1. HISTORY IS MADE IN BARBECUE
A few years ago I was asked to suggest a Chicago barbecue man, present or past, who deserved to be in the American Royal’s Barbecue Hall of Fame. Easy, I said: James Lemons of Lem’s. By far the oldest and most venerable of Chicago’s barbecue joints, the 70-year-old stand on 75th street remains a living link to the arrival of Mississippi Delta barbecue in Chicago in the 1940s and 1950s; and the description of Lemons at the Hall of Fame’s site begins with a paragraph I wrote. (When he died in 2015, I published this interview with him, conducted for my video A Barbecue History of Chicago.)
Now Lem’s has earned another honor—it’s been named to the James Beard Foundation’s America’s Classics list, joining such Chicago spots as Sun Wah and Calumet Fisheries. Now run by James’ daughter Carmen, it’s living, edible Chicago history.
The Trib wrote about the honor here, as did WBEZ here.
2. KYO MAMA, MICHELIN
Grimod at Understanding Hospitality does another shorter (not precisely short) review of Kyoten in 2025, with a particularly thoughtful discussion of why Kyoten is overlooked by the tire company’s tyros:
For the Michelin brand, awarding Kyōten means legitimizing an approach to omakase that is somewhat unconventional. It means signaling to its readers that the restaurant’s $440 to $490 price tag is justifiable when compared to all the sushi restaurants across the country that already hold stars while also charging less. It would mean installing Phan as the de facto leader of the genre in Chicago, in the eyes of the world, and affirming him as the kind of chef that accords with Bibendum’s vision for this city and the expectations of his audience.
…[Michelin] wants to define Chicago’s omakase scene in accordance with his own vision and an “expertise” (the more impenetrable the better) that helps to secure his authority. If every American city was allowed to foster its own approach to omakase and awarded for doing so, an entire industry of “authentic” restaurants—cloaked in seriousness and tradition—would collapse under the weight of what local diners really desire. The fundamental question remains: should a sushi chef in a market like this one try (poorly) to imitate what is done in Japan or distill and adapt tradition in a manner that uniquely suits this population? Mind you, I am not talking about resorting to torchwork or zany toppings—simply, in Kyōten’s case, fundamentals of aging, sizing, and basic seasoning. What process—imitation or evolution—proves more valuable for the development of a city’s foodways?
3. ROYAL, PAIN
Two pieces this week by Michael Nagrant. Let’s start with the one actually about food, if not Chicago food—Pennyroyal Provisions in Saugatuck:
A carpet of chestnut and roast mushroom stuffed ravioli dripping in leek-infused cream is the kind of pasta perfection you find at a place like Tortello or Daisies in Chicago.
The pork tenderloin is juicy, slightly pink, wrapped in striated rosy ribbons of bacon and mounted on a bed of creamed cabbage and flanked by swooshes of apple jam and mustard. The whole dish is kind of a metaphor for the history of Saugatuck in that it’s hearty enough for some dude who spent all day in a hunting blind or out boating, but also flourished and balanced enough that an fussy food critic from Chicago like me digs it.
Now then, Nagrant’s other piece is about a food influencer who appears not to be on the level. I had seen Serge Golota, aka “Realsergelato”‘s Instagram takedown of a Devon steakhouse called Halal Town, which was surprising because in the world of influencers on Instagram, nothing ever gets a bad review. Nagrant suspects shenanigans:
The most outrageous claim though is probably Golota saying “I owe it to you all to provide an honest and impartial review”.
[Co-owner Ibrahim] Baig told me Halal Town’s marketing team reached out about a month ago to negotiate a paid collab with Golota. Despite Golota’s entry rate of $545 for paid coverage, Halal Town offered $250. Eventually this was followed up by a $400 offer.
Golota asked for $450 because “I still leave gratuity for staff”. Both sides agreed on the price.
…A week or so passed. Baig claims he was busy with running the restaurant and other obligations and had not been paying attention to his email. He says when he logged in he found angry emails from Golota threatening legal action and demanding payment as he was about to post the video the next day.
I don’t understand why they were paying him, so he could pay the check—why not just comp his meal? If you’re a subscriber, read the whole thing here. It’s… an education.
4. WAH WAH
The Infatuation reviews old places whenever they do a list that such places would fall onto. So this week we get Cho Sun Ok, the homey old Korean spot in North Center:
Once the door opens you’re hit with the smell of sizzling meat, a fitting introduction before joining all the longtime fans and future regulars packed into the wooden dining room. Each group is huddled around a gas burner—either portable or built into the tables. Regardless of whichever one you’re set up with, you’re in for a delicious meal.
My favorite fact about Cho Sun Ok is that in one of Calvin Trillin’s books, he talks about going there c. 1970 with the U of C professor James McCauley, whose samizdat list of standout ethnic restaurants, circulated in Xerox form among those in the know, was kind of like LTHForum before the internet.
Sun Wah has been serving delicious Cantonese dishes and Hong Kong-style BBQ in Uptown since 1987. But if you quickly survey the warehouse-esque space, it’s easy to figure out which dish reigns supreme—even though it’s off-menu. You’re here for what’s on most tables and what hangs by the restaurant windows like an unofficial mascot, the Peking duck.
And Triple Crown in Chinatown:
Don’t let the line discourage you (you can also book a reservation). The busyness has two benefits: it not only creates a buzzy energy in the space with lazy Susans and a colorful dragon mural, it also means dim sum is made more frequently to keep up. Lunchtime is when their plump har gow and sweet BBQ pork buns will most likely be at their most fresh and delicious.
5. HISTORY IS MADE IN KOREAN BBQ
I just saw a post at Reddit suggesting that Chicago Kalbi might be closed for a winter break… or for good, who knows? This would be a sad day, because though I haven’t been there since before COVID, it was a longtime favorite for my family, especially if one of my boys had a friend over—and taking other peoples’ kids to experience Chicago Kalbi, with its live fire at the table, its Japan in the 60s feel, and its baseball memorabilia, always felt like I was implanting the idea that there were more interesting things to eat in Chicago than fast food. If it’s gone (by no means certain), it will be missed by me.
But there’s always new things in the world! Friend of Fooditor Dan Zemans wasn’t the first person at LTHForum to post about a new Korean BBQ place in Niles called 336 BBQ House, but his is the one I saw, and now Steve Dolinsky reports from another new such place in Niles, Jin Soo BBQ:
Like a lot of Korean barbecue houses, this one features several cuts of beef – some marinated – as well as side dishes and stews. But it’s a special all-in-one tasting menu that impressed me the most, and both the quality and variety of the beef is what has brought me back a couple of times already.
You can certainly go a la carte at Jin Soo Korean Barbecue. Located in a massive strip mall across the street from Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, the staff will happily guide you to their fantastically-marbled beef, all of which comes from a small producer in Nebraska as good as any steakhouse, or steer you to an uber-crispy seafood pancake loaded with scallions. But with three or more people, I say go for the Sung Chan menu – a tasting of the greatest hits for just fifty bucks a head.
6. FLORID EATS
It’s still cold enough here to make you wish for being in a warmer place, so Titus Ruscitti offers more finds in north Florida. Hey, at least you can fantasize.
7. C.U. LATER
I was invited to the opening of a third location for Carnitas Uruapan, couldn’t go, but I knew I’d get there sooner or later. (I did a video piece about C.U. with second-generation owner Marcos Carbajal here.) Louisa Chu’s piece at the Trib about their new third location in Little Village vividly conveys the ambition of the new location:
Through the front window, you’ll see somebody making fresh tortillas on a new tortilla machine. And there’s a takeout window, so you don’t need to go in.
But when you open the door, you’ll experience modern-day Mexico.
“Spanish everywhere, music playing,” said Carbajal. “The design is refined, regional Mexican.”
From banquettes with an ostrich pattern, like ostrich boots, and rebozo fabric, similar to women’s shawls.
8. THE CATSU CAME BACK
Cat-Su Sando did Japanese sandwiches during COVID, which I liked enough to stick their logo sticker to my fridge (which went to the Scrapyard in the Sky just before Christmas). So not a name I expected to see come back, but Daniel Hautzinger at WTTW talks about one of Cat-Su Sando’s chefs serving a yakitori omakase two nights a week at Flour Power:
CATSU is about “appreciating simplicity,” says Shawn Clendening, the chef behind the venture, which serves a set menu of around 16 grilled skewers out of Flour Power at 1642 W. Chicago Ave. in West Town on Saturday and Sunday nights. (Reservations currently go live each week on Monday.) Yakitori is a style of Japanese cooking in which chicken – everything from common cuts to organs – is dipped in a tare sauce and grilled on a skewer over blistering hot charcoal. At its most refined, that’s it.
9. HOP TO IT
An Irish-American I knew kind of ruined America’s craft beer renaissance for me when he pointed out how so many new breweries just used the same hops from the same few suppliers. Being a home brewer at the time, I knew the typical hop offerings, and given the ubiquity of hop-heavy IPAs, pretty soon that’s all I was tasting in the beers I tried. So the opening lines of this piece at Chicago mag by Kark Klockars immediately had me hooked:
It takes a lot to stand out among Chicago’s beer makers. But if there is one brewery that best represents drinkers’ tastes in the 2020s, Hop Butcher for the World might be it, thanks to its embrace of new hops and its eagerness to explore weird (but great!) flavors.
10. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREEN MOUNTAIN
Anthony Todd talks to Sarah Grueneberg about ten years of Monteverde, the series of charity items that will be on the menu this year—and the persistent rumors that she has another spot in the works:
Apparently COVID is largely to blame — before the pandemic, Grueneberg had actually acquired an additional restaurant space and signed a letter of intent on a third space, but both projects fell through as the restaurant industry collapsed. Rumors persist of a new spot, but Grueneberg very carefully will neither confirm nor deny if a new restaurant is coming anytime soon.
11. WEEGEE TO FIJI
Okay, the owners of Weegee’s Lounge aren’t actually going to Fiji, but they are sailing away as they turn the West Humboldt Park bar over to new owners. It’s a sweet story of bar culture meeting boat culture in Chicago, from Dave Hoekstra at NewCity.
12. LISTEN UP
The Dining Table: talks to Mike Satinover of Akahoshi Ramen, which host David Manilow says is one of the toughest reservations in town. (Actually it’s not that hard: just go, put your name and phone number in, then go a block away to Spilt Milk for a cocktail and wait for the text saying your table is ready.)
Supper With Sylvia: talks to Tony Priolo and Sarah Stegner about how Chicago Chefs Cook mobilized an effort at the start of the war in Ukraine to get chefs cooking for refugees.
WHAT MIKE ATE
A month or two back I went back to Rose Mary because one of my wife’s oldest friends and her husband were in town and I needed to find a place open on Monday night to take them out to dinner; the main thing I noticed was that the Italian-Croatian concept seemed much more Croatian this time, with an emphasis on things like lamb and paprika and crusty, pita-like bread. The thought occurred to me that with owner-chef Joe Flamm having opened an outright Italian spot, Il Carciofo, maybe that freed Rose Mary to head in the other direction.
Anyway, Il Carciofo (which means artichoke) aims to be Roman Italian food specifically. The name is well chosen, even though I’m not a big fan of artichokes (my mom and sisters ate them a lot growing up, did nothing for me) but the battered and deep-fried artichokes were crisp and delicate, maybe these would have sold me as a kid). That may have been the high point, though. Some calamari in a tomato sauce didn’t seem like either ingredient was at its best with the other . We didn’t order pizza, but did go for a panino—a sandwich of crusty bread straight from the oven, with mortadella, stracciatella and pistachio pesto; it was pretty satisfying, if it seemed kind of out of place at dinner (but hey, we’re the ones who ordered it). Tagliatelle with an oxtail sugo was perfectly fine, but I expect housemade pasta to wow me more, and my dining companion felt that a (Croatian?) note in it—cinnamon? was a bit out of place. We ordered a single entree, halibut with some clams and little langoustines in a tomato broth, which again seemed to have a slightly out-of-place flavor in the broth, but worked. (Rome by way of Zagreb?)
So, not quite what I expected, especially from the “Roman” billing. It took Rose Mary something like a year to come into its own, and maybe that will prove to be the case here.
I have a theory that there may be new things out there in Mexican food in Chicago, but there aren’t that many people looking for them—sure Titus is out there, but Nick Kindelsperger isn’t, and LTHForum doesn’t seem interested in it much these days. So I try new Mexican whenever I spot a promising-looking candidate on, say, Yelp. So we wound up at a place on North Ave. called Adoro—but somehow I had missed that it was Colombian, not Mexican. (Though it seemed pretty Mexican in the end.) Anyway, very friendly service that started with a nice bowl of salsa verde and chips; I ordered skirt steak (pretty tough) that came with onion and jalapeño, my wife ordered cheese enchiladas with green mole which were all right. Nice place overall—but my quest for the next Mexican discovery in town continues.