In his new memoir/cookbook Tastes Like Cuba: An Exile's Hunger for Home, author and playwright Eduardo Machado spins a nostalgic account of the Cuban exile experience, framed by meals he remembered as a child in Cuba, as an exile entering the States during the Peter Pan airlifts, as a young actor and writer and, later, on return visits to Cuba as an adult. "All my life I've been trying to get food to taste like I remembered it as a kid", Machado told Chicagoist in an interview last week. "To me, the smell of food like roast pork and tamales is my childhood." more ›

We've been spending an inordinate amount of time at Skylark lately. We think it's the combination of the background music the bartenders play and the tater tots with the three different dipping sauces. Their draft selection also ranks high on the list, but we've already had all twelve selections. So we've decided to highlight one that we've found ourselves returning to again and again. more ›

more ›

On Friday night at the 5400 block of S. Kilbourn police seized 992 pounds of marijuana. The street value of the weed clocks in at around $2.7 million and according to the authorities the marijuana looked as if it had been recently shipped. As a point of reference for the mass amount of marijuana seized, the following weigh approximately the same; the hog shot by an 11-year old in Alabama, this totally real video of... more ›

Chicago native Jason Kanakis is one of those rare dudes who can honestly call himself a "career musician." He's has toured the world playing with the likes of KT Tunstall, Butch Walker, Rachael Yamagata, Aqualung, and an impressive heap of others. Now based in Los Angeles, Jason has an interesting perspective on how the Chicago music scene shapes up in comparison to the rest of the country, not to mention some pretty weird stories about life on the road. Fresh off a tour with Brett Dennen, Chicagoist caught up with Jason for a quick chat about touring, Chicago's music community, and Singapore's transvestite prostitutes. more ›

Walking past the newly remodeled Dunkin' Donuts at Jackson and Dearborn, Chicagoist was accosted by two things. Firstly, our senses, expecting the sweet combination of donuts and coffee wafting through the air, were attacked by the smell of melting cheese and pepperoni. However, before we could consider this anomaly, we were accosted by a man dressed as a chocolate donut asking for a high five. more ›

Despite the snow (!!!) this morning, we're still trying to remain optimistic and we will continue to maintain that spring is here. Flowers are starting to bloom along Michigan Avenue, and our apartment is finally home to more flora than our typical Whole Foods tulips. Currently, we have two large pots of hyacinths blooming on the windowsill and table, the smell of which remind us of the springs of our childhood. While we didn't... more ›

As the carving comes to a close, Chicagoist begins to get excited to enjoy the real joys of pumpkin. From pies to breads to cookies, we love the rich taste of pumpkin and the delicious scents wafting through the air as the cooking commences. more ›

Chicagoist has a very acute olfactory sense. Trust us, we wish we didn’t. We use public transportation, and we would love to not smell your belches. more ›

Starting this weekend, look for peddlers of highly addictive substances to be prominently displaying their products at various grocery stores, banks and churches throughout the city. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself in line, waiting for your fix. Yep, it’s Girl Scout cookie time. more ›

Unless it involves children, consumers seem somewhat apathetic to the recall of goods nowadays. When someone smells cleaning supplies in the soda aisle of your local grocery store, however, there is luckily still a reaction. more ›

Fishy Lunch at Work more ›

Anyone who has spent time downtown knows about the delicious cocoa smell wafting over from the Blommer chocolate factory just west of the river. Chicagoist used to hike 2.5 miles each way to our job downtown, and the smell followed us door-to-door. You might think we'd have gotten sick of it, but that warm chocolate hug just made us want to stay home and gorge ourselves on cake and brownies all day. Combine that with the smell of the Bay's English muffin factory near our home and we felt like the fat kid from Willy Wonka. more ›

Seems like in the past year or so, guys have been bombarded with reasons why it's okay for them to care about their appearances. The whole metrosexual craze soothed our inner hair gel fetish, we no longer had to hide our copy of GQ inside a Maxim to read it on the train, and the Queer Eye guys even made over four players from the Red Sox (favorite moment: Kevin Millar getting his back waxed and shouting, "I am now gay"). But learning how to pick a tie or trim your goatee is one thing--confidently walking into one of the most imposing citadels of feminine grooming, the nail salon, is quite another. more ›

If you plan on baking a big batch of meth to ease your crippling cocaine cravings this winter (or at least until the Mexican Drug Trafficking Federation is up and running again in Chicago) you'd better get to it before New Year's Day. more ›