TACO BELLLLEARRRGGGHHH

A Taco Bell is getting booze! There, that’s all the news there is, which didn’t stop the Trib and others from running a million pieces about this astounding cultural event—and prompted maybe our favorite Eater Chicago tweet of all time.

WIENER HOT DOG DINNER

The popular, somewhat lamentable late night racial carnival at Lincoln Park hot dog stand Wiener’s Circle, chronicled on This American Life and star of its own show on Tru, pays off big for its owners, who sell it to a restaurant group (including a Levy) to turn into a chain. Can they recreate the scene? Will all America learn to do the Chocolate Shake? Let’s hope not! (Tribune)

BLANCHARD-CASE

Mike Sula may be a hard case but foie gras softened him up for everyone’s new French fave The Blanchard: “I’ve often wondered whether it was possible to be thrilled by French food in Chicago anymore. The Blanchard, full of surprises yet still fundamentally French, is pregnant with possibilities.” (Reader)

BOEUFVANA

The Trib is a bit late to the Boeufhaus party, but Kevin Pang praises steak here unreservedly: “Steaks here are wondrous, a meditation on the very possibilities of beef. The 55-day dry-aged bone-in rib-eye, weighing in at 1 pound 6 ounces and $60, is seared to a firm crust with a uniform rosy hue throughout its medium-rare center. This isn’t the buttery savor associated with marbled steaks like wagyu; it’s deep and brawny, with a faint gamy linger.”

DUD-SEK’S

The Longman & Eagle team scores a rare dud with brunch at Dusek’s, says Chicago mag: “Every dish sounds delicious… But, unfortunately, none quite hit the mark. The corn-chipotle hollandaise in the Benedict ($13) is more soupy than silky and could use both more chipotle and more corn. The breakfast sandwich is fine, but not $12 worth of fine—it’d need way more chorizo for that.” (Chicago)

SIC GLORIA FRANKFURTER

The future Foodseum launches a pop-up at Block 37 with a tribute to Chicago’s hometown hot dogs. (Crain’s)

WHEN PIGS FLY

A server at downtown Hyatt hotel restaurant Cochon Volant—Flying Pig—refused to serve another mammal, the service dog accompanying a veteran. The next things to fly were all the apologies. (Audarshia Townsend/Facebook)

DOLCE MIAMITALIAN

Dolce Italian, a River North import from Miami, gets more love than most such new arrivals from Lisa Shames in CS, who admires its pan-regionality: While Executive Chef Paolo Dorigato takes liberties with Italian cuisine, that doesn’t mean he ignores his roots. He’s particularly excited for winter to arrive in Chicago so that he—along with in-house chef Andrew Deuel (Tesori)—can offer the heartier dishes he grew up on in Trento, located in a mountainous region of Northern Italy.

RIPODCASTS

WBEZ cans some of its podcasts including the food one, Chewing the Fat. They vow to carry it on anyway, making you wonder how much WBEZ saved by killing something the talent plans to make for free. (Chicagoist)