Local filmmaker, Sergio Salgado, created a web series called P&S (Practice and Space) that looks at individuals committed to a certain craft, filmed in their workspaces. The first installment centers on Rob Levitt's The Butcher & Larder. more ›

This Saturday, scarf down all the pig you care to eat, courtesy of John Manion and Rob Levitt. more ›

After months of hype, weeks of anticipation and three days of wine and tweeting, Chicago Gourmet 2011 is finally behind us. Despite the rain and the shoe-ruining mud (we're sending your our cleaning bill, Illinois Restaurant Association!) the event was actually pretty good. In fact, Chicago Gourmet was, dare we say, worth the money this year. more ›

If you haven't bought tickets for the Slow Food Chicago Pig Roast on Sunday, September 11, what is wrong with you? If you love meat, beer, or meat with beer, this is the night for you. Chicago's best chefs are getting together at Goose Island Beer Company for a huge party, with food, drink, live music and dessert. You get a commemorative beer glass - and there's even a vegetarian option! What more could they offer? more ›

Green City Market quietly opened this morning at 7 AM. The market wasn't crazy busy, and the offerings were a tiny bit slim, since most veggies haven't started to come up. But getting back into the market, seeing friends and farmers and coming home with a bag of food were wonderful reminders of why we love eating locally. The big stars of the market today were starter plants - herbs, flowers and vegetables. Most of the vendors who will be selling piles of heirloom tomatoes in about 3 months were pushing plants instead, and we got a few seedlings for the Chicagoist garden plot. more ›

Less than 1% of the pork produced in the United States is sustainably raised. As more and more of us begin to care about sustainable meat production, that number becomes scarier and scarier - but what can be done? Last weekend, during the Family Farmed Expo, I attended a workshop that I wish the entire city of Chicago could have seen. Paul Kahan (Publican), Rob Levitt (Butcher and Larder), Bartlett Durand (Black Earth Meats) and Herb Eckhouse (La Quercia ) told us how they - carnivores all - help to make our meat production system more sustainable, and offered tips to consumers who care. more ›

Tickets for the 2011 Family Farmed Expo (March 17-19) are on sale now, and the event promises to be a doozy. Featuring workshops on gardening and eating, chef demos by your favorite local celebrity chefs and over 140 vendors, Family Farmed Expo will be a paradise for anyone who loves good food. It's one of the best deals in town - just $10 gets you in the door. more ›

The Butcher & Larder, the whole-animal butcher shop created by the team behind the dear, departed Mado is just about ready to go. We got a sneak peek inside of January's most-anticipated opening yesterday and talked with Rob Levitt, the driving force behind the new temple of meat. We've been a big fan of Levitt's work for years, so it was exiting to meet him and talk about the new space - and trust us, it's going to be something special. more ›

Apparently, the transition didn't take long. After this week's shocking revelation that Allie and Rob Levitt were leaving Mado to open an amazing-sounding butcher shop, many of us were really unhappy that one of our favorite spots would be left rudderless. The owner of Mado, David Richards, apparently doesn't believe in letting a good thing go - Time Out reports that Mado will reopen with a new menu, some new decor and (presumably) a new chef. No menu has been released yet, but we'll keep you posted. more ›

More details have been trickling out about the store, to be called "The Butcher & Larder" and located in Noble Square. As of Sunday, the pair who made Mado a nationally-recognized destination for meat cookery had left, and the new shop is scheduled to be open by Thanksgiving. more ›

The Chicagoist food and drink team finds butchering pretty damn fascinating and it's a long range goal here to eventually match knives with Rob Levitt of mado. The self-taught butcher's frequent classes at his Wicker Park restaurant are highly anticipated and frequently are packed. more ›

One of the best beers we had last year was the Goose Island/mado beer brewed in collaboration between Rob and Allie Levitt and Jared Rouben. Rouben intimated in our visit to the Clybourn brewpub a couple months back that they were collaborating on another beer for Craft Brewers Conference using cocoa nibs provided by Allie Levitt. more ›

Much has been written here and elsewhere about how mado chef Rob Levitt uses every inch of the pigs, lambs and other meat he orders from his vendors.Levitt has said on many occasions that he considers it a near-sacred pact to use all the meat, as well as an economically sensible decision. His butchering skills are talked about almost as much as his cooking. more ›

Looks like the Publican/New Holland beer dinner isn't the only must-eat dinner in town Sunday. Rob and Allie Levitt of mado are putting together a five-course dinner of their own featuring wood-roasted pig’s head with spicy greens and marinated chickpeas, spit-roasted leg of mutton and smoked trout with apricots, chilies and polenta abbrustolita. The dinner starts Sunday at 6 p.m. more ›

Sometimes it pays to subscribe to a restaurant's Twitter feed. Case in point: the hyper-seasonal and snout-to-tail experts at mado. Co-owner Rob Levitt occasionally posts updates to his feed letting fans know, among other things, what he and wife Allie are making in the kitchen and the not-uncommon complaint from a new customer regarding their commitment to using every bit of what they buy. Today Rob Levitt posted what the restaurant's "first piece of hate mail" to the restaurant's website It's a scan of highlighted capsule review of mado with the following written in green ink next to it: more ›