Abuelita Dircia wanted to know why there’s no rice and beans or sancocho on her niña’s menu. You might know “niña,” aka chef Angelina Bastidas, from her work at the late AMK Kitchen Bar and BIN 36. Or maybe you know her from her turns on Top Chef or Bong Appetit; or her private, fine-dining […]
Category: Food & Drink Feature
Posted inFood & Drink
Chick-Feel-Gay puns in the face of oppression at Monday Night Foodball
As recent events have demonstrated, public mockery, scorn, and derision are effective, legitimate means to achieve justice. And to that end, the Monday Night Foodball team loves a powerful pun, which is why we are right chuffed to welcome Dani Kaplan to the Reader’s weekly chef pop up at the Kedzie Inn. Up until January, […]
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Pig & Fire present Filipino pork belly tacos and sizzling pig face at Monday Night Foodball
When I first tap-tap-tapped the glassy, porky exterior of Roel Estanilla’s lechón back in January, I knew he was Monday Night Foodball material. Just a shard of the crispy skin jacketing the lush roasted pork belly would be worth the price of a ticket to the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up series at Irving Park’s Kedzie Inn. […]
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Drink Your High: Cannabis Beverages v. Traditional Edibles
Whether you’re trying cannabis for the first time or an avid consumer, edibles are seen as an approachable method of consumption. They are clearly dosed and straightforward to use- no additional papers, fire, or gear required. There are options for everyone – vegan, gluten free, sugar free – as well as a wide variety of […]
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Ricky Hanft is bringing German deep cuts to the next Monday Night Foodball
Ricky Hanft is the sausage king of northwest Indiana. Currently in the case at the Wurst—his Griffith, Indiana, butcher shop—he’s stocking 30 different varieties of encased meats: among them French morteau, Ukrainian kovbasa, Vietnamese cha lua and cha bo, Armenian sujuk, Irish black pudding, North African Merguez, and Cajun boudin. There not a single jalapeño-cheddar […]
Posted inFood & Drink Feature
Sfera Sicilian Street Food ghosts its virtual kitchen
In the Before Times, Daniela Vitale and Steven Jarczyk made a name for themselves selling cheesy, gooey, deep-fried rice balls at farmers’ markets. Like many nimble food businesses, their Sfera Sicilian Street Food pivoted during the pandemic, jarring sauces and delivering their arancini chilled and ready to reheat at home. In October 2020, things took […]
Posted inFood & Drink Column
Tigist Reda feeds you for Tigray at Monday Night Foodball
Thousands of civilians have been tortured, imprisoned, murdered, sexually assaulted, and expelled; their homes occupied and looted by an invading military that has blocked humanitarian aid from reaching those left behind. No, it’s not Ukraine. It’s the northern Tigray region of Ethiopia, which has been under siege since November 2020 when a civil war broke […]
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Annie Xiang wants you to wake up and smell the pu’er
Annie Xiang’s son answered her morning coffee with violence. “He was just kicking me in my belly,” says Xiang, at the time a tax manager at a Big Four accounting firm downtown. Hoping to advance to partner, she worked 70- to 90-hour weeks fueled by 32 ounces of Intelligentsia coffee per day—no cream, no sugar. […]
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Become one with the bowl for the return of Bokuchan’s Curry House at Monday Night Foodball
During the pandemic, Shin Thompson and Liga Sigal established themselves as masters of carryout curry—specifically karē, the alluring, enveloping, Snuggie-in-a-bowl that is Japan’s great gift to global comfort and reassurance. Maybe you’re skeptical. What’s so hard about packing a thick, warmly-spiced, root veggie-stocked edible lava in a plastic jewel box and sending it on its […]
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There’s as much Desi-barbecue, masala cheesesteak, and chocolate as you can handle from Dhuann BBQ Company and Maa Maa Dei at Monday Night Foodball
Sheal Patel’s wife Shelly does not eat beef. That’s not unless it’s the Philly Masala, the gooey Desi-cheesesteak mashup that’s the signature of the Dhuaan BBQ Company, the weekly Pilsen-based pop-up he’s maintained for more than a year. I’ve flipped a couple vegetarians by barbecue over the years, so I know how satisfying that can […]
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Worlds collide with Flavor Supreme and Lolo Agogo of Monday Snack Gathering at Monday Night Foodball
Did you miss the good times last Monday, when Joey Pham (@flavorsupreme), Kelly Ijichi (Mom’s Chicago), and their Monday Snack Gathering* cohort conjured magic from the depths of the Kedzie Inn’s roiling deep fryer? Chicken gyoza showered in black truffles flew around the dining room like a flock of sizzling hummingbirds. From that you’d never […]
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It’s deep-fried dopamine from Flavor Supreme and Mom’s Chicago on Monday Night Foodball
“Mom” is the nickname of the deep fryer at the Kedzie Inn,* so it’s a delicious coincidence that Kelly Ijichi of Mom’s Chicago will be on the baskets, dunking barbecued eel croquettes, chicken gyoza, and shrimp cutlets at the next Monday Night Foodball, the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up series. “The most beautiful thing for us […]
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The best tortillas are made with Michigan (and Mexican) corn
When Aaron Harris’s wife adopted a gluten-free diet he had to start from scratch when it came to tacos. He was raised on his grandmother’s homemade flour tortillas, and she was raised in Chihuahua, where wheat supersedes corn. “She and my mom would make big stacks of flour tortillas, and we would eat those with […]
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Get it hot, sweet, and wet on Monday Night Foodball, featuring Hot Mix Beef
I can’t name two more worldly bon vivants than Eric May and Titus Ruscitti. May, caterer, executive director of Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center, and former head chef at Ox-bow School of Art; and Ruscitti, food writer and taco scholar, have eaten prodigiously all over the world—and in every corner and crevice of the […]
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Thattu and Maa Maa Dei unite for a congee collab at Monday Night Foodball
Congee is for when you’re sick. Congee is for when you’re cold. Congee is for when you need to immerse yourself in the warm womblike comfort of a steamy bowl of rice porridge. Or if you’re Margaret Pak of Thattu or Jaye Fong of Maa Maa Dei, congee is for anytime. Pak eats Keralan congee, […]