Copper Fox Gastopub, Chicago, Dec. 2018
Valeria and I enjoyed the days around Christmas and New Year's very much this year, and I hope you did, too. A couple of days before Christmas we took in…
Lazy Dog, Vernon Hills, IL, Dec. 2018
The Lazy Dog, which opened this month in Vernon Hills, is the newest member of a chain of casual restaurants (32 locations, mostly in California). Founder Chris Simms says the concept…
Bellemore, Chicago, November, 2018
Valeria and I made our first visit to Bellemore, a (relatively) new restaurant in the Boka Restaurant Group, back in August. We were impressed by the ambience, food, wine, and…
The Chocolate Sanctuary, Gurnee, IL, Nov. 2018
Valeria and I usually save our dining out for when we are in downtown Chicago, where there is a seemingly infinite number of restaurants to choose from. However, there are…
Swift & Sons, Chicago, September 2018
Chicago has a long history of great steakhouses stretching back to 1865. That's the year the Union Stock Yards opened to slaughter and process farm animals brought in, primarily by…
Bondir, Cambridge, MA, Sept. 2018
You may be lucky enough to have a friend who is a professional chef and occasionally invites you over for dinner. While I count two professional chefs as friends, neither…
Mooncusser Fish House, Boston, Sept., 2018
Boston is known as a seafood town, which is not exactly surprising given its location right on the Atlantic Ocean near some of the best fishing waters in the world…
Still Flying High: Oriole, Chicago, September 2018
Oriole is the best restaurant in Chicago. There, I said it. I don't normally proclaim anything "the best" simply because it almost always involves both objective criteria and subjective criteria. Food that…
Bellemore, Chicago, August 2018
Almost a year ago now, Chicago's Boka Restaurant Group, in partnership with Chef Jimmy Papadopoulos, presented Bellemore, a big, open restaurant with an eclectic, modern interior designed by Karen Herold of Studio…
Portsmith, Chicago, June, 2018
Chicago has always been a great town for steak lovers, but good seafood restaurants have been harder to find if you wanted more than a fried fish sandwich. Happily, more…
