city eats guides: Nagrant's at Serious Eats; Gebert's response at Sky Full of Bacon. more ›