Yeah, sure, Eataly is impressive. But for old-school Italian goodness, you gotta go west. In 1968, long before Mario Batali came to River North, Naples-born Giuseppe Quercia came to Cicero and landed a job working for Frank Deluca at a neighborhood pizza joint called Freddy’s. The business grew from a place to get thick rectangular … Read more
The city’s first-ever vodka distillery opened last August, and in just a few short months the West Loop business’s flagship product has become a household name among spirit enthusiasts because of its perfectly smooth taste and its makers’ pledge to use local ingredients. The triple-distilled vodka—made of winter wheat from Kaneville—has a peppercorn sibling and … Read more
If a date-night cooking class sounds like a throwback to the ’80s, Marcel’s, opened in 2011 by a former insurance executive craving fun, wants to prove you wrong. During these evenings, you’ll share a table with friends or new acquaintances in a state-of-the-art kitchen, practicing tricks of the trade with top-notch culinary tools. At worst, … Read more
Bavarian beer halls can be total schlock fests: comically oversize mugs, lederhosen-clad servers, oompah music on blast. Not here. Vie veterans Nathan Sears and Adam Hebert took the best parts of the Teutonic tavern experience—sausage, beer, and a no-frills place to enjoy both—and optimized them. The wursts are stuffed by hand and topped with seasonal accompaniments, … Read more
This Logan Square temple of slow food is simple inside—a big communal table, a menu handwritten in pencil and tacked to a wall. Its culinary mission is similarly direct: Take ingredients as they are and make something great. Owners Tony Bezsylko and Ethan Pikas, along with Alex Truong and Justin Behlke, met through the Dill … Read more
Give a warm welcome to these new neighbors.
The Cronut—a croissant-doughnut hybrid—blazed into town with a trademark attached, forcing bakers to crossbreed new pastries instead of copying. Amid the doughssant, the crognet, and the wonut, the doughscuit tops them all. Endgrain’s doughnut wizard, Enoch Simpson, bakes a slightly sour, light biscuit, then deep-fries, glazes, and slices it, filling it with crème fraîche mixed … Read more
The crowds have eased up a bit since this Ohio import opened in Lake View last September to a line that went out the door and down two blocks. But the buzz has yet to die down for Jeni Britton Bauer’s inventive flavors. The best reward for waiting? The puck-size ice-cream sandwiches made in delicious … Read more
Recently entering the field of restaurant accessories to high-end clothing stores near Michigan Avenue—the Zodiac at Neiman Marcus, Fred’s at Barneys New York, and RL, around the corner from the Ralph Lauren boutique—Sophie’s surges ahead. Quibbles over its odd location next to the men’s department vanish as you enter the civilized but unstuffy dining room … Read more
In March, Christine LaSorda combined her two loves—baking and reading—to create this Wicker Park bakery homage to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Kids will get a kick out of something at every turn here: an indoor tree with leaves made of book pages, teacup light fixtures, jewel-toned chairs that push up to tables with … Read more
