Top 5 Celebrated Food Spot Openings in 2012 Baume & Brix Glazed and Infused Pecking Order Park Tavern Reno —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Most Surprising Food Spot Closings in 2012 Bleeding Heart Bakery El Norte LM Custom House Tavern Erwin —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Most Anticipated Food Spot Openings in 2012 Radler and D.A.S. Waffles—Lakeview Little Goat Red Square Café Lounge Gather —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Most Talked About Chef/Baker Moves in 2012 Chef Todd Stein’s move from The Florentine to executive chef post at Piccolo Sogno Due Chef Joe Rose’s move from chef de cuisine at The Pump Room to Lockwood Chef Michael Lathrop’s move from Erwin to executive chef at Acre Chef Andrew Brochu’s move from Kith & Kin to Uberstein (anticipated) Bleeding Heart Bakery’s Michelle Garcia’s move to head baker at E. Leaven —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Spots for Boeuf Bourguignon in 2012 Bistro Voltaire La Crêperie Bistro Campagne Pierrot Gourmet Brasserie 54 —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Handmade Tamale Vendors in 2012 The (original) Tamale Guy, Claudio Velez The Tamale Spaceship The Tamale Lady Nuevo Leon Las Manas Tamales —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Savory-Ingredient Cupcakes in 2012 Ginger Saffron, Phoebe’s Cupcakes Bacon Maple, More Corn Apricot Honey, More A Wing and a Prayer Loaf, The Meatloaf Bakery Cranberry Orange Breakfast Cupcake, Sugar Bliss Cake Boutique —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Spots for Cookies Roeser’s Chicago Butter Cookies Cookie Bar The Bagel Poppie’s Bakeshop —Veronica Hinke
Top 5 Overused Terms Used to Describe Food and Restaurants by Chicago Food Critics and Food Shows Comfort Food Hidden Gem Seasonal Menu Locally Grown Ingredients Fusion —David Witter
Top 5 Cookbooks with Chicago Ties in 2012 “Chicago Chef’s Table: Extraordinary Recipes from the Windy City” by Amelia Levin; photos by Beth Rooney (Lyons Press) “Frontera: Margaritas, Guacamoles, and Snacks” by Rick Bayless (W.W. Norton & Co.) “The New Old Bar: Classic Cocktails and Salty Snacks from The Hearty Boys” by Steve McDonagh and Dan Smith (Agate) “In My Kitchen: 100 Recipes and Discoveries for Passionate Cooks” by Ted Allen (Clarkson Potter) “Vegan Indian Cooking: 140 Simple and Healthy Vegan Recipes” by Anupy Singla (Agate) —Veronica Hinke
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.
Not Just Corn and Soybeans: The Big Food Disconnect and How to Fix It As people in growing cities began to disconnect from the work of farming, what people knew about farming diminished rapidly. In Illinois today, ninety-six percent of all farms are family owned. That’s roughly 70,000 family-owned farms, of which nearly 9,000 have been in the same family for more than a century.
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.
