In a nearly-unprecedented reversal of fortune last night, Chicago chefs and restaurants got slammed at the James Beard Awards dinner in New York. Unlike our usual banner showing, Chicago took home just one single award - an "Outstanding Restauranteur" award for Lettuce Entertain You owner Rich Melman. Best of all, he wasn't even there! According to the Trib, he didn't even know the Beard Awards were happening. Rick Bayless was not happy about it; on Twitter, he wrote "Total shut out for Chicago tonight at Beard Awards! Worse yet: 1 of top 3 awards goes to Melman--r only chance to shine.NO SHOW!AT BEARDS??" There's more carnage - keep reading. more ›

After catching a movie at River East, we stopped in at Hub 51, the newest member of the Lettuce Entertain You restaurant empire. Run by R.J. and Jerrod Melman, sons of LEYE kingpin Rich Melman, Hub 51 opened in July and was described by our server as dishing out “American fusion” fare. If you’re curious to know what that means, you’re in good company – we’re not sure the owners know, either. more ›

• Leading off today is this hiring video put together for Lettuce Entertain You property Hub 51 Restaurant and Lounge, an exaggerated parody of Tom Vu infomercials. (via)
• Fresh off his appearance on last night's episode of Top Chef Chicago, Rick Tramonto has a blog over at Restaurant & Institutions magazine website. There are only two posts right now, but Tramonto's an in-demand chef and businessman, so only expect him to update when he has the time and/or something to write about. (Again, via).
• The Tribune ran a wonderful piece yesterday on how some of Our Town's best chefs would reinvent that all-American staple, the hot dog. Check out Shawn McClain's tofu version with kimchi and sport peppers, Rick Bayless' Chi-Mex hot dog, or Charlie Trotter's Asian tuna dog.

After voting in the Chicago Way, the 2008 James Beard Award nominees were announced today (via). The list is filled with some familiar names (Grant Achatz for outstanding chef, Rich Melman for Outstanding restaurateur) and encompasses a good cross section of the city's dining scene. For the coveted "Best Chef: Great Lakes" category, the inclusion of North Pond's Bruce Sherman, Naha's Carrie Nahabedian and Graham Elliot Bowles gives Chicago a 3-in-5 chance that the winning chef will be located here. The one section where Chicago's restaurants were notably absent was in the "best new restaurant" category, where Sepia was snubbed. more ›

New York magazine got their hands on a copy of this year's James Beard award ballots (check it out for yourself here) and as usual, our city's restaurants are well-represented. more ›

The "vere" part is pronounced like "were." Now that you know how to pronounce "saveur," it is time to pick up a copy of the food and wine magazine by the same name. The October issue of Saveur is dedicated solely to Chicago; not too surprisingly, a piece of pizza is featured on the cover. And here we were pumped about getting a single article in Gourmet. Like Gourmet, Saveur doesn't put all of its... more ›

If you're one of the lucky ones to secure reservations to Ambria this evening, congratulations. The legendary Lincoln Park restaurant closes this evening 27 years of operation. But you probably knew that. Diners lucky to score reservations this evening will be treated to a $150, eight-course dinner including duck pate. Duck pate, eh? Makes one wonder if the pate might be made of a certain delicacy banned in the city. Ambria founding chef Gabriel Sotelino... more ›

Chicagoist picks up the Reader every week out of habit, more than anything. It's not that we don't have our gripes with the paper; we do. We also have more important things happening than to indulge in infrequent sophomoric commentary about Michael Miner, Liz Armstrong, and the music section - although Monica Kendrick always gets love from us for being a Motörhead fan. That said, if you consider yourself a gourmand, pick up this week's... more ›

Thillens Stadium, the landmark ballpark at Devon and Kedzie has been closed down (6th item on page). Founded in 1938 by late Mel Thillens Sr. -- who made his name in armored car and mobile check cashing services -- the park had been used by an average of 17,000 Chicago area kids a year in the nearly 70 years since then. more ›