Food and Restaurants

Tofu cut in cubes. Firm tofu on white plate. Vegan protein food.

Firm, extra firm, silken — tofu types and how to prepare, serve them

Knowing how you want to cook it or use it in your favorite recipe will help you choose the right kind.

Caffeinated competition: World's best tasters grind in Chicago at Specialty Coffee Expo

The city is hosting its first World Coffee Championships — or the “coffee Olympics,” as one organizer put it — which cover a variety of java jousts, from tasting to brewing and latte art.

By Violet Miller

Obituaries

Hans Aeschbacher, beloved chef for Bulls, Blackhawks, dead at 80

As executive chef at the old Chicago Stadium and the United Center in the early 1990s, he cooked for athletes and their families as well as team owners. He later headed the kitchen for Smith & Wollensky and also worked at Chicago Cut Steakhouse.

By Mitch Dudek

PIZZA-041124 2.jpg. Mario Espinosa stands for a portrait at Michael’s Original Pizzeria in Buena Park on Wednesday, April 10, 2024. Mario has been the manager at Michael’s for 20+ years. | Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times

Food and Restaurants

Where do you find the best 'Chicago-style' pizza? Yelp says it's in California

Michael’s Original Pizzeria & Tavern in Uptown was the only Chicago pizzeria to break into the Top 10 on the list.

By Stefano Esposito

Chef and caterer Julius Russell holding a glass of red wine

Obituaries

Julius Russell, personal chef and caterer to Ye, Dwyane Wade, dies at 53

The Chicagoan quit a career in sales to pursue his dream of being a chef.

By Mitch Dudek

Springfield

Pritzker pitches grants to open new stores in food deserts

The governor announced the second phase of the Illinois Grocery Initiative, which includes a round of grant funding for new grocers in food deserts.

By Mariah Rush

Food and Restaurants

Green City Market opens 25th season earlier than ever, bringing thousands to Lincoln Park

The opening day for the market featured double the number of early season vendors, many of whom sold out in the market’s first few hours as crowds flocked to purchase farm fresh produce.

By Violet Miller

Columnists

Can hot honey pizza save Chicago?

Lou Malnati’s joins with Mike’s Hot Honey for a new take on deep-dish.

By Neil Steinberg

Food and Restaurants

4 Chicago restaurants, chefs among 2024 James Beard Award finalists

Seventeen local eateries/chefs had been nominated as semifinalists earlier this year.

By Miriam Di Nunzio

Food and Restaurants

Dan Pashman created a new shape of pasta, and his new cookbook expands pasta's possibilities

Pashman — a James Beard Award winner and Webby Award-winning podcaster behind The Sporkful — got to work creating mind-bending pasta dishes,.

By Mark Kennedy | AP Entertainment Writer

A bowl of ramen noodles with chopsticks and green onions, with steam rising from the bowl. Generative AI

Taste

Simply delicious — The Asian noodles Americans are crushing on

Americans’ appetite for noodles is substantial — to the tune of 5.95 billion pounds of them consumed each year.

By Food Drink Life

Consumer Affairs

What's a good egg? Learn what free range, cage free really mean on labels

Understanding the different labels on egg cartons can be confusing with some descriptions even misleading, according to experts.

By Aidan Sadovi | For the Sun-Times

Food and Restaurants

Clark Street closure for outdoor dining 'pending mayoral review,' Ald. Reilly says

A stretch of Clark Street between Grand Avenue and Kinzie Street has been a hotbed for Chicago’s outdoor dining program, but its future remains uncertain.

By Abby Miller

Beverly Kim and her husband Johnny Clark are photographed inside their Avondale-based restaurant Parachute.|

Food and Restaurants

Parachute Hi-Fi set opening this summer from chefs Beverly Kim, Johnny Clark

Offering “high-fidelity sound [and] creative Korean American cuisine,” the casual bar and restaurant will be retrofitted into what previously was their Parachute restaurant on Elston Avenue.

By Miriam Di Nunzio

Food and Restaurants

Heinz ketchup dispensers going up in famously anti-ketchup Chicago — starting outside the Wieners Circle

The company wants to support what it calls the silent majority of ketchup lovers by placing small ketchup-dispensing billboards outside restaurants that don’t serve the brand.

By David Struett

A worker at Katherine Anne Confections arranges a display of chocolate candies.

Food and Restaurants

Rising cocoa prices have Chicago chocolate sellers feeling the pinch

With Easter around the corner, chocolate makers and food businesses are feeling the impact of soaring global cocoa prices, which is also hitting consumers.

By Amy Yee

News

Former Signature Room workers awarded $1.5 million in back pay, benefits

Unite Here Local 1, representing the workers at the Signature Room and its lounge, said in a lawsuit in October the employer failed to give 60 days notice of a closing or mass layoff, violating state law.

By Kaitlin Washburn and Jessica Ma

Logan Square

Logan Square Farmers Market moves south ahead of construction project

The market is holding a “dry run” on Sunday, April 7, at its temporary location on Kedzie Avenue, between the monument and Fullerton Avenue, before the market opens on May 12.

By David Struett

Business

Krispy Kreme doughnuts are coming to McDonald's

McDonald’s plans to make original glazed, chocolate iced with sprinkles and filled chocolate iced doughnuts available daily in a rollout that the company says will run through 2026 at its 13,500 U.S. locations.

By Associated Press

Food and Restaurants

Chicago’s Ukrainian community can’t get enough of this new Lincoln Park cafe

Soloway Coffee opened its first U.S. location in Chicago.

By Eater Chicago