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
We all know Chicago is a pizza town, but did you know about all of the various styles available here? Beyond our native tavern-thin, deep-dish and stuffed, there’s also Detroit, Neapolitan and Sicilian, to name a few. Even Roman style is gaining a foothold here, with the latest iteration in a category all its own. L’Aventino … Continued
Korean chains usually start their American branches in Los Angeles, but a popular fried chicken brand from South Korea – with more than 200 locations there – has begun its U.S. expansion on the East Coast, with stores in Virginia, Georgia and Texas. Choong Man Chicken recently opened a branch in Glenview, the only location … Continued
The Japanese bowl of ramen is getting a few new looks in Chicago, thanks to some chefs willing to experiment. While most bowls feature the cloudy, pork-based “tonkotsu” broth, a pair of newcomers is offering diners a wider range of options. One is located in Des Plaines, near O’Hare, while the other is in Lincoln … Continued
Bagels have been a constant at shops like New York Bagel and Bialy in Lincolnwood, or N-Y-C Bagel Deli and Steingold’s in the city, but every now and then, another bagel maker comes onto the scene. I found two new shops worth a shmear: one in Oak Park, the other in Gold Coast (based on … Continued
There are few seasons in the Midwest as short as strawberries. Lasting just a few weeks, the time to find juicy, ripe berries is now. Any farmer’s market will have them, but so will a fifth-generation farm in Indiana, only 45 minutes from The Loop. Johnson Farm Produce 8960 E. Ridge Rd., Hobart, IN 219-962-1383 https://johnsonsfarmproduce.com … Continued
(Edward Lee and Paul Kahan are cooking for industry colleagues during the quarantine) It only took about a week, but several Chicago restaurant groups have begun organizing major ways to help their industry colleagues get through the coronavirus struggle the only way they know how: feeding people. Chef Edward Lee (610 Magnolia, The LEE Initiative) … Continued