Peter Michael

Pizzas by Picasso

One evening, while dining in downtown Chicago, I was introduced to a man who claimed to have discovered the most exotic pizza in all of Italy. Not, mind you, a pizza carpeted with esoteric ingredients. Or one of those Vegas-style scams that involve sprinkling tiny slivers of gold leaf on an otherwise ordinary pie. No

Gone Glamping

You can literally smell it, sweet as Juicy Fruit, wafting its way toward you from a block away. Long before you ever swing open the front doors to Kindred in downtown Elmhurst and grab a cushy seat near its huge open-hearth kitchen, that deliciously sweet scent will guide you to where you need to go.

Beyond the Ordinary

Would it be too presumptuous to crown, right here and now, Chef Chris Curren’s new St. Charles spot, The Graceful Ordinary, as the single charming post-shutdown restaurant debut of the year? The food. The vibe. The jaw-dropping views. They’re all revelatory. Suffice to say, it’s worth the drive, no matter how high inflation takes a

Just in the Nick of Time

I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a more charmingly personalized cocktail menu than the one that greets diners at Steak + Vine in La Grange. Owner Nick Gangas, whose parents ran the local Greek diner, In Kahoots, for years, approved every recipe and wrote every caption on that sheet. This is Nick’s place, through and

Ga-Ga For Za Za’s

I recently formulated a novel thesis—as yet unpublished by either the Journal of Applied Psychology or the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science—that suggests the mood of the country can best be gauged by the waxing or waning popularity of chicken parmesan platters at local restaurants. I plan on calling it the Red Sauce

Small Wonders

Someone whispers the word “tapas” and you think what? Salted anchovies and bacon-wrapped dates? Toothpicks and cute little terra cotta platters? Or that trip to Barcelona—Lord, who could forget it?—when you evaded that creepy looking mime (dressed up to look like ghost of Salvador Dali) by ducking into a bar just off Las Ramblas and

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Peter Michael

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