Chicagoist hasn't been the only one covering the event. Here are some other reviews of Chicago Gourmet. I don't know what festival Phil Vettel attended, but it sounded really fucking good. Mr. "One fork per plate" found no "shortage of richness"; at one point, Stolpman and I had to go to America's Dog to grab a bite. Apparently, Vettel didn't bother to share that same spoil of riches with fellow Stew correspondent Chris Borrelli.......

We attended the soft opening for Graham Elliot, the new River North "bistronomic restaurant" from former Avenues chef Graham Elliot Bowles at 217 W. Huron, last month and were sufficiently impressed by what we sampled to put it on our list of restaurants to return, keeping in mind that soft openings are generally where a new restaurant does its best to maintain initial appearances Since that soft opening, however, Bowles has taken his lumps in......

There have been a lot of things said on this site about Taste of Chicago over the years. There are over 750,000 people who head downtown every year to sun, frolic and get their fill of giant turkey legs and corn on sticks. 'Course, that isn't all Taste of Chicago has to offer; even with Chicago Gourmet set to launch in September, Taste is still the food event for the everyman. For those of you......

The Lincoln Park Zoo is already pretty green, but now it’s going organic. Photo by Whattheheckallthenamesaretaken. One could make the argument that a zoo, by nature, is already organic. But this weekend, the Lincoln Park Zoo is implementing one step in a five-year plan to reduce the attraction’s impact on the environment when they open the Cafe at Wild Things. The cafe will only feature organic, sustainable, locally produced snacks. Even the utensils will be......

From Crain's comes word that Le Lan Executive chef Bill Kim is leaving behind the river North French-Vietnamese outpost to open a noodle shop/casual eatery in Logan Square. Urban Belly, a casual, BYOB eatery at 3053 N. California, is set to open in mid-June. It's also fulfills a longtime dream of Kim's to open a chain of casual restaurants and to highlight noodles on to show that there's more to them in Asian cuisines than......

There's plenty going on this weekend in Chicago, like UFO symposiums, science fairs, and no shortage of places to eat. But if none of those things float your boat, maybe one of these events will. Smelt Lovers of Chicago, Unite! We can't say we've ever been big fans of the little guys, but there are definitely smelt enthusiasts out there. Shaw's Crab House will be leading a road trip this Saturday, March 29th, up to......

To say that it isn't hard to stumble into a taqueria in Pilsen is an understatement. Focus on the Blue Island corridor, however. and the question becomes trying to avoid one. We took advantage of yesterday's thaw to walk around, enjoy the weather buy some pirated movies (you should see our copy of "Untraceable"). Then, after we worked up an appetite, we headed into the first taqueria we saw for a quick bite, which wound......

During last week’s sleet storm we ducked into the South Loop Wine Cellar on the walk home from the Museum Campus. Half-frozen, soaked and more concerned with warming up than with finding a new shopping destination, we were pleasantly surprised by what we found inside. Warm, welcoming and filled with wine bins, exposed bricks and a beautiful Christmas tree, the store was the perfect place for us to stop. With all of the hype surrounding......

In high school one of the constants of our Friday nights was a family-sized pizza delivered to the house from La Villa Restaurant and Banquets in Old Irving. We'd fight for a corner slice among our allotment, chase them down with a glass of pop, and head out the house for our other constant: vainly working on our game with every Catholic school girl we could meet. Those pizzas from La Villa, still among the......

Chicagoist has been known to wax philosophic when it comes to websites that make dining out and ordering in easier. We've written about two of our favorites, MenuPages and GrubHub, here and here, respectively. There's a new kid in town, and her name is FoodieBytes. We can already feel MenuPages and GrubHub shaking in their internet boots. The premise of FoodieBytes is pretty simple; put an ingredient or dish in which you are interested into......

The new Connoisseur Wine Co. at 1041 W. Grand is ready for its close-up. They're celebrating by offering customers who RSVP this weekend complimentary champagne, appetizers, and classic martinis. Efrain Cuevas' last dinner of 2007 features the waterfowl organ delicacy whose name we dare not speak within the city limits. Get on the list if you want to find out more. The Chicago Cultural Center is the setting for "A Winter's Song Madrigal Dinner,"......

If you plan on braving the idiocy that is New Year's Eve on the town, you have made your dinner reservations already, haven't you? After all, if you plan on going out on New Year's Eve and aren't heading to a friend's or a family party, you're already committed to spending money. Why not go all out, dress to the nines, and try out some place you normally wouldn't think of dining? Leave it to......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Chicagoist. Dewars Repeal Day, because you shouldn't take the right to have a drink for granted. Sony Card, because you'll get a free MP3 player if you apply. Love is a Mix Tape, Rob Sheffield's book about women, music, and love. American Express' Urban Adventures-- for information about shopping, dining, and entertainment. Homes for Working Families-- working to make housing affordable in......

'Tis the season for free champagne tastings. Get started tonight at the Artisan Cellar (located on the first floor of the Merchandise Mart) with a sample of some rare bubblies from 4-6 p.m. Learn all about the history of smothered foods from author Wilbert Jones, the author of Smothered Southern Foods. Jones' lecture, "Smothered - Southern Style" is being held Saturday at the Chicago History Museum, sponsored by the Culinary Historians of Chicago. The lecture......

Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh, best known as local culinary mavens the Hearty Boys, have done it again. Not content with everything else they have going on (the catering and restaurant business and the burgeoning media career, for instance), McDonagh and Smith have created a fruitcake recipe that they say will change our perception on how we view this holiday monstrosity. Additionally, McDonagh reveals some of his family's fruitcake traditions in an accompanying article in......

Although the cover story to yesterday's Sun-Times said that diners shouldn't be alarmed, it's hard to not be after reading the sensationalized cover story which listed 21 restaurants whose ice had more bacteria than a toilet in the Sun-Times men's room. A note for downtown workers looking for lunch this afternoon: you may want to buy a bottled drink. The testing of ice cubes from 49 area restaurants found that the unlucky 21 tested for......

Hearts all across Chicago were broken last January when Zephyr closed its doors. We walked past its former space a few days ago and wouldn't you know, construction workers were busy building what looked to be another restaurant. Alas, it won't be Zephyr 2.0 but rather an Irish-style bar and restaurant (pictured), opening in March 2008 (to their best estimate). The workers didn't know what it was going to be called. New York Times writer......

Bridgeport's treated us well. As we've written numerous times both here and elsewhere, the neighborhood grew on us. When we first moved out south eight years ago we never would have thought that we'd have lived here as long as we have; we just thought of Bridgeport as a stop-gap to moving back to the north side. Now it seems like others are clued in to what we knew long ago: this neighborhood rocks.......

We've been digging SceneUnseen's photos all week. Al fresco dining during a free Pritzker Pavilion show (a.k.a. stuffing your face while the Joffrey Ballet grooves) On any given weekend, there's always something new and worth seeing on a Chicago stage. Tried-and-true shows like Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind and Improvised Shakespeare, perfect for treating out of town guests to a laugh. Friendly, helpful people are running the tawniest art galleries. Free......

In our experience, most people who eat at Costello's Sandwich and Sides get the same thing every time. It's their Costello's Match. Former Chicagoist editors Scott Smith and Erin Shea love the Heartland and Smokin' Turk, respectively. Our boyfriend's favorite is the Italian Grinder. For us, our Costello's Match is the Turkey Focaccia. Generally speaking, the Turkey Focaccia is a basic turkey sandwich — turkey, provolone, lettuce, tomato, vinaigrette. But what makes this sandwich......

Last week we wrote of 24 Below Chef Efrain Cuevas' plans to host a goat dinner where he was to personally slaughter and butcher the goat, and how state officials, the USDA, and the po-po advised against doing so. As you can see from the video above the goat, who was named Tony, was indeed slaughtered, just not by Cuevas' hand. Instead, he took Tony to Halsted Packing House and had them do the......

Two stories have us thinking about the continuing evolution of the cinematic experience and the differences between going to see a movie and just watching one. First off, "boutique" theater chain Muvico has signed a letter of intent to occupy two floors of the Block 37 development. The proposed multiplex would have only seven screens, much smaller than the AMC RIver East 21 for example. But (to quote Seinfeld) they'd be draped in velvet, so......

Check, Please! just launched an interactive video-based website today where visitors may send in restaurant recommendations and audition for the show. The site also contains over 300 reviews from the show's run, the one-minute segments that began running on NBC 5 on Tuesdays and Fridays (NBC 5 is a partner in the site). Now you can look up recent reviews in case you missed a recent review or just want to view a truncated......

In what's become an annual feature here at Chicagoist and a personal favorite, we canvassed the staff for some of their best recipes and put together a potluck of amazing proportions to fascinate your taste buds, amaze your family (even the ones entranced by the football games), and bring about peace on earth - or at least in your family - for a few hours through the miracle of tryptophan, simple starches, and sugar......

The Reader's Guide to Late Night Dining is now online, and there's the expected eclectic mix of diners, hot dog stands, taco joints, upscale pub grub, and places where only the fearless dare enter. Even better is that the range of offerings encompasses a wide stretch of the city and connecting suburbs (big love for Gene & Jude's Red Hots in River Grove!). If you're at the stage in life where "I'll sleep when......

It's easy to forget that, with all the hype recently bestowed to the Violet Hour since it opened months ago (much of it warranted, we'll preface), that this city was already teeming with master mixologists before Toby Maloney blew back into town. Case in point, at the recent "Chicago Iron Bartender" competition, Sepia's Peter Vestinos beat out a packed field including Nacional 27's Adam Seger, Tim Lacey of Spring Restaurant Group, and Otom's James Macknyk......

Last week we had a hankering for some lamb. We get this craving with some frequency, most often while in nice restaurants. But we have a problem with cooking certain kinds of meat at home. When at a restaurant we don't hesitate in ordering something medium rare and - when the cut of meat warrants it - even straight up rare. However, we have a hard time recreating those meat conditions when in the comfort......

Many Wicker Park commuters are feeling a little less caffeinated these days since Half & Half (under the Damen Blue Line stop) closed up shop. Owner Debbie Sharpe told Metromix that the quality of the building is to blame. The good news is Sharpe also owns the Goddess and Grocer down the street, and Half & Half's delicious commuter sandwiches and pastries will be available for purchase there. LTH commentors prophecy its space may become......

Since splitting from the Ghetto Gourmet, Efrain Cuevas has fashioned a cottage industry for himself. Between "Cook the Vote", a "singles only" underground supper club, private catering and cooking classes, and his own "Ghetto Gourmet"-style undergorund dining club 24 Below, Cuevas has become increasingly busy on the local dining scene. A dinner Cuevas planned two weeks ago brought about some backlash. Cuevas planned a birria dinner involving a goat he would personally slaughter and butcher.......

The Tribune's Phil Vettel wrote on The Stew this morning about the just-released 2K8 AAA Restaurant and Hotel ratings. Chicago leads the way with more five-diamond rated restaurants than any other city. Furthermore, there are no surprises on the list, since it's identical to last year's awardees. Congratulations are in order to Alinea, Arun's, Avenues, Charlie Trotter's (his fourteenth straight year with a five-diamond rating), Everest, Seasons, and Tru for setting the standard in local......