"chicago" news and stories

Michelin Ratings and Vegetarian Menus: The Chicago Tribune in 60 Seconds

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by Naomi Shulman, Posted Dec 27th 2010 @ 1:00PM

Grant Achatz chef at Alinea Photo: Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune / MCT

The Michelin Man came to Chicago, and he had something to say.
For Chicago restaurateurs, 2010 was the best of times and the worst of times.
Food festivals, however -- for them, it was just the best of times.
Vegetarians have been throwing their weight around the Windy City.

Filed under: Newspapers, In Sixty Seconds

Farmers Market Perched on Trump Tower Chicago

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by Jessie Cacciola, Posted Aug 19th 2010 @ 1:00PM

Photo: Tom Ravenscroft, Flickr

There's a farmers market coming to a decidedly un-farmy location on September 2nd: Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago's signature restaurant, Sixteen (it's on the 16th floor of the 92-story building), is having a brunch with an ancillary rooftop farmers market. It will be open to the public from 7 to 11 a.m. (you can visit whether you have the brunch or not).

With each season of this year, Chef Brunacci has been whipping up menus with his favorite farms in mind for a series called "Feasting at Sixteen with Frank Brunacci." Now in its third installment (late summer), Brunacci will focus on "prairie produce."

While Sixteen has always served Midwestern-grown ingredients, every meal of "Prairie Produce" week will only feature food harvested within driving distance of Chicago. The meals will have detailed menus, highlighting each ingredient by source and history, and the staff can also answer questions about the ingredients and how or why the chef chose to use them.

More after the jump ...

Filed under: Restaurants

Southport Grocery and Cafe, Chicago - Ask a Shopkeeper

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by Chris Dudley, Posted Mar 4th 2010 @ 12:00PM

Lisa Santos, owner and chef at Southport grocery. Photo: Southport Grocery

Known for its diverse, homespun menu and easy-going atmosphere, Southport Grocery and Cafe is the ideal hangout for the no-fuss foodie. Assistant manager Jay Majetich has worked at Chicago's beloved grocery/bakery/cafe for just over two years now. We recently caught up with him and got a little insight into the comfort-food business:

Working here is truly a team effort. All of the employees rotate duties, so no one gets stuck doing the more menial tasks for too long. One day I'm a server, the next I'm busing tables or running the register, so there's no proverbial rut to get stuck in. It's also a big reason that the atmosphere here is so relaxed. Everyone does everything, so there's not really any competition for the plum duties.

More from Jay Majetich, Assistant Manager at Chicago's Southport Grocery and Cafe, after the jump.

Filed under: Interviews

Turkey, Turkey and More Turkey - The Chicago Tribune in 60 Seconds

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by Emily Farris, Posted Nov 24th 2009 @ 12:00PM

Four turkeys. Photo: cobalt123, Flickr.

Simple tips for a hassle-free Thanksgiving.
Compound butters pack an amazing punch.
A pre-roasting milk bath is a good alternative to salt-brining your holiday bird.
But don't forget the gravy.
Here's an American culinary tradition you've probably never heard of: tomato pudding.
Cranberries are good for the adult kind of "sauce" too.
Should you have a catastrophe on the big day, try one of these turkey hotlines.
Add a Thai twist to turkey leftovers.

Filed under: Newspapers, In Sixty Seconds

Red Lentil Soup - Feast Your Eyes

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by Alexa Weibel, Posted Nov 19th 2009 @ 10:00AM

Photo: WhitneyinChicago, Flickr.

Red-lentil soup inspired my love of the brothy dish, both for its natural flavor and for its unparalleled comforting qualities -- in fact, so much so that my house has become known among friends as the "Soup Kitchen," and friends will randomly text while in the neighborhood to ask what's cooking.

I discovered red-lentil soup rather late in life, during my college years, at Sultan's Market, a small but fiercely beloved Mediterranean spot in Chicago's Wicker Park. Braving the bristly winter weather with a bowl of the soup to-go made my walk home doable, whatever obstacles the weather was throwing my way (and these usually included numbingly harsh winds).

And coming home to a spicy bowl of this stuff warmed was inevitably a body- and soul-warming experience. Although I'm fond of preserving the natural flavor of the red lentil by cooking it up in a soup with sparing ingredients (namely broth, garlic, onion and a touch of cumin), you can't go wrong with hardly any variety of the ultimate soothing concoction. Blogger Whitney in Chicago makes hers with red pepper flakes and chipotle, ups the heartiness factor with the addition of rice, and artfully tops it all off with slivered almond and zesty Feta. You should try her recipe -- I wholeheartedly back her in dubbing it a surefire "cure for darkness."

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

Filed under: Feast Your Eyes