Nobody just wakes up and says, “I’m gonna make roti today.” Not for the first time, anyway, and not without preparation. So says Dawn Lewis, who over the last four years earned the title of “the Roti Lady” among Trinidadian expats exiting frenetic soca fetes at the South Loop club Bassline, who grew dependent on […]
Category: Restaurant Review
A Viagra Triangle dive rises under chef Amanda Barnes
Used to be, if you worked up a hunger bending your elbow at Pippin’s Tavern, you could vanquish it with a dog, a polish, a beef, or a burger from Downtown Dogs next door. Over the 48-year history of this Rush Street Irish dive, its charms never included food prepared with deeper thought, effort, or […]
Avenida Peru takes it to the street
Karlo Caceres and his mother, Cecilia Descalzi, threw out the couch in the living room of their tiny two-bedroom Jefferson Park apartment. They replaced it with foldable tables stacked with aluminum trays and plastic carryout containers and bags. This is where they staged the pickup and delivery meals Caceres advertised each week on Facebook under […]
Roel Estanilla makes a very presentable pig
A lion’s purr revving to a roar. The sound of a crack racing across the bald face of a mountain. Thunder ripping across the sky. All arresting sounds for sure, but the phenomenon of Roel Estanilla breaking into the crispy, copper skin of a roasted cochinillo lechón could drown them all out. That sound is […]
Moonwalker Cafe is the scratch kitchen every neighborhood deserves
When Arlene Luna moved back to Chicago in December 2020 she discovered that all of her old classmates from the now-defunct Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago had left the life. “Everyone that I knew from back then is no longer in the business,” she says. “I came back and started looking up a few […]
The Malaysian family recipes at HD Cuisine are worth a journey
There’s one table and one small booth inside HD Cuisine, a tiny Malaysian restaurant in a suburban Wheeling strip mall. Altogether there’s enough space to seat 11 people. If the weather’s nice and your timing is right, you can enjoy your nasi lemak, beef rendang, or Penang Hokkien mee at one of two tables set […]
Habrae Cafe has your good luck Thai sweets
A couple introduce Forest Park to Thai desserts, old and new.
Boonie Foods imagines Pinoy food past, present, and future
Former Arami chef Joe Fontelera’s pandemic pop-up settles in at Revival Food Hall.
St. Bess aims for Jamaican domination
A veteran cook has no use for your jerk egg rolls and rasta pasta.
Bobby Morelli is the sausage king of Bronzeville
A father-and-daughter team sling loaded wieners from a storage container.
Giống Giống means the flavors of Vietnam and Guatemala are kinda ‘same-same’
Two chefs join forces for an unlikely but fitting fusion.
Aye-Aye, Kapitan
The owners of Serai open the country’s only nyonya restaurant, devoted to the food of Malaysia’s Peranakan culture.
You don’t mess with Teta at Evette’s
Grandma would approve of this Lincoln Park Lebanese-Mexican mashup.
Meet Dinkey DaDiva, creator of the Jerk Chicken Egg Roll
The Egg Roll Lady has 75 varieties in her arsenal.
Bokuchan’s ghost curry holds up in transit
It’s Shin Thompson’s pivot to Japanese soul food, from a virtual kitchen.