Free bread from La Brea will be in abundance.Photo courtesy Dave Estep This year, La Brea Bakery will celebrate 25 years of business by – what else? – inviting patrons to break bread with them. On Thursday, May 29th, the bakery – originally founded by recent James Beard Outstanding Chef Award winner Nancy Silverton – will kick … Continued
Beer brewers love to collaborate. Sometimes it’s with chefs, working on a recipe that will go with a specific style of food, other times, they will get together with other breweries, to come up with something really special. That’s the case this week, as The Hopleaf’s Michael Roper looks to the Class of ’88 – … Continued
My Kind of Town… Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel isn’t one to hide his emotions. So when he takes the stage at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park this morning, don’t be surprised if you see him kvelling like a mother who’s just learned her son, the lawyer, is going to Harvard. That’s because there, flanked … Continued
Nathan Thornburgh presenting at Terroir. Just a couple of thoughts from the past week: I attended the annual Terroir Symposium in Toronto last week, and was once again blown away with the quality of talent there, from several corners of the world. True, there was a significant contingent from Scandinavia – not to mention … Continued
There are only a handful of Turkish restaurants in Chicago, and of those, only a few serve lahmacun. It’s essentially a thin, crispy pizza-like disc topped with minced lamb and beef. It’s one of only two things that are served at the tiny Pide ve Lahmacun on Irving Park Road, and the key to enjoying … Continued
Slow-roasted ribs will be the star of the birthday celebration. A Wicker Park barbecue joint is celebrating two decades of bringing Southern flavors to Chicago the way it knows best – by combining good food with good company. From May 15th to May 17th, The Smoke Daddy (1804 W. Division St.) will host a 20th birthday party … Continued
The New England lobster roll is worth coming back for. By Emily Wickwire Hapless Intern For the better part of my time at college, I’ve found myself intrigued by a tiny bistro crammed between a printing store and a Sports Clips on Evanston’s Clark Street. It’s a place I’ve passed by hundreds of times, … Continued
This week, The Hopleaf’s Michael Roper is thinking of Cooperstown, NY – home of Ommegang, one of the best Belgian-style breweries in the U.S. Their Hop House is out now, and with our sudden blast of warm weather, he says it’s a perfect match for both lighter eating and drinking. Hope you enjoy it. Cheers.
In 2014, I led a small group of six to New York City for a one-day trek to three outstanding sushi bars, and was able to show the difference between various methods for slicing fish, seasoning rice and presenting an omakase (tasting menu). We began with a commercial flight out of Chicago, then hit the … Continued
A dish by Jessica Largey, Chef de Cuisine at Manresa in Los Gatos, CA, and one of the featured chefs for the fundraiser. (Photo courtesy Ashley Sears) American food conferences don’t come cheap, and if you want to try to avoid having a corporate logo on every table, menu and fork, sometimes you have to … Continued
[Note: this tour is no longer being sold, but it will give you an idea of the types of tours I can organize] After our successful (and incredibly delicious) eating and drinking trip to New Orleans in March, I’ve decided to plan another group trip. This time, we’re going to visit one of my favorite … Continued