Here is an archive of our recent Homepage Articles.

Eating and The Beautiful Game: Top-Notch U.K.-Style Scarfing for Soccer

Posted on 03. December 2013 by nukegirl

By Kari Lloyd (apopquizkid)

It’s often been said that America and the U.K. are two nations divided by a common language. The Brits say “football,” we Americans say “soccer.” We say “tomato,” they say… er… “tomato.” Though a worldwide passion since the Stone Age, U.S. sports fans have only begun to embrace “the beautiful game” called soccer, particularly the teams of the English Premier League. The origins of modern-day soccer are said to have sprouted up in England in the 1800s, and the eating traditions surrounding the game are almost as deep and rich as the history of the game itself. While we here in the U.S. tend to stick with our wings and hot dogs no matter what sport we’re viewing, soccer games are a good opportunity to bask in a cultural exchange of sorts.

Continue reading→

no comments

Jewels from the Garden: The Story Behind Carl's Glass Gems

Posted on 11. November 2013 by nukegirl

By Katje Sabin (mamagotcha)

In May of 2012, the above photo of an ear of corn featuring astonishingly psychedelic colors made the rounds on the Internet. "NOT PHOTOSHOPPED!" blared the blogs. Being a rainbow aficionado myself, I briefly toyed with the idea of tracking down the seeds of this marvelous grain so I could grow it, but I didn't yet have a dedicated garden space. Besides, it wasn't yet commercially available.

Later that year, I dug out three little 4'x4' garden boxes in my backyard, with permission from my landlord, and started dreaming about what to grow in it. The tiny amount of the fabulous corn seed available for the year was already sold out from the only company legitimately selling it, but I decided to take my chances with an eBay seller. Finally I had my hands on a tiny Ziploc baggie filled with a few dozen nondescript nuggets of what looked like run-of-the-mill Indian corn. The whole episode had a slightly...ahem...seedy feel to it. I really had no idea where this corn had come from. The seller was new, and I wondered whether I'd let myself be ripped off, but there were no more seeds to be found and I decided to take the gamble. I planted them in May of 2013 and crossed my fingers.

Continue reading→

no comments

Italian Journal: A Tale of Two Classes

Posted on 28. October 2013 by nukegirl

By Jay Martini (jnm123)

For my 30th wedding anniversary, I wanted to prove that there was more to the planet than New York City or Las Vegas. I wanted to bust preconceptions and welcome the unexpected. So my wife and I did Italy - or, more specifically, as much of Italy as one can do in eight days. For years, I had been regaled with stories from friends and business colleagues about the history, the paintings, the cathedrals, the sculptures, but mostly the food. The food!  My goodness, the way they went on about what they consumed over there, I enviously began to think that some new series of tastes and flavors had been discovered. And while I thought I was a pretty decent cook of all things Italian, I had always wondered what was lost in the translation from there to here. So, we wanted the focus of the trip to be a couple of cooking classes. After exploring websites and finding guided culinary adventures online, my wife and I eventually decided - with a certain amount of trepidation - to go it alone. We chose, for our first class, the exotic semi-tropical island of Sicily. And then we chose a second class in Chianti, the better to experience diverse regional cooking within the same country.

Continue reading→

no comments

In a pickle: What's up with green relish?

Posted on 30. August 2013 by nukegirl

By Katje Sabin (mamagotcha)

When I first landed on the Northwest Side four years ago, my sister quickly planned a trip to visit Chicago for the first time. And one of the ways she and I get our bearings in a new place is to dig in to the traditional foods of the area. So, naturally, our first foray into my new hometown's offerings included a pilgrimage to Superdawg. There was also much sampling of pizza, Italian beef, giardiniera, and — Chicago being the largest Polish-populated city outside of Warsaw — a healthy dose of pierogies and paczki. But the one item she chose to make room for in her luggage on the return trip? A jar of the neon-green Chicago-style sweet relish that had adorned her hot dog.

Continue reading→

no comments

In Search of the Jim Shoe

Posted on 19. June 2013 by nukegirl

By Peter Engler (Rene G)

People eat differently on the South Side. If you don't believe that, try to find a Mother in Law, Big Baby, or Freddy north of Madison Street. Another sandwich, also likely unfamiliar to most Northsiders, is currently spreading around the South Side and beyond. Ten or fifteen years ago I found a menu from a South Side sub shop slipped into my front gate. It listed all the familiar local treats: subs stuffed with beef (either "roast" or "corn"); gyros (usually pronounced GUY-ro); and super tacos (ground beef, lettuce, and tomatoes, all folded into a pita). But there was also a sandwich I'd never heard of then: the Jim Shoe. In the next few years I would notice that name on menus or window signs of other sub shops. Clearly the Jim Shoe wasn't found at only one or two places. After I had completed an initial investigation into the Mother-in-Law (a tamale with chili, usually served on a hot dog bun), I decided to take on the Jim Shoe. Where did it originate? How did it get that peculiar name? Little did I know that after nearly a decade and dozens of Shoes, I'd still be asking those same questions.

Continue reading→

no comments

If you’ve never been here before, you might be wondering what to look for and where to start. First of all, LTHForum.com is a rich and deep resource for all who love food, whether they’ve lived in Chicago for decades or have just moved here. With thousands of members, hundreds of thousands of posts, and years of history encompassed within this site, it can seem intimidating to get involved. But it isn’t. Our members have a vast collective knowledge of what Chicago has to offer, and they’re pretty friendly and willing to share.

LTHForum.com can help you find the best places to eat, or locate sources for food and equipment to prepare your own meals. But it excels at spotlighting neighborhood, specialty, ethnic, authentic and inexpensive cuisine. So think of the site as a starting point for finding smaller, local restaurants that will really give you a sense of Chicago culture.

To begin, you can jump right into our forums and see what people are talking about within a number of categories. Or you can utilize the search engine, if you want to find informal reviews for a particular restaurant or find a specific type of cuisine. Or, if you’re open to new and stellar eating experiences, examine the Great Neighborhood Restaurants, a diverse set of restaurants in the area that our members love. Visit our Complete List of Great Neighborhood Restaurants to get started. There’s a Google map of them as well.

If you are inspired to post, please start with our FAQ and familiarize yourself with our Posting Guidelines. To make an inquiry, be as specific as possible about what you are looking for. We encourage everyone to join up and become a member – participate, and enjoy.

But basically, be topical and be courteous. This is a community, and like the city of Chicago, LTHForum.com’s strength comes from each member’s differences – but this can only work if we respect each other and draw from one another’s experiences in a constructive and affirming way.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. Welcome to LTHForum.com!

The Great Neighborhood Restaurants and Resources are a crazy mish-mash of great places, nominated by members of LTHForum.com and chosen by all of us. They started as an answer to the one question we always get – “Can you tell us what places you love?” and have grown to become a full list of spots we love and are happy to recommend to anyone. These are destinations all over Chicagoland, restaurants to try if you want to get a true sense of the depth and breadth of the food scene in our city.

Sure, each GNR has great food – or, in the case of a resource, great products to offer. However, some of them are uniformly great, while others have one or two can’t-miss specialties surrounded by other things that are not so special. So be sure to read the notes about any GNR you are considering; that way, you’ll know why it is a GNR and what we love about it.

The list is more skewed toward little neighborhood joints than fancy-schmancy gourmet spots, but there are some of each –  and the distinctions between them get more and more blurred with each year that passes. So pick a place or two or twenty, try them out, and let us know what you think. And maybe next year you can help us choose the new and renewed GNRs.

[lthbutton link=”http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewforum.php?f=28″] Visit The GNR Forum [/lthbutton]

Great Neighborhood Restaurants & Resources Google Map

View LTHForum.com Great Neighborhood Restaurants in a larger map

Beyond Pizza, Hot Dogs and Beef

If you’re a visitor to Chicago, ready to explore our myriad tourist attractions and experience the culinary excitement the city has to offer, you probably envision a jaunt to Gino’s East or Pizzeria Uno for deep-dish pizza – a stop at a hot dog stand to get a Chicago-style dog – a side trip for an authentic Italian beef sandwich – or a more elegant visit to a steakhouse like Gene & Georgetti. And if you limited yourself to these famous Windy City traditions, you’d absolutely enjoy some great food and good times in our toddlin’ town. But you’d be missing out.

Chicago has so much more to offer the tourist who is interested in local cuisine. A rich history of immigration has enriched and strengthened the cultural connections that bind the city together, and made the Windy City a vaunted destination for ethnic cuisine, from Mexican, Polish and Italian foods to Soul, Ethiopian and Vietnamese eats. If you’re looking for “real” Chicago, getting past the big downtown names and into the neighborhoods is a must. Enter LTHForum.com. The Eating Out in Chicagoland forum is a great place to start, or if you’re looking to just cut to the chase, our Great Neighborhood Restaurants & Resources is a list of LTHForum.com favorites that is sure to please.

This board is made up of locals as well as folks who are new to the area. We not only know our food, we have a vast collective knowledge of what Chicago has to offer and where to find it. If you just don’t know where to start, or if you want recommendations from people who love to eat here, this is the place to go. And if you like to vet recommendations before following them, you can take a look at the discussions and you can see who likes each place and why they like it. So if your idea of soul food heaven is a place with great fried chicken and delicious giblets and greens, you can find it.

Utilize the search engine, if you want to know about a specific type of cuisine or find more information on a particular restaurant. Or look at the newest posts and threads, to see what’s trending and what’s tried and true. Please remember to be courteous and follow the posting guidelines when you want to participate in the discussion (and we want you to participate!) . This is a community, and like Chicago, LTHForum.com’s strength comes from each member’s differences – but this can only work if we respect each other and draw from one another’s experiences in a constructive and affirming way.

Whether you choose to participate in the discussion or just use our collective wisdom to eat much better, know that this is the right place to go to start your culinary adventure. Welcome to LTHForum.com and Chicago!