A Sushi Star’s Sequel
With his more affordable Kyoten Next Door, Otto Phan offers a streamlined yet still stellar omakase.
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Best Place to Drink Beer and Not Get Drunk
Go Brewing This Naperville brewery has already shown it knows how to make a great-tasting nonalcoholic beer — it took gold and silver medals at the Best of Craft Beer Awards. (If you need more proof, just try the mango-peach deliciousness of the Sunshine State Tropical IPA.) Now it’s out to establish another truth: You can have … Read more
Best (and Tastiest) Tribute to Produce
Monteverde’s Year of the Vegetable This year, Monteverde chef-owner Sarah Grueneberg has been all about the veggies. Using her 2022 cookbook, Listen to Your Vegetables, as a launch pad, she creates a handful of new menu items each month that spotlight a different seasonal vegetable. In May, for example, diners could enjoy asparagus three ways: … Read more
Best Surprise Return for Imbibers
Best Intentions After the beloved cocktail bar closed at the start of the pandemic, owners (and brothers) Chris and Calvin Marty played it safe, staying shut well after other spots reopened. For a while, with no signs of life, it looked like the joint might be gone for good — that is, until early this spring, when … Read more
Best Gourmet Take on the Chicago Dog
Dan the Baker With his intricate, decadent, croissant-wrapped creation, pastry chef Daniel Koester, who goes by Dan the Baker on Instagram, gives new meaning to the Chicago-style hot dog. This picture-perfect pastry tucks most of the traditional elements inside a buttery bun (he dropped the onions and celery salt, so as not to “overcrowd” his … Read more
Best Reason to Make Tuesday Pizza Night
Bungalow by Middle Brow The pizza joint from Middle Brow Beer Co. made a name for itself with its bubbly Neapolitan pies, but the real magic is in its square-cut, thin-crust tavern style, served exclusively on Tuesday nights. You may wait 45 to 60 minutes, but it’s worth it for that crisp first bite. The … Read more
Best TikTok for Food Geeks
@notyetachef As Jake Potashnick prepares to open his tasting-menu restaurant, Feld, next year, he stages the occasional pop-up in his apartment above the West Town restaurant, grapples with plumbing and electrical issues, and entertains his nearly 70,000 followers on TikTok. Just don’t call him a TikTok chef, he implores: “I don’t record myself cooking.” Rather, … Read more
Best Singularly Obsessed Restaurant
Top This Mac N’ Cheese At their carryout and delivery spot, which opened in October, chefs Erick Williams and Damarr Brown of Virtue do one thing: mac and cheese. But they do it exceptionally well. Not only have they perfected the classic comfort food with their gooey version, they’ve made it their own by offering … Read more
Best Baseball-Themed Vessel for Drinking Booze
Wrigley’s Beer Bat Think ballpark concessions peaked with helmet ice cream? Hold my beer (bat). Introduced at Wrigley Field this season, the $30 baseball-bat-shaped plastic container holds 26 ounces of beer (or frozen margarita, if that’s your thing). Sure, it’s effectively an expensive souvenir cup (a 24-ounce draft beer in a regular cup is half … Read more
Best Cake Artist
Alexa Abaroa of DeEtta’s Bakery Give cake decorator Alexa Abaroa just two things — a short bio of someone you love and 14 days’ notice — and she’ll do more than make you a cake worthy of the Food Network. She’ll sculpt you an edible objet d’art that will evoke as much emotion as any Hallmark card. Her cakes, … Read more