Waffles are usually thought of as a breakfast food, but not in Hong Kong, where “bubble waffles” are a popular snack these days. Since they opened a few weeks ago, Joy Yee Plus in Chicago’s Chinatown has been selling them, since they imported the special machines needed to make them on-site.
It seems like there are all kinds of bakeries opening up in Chicago lately, but few, if any, emphasize Brazilian flavors. Yet a Hyde Park baker, originally from Brazil, is now integrating some of her favorite treats from back home, into her extensive menu of Italian and French pastries.
You wouldn’t think the flavors of Singapore would be available in Chicago, but Singapore’s most beloved dish – chicken rice – is now available at a couple of restaurants in town. It’s called Hainanese chicken rice, to be exact, and it’s a dish found all over Singapore. It sounds simple, but it’s a lot more complex … Continued
Dozens of Chicago restaurants focus on pasta, but most of them take a narrow, Italian approach. However, Daisies — a cozy new spot in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood — not only makes all of the pasta in the basement, it takes a more Midwestern approach to cooking, worrying less about sticking to Italian tradition.
Chicago’s Rogers Park has dozens of Indian restaurants, but the Edgewater neighborhood also has a restaurant with a strong Indian vibe. The flavors are similar to what you’d find on Devon Avenue, but the presentation is vastly different.
There are so many bakeries in Chicago, but most of them tend to focus on just a couple of things. Inside a new Edgewater bakery, the focus is on French baguettes and croissants, made in-house each day.
Chicagoland is littered with neighborhood gyro joints, but most of them offer only beef or lamb from the vertical spit. Even fewer use pork, which is a common sight in Greece. But there’s a new concept in Evanston, where they take their gyros pretty seriously.
One of Chicago’s shortest seasons is already drawing to an end — strawberry season. It typically only lasts about a month, but one bakery is making the most of it. At Floriole, in Lincoln Park, they’re coming up with some delicious takes that go far beyond shortcake.
Most of Chicago’s top-tier restaurants work with a series of local farmers, but a new restaurant in Chicago’s West Loop is cooking at a four-star level, relying primarily on just one farm near Bourbonnais.
I had a chance last week to spend a few days in Singapore, running around the endless hawker food centers and tasting all manner of laksa, dumplings and ice-bean-corn-condensed milk desserts. But the one that stood out was the chicken rice, a dish as revered as a NYC-style slice or a Montreal poutine. There are … Continued
A month ago, the James Beard Foundation – at its annual awards gala – named Topolobampo the best restaurant in the country. Rick Bayless’ more upscale Mexican restaurant opened nearly 30 years ago, but the menu keeps changing and adapting – pushing the boundaries of what many of us consider “modern” Mexican.