Big Jones chef Paul Fehribach wears his culinary influences on his sleeves and they're deeply rooted in the traditions of Coastal Southern cooking. Fehribach eloquently describes the journey to his epiphany in a blog post on the Big Jones website. The Andersonville restaurant is one of the city's underrated gems. Fehribach and Slow Food Chicago have joined together to celebrate the flavors of Lowcountry cooking with a benefit dinner on May 19, beginning with a 6 p.m. cocktail reception. more ›

Goose Island throws an annual pig roast on the brewery's loading dock benefiting Slow Food Chicago, among the many other Dionysian extravaganzas they host on the dock. The lineup of chefs for this year's model, coming up next Sunday, August 22 from 2-5 p.m., has a list of chefs that eclipses last year's inaugural lineup. more ›

Sepia and Slow Food Chicago are pairing up to celebrate Sepia's third anniversary with a five-course meal featuring produce from local farmers and a few well-paired small production wines. Owner Emmanuel Nony and Executive Chef Andrew Zimmerman welcome you to join them at Monday, July 26th at 6:30 for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres followed by what will be a spectacular meal. more ›

Public awareness of the dismal quality of our nation’s school lunches has grown immensely in the last decade. Yet despite modest improvements, and the admirable efforts of many, the National School Lunch Program is still in dire need of reform. Currently school districts are reimbursed $2.68 for each meal served to a child who qualifies for free lunch. After addressing overhead costs, schools are left with $1 per meal to feed a child. Due to lack of resources, the likes of processed chicken-part patties are a frequent menu item and fried potatoes in the form of tater tots continue to hold “vegetable” status. Sad but true. more ›

After a temperate and relatively dry summer — and that's putting it mildly — tomatoes are finally starting to grow and ripen just as the fruit is reaching its seasonal peak locally. Chicago Tomato Fest was established by Slow Food Chicago to celebrate the five-week period where sun gold, plum, cherry and other heirloom varieties abound. New to the fest this year is a "BLT Challenge," where they're asking local chefs to commit to using locally grown heirlooms, as well as locally and sustainably raised bacon to promote the farms they sourced the tomatoes and pork from. more ›

We dined last night at Carnivale for its Slow Food and Goose Island Brewery dinner. The meal featured produce from local farmers prepared by Chef Mendez and paired with a Goose Island brew. Once seated at communal tables, the evening began with a warm welcome from Chef Mendez and a beer graciously poured by his wife, making us feel like they'd welcomed us into their home for a dinner party with friends. more ›

The best beer and wine dinners are collaborative efforts where chef and winemaker/brewmaster get to know each other and their creations intimately. Even so, the number of these dinners we've attended where every pairing worked perfectly can be counted on one hand. more ›

Robert Kenner's documentary Food, Inc. is a harsh look at how Americans get their food in the age of factory farms and the tacit approval of their techniques the USDA and FDA. Slow Food Chicago is sponsoring a free screening of the film at 600 N. Michigan this evening at 7 p.m. more ›

Last night we attended the sold out mulefoot pig dinner at Blackbird sponsored by the Chicago Reader. Reader food critic Mike Sula has been chronicling the progress Dee Dee since he persuaded the paper to buy her last year, bringing attention to this rare endangered breed of swine in the process. more ›

Slow Food Chicago and Uncommon Ground are joining forces for what appears to be, on paper, to be one hell of a dinner. more ›