If you engage Russian-born Yana Khernburg in conversation, either inside her restaurant and bar or perhaps outside as she harangues passersby to come in, you might get a breathless monologue like the one I received one night: “I opened my barbershop here in 2020 right as the pandemic started but the shutdown rules allowed barbershops … Read more
Stepping into this brightly colored place, you might think it’s just another neighborhood doughnut shop. But a look inside the display cases tells a different story. Alongside the classic glazed, red velvet, and old-fashioned flavors at this four-year-old spot (originally called Hello Donut), you’ll find a rotating selection of inventive international offerings. “We think food … Read more
A few times each week, I jog from my house in Highland Park down to the lake and back up the ravine. It’s the bare minimum to stay just this side of dad bod. But these days, I have an additional reason to lace up my Asics, albeit one that is counterproductive to maintaining my … Read more
After years of serving city crowds, co-owners Chad and Alicia Hauge and Mike Melazzo — industry vets with stints at Longman & Eagle, Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits, and Mott St. — noticed something: A lot of their regulars were making the trek in from the suburbs. So in 2018, they opened this bar in Glen Ellyn, where they … Read more
If you’re all for the city’s current bakery boom but not so keen on the lines, make tracks for La Grange, where husband-and-wife owners Erik and Maree Hecimovich (who have put in time at Publican Quality Bread, Grace, and Bad Butter) are turning out some of the most beautiful laminated pastries in the suburbs. Offerings … Read more
Where I live, on the Far South Side of Chicago, dining out used to mean pizza, fried chicken, or fast food, while drinking destinations were of the beer-only tavern variety. But when this French-accented Vietnamese and Thai restaurant opened in bordering Evergreen Park 10 years ago, it brought upscale dining and a classy martini bar … Read more
When he’s craving curry rice and tonkatsu, our dining critic heads north.
Farm-to-table is nothing new, but at the café at Elawa Farm, a nonprofit foundation, your food doesn’t have to travel far to get to your table. Opened last fall and housed in a restored David Adler–designed building, the restaurant serves breakfast and lunch made with ingredients from the property, including vegetables grown 100 feet away, … Read more
She’ll kvell — and so will you. Opened last summer by three New Trier alums who missed the kind of sit-down deli restaurant they grew up with, Mensch’s is a tribute to old-school Jewish diners. Jack DeMar, Kiki Eliopoulos, and Eric Kogan visited iconic New York City ones — Russ & Daughters, Barney Greengrass, Pastrami Queen — before crafting a menu … Read more
