Hello. My name is Lauren Elyse, and I cook for fun. And now I write about Chicagoans who write books about cooking for fun. Confused? Follow me. Let me take […]

Last Sunday was the night before the James Beard awards iconic first hosting in Chicago, and a panel of three well known Chicago restaurateurs and chefs (and one from New […]

As tax season fades from our memories for another 360 days, it was perhaps apt that I had a chance to speak with the founder of the Cooking the Books […]

    Part Two, continued from April21st post. Around us were three huge tanks of kombucha in various states of completeness. We walked over to look at the mother scoby […]

The history Kombucha is an ancient fermented tea drink from Russia (or possibly China) which contains probiotics and a powerful punch to one’s tastebuds. After a brief kombucha brewing experiment […]

It was a cold spring afternoon and we were headed downtown to the theater via Division Street, that razor’s edge between Wicker Park and Ukrainian Village. The boundary used to matter, […]

Guest author Bill Savage teaches Chicago literature and history at Northwestern University and the Newberry Library of Chicago. His scholarship and research focus on Nelson Algren, but also extend to […]

This is the first installment in an every-so-often series where I take on the challenges of charcuterie which, according to Larousse Gastronomique (1961), is “The art of preparing various meats, […]

I am a foodie, but the good kind, you know, who hates the word “foodie.” And Chicago is a foodie-who-hates-the-word-foodie kind of town, from its wet Italian beefs and deep […]

I love seeing how food and beverages are made. Sadly, the M&M Mars facility on Oak Park Avenue is locked up tighter than Willy Wonka’s and the Vienna Beef factory […]

I consider myself to be competent in a kitchen, but if you want to unsettle me quickly, just ask me to make you some homemade pasta. I’ve long considered pasta […]

Back in January, I decided that 2016 was the year I said “yes” to opportunity and didn’t even bother to qualify it by adding “within reason.” That’s how I found […]