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Food Stories

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Get Your Lederhosen Ready: Oktoberfest Events and Other Food Festivals to Explore in Chicago This September

Get your lederhosen ready, because the Chicago area’s September food events calendar is packed with several Oktoberfests, specialty food festivals, wine strolls, and plenty of other ways to enjoy the last warm days of the year.

A headshot of Christian Hunter

Logan Square Is Getting a Midwestern-Meets-French Bistro from Chef Christian Hunter

Hunter came to Chicago to open Atelier and garnered it a Michelin star. Now he's opening a more casual restaurant that aims to bridge high and low. 

A dish of rigatoni alla vodka topped with basil

Two Critics Walk into Ciccio Mio, a Yelp Top 100 Restaurant

Yelp Top 100 restaurants generally don't get lots of critical attention. What’s behind the gap between critical praise and the mushier space comprising what a lot of the public honest-to-goodness likes? 

A biker rides past a line in front of a building

In an Age of Lines and Viral Pastries, What’s It Like to Be a Regular Neighborhood Bakery?

The bakery scene in Chicago is arguably the best it has ever been. But the bakery boom doesn’t only include the viral places that attract lines and social media attention.

Ice cream coolers against a wall

Chicago's Willy Wonka of Ice Cream

Dana Cree has created over 300 flavors of ice cream bar for her Pretty Cool Ice Cream, ranging from the nostalgic Dreamsicle to the wacky green bean casserole. She harnesses chemistry and creativity to thrive within her medium's constraints.

Iryna and Artur Yuzvik pose in their restaurant Abrah, next to a photo of a small pistachio Kyiv cake

A Ukrainian Couple Builds a New Life in Chicago, While Maintaining Their Business and Employees Back Home

The Yuzviks have opened two Soloway Coffee locations and Abrah Bakery in Chicago, but still roast their coffee in Ukraine, where they have some 60 employees. 

Veggie tacos with lime laid out on dark wood cutting board

Recipes

Za'atar flatbreads from Milk Street. Photo: Connie Miller of CB Creatives

Make Your Own Middle Eastern-Style Flatbread, Courtesy of 'Milk Street'

This versatile dough from Christopher Kimball's Milk Street incorporates Greek yogurt for some extra chewiness (and ease of making it). It can be topped with za'atar and sesame seeds or anything else, or simply baked plain to use with dips. 

Pandan Crinkle Cookies. Photo: Courtesy Mia P. Manansala

Savor the "Quintessentially Filipino" Flavor of Pandan in These Crinkle Cookies

“It’s kind of like a grassy vanilla, maybe with some coconut or floral overtones,” says author Mia P. Manansala of pandan, which flavors numerous Southeast Asian desserts. That includes Manansala's crinkle cookie recipe, which she shares ahead of an upcoming book.

A bowl of Hoppin' John on a table between plates and glasses

Make the Porky Rice-and-Peas Hoppin' John for New Year's Day, with Help from 'Cook's Country'

The porky rice-and-pea dish Hoppin' John is often eaten on New Year's Day in the South. Try Cook's Country's adaptation of Gullah Geechee cook Emily Meggett's original version. 

Buffalo cauliflower. Photo: iStock

A Recipe from Forty Acres Fresh Market, Which is Bringing a Grocery Store to the West Side

Liz Abunaw envisions the coming brick-and-mortar Forty Acres Fresh Market as "the place where you are in the middle of making a dish," like her recipe for buffalo cauliflower, "and you run out of something and you run up two blocks to go get it." 

An orange cup on a wooden table filled with frozen yogurt with strawberries

FroYo Bites for Kids

For a delicious and healthy snack for your children, look no further than one of Donkey Hodie’s favorites, FroYo! These little bites are easy to make, and your kids will love the sweet and tangy flavor. 

A bowl of yellow moong beans

A Recipe for Yellow Dal from 'Indian As Apple Pie'

Dal, which encompasses legumes such as lentils, peas, and beans, is a category in South Asian cuisine almost as broad as curry. Try a simple, comforting one from Anupy Singla. 

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Food Series

Alpana Sing at Check, Please! table

Check, Please!

The Emmy-winning local restaurant review series from WTTW Chicago features host, master sommelier, and restaurateur Alpana Singh sitting down with three “regular person” guest reviewers as they compare notes on their experiences at three Chicago-area eateries.

Won Kim holding spray-painting concrete wall outside

Chefs Off the Clock

Discover the ways Chicago’s celebrity chefs unwind after they clock out of the kitchen. Get to know another side of these interesting personalities who — while known for their passion and work ethic in the kitchen — are fascinating and passionate people in their personal lives as well.

Woman in restuarant at POS register

FOODPHILES

Meet the people who feed you. This series takes you into the kitchen, behind the bar, and into the field to introduce you to a chef or restaurateur who prepares food and libations as they share their personal stories and insights about the meaning of their work, how they got into the hospitality business, and why they have such a passion for what they do.

Geoffrey Baer eating Chicago-style hot dog at bar and looking at camera

Foods of Chicago

Join Geoffrey Baer as he plays both taste tester and tour guide, exploring the little-known stories behind Chicago's favorite foods! Along this delectable journey, learn how the Chicago-style hot dog came into being, discover the connection between Al Capone and Jay's Potato Chips, take a tour down Chicago's New Maxwell Street Market, learn about the birth of the classic SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE "cheezborger" routine from the Billy Goat tavern, and so much more!

Sarah Grueneberg

Dishalicious

This cooking demonstration program filmed before a live audience in WTTW's Grainger Studio is hosted by Sarah Grueneberg, James Beard award-winning chef/owner of Chicago's Monteverde and runner-up on "Iron Chef" and "Iron Chef Gauntlet." Each week, Sarah is joined by three extraordinary local chefs who band together to prepare a unique meal.

Illustration of apples with eyes and mouths on apple tree being picked off by child

Food Thoughts

Healthy eating and food education are essential to preparing the very youngest members of our community for school and life. Pilot Light and WTTW team up to encourage healthy eating with FOOD THOUGHTS, an animated series of videos for kids and families. Puppy chef host “Puprika” joins a diverse group of children and families to visit their homes, gardens, farms, and schools.

Food News