Category: Food & Drink

Quick Takes

Proprietary Blends Make Their Mark

Riccardo’s Redux: Phil Stefani Makes Over an Old Favorite

Cleaning Up the Image of Chinese Cuisine

First Impressions and Second Takes Open only three months, Ringo, a quaint, cheerful Japanese restaurant, already shows great promise. Chef-owner Kazunobu Yoshikawa and his partner, brother-in-law Eugene Chua, aren’t new to the business. Chua’s been rolling sushi in Chicago since 1996–for the first year at Byerly’s grocery store and for the last three as a […]

Eric Futran’s Visual Feast

Zealous is spacious and monochromatic, backlit by translucent bays that emphasize the upscale airport lounge look. The flight attendants, in matching gray suits, are obsequious yet slow, presenting with grave earnestness the predinner “amusement,” which fits securely into a turbulence-resistant tray tabletop. The menu jets from cuisine to cuisine with alarming speed. Our attendant described […]

Recent Arrivals

Noon-O-Kabob takes its skewers seriously

The Full Irish

Lula’s Cafe’s Local Flavors

Michael Altenberg of Evanston’s Campagnola has a straightforward ingredient-driven approach to fine cooking: seek out the best, mess with it the least, and create a masterpiece. When he and partner Steve Schwartz opened their rustic Italian restaurant in 1996, they launched themselves on a fanatical quest for the best possible ingredients nationwide. The 37-year-old chef […]

Recent Arrivals

Earth Market Fortifies the Neighborhood

All Over the Map