By Jeff Ruby
The offerings at Rose’s WheatFree Bakery & Café may be gluten-free, peanut-free, casein-free, corn-syrup-free, and trans-fat-free, but they obligingly leave in the most important element: flavor. Read more
Jeff Ruby
By Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
Go Now
Mixteco Grill (1601 W. Montrose Ave.; 773-868-1601), a 35-seat BYO restaurant named for a region of Oaxaca and the indigenous people who inhabit it, opened last week—and we’re smitten. “The food there is the only food that is 100 percent authentic Mexican,” says Raul Arreola, the chef/owner. “No influence of other food. No Mayan. No Spanish. No French.” Arreola, a Mexico City native, put in 11 years at Frontera Grill, and ascended to sous-chef at Read more
By Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
Then and Now
A full Dish column is coming tomorrow, but first we wanted to direct you to two terrific stories from our upcoming June issue. One is Burned, a dramatic narrative by Jennifer Tanaka on Grant Achatz’s brave and frightening days since his diagnosis with oral cancer. The other is Dennis Ray Wheaton’s From There to Alinea, a thoughtful examination and comparison of Achatz’s current stunner with the place where he came of age years ago: Napa Valley’s legendary French Laundry. Read more
A full Dish column is coming tomorrow, but first we wanted to direct you to two terrific stories from our upcoming June issue. One is Burned, a dramatic narrative by Jennifer Tanaka on Grant Achatz’s brave and frightening days since his diagnosis with oral cancer. The other is Dennis Ray Wheaton’s From There to Alinea, a thoughtful examination and comparison of Achatz’s current stunner with the place where he came of age years ago: Napa Valley’s legendary French Laundry. Read more
By Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
Get Provincial
Randy Zweiban, the longtime exec chef/partner of Nacional 27 (325 W. Huron St.; 312-664-2727), steps down on April 30th to open Province (161 N. Jefferson St.), a 140-seat spot in the West Loop. “It’s modern American cuisine influenced by the flavors of South America and Spain,” Zweiban says. “It will be a bit broader than what I’ve done here at Nacional.” A few dishes he’s got nailed down for the menu: Tasmanian salmon carpaccio with preserved Meyer lemon and salsa; spice-rubbed grilled ahi tuna taco with chipotle tartar salsa; prawn and... Read more
By Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
Fahrenheit (1890 W. Main St., St. Charles), a new 130-seat stunner that was going to be a boon to the far west suburban dining scene, has closed. The restaurant, led by Spiaggia veteran Pete Balodimas, quickly earned two stars in the Tribune and in Chicago magazine. Heck, we even put it in our Best New Restaurants issue (May 2008). So why did the place pull the plug after only...
Read moreBy Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
We’re Not Gonna Bake It
Our favorite new bakery these days is Twisted Sister Bakery (1543 N. Wells St.; 312-932-1128), which opened three weeks ago in Old Town. “I’ve collected and tweaked hundreds of recipes over the past 30 years,” says Lisa Alexander, a partner. “They are all the things that I love.” She loved them so much that when her husband persuaded her to quit her job as a nurse manager at Illinois Masonic and open a bakery, she did just that, teaming up with her best friend, Doug Lee (who didn’t quit his day job as a gastroenterologist). We loved the chocolate...
Read moreBy Jeff Ruby
You may know that The Closer, when he's not Closing, reviews restaurants. People constantly ask him, "Man, how do I do that?" His answer: Eat like a maniac, and write like you mean it. Oh, and make sure you're in the right place at the right time. Read more
By Jeff Ruby
A look at Mercat a la Planxa, at the newly remodeled Blackstone Hotel Read more
By Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
Re-Engaged
Dirk Flanigan and Billy Lawless, the men behind The Gage (24 S. Michigan Ave.; 312-372-4243), have secured the 2,000-square-foot space next door, and are moving forward with a new concept. “We are still working on what we want to do,” Flanigan says, “but I can tell you that it’s going to be one of the coolest spots in Chicago—if not the coolest spot on Michigan Avenue. It’s going to be really, really cool...
Read moreBy Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby
Ryan’s Hope
Chef Ryan Poli, who had a huge following at Butter, has returned to Chicago to become the chef de cuisine at Perennial (1800 N. Clark St.), the upcoming spot from Rob Katz and Kevin Boehm (Boka, Landmark). “Things just sometimes don’t work out the way you want them to,” Poli says of his recent jaunt to Phoenix, Arizona. “So I decided to come back to Chicago. It’s where my passion is.” Poli also spent about a year interning in various standouts in Spain, including...
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