ReportWire

Tag: park

  • At LAFD Station 11, one of the busiest in the nation, far more overdose emergencies than structure fires

    At LAFD Station 11, one of the busiest in the nation, far more overdose emergencies than structure fires

    [ad_1]

    If you spend much time in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, you will notice, amid the clamor of buses and trucks and car horns and vendors hawking their goods, a nearly steady symphony of sirens.

    They scream day and night in rapid response to an endless run of emergencies, many of them in and around MacArthur Park. But it’s not usually a fire that LAFD Station 11 is responding to. Through August of this year, there have been 599 drug overdose calls, compared with 36 runs for structure fires.

    “I’ve had three in one day, same person,” said firefighter/paramedic Madison Viray, who has worked at Station 11 for nine years.

    California is about to be hit by an aging population wave, and Steve Lopez is riding it. His column focuses on the blessings and burdens of advancing age — and how some folks are challenging the stigma associated with older adults.

    That’s just one measure of how bad the epidemic is in the low-income neighborhood where homelessness is rampant, drugs are sold and consumed in the open, 83 people died of overdoses in 2023, and merchants complain of gang threats and thefts by addicts.

    In the middle of it all is Station 11, located on 7th Street two blocks from the park, with its trucks rolling out around the clock in every direction. Hanging on a wall inside the station is a proclamation from Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez and her colleagues honoring the crew for being ranked by Firehouse Magazine as the busiest ladder company in the nation in 2022.

    This year, Station 11 ranks just behind Station 9 in Skid Row (site of the city’s other major drug zone) for total runs, but it is on course to match last year’s total of 15,262 calls for fire and medical incidents (the majority of which do not involve overdoses).

    A display of head shots of firefighters in uniform.
    Photographs of the crew at Los Angeles Fire Station 11 are mounted in the recreation room of the firehouse.

    While I was meeting with several members of the crew in Station 11 Wednesday afternoon, Viray and engineer Cody Eitner left abruptly to answer a call from an alley near 6th Street and Burlington Avenue. They returned a short time later to say they were too late to save the victim.

    “Someone found him and called, but they’d been gone for too long and there was nothing we could do,” Eitner said.

    The word on the street is that the drugs in the neighborhood are dirty. Cocaine might be spiked with fentanyl, and fentanyl might be spiked with the veterinary tranquilizer Xylazine, or “tranq” —all of which elevates the possibility of bad reactions.

    It’s not uncommon to see people in the park with multiple festering ulcers on their arms and legs — one of the side-effects of tranq. Nor is it uncommon to see people bent in half, like twisted statues, because of muscle rigidity the firefighters refer to as the “Fentanyl fold.”

    A firefighter sits near a coffee station in a firehouse.

    “Most of the time they’re thankful for saving their lives,” Cody Eitner said about the people they have revived from drug overdoses.

    Battalion Chief Brian Franco, who first worked at Station 11 two decades ago as a firefighter, said, “we’ve seen a lot more fatalities from the overdoses than we did with heroin.”

    And yet with fentanyl, the drug naloxone, if administered quickly enough, can reverse the effects of opiates and save lives. Sometimes it’s used by friends of the victim, or by a MacArthur Park overdose response team recently initiated by Councilmember Hernandez and the L.A. County Department of Public Health. Or by crews from Station 11.

    “The vast majority of our [overdose] calls now are fentanyl,” said Capt. Adam VanGerpen, who serves as a public information officer but also goes on runs. “If we see that there are very shallow respirations … then we’re gonna open up their eyes and see if their pupils are pinpoint. Now we know it’s probably not … cardiac arrest or … respiratory arrest. Now we’re thinking, OK, this is an overdose.”

    It can be easier to treat a fentanyl case than a PCP or meth overdose, VanGerpen said, because the latter two drugs can make a person agitated and combative. If it’s a fentanyl overdose, responders will administer the naloxone as a nasal spray (Narcan), inject it into a muscle, or pump it through an IV, depending on the situation.

    “Anytime we’re successful, it’s satisfying,” said Capt. Adam Brandos. “In a station like this, where we run so many calls as we do, and it’s kind of a monotonous routine, those little wins are really good with the morale. But it’s not so satisfying to see the repeat. And we’re not changing the cycle at all. … It keeps repeating itself over and over again.”

    Two men, a pair of crutches between them, lie slumped on a park bench.
    Two men slump on a bench in MacArthur Park.

    Sometimes, Brandos said, a single response can trigger a cascade: “We may go on one call in the park where that call turns into four, because … of the other guy who’s over by the tree, and the other gal that’s over by the lake, and then the other person that’s over here. So that’s pretty normal.”

    What is most striking about it all, Brandos said, is that these scenes play out so frequently they have become normalized.

    When you first set eyes on the depths of social collapse and public distress, it’s shocking. But it’s all there again the next day, and the next, and although the shock endures, a bit of numbness takes hold, along with doubts that anyone in power is up to the task of restoring any semblance of order.

    Anthony Temple, an emergency incident technician at Station 11, took me on a dark virtual tour of a typical day, beginning at the Westlake/MacArthur Park Metro Station, which has doubled in recent years as subterranean hall of horrors:

    A fire captain stands outside a station as a truck departs.

    Capt. Adam VanGerpen watches as a fire truck is deployed from Station 11.

    “People have overdosed … on the subway platform while people are getting out of the train,” Temple said. “You’ve got people moving around this person, and we all come down there and do what we’ve got to do and take them to the hospital and leave. And you go back to the station and you get dispatched on another overdose where the person will be down, on the sidewalk, kind of like hanging into the street. …

    “It’s just day in, day out, morning, noon, night, sidewalk, platform, staircase, park,” Temple said. “You know, it’s just like everywhere.”

    Two members of the crew, Viray and Brandos, said they’ve brought their children to the neighborhood to show them where Dad works, and to show them a world they couldn’t have imagined.

    And the reaction?

    “Shocked,” Viray said of his 14-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter.

    Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics with Los Angeles Fire Station 11 keep an eye on a man they

    Emergency medical technicians and paramedics with Los Angeles Fire Station 11 keep an eye on a man they revived from an overdose.

    “I wanted to show them what some decision-making could look like,” said Brandos, whose girls are 9 and 11. “They wanted to know why everybody was leaning over on the sidewalk. … I told them exactly what was going on.”

    The crew told me they share a camaraderie that’s specific to the demands of Station 11. If you choose to work there, it’s because you like staying busy, you take pride in the number of runs, and you learn to accept that you didn’t create the crisis and can’t fix it. You can only respond to it, one call at a time.

    Just before 6:30 p.m., a call came in. A middle-aged man was down at Alvarado Street and Wilshire Boulevard, across the street from the park, in possible cardiac arrest from an overdose. A truck and an ambulance rolled, lights flashing, sirens blaring. They were on the scene in less than three minutes.

    The subject was down in front of Yoshinoya Japanese Kitchen, which is bordered by vendors selling electronics, clothing and toiletries. Some of them were closing down in the fading light of day, and people were still gathered behind the restaurant in an alley that serves as a drug bazaar. It’s a hellscape that has become part of the terrain, like the palm trees that rise over Alvarado Street and the street lamps that have gone dead.

    One vendor went about his business as if he’d seen this scene play out so often he didn’t need to look again. Some passersby paused to check out the commotion, perhaps waiting to see if the unconscious man would make it. A boy of 10 or so moved in close enough to watch as three firefighters moved toward the man.

    The air was rank with the day’s burned energy and wasted chances, and in the spot where I stood behind the ambulance, trash fanned out six feet into the street from the curb. A bag of chips. A Yoshinoya takeout bag. Coke cans. Empty food containers.

    All of this is the normalized reality of a neighborhood that once stood as a gem of the city, and now suffers in wait for someone, anyone, to stand up and say this should not exist, cannot exist, and must end, for the sake of civility and for the benefit of the working people who make up the majority of the residents here, raising children who deserve better.

    Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics with Los Angeles Fire Station 11 get ready to take a man,

    Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics with Los Angeles Fire Station 11 get ready to take a man, they just revived from a drug overdose, to the hospital at the corner of S. Alvarado and Wilshire Blvd.

    Firefighter/paramedic Luke Winfield put on a pair of white latex gloves and prepared a nalaxone IV, tied a blue tourniquet around the man’s upper arm and plunged the life-saving drug into the crease of his elbow.

    After several seconds, the man jerked up as if on springs, back from the edge of death. He asked what had happened.

    “You overdosed,” one of the firefighters said.

    Still wobbly, he fell onto a vending cart and lay on his back, looking up at the reincarnated sky as it faded to pink. He was going to make it. This time. They loaded him into the ambulance for a ride to the hospital.

    I asked Winfield how many times, in his two years at Station 11, he had done what he just did.

    “Hundreds,” he said. “This hub is insane.”

    steve.lopez@latimes.com

    [ad_2]

    Steve Lopez

    Source link

  • A Dominican Legend Known for Her Fried Chicken Rises Once More

    A Dominican Legend Known for Her Fried Chicken Rises Once More

    [ad_1]

    At around noon on a Friday, chef and owner Miriam Montes de Oca hurried out of her restaurant, Morena’s Kitchen, and headed to Rush Medical Center. Her 26-year-old daughter, Tatiana, was giving birth to Montes de Oca’s second granddaughter, Hailey. “I ran to the hospital because Tatiana was supposed to have the baby quickly, but [Hailey] didn’t come until the next day at 8 o’clock in the morning,” she says.

    Hailey’s arrival coincided with the revival of Morena’s, as Montes de Oca had recently reopened the restaurant at a new location, 3758 W. North Avenue in Humboldt Park. She shut down the original restaurant — located about three miles west in Belmont Cragin at 5054 W. Armitage Avenue — three years ago.

    Welcoming a new granddaughter while restarting her business has been a whirlwind for Montes de Oca, but she’s enjoying the journey. Before the closure, for five years, Morena’s Kitchen served Dominican staples like sancocho, oxtail, and red snapper — and Montes de Oca’s famous Dominican fried chicken.

    Holding a piece of fried chicken.

    The chicken is legendary.

    The spice blend for that chicken hasn’t changed, and Montes de Oca guards the recipe with absolute secrecy. Diners can also taste that it’s been cleaned in the Caribbean way, with citrus or vinegar. Heated online debates over whether you should wash meat — the CDC says no, almost everyone with melanin says yes — fail to realize that most Caribbean, Asian, and African meat-washing techniques serve mainly as a brine to remove the gamy taste meat can often have, giving the dish a clarity of flavor, which Morena’s chicken — and their oxtail and lengua — have. “That fried chicken can’t go nowhere,” Montes de Oca laughs. “People love it the most.”

    Montes de Oca closed her restaurant in January 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It was a hard time. There was not enough money coming in, so I preferred to close down before it was too late for me,” she says.

    A woman warming tortillas on a black flattop.

    Miriam Montes de Oca cooking in her new kitchen.

    Miriam Montes de Oca smiles while cooking in a kitchen using a pan on a gas range.

    Miriam Montes de Oca puts a plate of food on a steel case.

    She took a job with United Airlines at O’Hare International Airport to pay bills. With the extra time not running a restaurant, she was able to help Tatiana with her 2-year-old daughter, Catalina. Free airplane tickets also allowed Montes de Oca to go back to the Dominican Republic three to four times a year after not having been home for nearly two decades. “I was without my country for 16 years,” she says. “And when I closed the restaurant, I went back and I fell in love with my country again.”

    Montes de Oca got the opportunity to reopen Morena’s when Vladimir Rodriguez, the owner of a Mexican bar and restaurant called La Leña, found he could no longer handle the expenses. He offered the restaurant space to Montes de Oca, and she didn’t hesitate. Rodriguez kept the bar half of the space, connected to Morena’s through a sliding door that’s usually open with customers easily moving through both businesses. The partnership has been good. “We work together,” Montes de Oca says. “The clients that drink over there, they ask for my food. And when people finish eating here, they say, ‘Oh you got a bar next door?’ and I tell them to go ahead and take a look.”

    Still, when customers search Morena’s by name online, the old location still pops up instead of the new North Avenue location and La Leña comes up when searching by address. “I need to change it,” Montes de Oca says. “Everybody is confused. They ask me, ‘Are you La Leña’s, are you Morena’s? Are you Mexican, are you Dominican?’”

    A shrimp cocktail, a bottle of red soda, rice, and more on square plates on a table.

    Seafood and other Dominican specialties are available.

    The best way to find the address, hours, and special announcements is through Facebook and Instagram — Morena’s regulars will find the menu unchanged, with a notable new section. Although firmly a Dominican restaurant, Montes de Oca retained some Mexican holdovers from La Leña’s menu like tortas, tacos, burritos, and chilaquiles. She notes that keeping the items helps La Leña’s old diners with the transition, but they also sell extremely well because she offers less commonly served meats like tripe and lengua.

    Business has been good overall, with some ebbs and flows, Montes de Oca says. “To be out of the business for almost three years? I can’t complain.”

    Many of Morena’s customers have transitioned to the new location seamlessly, either through word of mouth, Facebook posts, or walking by and doing a double take when they see the old sign. “Three days ago, one customer came and said ‘More, I thought somebody stole your name!’ I was like, ‘No, it’s me, I’m here. I’m back in business.’”

    On weekends, Montes de Oca serves Dominican dishes like chivo guisado and rabo guisado (Dominican-style braised goat and oxtail). It can be hard to source specifically Dominican ingredients — especially Dominican oregano, which has a stronger flavor — but Montes de Oca gets many ingredients from a Dominican Chicagoan who brings it back from trips to New York. The restaurant also stocks traditional Dominican sodas, like the brand Country Club, in addition to more familiar brands like Mexican Jarritos.

    Other options included mondongo, or tripe stew, and sancocho, a Latin American meat and vegetable stew widely thought to have roots in the Afro Latino community, whose ancestors were forcibly brought to the Caribbean, South and Central America by Spanish enslavers. Montes de Oca is Afro Latina, hence the name of the restaurant and Montes de Oca’s nickname, More. Morena means “dark-skinned” in Spanish, often referring to Latinas of African descent. As for the nickname, Montes de Oca says it’s a positive thing, although many people ask whether it bothers her. “I say no. It’s sweet, not the bad way. And it’s true. I am Morena, and it’s my nickname in the Dominican Republic, too.”

    Cooked shrimp stuffed in a veggie.

    One of the more distinctive Dominican staples available at the restaurant every day are los tres golpes, meaning “the three hits” in Dominican Spanish — fried Dominican salami, fried eggs, and some fried cheese. Montes de Oca eats it with mangú, a cousin of Puerto Rican mofongo made from boiled plantain that she squishes like mashed potatoes.

    Montes de Oca tops tres golpes with a savory onion gravy cooked in oil and vinegar. The rotisserie chicken — which fans of Peruvian pollo a la brasa will find familiar. Served with plain white rice, it’s her oldest granddaughter Catalina’s favorite meal.

    Morena’s presence on the Chicago food scene is a relief for Dominicans in the city and surrounding suburbs since there isn’t much Dominican — or Caribbean — food in Chicago. Puerto Rican restaurants abound due to the large community here, but if you’re of Virgin Islander and Trinidadian descent like me, Guyanese, Bahamian, Haitian, or Dominican, the options get fewer and fewer. The Caribbean still maintains a presence on the dining scene in Chicago; Cafe Trinidad, 14 Parish, and Garifuna Flava are all great places.

    Montes de Oca says one of her customers recently came in and excitedly told her about a Haitian restaurant near O’Hare, called Kizin Creole. “I told him, ‘For real, they got Haitian food?’ And I want to go try it because when I’m not here, I want to try something different. I like to go out with my kids and eat different foods and support other businesses because right now we need to help each other.”

    A seafood cocktail with shrimp and octopus tendrils.

    Chicago lacks the abundance of choice diners might find in cities like New York, Miami, or Toronto, where clusters of Caribbean restaurants are within walking distance of each other. Montes de Oca says she would love for the options to diversify for Caribbean diners in Chicago and fans of our food, and she sees herself as part of that push.

    Montes de Oca, who has lived in Chicago for 27 years, says she sees that changing in the coming years as New York, home to one of the country’s biggest Dominican communities, gets increasingly expensive. “Lots of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are coming [to Chicago] from New York now. I have family in who are like ‘I can’t afford the city anymore, I’ve got to go.’”

    Even though the Dominican community here in Chicago is small, Montes de Oca says they find a home with many of the Puerto Ricans in the city, both being from Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries, with African, Indigenous, and European influences, as well as other bursts of migration from South and East Asia and the Middle East. “We’re brothers and sisters. We eat the same thing with different names,” Montes de Oca says. For example, she’s happy to make jibaritos — a sandwich of meat in between huge slices of smashed and fried plantains — for her Puerto Rican customers, who represent a large portion of her customer base. Jibaritos are one of those Chicago staples that have become famous because of the Puerto Rican community here. But, it’s also a Dominican food — Montes de Oca says they call it patacón.

    A fried fish on a plated with salad and fried plantains.

    Whole-fried fish.

    Roasted chicken topped with red onion and red peppers, with a mound of rice and salad.

    There’s more than fried chicken.

    In some ways, Montes de Oca feels her new location is a seamless transition. In other ways, she feels like she’s starting over from scratch. Food costs were a particular shock, and she’s learning how to deal with inflation.

    “When I went to the grocery store [three years ago], my plantain was like $35. Now it’s $47,” she says. “My oil was $19. Now it’s $30.”

    Morena’s stays open much longer — until midnight most days, and 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday — than most restaurants in the city. That’s despite restaurants rolling back hours during the pandemic due to labor and decreased business. At Morena’s, the longer hours are also an attempt to enliven the Caribbean dining scene here in Chicago.

    Chicago’s restrictions don’t support street or late-night food culture, between infrastructure that’s hostile to walkers and those who take public transit, cultural differences that encourage fast eating, and lowered profits coupled with rising food costs. But Montes de Oca is giving it a go.

    “I need to make this happen, and my people are happy with that because they say, after 7 o’clock, you don’t find any Caribbean food open,” she says. “You can’t find food from us.”

    Morena’s Kitchen, 3758 W. North Avenue

    [ad_2]

    Nylah Iqbal Muhammad

    Source link

  • Wicker Park Bar Machine Faces Eviction After July Closure

    Wicker Park Bar Machine Faces Eviction After July Closure

    [ad_1]

    The owners of Machine, a Wicker Park cocktail bar and lounge, are facing an eviction lawsuit. Their landlords filed the lawsuit on July 29, claiming the bar’s owners owe $31,584. The next court date is October 25, according to Cook County records.

    Machine’s owners, Chireal Jordan and Brian Galati, confirm via a spokesperson that they permanently closed the bar in July and they failed to negotiate a lease. Online listings only show a temporary closure.

    The bar struggled in recent months to attract customers and cut hours. Jordan and Galati are also behind Headquarters Beercade. In June, they opened another cocktail bar, Dearly Beloved, in Pilsen. The rep says the two want to soon open Machine in a different space and hope to settle their eviction dispute with their landlord, Newcastle Retail Management.

    Dearly Beloved shares similarities with Machine, which opened in March 2019 at 1846 W. Division Street. While Division Steet isn’t really Chicago’s longest street (sorry, Mr. Terkel), the stretch around Wicker Park does come with complications for restaurant owners — and that was even before 2020 and COVID’s spread. Before Machine’s debut, Jordan and Galati described their upcoming project as a cocktail restaurant. It had gimmicks — interactive elements like a tiny hammer used to break caramelized sugar lids covering cocktails. A burger came topped with foie gras and that angered animal activists. The bar also had a floral display cooler that was regularly stocked. Customers could buy fresh flowers to impress dates and parents or make themselves happy.

    However, after the politicians closed bars and dining rooms during the pandemic, Division Street launched into another phase. Wicker Park was once a hub for nightlife with customers routinely crawling through multiple taverns on a weekend night. In the ‘90s, it was more of a hipster vibe, with art and music leading the way. That environment quickly dissipated when sports bars, like the Fifty/50, set up shop in the ‘00s. The co-owner of Club Foot, a Ukrainian Village bar that closed in 2014 and was filled with pop-culture trinkets catering to customers who didn’t care for pop music and football, dubbed the sports bars popping up and threatening her business as “bro-holes.”

    But the neighborhood has yet again shifted with more families in the neighborhood — just check out the “stroller parking” sign at Parlor Pizza. Throw in economic challenges including rising labor and food costs, and restaurant owners don’t know which way to pivot. There have been more recent closures along the strip: Fifty/50 and Whadda Jerk are shuttered just west of Damen Avenue. The owners of Takito Kitchen, which has been on Division for more than a decade, have repeatedly warned that they’re close to closing, begging customers on social media to return to help business.

    Machine enjoyed a five-year run along Division Street, inside a space whose past lives included Taus Authentic and Prasino. The space now joins a list of growing vacancies between Ashland and Western.

    [ad_2]

    Ashok Selvam

    Source link

  • 9th Circuit upholds California gun bans in some ‘sensitive’ places, but not others

    9th Circuit upholds California gun bans in some ‘sensitive’ places, but not others

    [ad_1]

    California may enforce its recent ban on guns in “sensitive places” when it comes to parks and playgrounds, bars and restaurants that serve alcohol, casinos, stadiums, amusement parks, zoos, libraries, museums, athletic facilities and the parking areas associated with them, a federal appellate court ruled Friday.

    However, the state may not enforce similar restrictions in hospitals or other medical facilities, on public transit, at places of worship or financial institutions, or in the parking areas associated with or shared by those places, the three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined.

    It also may not enforce its ban on guns at all events requiring a permit, or on visitors carrying guns onto any private property where the owner has not posted signs explicitly allowing them, the panel ruled.

    The appellate panel — which simultaneously issued similar findings relating to laws in Hawaii — issued its ruling in response to broad injunctions by lower courts that had blocked the bans from taking effect amid ongoing litigation over the laws.

    The panel noted that some locations where it rejected statewide bans, such as banks and churches, could still bar visitors from carrying guns based on existing property laws, but the state governments could not unilaterally and universally do so for them. It said owners of private property are similarly free to ban firearms on their property.

    “For the places where we hold that the states likely may not prohibit the carry of firearms, the practical effect of our ruling is merely that private-property owners may choose to allow the carry of firearms,” Circuit Judge Susan P. Graber wrote for the panel. “Owners of hospitals, banks and churches, for example, remain free to ban firearms at those locations.”

    Gov. Gavin Newsom claimed partial victory — and said the state would continue fighting to drive down gun violence.

    “We refuse to accept shootings at schools, parks and concerts as a normal fact of life. While we fought for the court to go further, today’s ruling affirms our state’s authority to limit guns in many public places,” Newsom said in a statement. “California will continue to take action to protect our residents, and defend our nation-leading, life-saving gun laws from an extreme gun lobby and politicians in their pockets.”

    Gun advocates characterized the ruling as a partial win, as well.

    “This partially favorable decision from the Ninth Circuit shows how far we’ve come over the past decade. But this case, and our work to restore the right to bear arms, is far from over,” said Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, which helped bring the challenge against the laws. “FPC will continue to fight forward until all peaceable people can fully exercise their right to carry in California and throughout the United States.”

    Graber, an appointee of President Clinton, was joined in the decision by Circuit Judge Mary M. Schroeder, an appointee of President Carter; and Circuit Judge Jennifer Sung, an appointee of President Biden.

    The ruling was the latest to apply the historical test for gun laws set out in 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. vs. Bruen. There, the high court said that gun laws are legitimate only if they are rooted in the nation’s history and tradition or sufficiently analogous to some historical law.

    Graber’s opinion parsed through an array of historical laws to determine whether lower court injunctions blocking many of the states’ bans on guns in sensitive places should stand, or if they should be reversed based on historical precedent.

    In doing so, the ruling divided public places into those where guns may be banned, such as parks; and those where they may not be based on a lack of similar restrictions in the past, such as places of worship.

    That partition highlighted a reality under Bruen’s “history and tradition” test that gun control advocates have denounced as preposterous: that it precludes leaders from crafting modern gun laws to address modern realities of gun violence, such as mass shootings at places of worship.

    Billy Clark, senior litigation attorney at the gun control advocacy group Giffords Law Center, said the decision “further illustrates that it is constitutional to keep guns out of sensitive places” — but also more evidence of the “chaos” in 2nd Amendment law caused by the Bruen decision.

    Janet Carter, senior director of issues and appeals at the gun control group Everytown Law, said her group didn’t agree with all aspects of the decision, but still found it “heartening.”

    “Keeping guns out of sensitive places is common sense and these laws are crucial to keeping our communities safe from gun violence,” Carter said.

    Adam Kraut, executive director of the gun rights advocacy group Second Amendment Foundation, said California’s expansion of “sensitive places” where guns are banned “goes beyond what the Supreme Court contemplated when it mentioned them in Bruen,” and said his group will continue to fight such bans in court.

    [ad_2]

    Kevin Rector

    Source link

  • Candlelite, Rogers Park’s Iconic Tavern-Style Pizzeria, Is Opening a Second Location

    Candlelite, Rogers Park’s Iconic Tavern-Style Pizzeria, Is Opening a Second Location

    [ad_1]

    Lately, there’s been a rising tide of anger from so-called Chicago pizza purists who object to the term “tavern-style pizza.” The objections have coincided with the increased national popularity of the thin-crust pizza which is cut into squares and triangles. Even Pizza Hut has a Bizarro version.

    Through these civic shenanigans, a 74-year-old Rogers Park pizzeria is trying to adapt to the times. Candlelite, founded in 1950, has established itself as one of the city’s most beloved spots for thin-crust pies. Instantly recognizable along Western Avenue for its neon sign, it’s become a pillar of the Loyola University community and is Sister Jean-approved. They’ve been selling frozen pizzas via Gold Belly and briefly opened a stall inside the Time Out Chicago Market food hall.

    After looking at a few spots, the esteemed pizzeria is ready to open a second location this month, treading on rival DePaul University’s turf in Lincoln Park. Candlelite is partnering with the iO Theater, 1501 N. Kingsbury Street, taking over the comedy club’s food and drink service. Candlelite owner Pat Fowler says the theater’s co-owner, Larry Weiner, is a loyal customer in Rogers Park and floated the idea.

    “It’s like having two businesses in one building — two iconic Chicago businesses,” Fowler says.

    The bar will seat about 80 and be friendly to sports fans with games shown on TVs. A separate dining room — which will feel more like the original Candlelite — will seat an additional 100. They’ll also serve on two patios with 50- and 100-seat capacities. They’ve already redone the kitchens, bringing in conveyor-style pizza ovens, similar to the ones they have on Western.

    Pizzas will be available during shows with servers bringing them to tables. The tables are smaller than traditional dining room tables, so Fowler and staff had to find the appropriate pizza stands to hold full-size pies while allowing room for drinks.

    “What’s cool for us, from that standpoint, is iO is a destination, right?” Fowler says. “You know, people want to go to a show, and they’re willing to come from far away or nearby. So we’re able to draw from that.”

    Candlelite has changed hands several times over seven decades, and Fowler — a former pizza delivery man who started in 2008 — purchased the business in 2012.

    The original restaurant’s full menu — with burgers, sandwiches, and options for kids — will be available, and Fowler says they’re working on their beverage selections, hoping to potentially work with Off Color Brewing whose taproom is across the street. They’ll have some fun cocktails as Fowler reminds us that Candlelite’s famous neon sign features a martini. Speaking of the sign, crews in October will install a replica of the original outside the new restaurant. They’ve turned the sign into a logo, using it for their line of frozen pizzas.

    In Rogers Park, Candelite has become a community icon and part of the Loyola Rambler community. Fowler wants to enjoy a tight relationship with the Lincoln Park area, even if that means cavorting with Loyola’s rivals at DePaul.

    “I’ll either need Sister Jean’s permission or I’ll have to ask for forgiveness,” Fowler says with a laugh. “But we love supporting local so DePaul will definitely be something we want to incorporate openly with Sister Jean’s permission.”

    Candlelite Lincoln Park, 1501 N. Kingsbury, planned for a mid-September opening.

    [ad_2]

    Ashok Selvam

    Source link

  • Vajra Will Finally Open Its Dining Room After a Year in Wicker Park

    Vajra Will Finally Open Its Dining Room After a Year in Wicker Park

    [ad_1]

    It’s been a year since scintillating South Asian restaurant Vajra moved from West Town into the Wicker Park space where to Spring and Trencherman called home. But until last week, the restaurant was take-out only as ownership worked out what it wanted to do inside their new home near Wicker Park’s six corners.

    Last weekend Vajra began bar service. They’ll serve cocktails and bar bites like momos and a goat burger. But the big news for fans of Vajra’s delectable dishes like Sichuan Chicken Chili, Goan Shrimp Curry, and malai kofta is that the dining room will finally debut to the public on Thursday, August 1. Reservations are live via Tock.

    Restablishing the bar means a reunion with star bartender Juanjo Pulgarin. Vajra specializes in Nepali and Indian cuisine, with the two countries diverging but coming from the same culinary traditions. But until recently, South Asian restaurants in America didn’t focus too much on cocktails. Liquor licenses are expensive, especially for the first wave of immigrant restaurant owners. There are also cultural taboos surrounding alcohol in some South Asian communities.

    Juanjo Pulgarin
    Ashok Selvam/Eater Chicago

    But not everyone carries those old-school traditions, and often time dissolves those binds. Pulgarin, who is Colombian and grew up in Spain, thrilled customers with a high-end program utilizing mixology tricks and ingredients seen at fancy cocktail bars. That earned Pulgarin a 2020 Jean Banchet Award nomination for best bartender. But as management closed Vajra’s dining room and bar during the pandemic, Pulgarin left Vajra and is now the lead bartender at Gold Coast steakhouse Maple & Ash where he’s helping the company relaunch its 8 Bar to open more locations across the country.

    Pulgarin’s drinks include a riff on mango lassi, called Xanadu y El Cielo. Lassi, a non-alcoholic drink famous in northern India, is known for its viscous texture. When served traditionally it’s akin to a cheesecake milkshake and it comes in sweet or savory versions. Vajra’s version captures the flavor without the thickness, creating a light drink made with whisky, amaro, nixta, yogurt, coconut milk, mango, and citrus. Pulgarin loves the looks of drinkers expecting the traditional take and seeing their surprise when they see and taste his version. Another drink, Sakura Garden, is made with gin, sake, watermelon, saffron, lychee, and lime. Pulgarin helped create the menu and he’s close with management so he can pursue other projects, like Maple & Ash, while contributing to Vajra.

    When Vajra opened in 2019, they were ahead of the South Asian cocktail revolution. This was before Lilac Tiger and Kama opened.

    Co-owner Dipesh Kakshapaty says his team was worried that folks would want a full at the bar and that’s why they scaled back. They served a version of the goat burger in the past, as many restaurants pivoted to simpler food during the pandemic because of to-go operations — It’s also cheaper from a labor standpoint. The burger’s return made sense as Vajra builds out its bar menu.

    It’s been a journey since 2020 when the restaurant shifted to takeout and delivery-only, pushed by the pandemic, and then challenges at their original location, 1329 W. Chicago Avenue — now home to Jook Sing — prevent them from reopening. Vajra closed in January 2022 but some members of ownership pursued a new restaurant venture but that never gained much traction. It would reopen for takeout and delivery in September 2022 inside the same West Town location. They moved to Wicker Park nine months later.

    The previous tenant, Ooh Wee It Is, never opened — despite putting up signs. That stretch of Wicker Park has been tough to crack, but Vajra hopes a hearty cocktail program, an established takeout and delivery business, and some of the best Indian and Nepali food in town can create a sustainable operation.

    Vajra, 2039 W. North Avenue, bar open now, dining room opening Thursday, August 1, reservations via Tock.

    [ad_2]

    Ashok Selvam

    Source link

  • Lincoln Park’s Venerable Beaumont Heads Toward a New Direction After Four Decades

    Lincoln Park’s Venerable Beaumont Heads Toward a New Direction After Four Decades

    [ad_1]

    Last year, Beaumont Bar & Grill ended a 44-year run in Lincoln Park perhaps fortifying that changes have arrived in the area surrounding Halsted and Armitage. Beaumont held a 4 a.m. liquor license, and though that space looked innocent enough when the sun was out with sports on screens and passable bar food, the moon produced a rowdier crowd with bouncers charging covers and the kind of dance floor, full of recent college grads. With patrons waiting in line along Halsted, this scene was one Chicagoans could expect near Rush and Division.

    As Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises opened two more restaurants in recent months, now there are whispers that a Small Cheval will soon find a new home near the intersection. Bar owners already faced a boom in families in the neighborhood in the early ‘00s with new community members pushing for earlier last calls and more of a suburban vibe. The neighborhood survived those overtures and evolved, and it’s happening again with new restaurants like John’s Food & Wine opening down the street.

    Which brings Lincoln Park to the presence and the demise of Beaumont. It’s been purchased by a familiar name and they hope to unveil a new restaurant early next year at 2020 N. Halsted Street. Paul Abu-Taleb’s team is behind Pilsen Yards, a low-key bar that serves food along 18th Street in Pilsen. They also operate a bar inside the bar — a fancy cocktails lounge called the Alderman.

    Abu-Taleb spoke about the cavernous space’s history in Lincoln Park: “The last time this building changed hands was 60 years ago,” he says.

    The two-story structure was built in 1890. Structurally, it’s in fine shape, he says, but to revamp and gut the interiors. The team doesn’t have many details to share. They’re not even sure of the name — Abu-Taleb says they’re leaning toward keeping Beaumont. But other than the name, the new project will be different. There will also be private event space and no late-night liquor license.

    “This is a casual, full-restaurant concept,” Abu-Taleb says. “For us, it’s a very long-term investment; we’ve always looked for neighborhood locations to do neighborhood concepts in.”

    An outdoor patio in the back is also being planned, perhaps with some of the elements, like heated floors, seen at Pilsen Yards. Maybe it’s more of a beer garden. Abu-Taleb wants to inject some fun into his venues and bring a different spirit compared to his family’s pizzerias. Yes, Pizza Capri at Halsted and Willow — next to Boka and Alinea — is from the Abu-Talebs. They also have a Hyde Park location (Paul’s father, Anan Abu-Taleb, was the mayor of suburban Oak Park from 2013 to 2021).

    Plenty of details are still being worked out in the coming months, so stay tuned for details.

    Beaumont project, 2020 N Halsted Street, scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2025.

    [ad_2]

    Ashok Selvam

    Source link

  • How Death Valley National Park tries to keep visitors alive amid record heat

    How Death Valley National Park tries to keep visitors alive amid record heat

    [ad_1]

    FURNACE CREEK, Calif. — 

    As temperatures swelled to 128 degrees, Death Valley National Park rangers got a call that a group of six motorcyclists were in distress. All available medics rushed to the scene, and rangers dispatched the park’s two ambulances.

    It was an “all-hands-on-deck call,” said Spencer Solomon, Death Valley National Park’s emergency medical coordinator. The superheated air was too thin for an emergency helicopter to respond, but the team requested mutual aid from nearby fire departments.

    They arrived Saturday to find one motorcyclist unresponsive, and medics labored unsuccessfully to resuscitate him. Another rider who had fallen unconscious was loaded into an ambulance, where emergency medical technicians attempted to rapidly cool the victim with ice as they transported him to an intensive care unit in Las Vegas. The four other motorcyclists were treated at the site and released.

    With record heat blanketing California and much of the West recently, Death Valley has hit at least 125 degrees every day since the Fourth of July, and that streak isn’t likely to change until the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

    Tourist Dave Hsu, left, feigns a chill as friend Tom Black takes a photograph at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center’s digital thermometer.

    Extreme heat is both one of Death Valley’s greatest intrigues and its most serious safety concern. It’s not uncommon for a few people to die in the park from heatstroke in any given summer.

    Located 200 feet below sea level and surrounded by steep, towering mountain ranges that trap heat, the valley is consistently among the hottest places on Earth.

    In the summer, international travelers often schedule their trips without considering the weather. (All six of the men who fell victim to extreme temperatures near Badwater Basin on Saturday were from Germany.)

    But even Southern California residents who are familiar with Death Valley’s hellish reputation will trek to the park just to experience the otherworldly heat.

    “In L.A., people said, ‘No, don’t go out there; you’re crazy,’” said Nick Van Schaick, who visited the park early this week. He had spent the night in the nearby town of Beatty, Nev., then drove into the park at the crack of dawn Tuesday. “I don’t know. … There’s something compelling about this landscape.”

    A road cuts through a desert.

    Visitors to Death Valley National Park drive in and out of the park on Highway 190 through the Panamint Valley, where temperatures were as high as 125 degrees recently.

    Virtually all heat-related deaths are preventable, experts say, but what makes heat so dangerous is that it sneaks up on its victims.

    The risk of Death Valley’s heat seems painfully obvious. It’s hard to miss the dozens of “Heat kills” signs throughout the park, and stepping out of a car there for the first time feels like sticking your face in an opened oven. Within seconds, your eyes begin to burn and your lips crack. Your skin feels completely dry — even though you’re sweating profusely, the sweat evaporates almost instantaneously.

    But one of the first symptoms people experience as their core temperature begins to rise is confusion, which can inhibit a person’s ability to recognize that something is wrong or understand how to save themselves.

    Studies have also shown that although almost everyone understands how to prevent heat illness, too few take action to protect themselves. That’s in part because many think they are uniquely able to handle the heat when in fact they are not. In 2021, a Death Valley visitor died from heat just days after another visitor had died on the same trail.

    It’s a one-two punch. Hikers ignore the symptoms of heat exhaustion because they’re excited to hike or have nowhere else to go, said Bill Hanson, an instructor for Wilderness Medical Associates International and a flight paramedic in central Texas who specializes in heat-related emergencies. Then, “when a person reaches a pretty profound state of heat exhaustion — which by itself is not a lethal condition — and they’re still in that environment, the likelihood they’ll make the right decisions and reverse the process … is reduced because they have a reduced ability to make good decisions at all.”

    One of the reasons that humans are quickly overcome by extreme heat is that there’s only one route for heat to exit the body. Blood carries heat from our core to our skin, and, when the breeze is too hot to carry heat away from us, the body can release it only through the evaporation of sweat. Any of that sweat that drips to the ground or is wiped off the face is a missed opportunity to cool down.

    People stand on a white plain.

    Visitors walk out onto the salt flats at Badwater Basin, taking advantage of cooler morning temperatures on a day when the mercury would rise as high as 125 degrees in Death Valley National Park.

    In Death Valley, the air is so dry that sweat evaporates very easily, unlike in humid climates where the atmosphere contains more moisture. With profuse sweating, however, dehydration comes quickly. The park recommends visitors do their best to replenish lost water and drink at least a gallon a day if they’re spending time doing any physical activity outside.

    But sweating and constant hydration will work only to a point.

    “A 130-degree environment … there’s going to be a limited shelf life on a human body’s ability to exist in that environment without some technological support,” Hanson said.

    Because of this, the park says to never hike after 10 a.m. during periods of extreme heat and recommends never straying more than five minutes away from the nearest air conditioning, whether it be in a car or building.

    In the heat, sticking in groups can also save lives. While it might be difficult for a confused heat illness victim to recognize the symptoms or remember how to save themselves, friends can spot problems. In general, if you struggle to do anything that is normally easy for you — physically or mentally — stop to rest and seek cooler conditions immediately.

    Muscle cramps are often the first sign the body is struggling to stay cool. They’re probably caused by a toxic concoction of dehydration, muscle fatigue and a lack of electrolytes like sodium, which are essential for chauffeuring water and nutrients throughout the body. Cramps are a sign that the body’s process for dumping heat is under stress.

    A woman take a photograph of a desert landscape.

    Death Valley National Park visitor Steffi Meister, from Switzerland, photographs the landscape at Zabriskie Point where temperatures were as high as 125 degrees recently.

    As the body struggles, heat exhaustion starts to set in. The brain, heart and other organs become tired from working to maintain the body’s typical temperature of 98 degrees. As the body passes 101 degrees, victims can start experiencing dizziness, confusion and headaches. It’s not uncommon for them to vomit, feel weak or even faint.

    As the body passes 104 degrees, the entire central nervous system — responsible for regulating heat in the first place — can no longer handle the stress of the high temperatures. It starts to shut down. The victim might get so confused and disoriented that they no longer make sense. They might not even be able to communicate. They can start to have seizures and fall into a coma.

    “To me, as a park medic, if you’re unresponsive, you’re going to the hospital,” Solomon said, “because your brain is essentially cooking.”

    At this point, the heat has done irreversible damage that can leave the victim disabled for years to come. If internal temperatures don’t fall quickly, death becomes a very real possibility. Organs can fail within hours, killing the victim, even after their temperature starts to drop.

    Heat illness can come on within just minutes or take hours to develop. “There’s kind of a weird phenomenon where there’s two times of day where we’ll get 911 calls for people who have fallen ill” due to heat sickness, Solomon said.

    One is in the middle of the afternoon, when the heat is at its worst. The other is near 11 p.m. — visitors will feel OK during the day, but get increasingly dehydrated as they continue to exert themselves. “Then, they check into their hotel room and fall ill,” Solomon said.

    In some extreme cases, heatstroke can overwhelm a person so fast that muscle cramps and other symptoms of heat exhaustion don’t have time to show. The Death Valley emergency response team typically gets about two or three heat illness calls per week in the summer, with visitors experiencing symptoms across the spectrum from mild fatigue to loss of consciousness.

    Heatstroke experts overwhelmingly agree on the most effective treatment: cooling the patient as fast as possible.

    “The key to survival is getting their body temperature under 104 within 30 minutes of the presentation of the condition,” said Douglas Casa, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut and the chief executive of the Korey Stringer Institute, a leading voice in treating heatstrokes. “It’s 100% survivability if you do that, which is amazing because there’s not too many life-threatening emergencies in the world that have 100% survivability if treated correctly.”

    The fastest way to cool a patient is a cool ice bath, experts say. Hanson said his team in Texas will fly an ice bath on a helicopter and cool the victim in the middle of the desert until their temperature stabilizes before the medics even transport them.

    However, in Death Valley, getting an ice bath to victims can be nearly impossible. The hot air is so thin that the team can’t fly helicopters. Instead, they bring a body bag and cool the victim inside with ice and cool towels as they’re transported via ambulance.

    Although emergencies are regular, the park says they are preventable, and if people follow park guidance, they can experience the heat safely.

    “It really is a reason why some people come to visit — because this is one of the few places on Earth where you can feel what that level of heat feels like,” said supervisory park ranger Jennette Jurado. “It’s our job as park rangers to do our very best to make sure people can have these experiences and then go home safely at the end of the day and remember these experiences.”

    Four people in a pool.

    Visitors take a late-afternoon swim in the pool at Furnace Creek, where temperatures lingered in the 120s inside Death Valley National Park.

    For Jurado, a safe visit looks like taking refuge in air conditioning during the hottest parts of the day and experiencing the heat in short five-minute intervals. The vast majority of visitors take this approach. If they hike at all, it’s early in the morning, and the car never leaves their sight. The rest of the day, they spend hanging at the hotel or by the pool — or they leave the park.

    Although it might be possible for someone to — wrongly — convince themselves that a 90-degree heat wave in the city won’t affect them personally, it’s much harder to do that in a Death Valley heat wave.

    Ironically, this makes Jurado worry more about cooler days in the park, when visitors may not be most on guard. When hikers died within days of each other a few years back, it was an unseasonably cool 105 degrees in the park.

    “It’s that level of heat where people are like, ‘Oh, it’s not Death Valley hot, I can hike longer — I can take more risks,’” Jurado said.

    [ad_2]

    Noah Haggerty

    Source link

  • Motorcycle tour of Death Valley turns fatal as thermometer cracks 128 degrees

    Motorcycle tour of Death Valley turns fatal as thermometer cracks 128 degrees

    [ad_1]

    As the temperature climbed Saturday to a record 128 degrees Fahrenheit in Death Valley National Park, a group of motorcyclists became distressed by the extreme heat, and one of them died, a park ranger said.

    The motorcyclists were touring the park near Badwater Basin, a stretch of salt flats that is also the lowest point in North America, when — in the mid- to late afternoon — they reported being affected by the extreme heat, according to park ranger Nichole Andler.

    One of the riders was pronounced dead at the site, and another person with severe heat illness was taken to Las Vegas, Andler said. Four others in the group were treated and released.

    The name of the deceased motorcyclist, or other identifying information, was not released, and the specific cause of death will be determined by the coroner, Andler said.

    “Yesterday it was 128 degrees, which was a record high for that day in Death Valley,” the ranger noted, “and these folks were traveling through on motorcycles, and most likely they didn’t have adequate cooling.”

    The heat also hindered the rescue effort. When temperatures exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit, a medical helicopter cannot access the park. Air expands when it is heated, becoming thinner than cold air. So, helicopters can’t get the lift needed to fly.

    But Andler said that, in addition to park rangers, first responders from Inyo County and nearby Pahrump, Nev., assisted the bikers.

    Saturday’s temperature was just shy of the all-time heat record in Death Valley — 134 degrees, which was set on July 10, 1913. Since record-keeping began in 1911, temperatures have reached or exceeded 130 degrees only three times — with two of those times since 2020: Aug. 16, 2020, and again on July 9, 2021.

    Each year, at least one to three people die of heat-related illnesses while visiting the park, and each week, there are one to three calls for medical assistance for heat-related stress.

    “Folks get excited about experiencing the warmest temperatures that they’ve ever experienced before, and sometimes they forget that if an hour ago they were hot and started to feel nauseous, then they need to spend the rest of the day in air conditioning — because that could be the earliest sign of heat illness,” Andler said. “If you warm up and never properly cool down, your body doesn’t get a chance to reset.”

    Elsewhere in Southern California, the heat shattered records and broiled communities.

    Leela Finley Little, 6, cools off Sunday at Tierra Bonita Park in Lancaster, which saw a high Sunday of 115.

    (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

    On Sunday, Palmdale and Lancaster each set record highs for that date — with Palmdale seeing a 114-degree high, exceeding the record of 110 set in 1989. In Lancaster, the 115 degrees recorded Sunday topped the record of 110 reported in 1989 and 2017.

    The National Weather Service said that extreme heat would continue this week across the Southland, with highs of 105 to 115 in the interior valleys, mountains and deserts.

    The excessive-heat warning was extended to 9 p.m. Thursday for the western San Gabriel Mountains, the Antelope Valley, Angeles Crest Highway and the corridors of the 5 and 14 freeways.

    Another excessive-heat warning was in place until Wednesday for the Santa Clarita Valley, Santa Monica Mountains, Calabasas, the San Fernando Valley and eastern San Gabriel Mountains — regions where temperatures were forecast to exceed 100 degrees, according to the weather service.

    [ad_2]

    Matt Hamilton

    Source link

  • Erick Williams’s Virtue Team Unveils Plans For a Mexican Cocktail Bar

    Erick Williams’s Virtue Team Unveils Plans For a Mexican Cocktail Bar

    [ad_1]

    Tequila is the top-selling liquor at Virtue, the Hyde Park restaurant from award winners Erick Williams and Damarr Brown, says General Manager Jesus Garcia. The fact that the agave-based spirit beat out rum and bourbon surprised the team, as Virtue celebrates Black American culture.

    The data reiterated the thirst for cocktails in Hyde Park, and Garcia says staff regularly turns away customers who just want to come in and have a drink. Virtue is food-focused, showcasing a gamut of southern culinary traditions. But the demand for tequila reveals an opportunity that Williams and Garcia hope to capitalize on when they open their new bar this fall, just around the corner from Virtue.

    The newly named Cantina Rosa will focus on the beverage side, taking Virtue’s approach to Black culture, “leading with kindness and hospitality” and applying that to Mexican culture. Garcia grew up in Rogers Park but was born in Mexico. He arrived in America when he was 3, his family is from Puebla, Mexico. They returned to Mexico after about a decade before once more settling in Chicago. While Garcia lacks memories of Mexico as a young child, he vividly remembers his second stint in Mexico as a teen. The bar won’t focus on a particular region or spirit. Garcia is happy to show that Mexico is about more than agave and he wants to showcase bourbon and Charanda — a rum from Michoacan, Mexico.

    Garcia sees a chance to fill a niche in Hyde Park, and while he doesn’t mind expanding customers’ tastes, introducing them to Mexican flavors they haven’t experienced, he doesn’t want to be heavy-handed.

    “We are mindful that before it’s a Mexican bar, it’s going to a bar,” Garcia says. “If somebody comes in and orders an Old Fashioned, we’re going to be able to make that.”

    This philosophy also tracks with the bar’s name. Williams and Garcia wanted to pick something English speakers could gravitate toward, something personal, yet easy to pronounce. It’s not exactly the “Martha” moment from Batman v Superman, but Garcia’s mother is named Rosa, and Williams’s grandmother is Rose.

    They’re still orchestrating the bar bites menu, offering tacos and more. The drink menu is already finalized. They worked with celebrated barman Paul McGee on the beverage list and the bar’s layout. While Williams and Garcia are confident in operating a restaurant — they met while working at Mk The Restaurant — they brought in McGee, seeing how he helped make Lost Lake in Logan Square a successful tropical drink destination.

    Garcia began his restaurant career at 15 as a busser at Chef’s Station, a since-shuttered restaurant in Evanston. He held several positions at Mk before delving into wine and serving as the restaurant’s general manager. He remembers meeting Williams and noting that he “came across as very genuine and intense.” The two bonded over strong work ethics and Williams credits Garcia’s leadership at Virtue in making the restaurant successful.

    The space, a former laundromat, will be redecorated with local art, pottery, and seating options for big and small groups. Stay tuned for more information about Cantina Rosa as fall approaches.

    Cantina Rosa, 5230 S. Harper Avenue, planned for a fall opening.

    [ad_2]

    Ashok Selvam

    Source link

  • L.A. City Council declares Marilyn Monroe house a cultural landmark, saving it from destruction

    L.A. City Council declares Marilyn Monroe house a cultural landmark, saving it from destruction

    [ad_1]

    After a year-long battle, Marilyn Monroe’s Brentwood home has been saved from destruction.

    On Wednesday, the L.A. City Council unanimously voted to designate the Spanish Colonial-style residence as a historic cultural monument, protecting it from being razed by its current owners.

    “We have an opportunity to do something today that should’ve been done 60 years ago. There’s no other person or place in the city of Los Angeles as iconic as Marilyn Monroe and her Brentwood home,” Councilmember Traci Park said in a speech before the vote.

    Park, who represents the council’s 11th district, where the property is located, added that she’s planning to introduce a motion to evaluate tour bus restrictions in Brentwood after neighbors complained about unwanted traffic around the estate. She also floated the idea of moving the home to a place where the public could more easily access it.

    “To lose this piece of history, the only home that Monroe ever owned, would be a devastating blow for historic preservation and for a city where less than 3% of historic designations are associated with women’s heritage,” Park said.

    The battle over the home on 5th Helena Drive has been brewing since last summer, evolving into a greater discussion of what exactly is worth protecting in Southern California — a region chock-full of architectural marvels and Old Hollywood haunts swirling with celebrity legend and gossip.

    Monroe fans claimed the residence is an indelible piece of Hollywood history; the actress bought the house for $75,000 in 1962 and died there of an apparent overdose six months later, making it the last home she ever occupied.

    The homeowners claimed the house has been remodeled so many times over the years that it bears no resemblance to its former self. They also said it has become a neighborhood nuisance as tourists and fans flock to take pictures outside the property.

    The saga started when heiress Brinah Milstein and her husband, reality TV producer Roy Bank, bought the property for $8.35 million and immediately laid out plans to demolish it. They owned the property next door and wanted to expand their estate.

    An aerial view shows the Brentwood house where actress Marilyn Monroe died.

    (Mel Bouzad / Getty Images)

    The couple obtained a permit but soon ran into opposition, as historians, Angelenos and Monroe fans jumped in to protest the planned demolition. Councilmember Park said she received hundreds of calls and emails urging her to take action.

    The next day, she held a news conference, while sporting red lipstick and short blond hair in a nod to Monroe, giving an impassioned speech urging the City Council to designate the home as a landmark.

    In the months after, the landmark application slowly advanced, first receiving approval from the Cultural Heritage Commission and then from the Planning and Land Use Management Committee.

    In the meantime, Milstein and Bank were barred from demolishing the home. Milstein addressed the Cultural Heritage Commission directly in January in an effort to sway its decision.

    “We have watched it go unmaintained and unkept. We purchased the property because it is within feet of ours. And it is not a historic cultural monument,” she said at the time.

    In an attempt to halt the landmark designation process, they sued the city in May, claiming that officials acted unconstitutionally in their efforts to designate the home as a landmark and accusing them of “backdoor machinations” in trying to preserve a house that doesn’t meet the criteria for status as a historic cultural monument.

    “There is not a single piece of the house that includes any physical evidence that Ms. Monroe ever spent a day at the house, not a piece of furniture, not a paint chip, not a carpet, nothing,” the lawsuit says.

    A judge denied the claim in June, calling the suit an “ill-disguised motion to win so that they can demolish the home and eliminate the historic cultural monument issue,” according to ABC 7.

    The City Council vote was originally set for June 12, but Park requested a postponement, citing the recent court decision and pending litigation, as well as ongoing discussions between the city attorney’s office and the property owners.

    [ad_2]

    Jack Flemming

    Source link

  • Khmai Will School Loyola and Rogers Park in the Ways of Cambodian Brunch

    Khmai Will School Loyola and Rogers Park in the Ways of Cambodian Brunch

    [ad_1]

    Loyola University students at the school’s Rogers Park campus are about to be schooled in the ways of Cambodian cuisine. Their lesson will be taught by Mona Sang, the chef behind Khmai Fine Dining. It’s been nearly six months since Sang closed the original location of her decorated restaurant. The Cambodian refugee is poised to double down on the neighborhood that supported her, pushing Khmai to one of the 2022’s Best New Restaurants in America.

    Sang’s opening a pair of restaurants on Loyola’s campus. Beyond a supercharged return of Khmai, adorned with a black and gold color palette and Bridgerton-inspired Regency-style table settings, Sang will unveil the more casual Kaun Khmai — “child of Khmai” in Khmer — an all-day affair with fun cocktails and Cambodian street food. Sang says she created the new addition to better serve the neighborhood, and not depend on the university community. But it wouldn’t be a surprise if a cheaper option would attract more students and faculty. Sang will also launch the city’s only Cambodian brunch services at both restaurants alongside dinner. Sang hopes to reveal breakfast and lunch service in August.

    “It’s a lot,” Sang admits. “When you’re opening a restaurant, one thing gets fixed and then five other things break. We have two restaurants with two different menus coming from one kitchen, so we’re trying to perfect that [process].”

    Khmai’s egg rolls have earned a devoted following.
    Jack X. Li/Eater Chicago

    The new Khmai stands inside a Loyola University-owned space at 6580 N. Sheridan Road on the ground floor of the Hampton Inn. Hotel guests generally expect daytime options, and Sang is eager to deliver a menu with unique items like fresh croissants filled with lychee or kumquat cream, congee with blood sausage, and num por peay — glutinous rice flour stuffed with yellow mung bean and topped with coconut cream.

    Kaun Khmai’s weekend brunch menu will also include doughnuts from suburban bakery Gurnee Donuts, owned by Sang’s friend and fellow first-generation Cambodian American Kevin Lee. Cambodians have played a significant role in the U.S. doughnut industry, particularly in California — a story detailed at length in the 2020 documentary The Donut King.

    Sarom Sieng — Sang’s mother and source of culinary inspiration — and Lee’s parents are survivors of the Cambodian genocide, an era from 1975 to 1979 when the totalitarian Khmer Rouge regime murdered between 1.5 and 2 million people. Fellow Cambodian American chef Ethan Lim of Hermosa has also shared parts of his family’s story of survival in interviews and the award-winning PBS documentary short Cambodian Futures.

    At the restaurants, Sang has opted to home in on serving her neighbors in Rogers Park rather than purely devoting her efforts to luring Loyola students — an inconsistent presence in the area thanks to the churn of the school year. But Sang is also the mother of an incoming Loyola freshman and spent recent weeks testing recipes on her student employees. She’s noticed that many of them miss eating home-cooked meals and hopes to eventually create low-cost meal kits that students can purchase and make themselves.

    At the outset, staff will seat diners for both restaurants in the 40-seat Kaun Khmai space or on a 30-seat patio. Stay tuned for news of an opening date.

    Khmai and Kaun Khmai, 6580 N. Sheridan Road, Scheduled to open in June.

    [ad_2]

    Naomi Waxman

    Source link

  • South Side Icon Rainbow Cone Opening Next Week in Wicker Park

    South Side Icon Rainbow Cone Opening Next Week in Wicker Park

    [ad_1]

    A South Side icon is taking up residence a few doors west from a shuttered Foxtrot in Wicker Park. The Original Rainbow Cone, the parlor known for sliced — not scooped — ice cream is opening a North Side location.

    The opening date is Tuesday, May 21 at 1750 W. Division Street. Rainbow Cone displaced Wicker Park’s coffee shop Caffe Streets, which had been in operation for 13 years. The interiors have been painted over pink and the sidewalk patio has been revamped. With Kurimu and VinnyD’s (the latter could reopen in June), there are plenty of options for frosty treats in the area.

    The South Side’s iconic Rainbow Cone is opening in Wicker Park.
    Ashok Selvam/Eater Chicago

    The thought of the South Side staple, one that’s been around for 98 years, opening on the North Side was unthinkable until 2019 when Rainbow Cone partnered with Buona, the famous Chicago street food chain that specializes in Italian beef. The goal was to expand throughout Chicago and the country. The company opened a few locations in the suburbs after teasing customers by having an ice cream truck parked and ready to serve outside selected Buona locations. Long lines formed and ownership saw there was a demand.

    A second location opened in 2016 at Navy Pier. In March, the partnership announced plans to open 10 locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. There are also plans for Michigan, Florida, and California.

    The Rainbow is not only extending throughout the country, but it’s adding new flavors. For the first time in the parlor’s nearly 100 years, ownership is added to the menu. Look for four new options, according to a news release: Chocolate Obsession, Cosmic Birthday, Minty City, and Orange Dream. These flavors join the core orange sherbet, pistachio, Palmer House, strawberry, and chocolate. Together, like the glow from the Care Bear Stare or the rings from Captain Planet’s Planeteers, these five flavors form a rainbow.

    The Original Rainbow Cone Wicker Park, opening Tuesday, May 21, 1750 W. Division Street

    [ad_2]

    Ashok Selvam

    Source link

  • Tour Sushi-San Lincoln Park, Lettuce Entertain You’s New Japanese Restaurant

    Tour Sushi-San Lincoln Park, Lettuce Entertain You’s New Japanese Restaurant

    [ad_1]

    Last month, veteran Chicago food writer Titus Ruscitti made a stunning statement — that Lincoln Park “could be making an early case for the 2024 restaurant neighborhood of the year.” The North Side neighborhood certainly has its stalwarts in Alinea, Boka, and, yes — the Wieners Circle. But the area, that DePaul University inhabits also has its fair share of cheap eat stinkers.

    Lincoln Park has also been dominated by Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises which counts five restaurants, including the original LEYE venue, R.J. Grunts, which opened in 1971. That number is about to increase with the addition of Sushi-san, joining locations in River North and inside Willis Tower. Sushi-san Lincoln Park opens today on Thursday, May 2 at 1950 N. Halsted Street.

    The new Sushi-san is inside a new building where gay icon Manhandler Saloon stood. The neighborhood has changed and Lettuce has had to evolve with competition with the likes of John’s Food and Wine, Esme, and more. LEYE managing partner Amarit Dulyapaibul says Sushi-san has new tricks up with sashimi additions like bluefin tuna with a wafu vinaigrette and dill: “They’ve hit some of the biggest, boldest flavors we have come from that section of the menu,” he says.

    Lincoln Park isn’t a neighborhood without quality sushi options from casual spots like Green Tea, to fancier options like Juno. But LEYE is ready for the competition. Sushi chef Kaze Chan spends most of his time in River North, where they serve omakase. Omakase won’t be a fixture in Lincoln Park, but Dulyapaibul is proud of the menu. He calls Chan “a generational sushi talent.”

    “We have this incredible chef and we think that we’re able to grow the brand and create an extension and an evolution of Ramen-san,” Dulyapaibul says.

    When Sushi-san opened in River North, it was more of a sushi spinoff of the ramen restaurant, but it’s found its niche. A popular and tasty item is vegetarian sushi made with Mighty Vine tomatoes. There are also chilled soba noodles made of buckwheat. Many restaurants and suppliers claim their soba is made of buckwheat when they’re actually made with a touch of buckwheat mixed with fillers. Sushi-san’s noodles should be more of a genuine article.

    There’s a six-table patio along Halsted Street and room for 130 inside. The interior includes an eight-seat sushi bar along with a 17-seat bar. There’s a basement where Dulyapaibul hopes will emulate what LEYE does next door at Ramen-san when they bring in a visiting chef from another restaurant for the occasional pop-up.

    A patio along Halsted is among the highlights.

    Dulyapaibul says Lettuce sees the Sushi-san brand as a neighborhood restaurant. They’ll have a kid’s menu with chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, and miso salmon.

    “I think the way we always try to build them is just to be super kind of welcoming and responsive to the neighborhood that we’re in,” Dulyapaibul says.

    With Ramen-san (which opened in 2023), Summer House, and Cafe Ba-Ba-Ree-ba, all clustered at Halsted and Armitage, is that enough for LEYE?

    “Lincoln Park is such a special neighborhood in Chicago and means so much to us and the history of this organization,” Dulyapaibul says. ”I think we’ll continue to invest here heavily. We always are looking for more opportunity.”

    Check out some food photos below.

    Sushi-san Lincoln Park, 1950 N. Halsted Street, open 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

    [ad_2]

    Ashok Selvam

    Source link

  • 7 dog-friendly hiking trails in metro Phoenix

    7 dog-friendly hiking trails in metro Phoenix

    [ad_1]

    Everything is better with a four-legged friend — especially hiking. As residents of metro Phoenix, we have no shortage of local mountain ranges and nature parks that welcome dogs (on leashes, of course)…

    [ad_2]

    Phoenix New Times

    Source link

  • Khmai Cambodian Surprises by Revealing a Second More Casual Restaurant

    Khmai Cambodian Surprises by Revealing a Second More Casual Restaurant

    [ad_1]

    Chef Mona Sang is deep into preparations ahead of the hotly anticipated return of her lauded Cambodian restaurant, Khmai, in a larger and more modern space. Quietly, she’s been working on a complementary concept, adding to the fervor around Khamai’s May reopening. Kaun Khmai, a casual sister restaurant that specializes in Cambodian street food will share the Rogers Park location near Loyola University’s campus.

    Since its founding in 2022 on a quiet street in Rogers Park, Khmai has rocketed to local and national fame when it was hailed that year as one of the 15 Best New Restaurants in America.

    Sang’s new restaurant within a restaurant — Kaun Khmai, or “child of Khmai” in Khmer — will offer a livelier atmosphere, cocktails with mixers like mango and lychee juice, and a street food menu that reflects staples from roadside vendors found throughout the Southeast Asian country.

    The menu will feature skewers — like grilled beef, chicken, or squid — plus smoked chicken wings, and frog legs stuffed with ground chicken or pork, vermicelli, wood ear mushrooms, and lemongrass. Frogs are a popular and versatile street food favorite in Cambodia, often transformed into sausage or barbecued whole. Sang also teases options like Cambodian rib tips marinated in lemongrass, shallots, and palm sugar; a smash burger made with twa ko (spicy and sour Cambodian sausage); and Cambodian desserts like noum kon (a relative of the doughnut made with rice flour and caramelized brown sugar).

    Khmai owner and chef Mona Sang.
    Jack X. Li/Eater Chicago

    Kaun Khmai provides an on-ramp for younger Loyola students and locals unfamiliar with Khmer cuisine — potential customers who may be reluctant to invest in an upscale dinner at Khmai. She’s noticed her children and their peers sometimes shy away from the unapologetically funky flavors. She’s hopeful that without Americanizing anything, that Kaun Khmai’s fun street food will serve as a gateway toward traditional Khmer flavors. “For newer generations wanting to know what Cambodian food and culture is all about, we want to introduce it slowly,” says Sang.

    The restaurant will seat around 40 inside and another 30 on an outdoor patio, is scheduled to open simultaneously with Khmai in May at 6580 N. Sheridan Road on the ground floor of the Hampton Inn. The space, previously home to Onward Chicago from ex-Grace and Yugen owner Michael Olszewski, is divided into discrete bar and dining room sections, thus lending itself to Sang’s dual-restaurant strategy.

    Sang’s source of inspiration is her mother, Sarom Sieng, 80, a survivor of the Cambodian genocide — the totalitarian Khmer Rouge’s systematic murder of between 1.5 and 2 million people between 1975 to 1979. In 2023, Khmai earned a semifinalist nod from the James Beard Foundation. When the restaurants open, Sang’s daughter will join the two and work in her spare time ahead of her freshman year at Loyola in the fall.

    Kaun Khmai, 6580 N. Sheridan Road, scheduled to open in May.

    [ad_2]

    Naomi Waxman

    Source link

  • A New Dawn Rises Inside a Historic Hyde Park Space

    A New Dawn Rises Inside a Historic Hyde Park Space

    [ad_1]

    A storied space in Hyde Park has welcomed a new indulgent all-day affair featuring Southern-style breakfast and brunch. Dawn opened in late January in the former home of Italian institution Piccolo Mondo. It’s the second Hyde Park venture from Chicago native Racquel Fields, owner of 14 Parish.

    Dawn delivers playful spins on Southern staples like juicy pot roast with jalapeño cheddar cheese grits and cornbread French toast with a fried chicken thigh and spiced peach compote. An ode to Fields’ childhood at her great-grandmother’s house in Englewood.

    “Dawn is actually kind of [a] time capsule from my own family,” says Fields. “It gives and pays respect in so many elements. There are a lot of bird motifs because we called my mother’s mother ‘Bird,’ [as in] ‘You came to visit the old bird.”

    Dawn owner Racquel Fields.

    Fields has deftly woven references to her ancestors into the food menu and 131-seat space. Her Louisiana-born maternal grandfather, for example, is the motivation behind Fields’ spin on the classic po’boy (Clee’s Rich Lad) stuffed with Cajun grilled shrimp and andouille chicken sausage. Her paternal grandmother, who died when Fields was a child, is honored by a prominent sculptural light fixture that resembles a long string of pearls with gold beads in between — an oversized replica of a real necklace left behind after her death.

    The restaurant, for Fields, represents more than morning meals — it’s about all types of comfort, whether that looks like brunch with relatives, after-work cocktails, or a cup of coffee. And Dawn doesn’t skimp on style. “I wanted Dawn to feel like… a rich auntie’s house,” she says, laughing. “It’s retro-esque but doesn’t feel old.”

    Fields, who also owns Caribbean dining and drinking spot 14 Parish, sees Dawn as a kind of second act — an opportunity to show how much she’s learned about hospitality since founding her first restaurant in 2017.

    “[Dawn] is the second coming of 14 Parish,” she says. “I picked every nail head, every piece of trim, every menu item. It challenged me to stretch as a restaurateur. I hope it speaks to the community and helps them reconnect with those experiences from their childhood.”

    Explore Dawn and take a look at its menu items in the photographs below.

    Dawn, 1642 E. 56th Street, Open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

    A large grey building.

    Dawn took over the former home of Piccolo Mondo.

    A rectangular plate with a fried chicken thigh and pile of cornbread French toast.

    Chicken and cornbread French toast (spiced peach compote).

    A rectangular plate of croissant-shaped cinnamon rolls.

    Cinnamon rolls.

    A blue ceramic baking dish holds lightly browned butter rolls.

    Southern butter rolls.

    A plate of brioche French toast.

    Brioche French toast (mascarpone, mixed berries, cinnamon, nutmeg, powdered sugar).

    A table of three diners eat and talk inside Dawn.

    A pair of diners smile and eat inside Dawn.

    A rectangular plate of fried green tomatoes.

    Fried green tomatoes (feta, New Orleans remoulade).

    A rectangular plate with two biscuits.

    Biscuits and other baked goods are made fresh each day at Dawn.

    A rectangular plate of fried catfish.

    The Fish Fry (fried or blackened).

    Two bowls of collard greens and yams on a rectangular plate.

    Collard greens (left) and yams.

    A shallow bowl of pot roast on a bed of grits.

    Pot roast with jalapeño cheddar cheese grits.

    A roomy u-shaped booth.

    A pink cocktail with mint garnish.

    Yes You Mae (Dutch Dry Gin, ginger, cranberry, peach bitters).

    A bright yellow cocktail with a tajin-dipped pineapple slice garnish

    Spell on You (mezcal, tequila, pineapple, avocado).

    A bar with bright pink backed stools.

    [ad_2]

    Naomi Waxman

    Source link

  • A Beard Semifinalist Will Open a Halal Fried Chicken and Taco Restaurant in Portage Park

    A Beard Semifinalist Will Open a Halal Fried Chicken and Taco Restaurant in Portage Park

    [ad_1]

    The acclaimed chef behind Ina Mae Tavern in Wicker Park and Frontier in West Town is working on a new restaurant. Brian Jupiter is partnering with his chef de cuisine at Frontier, Azazi Morsi, on a project on the Northwest Side in Portage Park called Migos Fine Foods.

    The restaurant will center around delivery and carryout with 12 seats at 5044 W. Montrose, near the Jefferson Park border. Jupiter says it’s convenient; he lives about 10 minutes away in Albany Park while the Algerian-born Morsi lives in Portage Park. The approach is fun, fast, and casual — affordable eats that customers can enjoy more than once a week. The restaurant should open in early April. They’ll also have a small patio.

    Brian Jupiter is opening a third restaurant separate from the ownership group at Frontier and Ina Mae.
    Pioneer Tavern Group

    The menu includes halal fried chicken and tacos. Renata Jupiter is handling the sweets with cakes and cookies from her business, Adry’s Pastries. Brian Jupiter describes the doughnuts as being similar to beignets, but a little longer. They’ll have various toppings. They aren’t serving alcohol, but Frontier mixologist Edgar Garcia is creating some agua frescas.

    Brian Jupiter is a New Orleans native who’s been working in restaurants since he was a teen. He was also a semifinalist in 2019 for the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes.

    Morsi and Jupiter plan on expanding their operations to catering in May. The restaurant is separate from Pioneer Tavern Group, Brian Jupiter’s partners at Frontier and Ina Mae (the group also runs Lottie’s Pub in Bucktown). The new restaurant won’t have an impact on Jupiter’s duties at those two other restaurants.

    Migos Fine Foods, 5044 W. Montrose, planned for an April 2 opening.

    [ad_2]

    Ashok Selvam

    Source link

  • An All-Day Filipino Restaurant Is Coming to Jefferson Park

    An All-Day Filipino Restaurant Is Coming to Jefferson Park

    [ad_1]

    Chicago’s Northwest Side Filipino community is robust and isn’t about to be shut out of the city’s Filipino American restaurant boom. Seafood City isn’t enough. Kathy Vega Hardy is readying to open her first standalone restaurant in early April in Jefferson Park. In August, closed her popular Filipino food stall, A Taste of the Philippines, inside Chicago’s French Market as she prepared to launch an independent operation.

    For this particular project at 5914 W. Lawrence Avenue, “independent” isn’t entirely accurate. Vega Hardy is partnering with another Filipino business, Crumbs and Cookies, a bakery that’s best known for sylvana, a cookie stuffed with flavored creams. Spouses Katrina and Mharloe Requiron founded their operation after the pandemic began in 2020. They’re splitting the space with Vega Hardy.

    Twenty-eight seat A Taste of the Philippines will serve a few desserts, such as their signature ube doughnut and turon (a sweet lumpia with ube drizzle), but the two businesses believe they complement each other with Vega Hardy offering mostly savory items like lumpia and pancit. Without a permanent home, Vega Hardy has been using the space at Schoolhouse Kitchen in Portage Park to cook food for her catering business which also includes pop-up dinners.

    Ube doughnuts and cheesecake bites.
    A Taste of the Philippines

    Chicago’s food scene includes prime-time players like Bayan Ko and Boonies Filipino Restaurant, plus a little Michelin-starred success story called Kasama. Mano Modern Cafe opened last year in West Town. Vega Hardy says her food fills a specific niche.

    “I wouldn’t call it upscale, but it’s not fast food either,” she says. “I feel I’m in the sweet middle ground.”

    Vega Hardy’s story has been well told around Chicago. She’s a Manila native who lived in Denver where she started A Taste of the Philippines as a food truck in 2012. As is the case with many Asian families arriving in America, few recipes are actually written down. Immigrant food in the States often tastes different because of guesswork in reformulating a recipe (there’s also a difference in ingredients that leads to changes). Vega Hardy has worked toward preserving Filipino culture while putting her own spins on items. But, as chefs who cook international cuisines can attest, it’s sometimes exhausting trying to sell food to folks unfamiliar with other people’s cultures. Food can be educational (Vega Hardy also teaches at Schoolhouse Kitchen), but it can be daunting: “I really thought I was the only Filipino person there,” she says of her time in Denver.

    When she moved to Chicago, she gained a following selling food at farmer’s markets before opening in the French Market in summer 2020. Even at the market, she sometimes got anxious having to explain her evolving menu to passersby who were strolling through the food hall browsing menu boards.

    An egg sandwich on pan de sal and a purple ube drink in a plastic cup.

    Egg sandwiches and specialty coffee are served.
    A Taste of the Philippines

    The commute from the Northwest Side to the West Loop was brutal, especially with construction on the Kennedy Expressway. Vega Hardy won’t have to contend with that headache as she’s a Jefferson Park resident. She’ll also have more room to be creative and productive (on an average day of lumpia making she can roll about 150; the number will now increase at the restaurant). Vega Hardy touts a vegetarian adobo made with local vendor Four Star Mushrooms. Now, fans of that Kasama operation might be familiar with their dish which was featured in some cookbook and also in a Chicago-based TV show called The Bear. Adobo can be a personal thing that varies depending on family preferences. Vega Hardy’s is a little bit more saucy. She talks about how the gravy properly coats the rice.

    A Taste of the Philippines will also serve breakfast with silog, sandwiches, and more. Longanisa — which will be used in a Scotch egg — will be made on premises. Imagine pan de sal with a fried egg and havarti cheese. The full espresso bar will have fun drinks with coffee from Veloria Coffee, another Filipino American business.

    Check back for more updates in the coming weeks.

    A Taste of the Philippines, 5914 W. Lawrence Avenue, opening in early April.

    5033 N Elston Ave, Chicago, IL 60630
    (773) 295-1658

    [ad_2]

    Ashok Selvam

    Source link