After extensive renovations to the basement level of the former MB Financial Bank building at Division and Ashland, the Bedford is set to open with dinner service this Friday at 5 p.m. The brand new restaurant and lounge will boast a kitchen steered by Chef Mark Steuer, who logged several years cooking at HotChocolate and, most recently, nine months in the kitchen at the Gage. And on Monday, we got a sneak peek of the revamped space. more ›

George Rasmussen of Swan Creek Farms provides quality artisan meats to restaurants throughout the city. More recently, Rasmussen has been a beneficiary of spent brewers grain from Goose Island's Clybourn brewpub. One of the early hits of John Manion's still-evolving menu overhaul there is the sliders made from Swan Creek's "beer-fed" pork. While making local deliveries a week ago Rasmussen lost his truck, trailer, generator and a lot of food intended to customers to a fire. more ›

Last night Mindy Segal brought together some of the best chefs in the city to celebrate Hot Chocolate's fourth anniversary with a $100 per person dinner to benefit Share Our Strength, a non-profit that works with local food banks, restaurants and community groups to combat hunger at home. Segal is the chair of Share Our Strength's "Taste of the Nation" event, scheduled for August 13 at Ravenswood Billboard Factory (Full disclosure: this Chicagoist staffer is also on the event committee). more ›