Published: Saturday, June 12, 2010

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By Kathy Hutson

I was driving a colleague back to her hotel after dinner last Wednesday night. I had the top down on my little smart car. The temperature was in the low 70s, the sun was still shining, and there was a very gentle breeze. My colleague, like me, grew up in Chicago.

“Don’t you ever miss Chicago?” she asked.

“Sometimes I miss the vitality of downtown Chicago,” I said. “I miss the choice of theaters and the museums. I miss the hustle and bustle. I miss the pizza at Ed & Joes in Tinley Park, and I miss honest-to-goodness Italian beef and Italian sausage sandwiches.”

via KATHY HUTSON: Plenty of reasons not to miss Chicago – Daily Tribune: Breaking news coverage for southeastern Oakland County, Michigan.

The Harn family had always wanted to open up their own restaurant in Northwest Illinois. Within the next month, their dream will come to fruition.

G’s Chicken will open on West Galena Avenue — directly across from Aquin High School — this summer, offering a new carry-out option to Freeport residents and a new challenge to the Harns. The restaurant will offer a wide range of food items, including fried chicken, fish, and Italian beef.

Gavin Harn said Tuesday the carry-out business has been on his father’s mind for a long time.

“It is something Dad (Al Harn) has always wanted to do, open up a little restaurant, and we decided it was the time to do it,” Gavin Harn said.

In a variety of ways, the operation of the restaurant will reflect the family ties that led to its creation. Gavin will operate the restaurant along with his two brothers, Grandon and Gunnar, and his mother, Rowan.

via G’s Chicken coming to Freeport – Freeport, IL – The Journal-Standard.

Celio's Chicago Style Pizza

104 Navajo Drive

Keller

817-431-6400; www.celioschicagopizza.com

Hours: 4-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday

Signature dish: Deep-dish pizza

Entree cost: $8-$20

Essentials: Full bar; major credit cards; smoke-free; wheelchair-accessible

Good to know: Kids menu; garlic strips appetizer is like a lightly-topped pizza.

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By TERESA GUBBINS

Special to the Star-Telegram

Certain food groups stir an intense devotion among diners, and Chicago-style deep-dish pizza is definitely one. Baked in a flat pan with a high rim, deep-dish pizza feels as much like a casserole as it does a pizza, with its comforting, thick layers of crust, topped with tomato sauce and other goodies.

Downtown Fort Worth has an able representative of the genre in Uno Chicago Grill, but natives of Chicago and fans of its food are always on the lookout for new places to try.

via Celio’s in Keller dishes out Chicago-style pies with fresh toppings | Entertainment | Dallas-….

We all know who's superior when it comes to the hockey teams in Chicago and Philadelphia. That's a no-brainer. But when it comes to each town's favorite sandwich, the Philly Cheesesteak or Chicago's Italian Beef, CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman found out the decision is a little tougher.

via Chicagoans On Italian Beef Vs. Philly Cheesesteak – cbs2chicago.com.

via Is Al’s Beef in North Scottsdale Windy City-Worthy? – Phoenix Restaurants and Dining – Chow Bella.

via Northpoint Custard – JSOnline.

Friday, May 21, 2010

More: Bio, News Team

May 21, 2010 (CHICAGO) (WLS) — Middle Eastern food has always been elusive in the Loop- but two new options are trying to take falafel and shawarma mainstream.

For years, the Haifa Cafe has been just about the only loop option for falafel and hummus. But there's a shawarma war underway, with each new place offering faster service, fresher ingredients and modern amenities. The people who are benefitting from this healthy competition just happen to work in the Loop.

Tucked way back inside a fast-food court on the Northern edge of The Loop, Olive Mediterranean Grill is attempting to make Middle Eastern food the new office worker lunch option – except a lot healthier.

via Healthy competition for Loop lunches | abc7chicago.com.

America has spoken, according to the fast food chain KFC. The nation has given a thumbs-up to a controversial, greasy, artery-clogging new “sandwich” called the Double Down – which is just like any other burger except that the bread is replaced by fried chicken.

The fast food chain KFC has scored a hit with the contentious new menu item described by one physicians' group as “a troubling symbol of corporate irresponsibility”. The Double Down consists of two boneless chicken filets enclosing two slices of bacon, a generous quantity of melted cheese and a slathering of sauce.

via KFC doubles down on artery-clogging bunless chicken burger | Business | guardian.co.uk.

The city says keeping food at 140 degrees is safer than cooking it to order. Plenty of folks disagree.

By David Tamarkin

Illustration: Mike Novak

Like so many other laws before it, the regulations regarding mobile food were put into place to protect the public’s health. Cooking food to order on a mobile-food structure, such as a food truck, was deemed too risky; cooking food in a licensed kitchen, wrapping it in individual containers and keeping it in warmers on the truck, at a minimum internal temperature of 140 degrees—that, the city says, is safe.

The 140 degree requirement is somewhat conservative; the national standard, established by the FDA, sets the “danger zone” for bacterial growth at 41 to 135 degrees. Still, according to Susan Vaughn Grooters of public-heath organization S.T.O.P., “One-hundred-forty degrees isn’t enough to kill all bacteria—it’s enough to keep it from multiplying.… You don’t kill E. coli at 140 degrees. You kill it at 165.”

via How safe are food trucks? | Street Food Now – Time Out Chicago.