The last time Newcity published The Big Heat—a list of Chicago’s top food and drink influencers—in 2003, Charlie Trotter was one of the most popular chefs in America, he had two restaurants and was pretending to lead a raw foods revolution. If a chef made that list he probably only had one restaurant and it would have been a fine-dining venture. There was no room for a counter-service fish shack. But, these days we get some of our best food from trucks and most self-respecting chefs wouldn’t be caught dead rolling out white tablecloths. We wanted Rick Bayless opening a burger stand, not doing commercials for one. And with the economic downturn of a few years ago, we got our wish (much better than we could have dreamed—a local seasonal sandwich shop, Xoco, serving the silkiest bean-to-cup hot chocolate ever). The landscape these days is so different that forty of the fifty people on the 2003 list didn’t make this one. Two of them, may they rest in peace, Paul Wildermuth (Opera) and Abby Mandel (founder of Green City Market) have died.
Starting today, and continuing five days a week till we put out a special print issue of Newcity with the list on August 25, we’ll unveil this year’s list, beginning with #50 and working our way toward #1. We expect you’ll find some surprises.
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.
A Taste of Home: Asian Street Food, Big in Chicago The words “street food” are beginning to appear in the description of more and more Chicagoland Asian restaurants. I was interested in finding out how this dining culture was making the transition—and why. Was it meeting the needs of a growing population for which this was a taste of home? Was it reaching out to increasingly adventurous diners?
A Different World: What I Learned While Writing an Oral History of Chicago Restaurants My understanding is that it’s bad form in stir to ask another inmate how long they’re in for, and I feel we should treat authors the same way. My book is an oral history of Chicago restaurants since the 60s and 70s to the present day. The book is being published by Evanston-based Agate Publishing, publisher of Iliana Regan’s memoirs,…
Big Heat 2023: Restaurateurs 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.
Big Heat 2023: Beverage Purveyors 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.
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.
By Michael Nagrant
