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Charitable Pies

Like soup and bread, whenever pie and charity cross paths, it’s always a good thing. This holiday season, whenever you order a pie from Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab, Joe’s has pledged to donate a dollar from every sale to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Whole pies cost $29.95, by the way. After the … Continued

College Grads Need More Than PBR

              By Benita Zepeda Hapless Intern   As a recent college graduate, it’s no secret my budget is tight and spending should be monitored. However, I’m also a person who appreciates a good beer after a long day at work. After a steady diet of Bud Light, Miller Highlife … Continued

Camping Out With Hot Chocolate and X-Marx

Abe Conlon has been a busy guy lately. In addition to his underground dinner club X-marx, he’s also been a regular presence at the Dose Market once a month at the River East Center (where he’ll be again this Sunday). On Monday, he’s leading a pop-up dinner at Hot Chocolate, teaming up with the restaurant’s pastry sous chef … Continued

Top 5 Seafood Options in Chicago

Chicago was never really ground zero for seafood lovers. I remember a few years ago, struggling to come up with a suggestion or two – beyond the obvious choice, Shaw’s – for a friend who was looking for something other than Catch 35. Yet over the past two years, the city has seen more new … Continued

How To Make Mushrooms en Papillote

  Cooking en papillote – or in parchment paper – has long been a preferred method of steaming fish and vegetables, while also providing a semi-dramatic tableside presentation. At Langdon Hall, tucked away in the countryside of Cambridge, Ontario (about an hour from the Toronto airport), Chef Jonathan Gushue loves to cook this way, which … Continued

Dosas from Mysore Woodlands

Chicago’s “Little India,” also known as Devon Avenue, stretches in a long, east-west line dissecting West Rogers Park. As you drive down the street, you’ll notice most of the restaurants offer food from the Northern regions of India – Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab being the most widely represented. Yet finding the wonderfully tropical, coconut-influenced … Continued

Lone Star Spirit Lives on in Algonquin

by Rebecca Zborowski As a native of Texas, I spent my childhood exposed to incredible, authentic smokehouse barbeque. Moving to the Midwest only served to underline how uniquely succulent (and rare) Texas pit-cooking is. On a recent family outing, however, I discovered The Texan in Algonquin, about an hour northwest of the city.

Pumpkin Beer: Don’t Believe the Hype

by Rebecca Zborowski Hapless Intern   I feel I should start this post by clarifying that nobody loves fall and all of the food and festivities surrounding it more than I do. I wanted to like pumpkin beer – no, I wanted to love it and look forward to it all year long. But after … Continued

How To Make Pickled Herring

I guess being Jewish in St. Cloud, Minnesota had something to do with it. Why else would my dad go to such lengths to bring home this odd-smelling fish in the small jar, serve it with Rye Krisps and call it a snack?   When you think about those two factors – Jewish and Minnesota … Continued

Moonshine Now Legal All Over The Country

  Clear corn whiskey may not have the sex appeal of an aged bourbon or rye, but Chuck Miller is hoping to change some minds. The Master Distiller of Stillhouse Distillery, in Culpeper, Virginia, has been making the rounds as of late, promoting his Original MOONSHINE. It’s an 80-proof whiskey that was developed along with … Continued