Peter Michael

True Colors

The phrase that Mark Salmon has splayed above his maître d’ table at Winnetka’s 501 Local is a perfect summation of the restaurant’s charms. It’s just five words in total—puzzling at first glance, then ultimately prophetic of the dining experience to follow. Salmon’s initial message to his guests reads: “Food is My Favorite Color.” The

Let Them Eat Steak

It feels a little surreal, doesn’t it? Venturing out again and eating inside an actual restaurant. One with four walls and an actual roof, rather than huddling beneath a giant cantilevered umbrella or inside one of those hermetically sealed Biosphere-inspired plastic igloos that became all the rage last year. This return to the good “old”

Son of a Butcher Man

I ascribe to only one inviolable rule when it comes to ordering tacos. Never, ever judge a taco by its price tag. I’ve had “one-buck-chuck” tacos so tasty they made my heart burst like a split piñata. And I’ve sampled ridiculously pricy tacos so nuanced I would’ve opened a second mortgage to obtain their recipe.

Cream of the Crop

Chris and Mary Spagnola cook for a living, which means they lack the time—and the expendable income— to waste money on pricey branding advice. Given the choice between cleaning out their bank accounts to pay for a “high-impact, analytics-driven, solutionbased, brand-relevant marketing strategy” or huddling up with their co-owners—Steve and Mary Jo Quirk and Sharon

North by South

I think it was the cappellacci that ultimately did it. I don’t often reverse long-held dining commandments midway through a meal, but during a recent visit to the revamped Enzo & Lucia in Long Grove, I admit to experiencing a reawakening of sorts. Where I come from—i.e., a family that bleeds Neapolitan red sauce—one is

Venetian Dreams

It was, I blush to admit, love at first sight. We’re talking a slow-motion kind of attraction here—the stuff Barry White songs are made for—where the world slows to a crawl and you can’t see, hear, or think about anything but the object of your affection. Heat, fire, and desire: I felt all three. My

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Peter Michael

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