Top 5 New Higher-End Restaurants L20 Mercat a la Planxa Publican C-House Mado —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 New Casual Concepts or Storefronts Cafecito Meatloaf Bakery Marc Burger D’s Irie Kitchen Huaraches Dona Chio —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Culinary Reinventions Avenues under Curtis Duffy Graham Elliot Bowles 2.0 at Restaurant Graham Elliot Geno Bahena and the mole show at Real Tenochtitlan Sun Wah under the Cheng daughters Italian Superior Bakery under the Saccameno family —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Culinary Things to be Thankful For Any dessert Elizabeth Dahl makes at Boka Green City Market and the late Abby Mandel Mike Gebert’s culinary videos at Sky Full of Bacon Mike Sula’s thoughtful food writing—especially the Mulefoot project at the Chicago Reader Ryan Poli is back in town at Perennial —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Things I’m Happy I Ate This Year—High-End Dining Duck Fat coated pork belly with black truffle jus, L20 Mole Negro, Real Tenochititlan Pork liver topped with bitter greens, toasted hazelnuts, sautéed chanterelles and fennel vinaigrette, The Bristol Braised Rabbit Agnolotti, Mercat a la Planxa C-House, Tuna with pinenut and toasted vinaigrette —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Things I’m Happy I Ate This Year—Lower-End Dining Jerk Chicken, D’s Irie Kitchen Chicken Tinga Huarachae Huaraches, Dona Chio Falafel, Oasis Cafe Isla Philipina, Tocino Seoul Sassy Fried Chicken, Crisp —Michael Nagrant
Top 5 Local Food Products I Loved This Year Blue Marble Dairy Milk Bleu Mont Cheddar, Willi Lehner Eat Green Foods Granola Bars Brunkow Farms Brun-uusto baked cheese Prairie Fruits Farm, Little Bloom on the Prairie goat cheese —Michael Nagrant
Big Heat 2023: The Food and Drink 50 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.
Sicilian Street Food from a Ghost Kitchen: Sfera “We started at farmers markets about three years ago with our arancini—stuffed risotto balls—which is our specialty,” says Daniela Vitale, who runs Sfera in Avondale with her partner, Steven Jarczyk.
