1. BOOK NEWS: JOIN US AT BRINDILLE!

We’ve sold about half the tickets for the Chicago Way event at Brindille on June 8. But I know Carrie Nahabedian has invited some special guests, so if you want to join us, act to get your ticket now. Your $50 ticket gets you a signed copy of the $36 book, plus things to nosh on from Brindille and beverages from Peter Vestinos, and of course a seat for the Q&A with me, led by Monica Eng. It’s a great opportunity to relive those thrilling days of yesteryear when Chicago chefs changed the world—hope you’ll join us! Go here to get your ticket. 

2. WELL WELL WELL

The question with a Michael Nagrant review is how the opening—about some aspect of culture—will lead back to the restaurant he wants to talk about. By that standard this week’s is practically telegram-direct—he starts by talking about a formative experience at the French Laundry:

The Laundry kitchen was dead silent as was the dining room. It’s fair to say that some of the tension was all mine, a product of my just recently fully formed pre-frontal cortex processing an unfamiliar environment that I couldn’t talk to most of friends about because most of them focused more on a “Bloomin’ Onion or bust” mentality believed I was an absolute nerd.

But I know it wasn’t just me creating the heavy atmosphere. Mid-meal at the Laundry a food runner delivered a plate of lobster with candied fennel. My wife’s arrived fine, but when the runner laid my plate down, the fennel slid just slightly to the side.

The runner’s pupils were wider than a Labubu. He looked like he’d just seen the crazy girl from The Ring, the cussing woman from the Exorcist, Chucky, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees all arrive packing an arsenal of freshly honed cutlery.

I read the terror and immediately said, “It’s cool!”

He was still tighter than an old sedan fresh from the jaws of a junkyard crusher.

“Seriously, all good.”

The guy who was around my age saw a kindred soul and said, “OMG, listen I was up a little late in Vegas last night and my hands are a little shaky. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if I had to return that dish to the kitchen.”

We laughed and I relaxed for the rest of the dinner too. That was the first time a Michelin-level experience finally felt comfortable to me, and obviously not by my design or in the way Keller would have intended.

Where is this going? From the tippy-top of Napa dining to very near the top of Chicago dining—the new All Well from Oriole owner Noah Sandoval and chef Larry Feldmeier (who I wrote about in an excellent pre-COVID gig here), and how it manages to both be, and not be, the kind of dining he had back then in Napa:

The meal at All Well reinforces what I have always thought since I tasted his food at The Albert and then The Bristol which is that chef Larry Feldmeier is one of Chicago’s best cooks that almost no one who isn’t a hardcore food person knows. Now that he’s front and center on this project, I hope he gets his due.

I also think after almost a quarter century of high end-dining I’ve finally found in All Well the place that somehow has enough elegance and grit in its look, a lot of looseness in its players, but a seriousness about the food and drink that meets ME truly where I am.

3. THE IVES OF MAY

Anthony Todd talks to Chris Pandel about The Ives, the new restaurant where Cherry Circle Room in the CAA Hotel was:

While Boka has made some modifications to the space (more green accents; less carpet) the bones are the same as always, especially the iconic gigantic bar. While Cherry Circle Room had a menu that, while excellent, was very eclectic, Pandel is leaning hard into the grill room idea. What does that mean? “Stuff that is Midwestern, craveable, fun, and a little bit of a throwback without being too on the nose.” Take the restaurant’s signature dish — prime rib, carved tableside. For Pandel’s version of the classic supper club treat, he takes A4 wagyu ribeyes, cures them for days, slow cooks them with a peppercorn crust, and seasons the jus with star anise, cinnamon, and chiles. “The challenge of doing things that are ubiquitous is how to make them surprisingly good.”

4. BUT HOW’S THE BABY?

New dad Otto Phan is back behind the counter at Kyoten, and so naturally, Grimod is back in front of it for another visit:

Has fatherhood changed him? Mellowed him out? Softened the prickliness that—like the nigri’s forceful imprint of vinegar and wasabi—makes eating at Kyōten a singular experience for newcomers and sushi devotees alike?

Or do these life moments only grant us a chance to reorient and appreciate changes that have been simmering in the background this entire time?

5. FASTEST GUN ON DEVON

I don’t remember where I heard about a Malaysian restaurant on Devon called Asian Homecook—probably somebody on Twitter last week—but I can’t say I’m surprised that Titus Ruscitti is the quick-draw gunslinger to get there first:

Malaysia is where the family behind Asian Homecook fled Myanmar before moving to Chicago which hosts one of the largest Rohingya communities in the country. The Rohingya Culture Center on Devon is at the center of that. The community nonprofit was founded in 2016 to support Rohingya refugees who resettled in Chicago. The center provides day-to-day services like ESL class, job support, case management, youth programs, and navigating healthcare and public services. It also acts as a cultural hub where families can stay connected to language, food traditions, and community life while rebuilding in the U.S.

Anyway, that’s how they got here, a city usually noted for its lack of Malaysian food. How is it?

Fried (goreng) noodles (mee) are another focal point. An order of ‘Mee Goreng Mamak’ was everything I love about stir fried noodles. Originating from the Indian-Muslim (Mamak) community, yellow egg noodles are stir-fried over a high heat and deliver a sweet, savory, and spicy flavor profile, achieved by tossing the noodles in sambal, soy sauces, spices. The Mee Goreng Mamak at Asian Homecook is a large and spicy portion with tofu, crisp veggies and crunchy chilis for just $7.

6. TODAY ON THE VIEW

Speaking of the CAA Hotel, Nick Kindelsperger checks out whether food at Cindy’s compares to the billion-dollar view over Millennium Park:

isn’t it a documented fact that the better the view, the worse the food? So imagine my surprise when I visited Cindy’s and left with one of the better meals I’ve eaten in the Loop.

It’s hard to nail down the cuisine served, but for now, I’ll go with American comfort food meets modern Mediterranean. Oh, and cocktails.

7. UNCLE MIKE AND ME

I’d go to Uncle Mike’s Place, the Filipino breakfast joint, more often if heading there in the morning, when the road I’d take is full of people going to work, didn’t take as long from my house as going to Mr. Allison’s in Arlington Heights. Anyway, Dennis Lee talks about the beloved place:

Your choices are between the aforementioned longanisa, tocino, Spam, bangus, and pork chops, so we went for the bangus and tocino combo. Tocino’s a sweet and salty cured pork; Uncle Mike’s is chewy, salty, and sweet, almost hammy, and that fried fish is like a slightly less oily mackerel (which is Davida’s apt description, when she got to experience some of the leftovers). The bangus comes with a brightly acidic vinegar for dipping. Between the two I could easily crush a larger portion of that bangus, the milkfish, because it reminds of the Korean food I grew up with. Fortunately, there’s also bigger version of that fish too, available on its own plate.

8. CMB A-OK

The Infatuation really likes Spice by CMB, an Afro-Caribbean spot in the former Yusho space on Kedzie, giving it 8.5:

The staff will give the classic spiel that begins with “everything is meant to be shared.” But the rich and saucy dishes will make you want full custody of whatever’s on the table. Like Creole shrimp fondue with garlicky plantain chips that easily convinced us to order another round. Or a gravy-covered plate of cassava dumplings served with oxtail that falls off the bone so easily you can tell your knife to take the night off. Even when a dish doesn’t come swimming in a pool of sauce, bites like peppery akara or fluffy coco bread with honey butter are equally as flavorful.

9. BURGER BEAT

Rick Kogan in the Trib talks about new books about burgers, including one which should be familiar to Fooditor readers—Maggie Hennessy’s Burger Bible.

10. ROBOT CONVENTION

Kevin Pang visits the National Restaurant Association show—if you want a robot to make your dinner, that’s the future it offers.

11. THE BOT THICKENS

Jake Potashnick of Feld posted something interesting on Instagram about the state of things in 2026:

We’ve had a string of cancellations for one specific day—Saturday, May 30th.

Honestly, it was so many cancellations for that one day, all of which came within a 24 hour span, that it’s hard for us not to be conspiratorial. We believe that it was a bot or a reseller who had to offload their purchases for a prime Saturday night before our cancellation fee kicked in.

Anyway, at least as of Tuesday, there were plenty of seats for that day available. I’d have snagged one, but I already have a reservation for Feld later in the summer…

12. IS ANYTHING SPECIAL ABOUT A DODGER DOG?

That is, a hot dog served at Dodger Stadium in LA. Sandwich Tribunal investigates:

He went on to explain that historically, the “real” Dodger Dogs were made by a supplier called Farmer John’s, but after the 2020 season the Dodgers–who obviously own the trademark–and Farmer John’s ended that relationship. The Dodgers have since contracted with a new company to provide the sausages, Papa Cantella’s.

I was somewhat aware of this history, having reached out with no success to Papa Cantella’s directly to try to acquire the sausages through them. Unlike New York’s Sabrett, Cantella’s and their distributors do not appear to have the infrastructure in place to ship their hot dogs across the country. It was only when I began to dig in further though that I became aware how poorly regarded the new sausages are by fans, as seen above. My friend agrees. “These modern ones are questionable,” he said.

13. CRASH OF THE TITANS

Here’s a very Chicago story: a company called SSP America wanted to land a contract at Midway airport, so they figured connecting with Chicago’s Gene & Georgetti would be the ticket. It was, and Gene’s Bistro opened in 2020 but COVID (remember that?) happened. CBS News tells what happened next:

SSP said it was struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic and could not pay its fees to Gene & Georgetti that were required under the agreement, the lawsuit said.

…Gene & Georgetti agreed to a request by SSP to waive both the licensing fees and the upfront fee for more than a year — allowing the concession operator to use Gene & Georgetti’s name recognition, licenses, and expertise for free, the lawsuit said.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit said SSP America deviated from the core menu the parties had agreed upon, and began using recipes and serving dishes of lower quality at Gene’s Bistro.

Rick and Deann Bayless tell in my book what they went through to ensure that a Frontera at the airport would be true to their restaurants—and basically, wouldn’t suck. Sounds like Gene & Georgetti had the more typical experience, and they’re now suing SSP America for terminating their agreement five years into a twenty-year deal—now that they have their foot in the door, they don’t need Gene & Georgetti, apparently. Michelle Durpetti—who runs Gene & Georgetti—sees it like this:

“I think it’s very much a David and Goliath story. We are an independent restaurant. We are the kind of business that concessionaires look for as an anchor brand to win this kind of business. And so what ends up happening is they combine us with like commercial brands that you’ll see in an airport, right? But we’re the ones that help them win in all of these cities,” she said. “This is a publicly traded global brand, and they’ve decided to just marginalize us in this process and not speak to us, not answer, not be held accountable for anything—and to me, that’s wrong.”

14. LISTEN UP

I mentioned last week that I was on a podcast out of Milwaukee called Classic Eats, talking about my book. The second half of that series of two episodes focused on Chicago talks to… you’ll never guess… Carrie Nahabedian about Chicago’s rise as a food capital.

Joiners talks to somebody named Chef Zealand, who is a “food content creator.”

The Chef’s Cut dishes on the New York Times’ 100 best restaurants list.

15. ATELIER’S DOOMSDAY

I don’t usually write about closings—hey, that’s what Eater is for—but I have thoughts about the announcement of the closing of Atelier, which started as the new incarnation of the Elizabeth space, with a chef named Christian Hunter, then lost him and moved to bigger digs also on Western before announcing its closing this week. Obviously the bigger digs were a miscalculation, but the other issue is that when Hunter was in charge, I tried it and I knew what it was—a tasting menu with African flavors and influences; I liked it a lot, not that it was one of the very best restaurants in town for me, but the novelty of African seasonings in that setting was interesting as heck; I put it on my top ten list in 2023.

But Hunter left (supposedly to open a Cincinatti chili place, of which nothing’s been heard since) and he was replaced by a chef named Bradyn Kawcak. The move followed… but I never heard a word from anyone about how it was, or even what it was (presumably not African). So I never felt urgency to check it out, and I guess neither did anyone else.

The move to a bigger and no doubt more expensive space could have been doomed no matter what, but the fact that no one knew what it was about (“The chef did African flavors… but he’s gone now”) didn’t give it a chance. I looked at its Instagram account and saw a video about its shrimp supplier (but what do you do with them?), an almost hilariously generic Eater piece (“globally influenced, seasonal tasting menus…small plates like corn fritters and a patty melt”) and no real idea of what they were doing there.

It’s 2026. There’s hardly any food media left, which makes it especially hard if you’re the second chef in the second iteration of a space, so it’s tough to get someone else to write about you. But on the other hand you can write about yourself, as Grant Achatz is doing very smartly for the latest iteration of Alinea. You can, and you’d better, is all I can say—as Dr. Strangelove says, “Vy didn’t you tell ze vorld?”