Mercat a la Planxa's Jose Garces flays Bobby Flay on Iron Chef [Philly City Paper] Applebee's "owns riblets." Wonderful; another reason not to go. [NYT] Joanna MIller delves into a vegetarian nicoise salad. [My Vegetable Blog] A teaser for Paul Kahan's upcoming the Publican. [Drive-Thru] Food Chain on Alliance Bakery Break-In [Food Chain] TOC reveals the secret of Carnivale's Mojitos. [TOC] Chris Borelli of the Tribune braves the opening of the Aurora Sonic [Tribune] TOC's......

From the "DUH!" Files: Apparently fast food meals aren't good for kids. The Center for Science in the Public Interest released a report this week that concluded that kids meals at fast food chains exceed the 430 calories-per-meal limit. Among the worst offenders, Chili's makes the list twice with kids meals at or over 1000 calories each. [via MenuPages Chicago] "Rock Star Chef City" alert: BOURDAIN is in town through next week finally filming......

A couple of localvore items of note to start: If you haven't checked out Fruit Slinger, do so. This blog chronicling the life of a freelance writer working on an orchard in southwest Michigan and his interactions at local farmers markets is engaging without over-the-top snark. It's a wonderful addition to the RSS feed. There was an interesting article at Salon.com on the concept of "food miles" and whether buying local is better for the......

Sam Adams head honcho Jim Koch will be at Binny's South Loop this evening from 5-7 p.m. Koch will be pairing several Sam Adams selections with various summer grill dishes, as well as give a historical overview of how he founded Boston Beer Company using his great-grandfather's recipes. RSVP to (312) 768-4400. Folks around here love a good riesling. Lucky for us that it's Riesling Week and Julia Thiel has comiled a list of......

Not that there isn’t always sort some of comedy show happening here in town, but lately there has been sort of a surge, what with the Improv Comedy Festival just wrapping up and last weekend’s aptly (and hilariously) named Snubfest Comedy Festival – comedians snubbed from the Improv Fest lineup. If you are still craving a dose of comedy, consider checking out The Playground Theater’s comedy variety improve show, O.I.N.K., featuring many local comedians and......

We don't usually toot our own horn, but sometimes the opportunity is just too good to pass up. Last weekend we participated in Schadenfreude's 2nd Annual Alt-Media Slam contest along with Gapers Block, Time Out Chicago, and the Red Eye. The event had a wide-open feel as last year's champs, The Chicago Reader (and their trophy), failed to make an appearance. Tempers flared, slams were thrown, and only one team was left standing as champions:......

Tomorrow night at the Hideout, Chicagoist will be going up against Time Out Chicago, Gapers Block, and the Red Eye in Schadenfreude's second annual Alternative Media Slam. We're not sure how a Tribune company paper counts as "alternative," but last year's winner (cough bullshit cough) the Reader wouldn't participate this year. We'll be trading yo-mama–style rap-battle insults with the other esteemed publications...and the Red Eye. Hey-o! We're practicing already. The show starts at 9pm and......

On the left, today's Sun-Times front page. On the right, this week's Time Out Chicago. [Disclosure: I write for TOC, but I have nothing to do with the covers.]......

We'll start this week's list by noting the passing of the creator of the Egg McMuffin. Herb Peterson, who began his McDonald's career at D'arcy Advertising in Chicago, passed away Tuesday at the age of 89. Mr. Peterson created the Egg McMuffin because he had a preference for eggs benedict and wanted to create something similar for the Golden Arches. He eventually went on to own and operate six franchises in Santa Barbara, California,......

The Little Dog Laughed, About Face Theater's current production up at Center on Halsted, is supposed to have a nude scene in it. But the Chicago version has the boys in their manpanties, and the playwright is none too pleased with the sanitized version of his work. Douglas Carter Beane's Little Dog, about a closeted movie star, the male sexworker he falls in love with, his vicious agent, and some shrewy chick they know, ran......

The Green Grocer Chicago market is now open at Grand and Noble. And don't criticize just yet for grabbing onto the "green" moniker for marketing purposes; the owner of the place is named Cassie Green. Get it? The market's goal is to "work closely with Midwestern farmers and producers to provide our customers the freshest food available while supporting our local economy. By choosing primarily to work with Midwestern sources, we get to know our......

Chicago Magazine's February issue has a list of 171 Chicago-based websites they think are worth checking out. Naturally we're in there ... twice! Once under "News Reporting" and then again as Sun-Times critic Jim DeRogatis' personal picks. The thing is until today, the only place this list lived was in the magazine, even through Chicago Magazine's website has been telling us "story coming soon" for weeks now. Luckily for us Time Out Chicago's web editor......

The Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival kicked off last night and continues through January 13, a smörgåsbord of comedy stylings from 99 troupes from across the U.S. and Canada. Intrepid performers leave the comfort of California and Texas, brave delays at O’Hare, and risk negative comments on their MySpace pages—all to entertain you. Organizers estimate 10,000 of you attended last year’s event and, with fest favorites like Elephant Larry, Canadian Content, Cool Table, and Big News......

Prepare yourselves for the first big indie nerdgasm of '08, coming up Tuesday: Michel Gondry (that's one) will be at the Apple Store (that's two) discussing his upcoming film Be Kind, Rewind (three), about video-store clerks (four) played by Jack Black and Mos Def (five), who accidentally erase but then remake the videos they rent out (aaaand new pants). Sadly, the event doesn't include a screening, but Gondry will be showing clips, and Time Out......

A classic's a classic (above). But just in case you were thinking about sitting through the latest CGI remake, here's a bad review review from local critics: Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "Goes in one eye and out the other." Roger Ebert, Sun-Times: "Indeed the metaphysics of dubbing dubbed chipmunks who exist in the real world as animated representations of real chipmunks is ... how did this sentence begin?" Keith Phills, AV Club: "There's just......

Out of all of our celebrity chef crushes, Gordan Ramsay doesn't really crack the top three five ten. He just doesn't do it for us. There's something about the incessant swearing and love of horse meat that isn't attractive to Chicagoist. But he does do it for FOX viewers and restaurants that need a makeover on his Kitchen Nightmares show. We learned via Schadenfreude (and apparently there was an ad in the Reader as well)......

If you’re on enough theater mailing lists, you’ve already received the Looks Like Chicago brochure, a colorful piece promoting a colorful spectrum of theaters. The collaborative initiative brings together the stories of five continents as told by four theater companies: Congo Square, Remy Bumppo, Silk Road Theatre, and Teatro Vista. Organized by Silk Road, who was inspired by a Time Out Chicago article bemoaning Chicago theater’s lack of diversity, Looks Like Chicago also confronts the......

Jesse Thorn, Host of The Sound of Young America ...

Not a single Chicago restaurant made it onto Esquire's list of the best new restaurants of 2007, chosen by Esquire Food Critic John Mariani in the magazine's November issue. MenuPages suggests that Mariani has a thing against Illinois restaurants and that's why he didn't choose any Windy City restaurants either this year or last. Time Out Chicago critic Heather Shouse takes it a step further and essentially accuses him of being unethical in how he......

Joining Current Conditions in its "new regular feature" designation is Quick Bites, a weekly wrap-up of some of the interesting topics debated and discussed in Chicago's food media. The Time Out Chicago blog scooped Dish on Marcus Samuelsson news; the Ethiopian-born chef will be opening a new restaurant, C-House, in the Affinia Chicago Hotel in early 2008. Samuelsson is known for his work at New York's Riingo and Aquavit. If you've been feeling a little......

Coming just days after it hosted an epic dinner in honor of Charlie Trotter— with the guests being some of the best chefs in the country (and some from across the pond, too)—Schwa is closing. Time Out Chicago's Heather Shouse has has the big scoop on the TOC blog: Per [Chef Michael] Carlson’s wishes, we won’t divulge at this time the reasons behind the closing, but will relay that he is determined to return to......

Looking forward The Chicago Chamber Musicians are giving it away today and all first Mondays through August 2008 at the Chicago Cultural Center, a series of monthly free concerts kicking off with Eric Ewazen's Trio in E-Flat and Alexander Arutunian's Trumpet Concerto in A-Flat Major. Caro d’Offay Gallery invites contributions from aspiring and established sculptors for Colorist Chess, an interactive exhibition linking imaginative writing and creative imagery. Artists — established, aspiring, and otherwise — are......

Here's what happened while a punk rock choir distracted us from Doomsday: Fall arts season preview season is here. If you didn’t pick up a Reader over the weekend, you can still bookmark their A & E preview online. The Trib’s writers chose their 10 most promising in theater, art, dance, music (rock and otherwise), comedy and architecture. The Bright One previews Broadway in Chicago and upcoming rock concerts and CDs (remember those?). New City......

Here’s what you missed while you were sneezing and burning: Guest #18, your comments are hilarious, but how do you fare with a live audience? If you think you’ve got the chops, submit a 1-2 minute video to Time Out Chicago by September 20. Best entries will be screened online for their discerning website visitors. The top four will compete live for the chance to be crowned “Chicago’s Funniest Person.” (... at least according to......

This one is an easy one to celebrate. Step away from your computer, grab some grub, and head into the sunny outdoors, because today is National Eat Outside Day — a holiday we're pretty sure everyone can take part in. This holiday couldn't come at better time because today looks to be gorgeous, as does the rest of the Labor Day weekend. With the temperatures being warm but not unreasonably so, this weekend is......

Gourmet Magazine's September issue is a special "Latino America" issue, which means that not only is it chock-full of recipes for moles, tamales, and other delicacies, but that it also features multiple articles on Latino American cuisine in the U.S. Time Out Chicago food writer David Tamarkin has an article documenting the fantastic Mexican food scene in Chicago, highlighting specifically the number of regions and styles of cuisine our fair city offers. And while......

You haven't truly lived until you've seen a grown man dressed up as pierogi, or that what Chicagoist's parents always told us when we were growing up. Take the trip to Whiting, Indiana this weekend for Pierogi Fest and we can guarantee that not only will you see a life-sized pierogi walking around, but you will also eat lots and lots of pierogi. The little doughy dumplings can be prepared in a number of ways......

Here’s what you missed while you were reading Harry Potter… and while Harry Potter got stinking rich: Grab your composition paper and get to work. The Chicago Chamber Musicians are searching for the next great chamber piece by a brilliant composer age 32 or younger. They’ll perform the winning entry at a CCM concert next June. Entries are due December 1, so check out the rules, then find your muse. Thirty years ago, the Sears......

So, since yesterday when we posted the literal scoop about WLUW's potential future as an independent, community, listener-sponsored radio station, we've gotten some more information. First and foremost, we got an email from Craig Kois, who relayed the following to us: "Jocelyn...Thanks for your detailing of Monday's meeting. I have forwarded the link to our staff since I was not able to take notes that evening as planned. I do want to clarify that......

You might think you don't want to go down to Cal's on Wells tonight, but trust us, you do. Two of Chicago's most buzzed-about garage pop bands, CoCoComa and Headache City will set up shop tonight, and our prediction is that the combination of both bands on one bill may actually cause the world to implode, or at least the southern half of Wells Street. You kind of don't want to miss it. Ok, so......