Chicago Foodies

Food Truck Pioneer Matt Maroni Parks Gaztro-Wagon for Good

Though nowhere near as ubiquitous as their counterparts in Los Angeles or New York City, Chicago's food trucks slowly gained steam in 2011: They had their own Wednesday afternoon meet-up at North and Clybourn, plus added attention from Time Out writer Heather Shouse's book, Food Trucks: Dispatches and Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels. As food truck owners became more united around the common cause to legalize on-board cooking (which is currently prohibited in Chicago), their unquestionable leader was Gaztro-Wagon's Matt Maroni. Now, the pioneer tells Eater that he'll no longer operate the Gaztro-Wagon truck and its Edgewater storefront (another owner will take over operations) plus he'll scale back his duties as former executive chef at Morso. What does this mean for the future of the city's favorite mobile kitchens?  

Eating Gluten Free is Hard! Or is it?

I was tested years ago for food allergies and the blood tests proved to be inconclusive so I never pursued it further. On a recent trip to my doctor she was reviewing some of the old lab results as reference for our conversation and noted that although I tested negative for Celiac Disease my scores were on the higher end of the range. She recommended eliminating gluten from my diet for a couple of weeks to see if it made a difference. She said, “Really, how hard could it be?” How hard could it be? My initial thought was extremely hard. I had been eating wheat at every meal every day of my life. It took me several weeks just to mentally prepare myself for the task. I decided to start the diet on a day that I went to The Loving Hut in Edgewater for lunch and noticed gluten free symbols next to several dishes. I was encouraged to see that I could go gluten free and still enjoy going out to eat.

St. Patrick's Day and Beyond at the Ole St. Andrew's Inn

If for some reason you were not able to make it out by March 17th to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, you have until the end of the week to enjoy cheap Guinness and shepherds pie at the Ole St. Andrew’s Inn.  This Edgewater favorite is keeping the Guinness flowing all week at just $4 per pint.  $4 will also get you a pint of Smithwick’s or a shot of Jameson.  Traditional Irish fare is on the menu to include their standard fish and chips with jalapeno tarter sauce, shepherds pie and corned beef and cabbage, each for just under $10. 

Apart Pizza

    After a night of holiday drinking we came home to find nothing in the fridge and a hankering for pizza.  Knowing that our favorite deep dish from Guillivers in Rogers Park would take much longer than our hunger could stand we decided to go in the opposite direction (both in location and pizza style) and order traditional Italian style pizza from Apart Pizza in Andersonville.  Since we had never ordered from there the guy on the phone was very helpful in making recommendations as they have 24 different varieties on the menu to choose from. 

en•Thai•ce – Ya get it?

I've driven past en•Thai•ce several times and shaken my head. It always reminded me of a hair salon's attempt to be funny. In any case months later I ended up getting delivery and it was terrific.  

The Little India Restaurant

I first heard of The Little India Restaurant on Bryn Mawr at the Edgewater Dinner Crawl.  After sampling their samosas at the event I decided to head back to the restaurant to try more but unfortunately, was not as impressed the second time around.

Edgewater Dinner Crawl – This Thursday Night

Sorry I didn't get this up sooner. Tomorrow night Thursday the 26th is the Edgewater Dinner Crawl.
Tickets are $25 each and if you order online you get a free subscription to Timeout Chicago.  A portion of proceeds also goes to a charity that you specify online as well. In addition to food local theatre companies will be entertaining as well as historic home tours and hand/chair massages. Not to mention free Red Bull.

Participating restaurants:

Apart Pizza // Anna Held // Ben's Noodle & Rice //Bryn Mawr Deli // Cotes du Rhone
Flourish Bakery Cafe // Francesca's Bryn Mawr // Pepitone's // Sabai-Dee // Shinobu Japanese
Starbucks // Sweet Occasions & more // That Little Mexican Cafe // The Little India Restaurant

Order by phone: :  773-856-5191 or 773-506-4016 Or HERE on line

The event is put on by the local Edgewater Development Council

TVP: Textured Vegetable Protein

Who says eating healthy is expensive. TVP is the great equalizer. The problem is where to get it? Dominick's may have it but nobody seems to know what it is. The Devon Market? Of course they have it. I  was on hold listening to Ambrosia's "That's How Much" while they found it. It's 14oz of Soy Salud, "Textured Soy Strips" for $3.99  which hydrates to 3-4 pounds?  It's the most cost effective substitute out there. You read online about it and unfortunately get sci-fi descriptions...

Ras Dashen

I've been to several Ethiopian restaurants and while the sour injera leaves my hand sort of dry and the dining process is really neat, I've never really had a craving for Ethiopian food. Maybe it's a change of taste, maybe it's a revved up appreciation for something different or maybe it's the food and atmosphere at Ras Dashen that has me looking forward to more frequent Ethiopian dinners.

Wing Hoe: Northside Chinese Delivery Redemption

This is a follow-up to my lamenting over many awful Chinese delivery experiences. I had several helpful comments and decided last night on Wing Hoe. My aunt lives across the street on Sheridan and shares the love. As we were fairly hungry we just went with the plain old dinner for two. Mongolian beef, empress chicken, egg rolls, steamed rice, spare ribs, fried shrimp... it was enough food even as we subbed the steamed rice in for the pork fried. They let you subsititute as well which is awesome so I'll give it another shot soon with dishes that I tend to like more. It was good. The egg rolls actually were great.

Alice and Friends

Alice and Friends is a vegetarian restaurant on the north side in Edgewater. I've been there several times and have never had a bad meal. I'll go as far as saying that it's not only my go-to veggie spot, it may be my favorite restaurant in Edgewater. It's also almost entirely vegan.

The un-meat selection consists of beef, duck, chicken alternatives and my dinner companion questioned how it was possible for someone who doesn't eat meat to make food that tastes like meat. How can the chefs be vegetarians? Who knows but the bottom line is that the different pseudo-meats are disturbingly close to the genuine article.

Golden Pacific – Northside Asian Market

Come and walk through the gates of Golden Pacific, an Asian market in the Edgewater neighborhood. Here you will find various foodstuff that cater to Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian and Indian cuisines. What draws me to this store over any of the stores in Uptown's Argyle neighborhood, is the very pristine nature inside.

Everyday Thai

I love Thai food, and Chicago is a great city for it.  There are at least 4 Thai restaurants in a 3 block radius by my house in Edgewater and I frequent every one of them, they all do it a little differently so it's never the same dish twice.

So when Everyday Thai opened (2 months ago) up on Devon I was definitely eager to try it.  The restaurant was spacious and clean, serving lunch, dinner and delivery until 10pm. The menu had all of the Thai dishes you would expect, nothing new or out of the ordinary, which is OK since there are places down the street like Blue Elephant (also on Devon) that are a little more adventurous. 

East Africa Restaurant: My Somali Breakfast

It's nice being off on President's Day. So what to do for breakfast? With M. Henry just down the street on Clark what should I do? Get my car washed and have some Somali food. As my car filled up with gas at the Marathon station I noticed, as I've noticed for a long time, East Africa Restaurant and decided on a quick bite.

They make no effort to hide the nature of the spot. It's a cabbie place and to be honest they seemed surprised to see me stay to eat. It's not a pretty restaurant. But the food is pretty cheap, the menu is sparse and the decor consists of a pool table that is covered with plaster and a computer for internet access.

Viet Bistro

There's always something fun about going to a new restaurant. I'm always hoping it will be something new and when the place is 3 blocks walking distance all the better. Viet Bistro is a new restaurant just off Broadway on Devon from the owners of Pasteur, a really nice French-Vietnamese restaurant on north Broadway. Viet is their bistro. Entrees are priced from $8 for veggie options to $18 for a whole red snapper that was recommended but not tried.

Indian Gourmet

One of the perks we envisioned upon moving to Edgewater was the proximity to Devon and all of the Indian and Pakistani restaurants that we'd be able to order delivery from.  Shortly after we moved in we went to Devon and started collecting menus from our favorite places, as well as from those on our list of places to try.  Unfortunately, to our great disappointment, none of them would deliver.  They claimed it wouldn't taste as good.

Taqueria Uptown - Tacos al Pastor

Tacos al Pastor is something some people crave. Like good french onion soup or the perfect pastrami sandwich... the perfect burger even. It's the type of thing that takes kitchen space and a rotisserie, not to mention a big hunk of pork.

On a weekend walk about where we found ourselves on Ridge and Broadway we looked at El Norte but it seemed really empty and there, across the street, was "Taqueria Uptown" a more non-descript name I could not invent. It's a bar counter and a few tables and sits on the North East corner of the Broadway/Bryn Mawr/Ridge corner.

Indie Cafe pt.2

It's been a long while betweeen visits to Indie Cafe. My experience had been months ago, during their Reader-induced celebrity. It was time to go back.

They're still BYOB and they're still packed. Thursday night we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. The dining room is small. So I'm guessing their business is still very brisk. That was a good sign and I was in for more good news.

Calo

This Italian spot in Andersonville used to have that red carbet, booth and disco feel of a spot that's been there and been doing that for a while. They opened a shmancier option next door and then chucked it all and just remodeled the two together. Lots of the character is gone but the old-school menu stayed the same.

Ethiopian Diamond

The first, and last, time I tried Ethiopian food was in college at Madison, WI. I remember it being very unpleasant; the sticky bread that tasted strongly of vinegar, the mushy stews with mystery meat and cooked vegetables and grubby hands all reaching into the same plate. Looking back I probably shouldn't have let one restuarant experience in Madison define Ethiopian food.

Now, living in Edgewater, I drive past Ethiopian resturants every day.  One in particular, Ethiopian Diamon, looks pretty packed most nights, which to me is a very good sign. So, after  four years I finally put my fears aside and decided to take the plunge one Friday night. Again, there were a healty amount of people in the place, which is actually much larger inside than I would have guessed, more like a banquet hall. They had live music that night, one guy that played about 6 different instruments. He switched to a new one every song.