Dec 15
Bruno’s Bakery
Long before the fast-food chains brought us mass-produced breakfast flatbreads and biscuits filled with freeze-dried, processed, Bac-Os-like substances, Bridgeport’s Bruno’s Bakery was serving up Bacon Rolls. A soft dinner roll fresh-stuffed with generous portions of real bacon—fat, grease and all—they come roaring out of the hot oven every morning, and the day’s batch is usually gone by ten. It is the type of food that Jurgis Rudkus, the Lithuanian main character of Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” would have scarfed down in the pre-dawn hours on the way to his shift at The Stockyards. In fact, Bruno’s is located about four blocks away from Chicago’s last slaughterhouse, Chiappetti Lamb and Veal. In business for over fifty years, Bruno’s was around during the final days of Chicago’s “Killing Floor.” Located on an almost unknown street, Lituanica, (one block west of Halsted), Bruno’s is nestled into a building located in the middle of the block. Bruno’s is a reminder of the era when, from Little Italy on Taylor Street, to the Greek’s in Greektown, to the Jews along Devon, to the Swedes in Andersonville, to the Germans on North Lincoln Avenue, dawn in Chicago meant hot ovens and the wonderful smells of an ethnic neighborhood bakery on almost every block. Bruno’s old wooden shelves are stocked not only with bacon rolls, but their special recipe for Lithuanian sour rye bread. Thick, hearty and full of grains, it is darker, heavier and has much more flavor and texture than its anemic, albino cousin Polish Rye (also sold at Bruno’s), and it’s much more dense and unique than high-end bakery sourdoughs. With the 2009 closing of Healthy Foods, Bruno’s also represents the final vestiges of Lithuanian culture and heritage in Bridgeport.
Bruno’s Bakery
3341 South Lituanica
(773)254-6376
Best of Chicago 2011
Dec 15
Arcade Brewery
This new brewery hasn’t started mass-producing their arcade-themed beers like the 8-Bit Grapefruit IPA yet, but when brewing goes full throttle next year, everyone will be able to sample the hoppy goodness. The crowd-sourcing involves getting fans and comic-book illustrators like Tony Moore to design labels for the beers, helping to bridge the gap between drinker and manufacturer. It doesn’t hurt that the brewery is co-owned by Threadless warehouse director Lance Curran, who obviously knows something about building an interactive community.
Arcade Brewery
arcadebrewery.com
Best of Chicago 2011
Dec 15
Phoenix Bean
There’s no “tofu for sale” sign here, just an unassuming factory-like door on the west side of Broadway, just north of Uptown. Through it, orders are placed directly from the entryway to the tofu-making line in the next room. Owner Jenny Yang sniffed out the discreet spot, literally smelling it while walking down the avenue several years ago. She ended up purchasing the business, which supplies many Asian restaurants. Phoenix Bean, a small tofu factory in the Edgewater neighborhood, sells freshly made firm and soft tofu, as well as bean milk, soy milk and bean sprouts at hard-to-beat wholesale prices. Touting themselves as one of the first tofu producers in Chicago, the company, which was already thirty years old when Yang bought it, prides itself on using non-genetically altered soy bean products.
Phoenix Bean
5438 North Broadway
(773)784-2503
Best of Chicago 2011
Dec 15
Five Guys
Five Guys’ burgers are pretty fine, but what makes the place is the fries. Their fries are natural cut, with skins, from fresh potatoes. Fried right in front of the customers, their scent wafts and tantalizes everyone within a block radius. And when they are finished cooking the fries, Five Guys doesn’t just give them to you, they stuff the bags with them: a large order easily serves four.
Five Guys
1456 East 53rd, (773)363-6090
2140 North Clybourn, (773)327-5953
2368 North Clark, (773)883-8930
3219 North Broadway, (773)327-1453
6477 North Sheridan, (773)262-9810
816 Church, Evanston, (847)491-6921
fiveguys.com
Audience choice:
Five Guys
Best of Chicago 2011
Dec 15
Willie’s Wildcat Cookbook
We’d expect recipes from Northwestern University alum like Cindy Crawford (Banana Bread); Bobby Flay and his NU alum wife and occasional Iron Chef judge Stephanie March (Coffee Rubbed Filet Mignon with Ancho Mushroom Sauce); or Stephanie Izard (Cucumber Salad with a Kick!) in “Willie’s Wildcat Cookbook.” But what about Jim Freeland’s game-day breakfast Zucchini Pancakes? They’re also good for the morning after the game. Freeland is the executive chef for Lou Malnati’s thirty Chicago-area locations. And there’s McCormick & Schmick’s chef William King’s Pancetta-Wrapped Prawns. Favorite tailgate recipes from alum like The Spice House owners Patty and Tom Erd (Bloody Mary; Burgers with a Kick) match the athletic veins running through the colorful cookbook. Stacy and head football coach Pat Fitzgerald share their recipe for Chicken Parmesan Casserole. Proceeds from sales of this collection of recipes and cooking tips, which Northwestern University published in September, will benefit athletic departments at Northwestern University.
Willie’s Wildcat Cookbook
Northwestern University, 352 pages, $25
Best of Chicago 2011
Dec 15
The Snail Thai Cuisine
The beautiful thing about Thai cuisine is that, unlike other food from that region of the world, most chefs know it doesn’t have to be fancy or arranged in a superficial way for the experience to be amazing. The Snail does just that. Keeps it simple, but keeps it authentically and amazingly delicious.
The Snail Thai Cuisine
1649 East 55th
(773)667-5423
snailthai.com
Audience choice:
Opart Thai House
4658 North Western
(773)989-8517
opartthai.com
Best of Chicago 2011
Dec 15
Half Acre growler
Come prepared to share with a glass jug filled with made-in-Chicago ale. Half Acre’s growlers can be filled with their signature brews, including Gossamer and Daisy Cutter, or the seasonal Big Hugs imperial stout, sure to warm the heart and the gut.
Half Acre
4257 North Lincoln
(773)248-4038
halfacrebeer.com
Best of Chicago 2011
Dec 15
Halo Asian Mix
Hawaii’s cuisine reflects the state’s melting-pot ethnic makeup, with native Hawaiian, Japanese, Filipino, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese and mainland American influences. Most of these cultures get their own section on the menu of this tiny lunch counter, and everything’s delicious. For a taste of authentic diner fare, order a plate lunch: chicken katsu, barbecue or hamburger steak plus “two scoop rice” and macaroni salad. Or try Spam loco moco (grilled slices over rice with brown gravy and two fried eggs) or Spam musubi (sushi-style with rice and seaweed). Throw in a bubble tea smoothie and take a culinary vacation to the islands.
Halo Asian Mix
29 East Adams
(312)360-1111
facebook.com/haloasianmix
Best of Chicago 2011
Dec 15
Bridgeport Pasty Company
Sorry foodies. While food trucks are a fun way to buy gourmet mac and cheese, cupcakes and naanwiches, these gas-guzzling lorries are far from a sustainable business model. Enter Bridgeport Pasty and their environmentally friendly GEM (Global Electric Motorcar) vehicle. Husband-and-wife team Carrie Clark and Jay Sebastian bake pasties (“pass-tees,” as opposed to the “pace-tees” worn by burlesque dancers)—savory, football-shaped pastries that are the national dish of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Since they sell them out of the tiny, nearly emissions-free truck, customers get to enjoy the aroma of meat pies rather than monoxide.
Bridgeport Pasty Company
Bridgeportpasty.com
Best of Chicago 2011
Dec 15
Chicago Chocolate Tours
Guided two-hour crawls lead as many tourists as locals through one of Chicago’s most notoriously vice-ridden underbellies: that of our sugary network of cupcakeries. “Cupcakes have been around long enough now that they are more than a trend; cupcakes are here to stay,” says Valerie Beck, president, founder and self-proclaimed “Chief Executive Chocolate Lover” of Chicago Chocolate Tours. The Downtown Loop Cupcake Route meets at the fountain at Macy’s on State Street and samples some of the more popular varieties at shops like Sarah’s Pastries and Candies (Black and White), Flirty Cupcakes (A Raspberry Stole My Heart) and at mySpa in the Fairmont Hotel. Beck’s Gold Coast Cupcake Route meets in the lobby at 900 North Michigan and tastes at spots like Swirlz Cupcakes (gluten-free pumpkin cream cheese), More (Bacon Maple; Feta Cranberry) and Hendrickx Belgian Bread Crafter. Beck says the current trend is salted caramel, a flavor evident in samples at tour spots like Loop-route stop Toni Patisserie (Salted Caramel Tarts). A nominee this year for the tenth annual Chicago Innovation awards, the six-year-old tour company has expanded to guide tours in Boston and Philadelphia.
Chicago Chocolate Tours
Downtown Loop Cupcake Route
Tuesdays at 3:45pm, meets at Macy’s, 111 North State
Gold Coast Cupcake Route
Thursdays at 4:45pm, meets at 900 North Michigan
(312)929-2939
chicagochocolatetours.com
Best of Chicago 2011
