(photo: Todd Rosenberg) While a wave of fried chicken joints has washed over Chicago in the past year or so, only a handful specialize in “Nashville hot.” The most recent – a tiny operation in Lakeview – has big expansion plans already, thanks to the overwhelming success after just a month or two in business. They’ve … Continued
(photos and video by Kristine Sherred) The annual Autumn Moon Festival is coming in Chinatown, but rather than purchase pre-made mooncakes from a local bakery on Wentworth Ave. or in the Chinatown Square Mall, the chefs at Shanghai Terrace, inside The Peninsula Hotel, have decided they’ll start making their own. Granted, the filling isn’t traditional … Continued
Story and photos by Kristine Sherred A hookah lounge, a bakery, a cooperative housing center, an arts society, a fashionable sports bar serving alligator. Together, this unlikely consortium calls the few blocks along Milwaukee Avenue, just south of Division Street, home. Like so many Chicago neighborhoods, remnants of the past mingle quietly, if rancorously, as … Continued
After more than 70 years in business, it was time to hit the “refresh” button. Manny’s has been a well-worn staple in the South Loop, hosting politicians and city workers of all stripes, but its best days were behind it, and if the Raskin family hadn’t done something with it, the temple of corned beef, … Continued
Food trucks are a fleeting business in Chicago, and depend on good weather (when was the last time you saw a truck on Wacker Dr. in December?) We’ve had a streak of great days, however, and I had a chance to visit the Happy Lobster Truck recently, making its usual stop in The Loop, during … Continued
The team behind fine-dining gems Alinea and Next have finally opened a restaurant a little more on the casual side. It’s quite a bit louder than its siblings, but the format is a lot more conducive to sharing.
I’ve always been a fan of Bill Kim’s soft serve at Belly Shack: the coconut water-infused vanilla, the unique flavors (Vietnamese caramel, huckleberry), but at his newest Urban Belly outpost in Wicker Park, he builds on that momentum, creating two new flavors that blew me away (and have me coming back for more). This is … Continued
Longtime Chicago chef Jimmy Bannos has watched plenty of his employees move through the ranks of his decades-old Cajun eatery, Heaven on Seven, into places all their own. But a series of “Family Tree” dinners is welcoming some of them back to their roots. In the case of his first guest chef, Cleetus Friedman, the … Continued
In case you haven’t noticed, every Friday in May, I’ve been featuring a different Asian country for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We’ve covered Thailand, Japan and China so far, and today, we’re off to Malaysia. Chicago has plenty of Asian restaurants – mostly Korean, Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese, but only one focusing on the … Continued
There’s a lot more to Thai food than simply hot chilies. An Uptown family is taking a unique approach, serving traditional “street food” dishes from Bangkok and beyond. It’s part of my Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Coverage, in which each Friday Feast in May is linked to a different country.
Taking a seafood lover to a steakhouse might seem counterintuitive, but that’s exactly what you need to do in the West Loop. It’s there that a large counter and an impressive array of raw seafood await, along with quite a few creative dishes, plus an impressive dessert menu. This week’s Extra Course, my web-exclusive video: … Continued