Dining & Drinking Top 5: June 2023
Warmer weather means more festivals and outdoor food events, so put on your sunblock and your feedbag and start enjoying the foods of summer in Chicago.
Big Heat 2023: Media and Influencers
This year, Newcity’s Big Heat feature focuses on those who stand behind the chef in the kitchen. We want to recognize the people who’ve succeeded big time, but we also want to recognize promising upstarts.
Fungi Fantasia: A Visit to Windy City Mushroom
Monica Kass Rogers visits this exotic mushroom empire and encounters Lions and Oysters and Chestnuts, Oh My!
Having A Moment: Please Drink More Mezcal. Like, Right Now.
Right now, you can still find great mezcal. Go find an agave spirit—maybe it’s certified as mezcal, maybe it’s not—that’s made from Lamparillo in Durango, or Bruto in Michoacan, or Ixterro Amarillo in Jalisco… Drink it neat, in tiny, tiny sips, so that your palate has a chance to decipher the crazy complexities. They won’t be here for long.
A Point of Convergence: Golden Market Celebrates AANHPI Heritage Month
The second annual Golden Market will host twenty-three vendors and artists representing the broad Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Island (AANHPI) diaspora.
Summer Sweetness: Make a Mile-High Strawberry Pie in any Season
There’s a backstory behind Mile-High Strawberry Pie. Liberace (pianist Vladziu Valentino Liberace)—once the world’s highest-paid entertainer—loved this pie, ordering it by the dozen from the place it was born: the now-defunct Hess Bros. Department store, of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Go Ahead, Enjoy Your White Claw: Make Mine a Shandy or Radler
Solely for research purposes, I purchased a 12-pack of Truly Hard Seltzer. I tried one. My impression was that it was a simple, overly sweet soda pop with a slight kick. I gave the spouse a taste. “Ewww. Ewww. Ewww. Ewww. ****. I can’t get that taste out of my mouth. Ewww.” I determined to figure out the appeal of these beverages.
Dining & Drinking Top 5: April 2023
April showers? No problem! As long as it’s not snowing and cold, we’re good to go, and this April, there are lots of events popping up—like daffodils, or whatever—around the city and suburbs.
A Reason for Celebration: Here’s the Wine to Drink with Easter Dinner, Whatever that Happens to Be
As for many holiday meals, the right wine may be difficult to find because every gathering may very well highlight a different sort of food.
Ode to the Pasty: In the land of the Yoopers, up north in Michigan, above the trolls, a handheld meat pie is, well, everything
From Escanaba to Marquette, Ironwood to Iron Mountain, pasty sightings are a common occurrence in the UP. It’s rare that a particular dish can be so strongly identified with a specific region, but up north in Michigan, pasties reign.
