There’s quite a bit more to Indian food than just tikka masala or tandoori chicken. The tradition of chaat – or street snacks – is integral to every region of India. A new cookbook highlights the subject, and so I went in search of some local versions, while also discovering they can easily be made at … Continued
Baked dough and melted cheese are pretty elemental, and in Chicago, we typically see them in pizza. But they can also form the basis of a classic dish with roots in Turkey and Georgia, near the Black Sea. The dish – khachapuri – is made from scratch every day inside an Andersonville restaurant, where the … Continued
Two Chicago restaurants are serving up a taste of Colombia with their hearty breakfasts and some of the best rotisserie chicken in the city, not to mention arepas that are made from corn that’s ground in-house. El Fogón de Elena 3149 W. Lawrence Ave. 773-267-6893 www.elfogondeelena.com El Asadero Colombiano 4800 N. Central Ave. 773-283-8323
Homemade tamales can be found all over Chicago, sometimes from storefronts, other times from street carts. And with Hispanic Heritage Month beginning soon, I’m going to spend the next couple of weeks taking a closer look at a few of my favorite dishes from Spanish-speaking countries, beginning with Mexico. There’s a husband-and-wife company producing thousands of … Continued
There are dozens of Thai restaurants in and around the city, but a relatively new one that opened shortly before the pandemic is now making some of the best versions of traditional dishes you probably won’t see elsewhere in town. Plus, everything- including the curry paste- is made from scratch. Same Same 2022 W. Roscoe St. … Continued
In the wake of the protests following the killing of George Floyd, there has been a surge of interest in supporting Black-owned businesses. In terms of restaurants, coffee shops and bakeries, a website designed by a Richton Park man has become the place for Black-owned businesses in at least a half dozen cities, including Chicago. … Continued
As coffee shops around the city begin reopening — with social distancing, masks and other precautions in place — one local roaster is focusing as much on a Mexican chocolate as it is its own coffee beans. The two ingredients actually have a lot in common. Dark Matter Caravanserai 2901 W. Belmont Ave. 773-293-6425 darkmattercoffee.com/pages/about-us
For decades, Taylor Street has been synonymous with Italian food and culture. Chicago’s original “Little Italy” still has a few beef joints and ice shops, which do well in the summertime. A relatively new ice cream shop in the neighborhood is turning up the creativity a bit, with an emphasis on flavors from Asia, while still … Continued
Sausage-Pepper Pizza from Table, Donkey & Stick (photo: @tabledonkeystick) For the past couple of days, I’ve been talking about how the squares (and rectangles) have descended upon Chicago like a CTA station’s beautification project: they occur ever-so-slowly, until one day, you look up and realize how much better things have become. For local pizza lovers, … Continued
Grandma-style pizza from Professor Pizza Chicago is in the midst of a square revolution. Not the tiny, palm-sized squares you see on your favorite neighborhood bar pie, but rather, the puffier, thicker slices inspired by Rome, Sicily and Detroit. After a century of circular pies, we seem to have been embracing pans with 90-degree angles … Continued
“U.S. Pizza Cup” from Paulie Gee’s Logan Square If you’ll excuse the alliteration, the pandemic has made plenty of pizza parlors pretty popular, particularly for pickup. But for the last century or so, ordering a pizza in Chicago meant you had one of three options: a round, thin-and-crispy, square-cut pie; a circular deep-dish – chunky … Continued