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Joe Cassidy was welcome on stages and in recording studios from London to Los Angeles to Chicago.

With his musical talent and gentle Irish greeting of “Hey, lovely fella,” the Belfast native made other performers believe in themselves.

“Working in the studio with Joe Cassidy was a very positive experience — he was a creative and generous producer,” said legendary composer Jimmy Webb, who wrote “Up, Up and Away,” “Wichita Lineman,” “MacArthur Park” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” “But more importantly, he was a creative and generous friend.”

A musician, singer, producer, manager and prolific composer of ethereal songs infused with longing, Mr. Cassidy died of congestive heart failure July 15 at Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center in Chicago, according to his family. The Humboldt Park resident was 51.

Bob Black/Sun-Times

“He had a beautiful, pure, bell-like singing voice, with a gorgeous lilt and an ache to it that would rip your heart out,” said musician Jonny Polonsky. “His music was always emotional, romantic and cathartic; never, ever saccharine, trite or contrived.”

Mr. Cassidy — who played guitar and keyboards — was frontman and lead songwriter for the band Assassins, which got signed by Antonio “L.A.” Reid at Arista Records. He also founded the one-man project Butterfly Child, in which he invited collaborators to make music.

As his career shifted to producing and managing others, “He would lend parts or help mix or do string arrangements. He did so much more than manage an artist,” said Assassins co-founder Aaron Miller. “It is a giant, irreplaceable loss to have lost this ‘mind palace’ of his.”

“The amount of stuff he is credited on is just a small amount of the work he actually did because he was recklessly generous,” said Justin Webb, a son of Jimmy Webb and member of the Webb Brothers band, which backed Mr. Cassidy on his song “Holding On.” “He was just constantly helping people — ‘In case of emergency, call Joe.'”

Mr. Cassidy managed drummer-producer Cal Campbell, who played on “Holding On,” and singer-songwriter Ashley Campbell, children of the singer Glen Campbell. On Instagram, Ashley Campbell mourned, “My bold, wonderful, kind, passionate friend and manager.”

“I’d never seen a man so committed to service — the service of others,” said Michael McDermott, another singer-songwriter he managed. McDermott wrote liner notes for Mr. Cassidy describing him as a “Belfast Byron” — “cool, handsome, brilliant, talented, respected, dreamy and kind.”

“So many artists benefited from his production skills, his songwriting . . . his wise advice on how to navigate the music industry,” said Metro owner Joe Shanahan, who loves the Butterfly Child song “Drunk on Beauty.” “He connected people. If he knew you were looking for a publishing deal, he might know someone. . . .he could listen to a song and say ‘Oh, you’ve got something there.”

“He would work very quick and very spartan, although his sound would end up being massively layered, Brian Wilson-type work,” said Brian Liesegang, a former member of Nine Inch Nails and co-founder of Filter.

He played at Metro, Schubas Tavern, Debonair Social Club and Lollapalooza. With Assassins, he opened for Muse at the Double Door. In 2006 they opened for Duran Duran at the old Sears Centre Arena. At Shanahan’s suggestion, New Order booked Assassins as their opener at the Aragon Ballroom in 2005.

Mr. Cassidy had loved the band as a teen, so “opening for New Order was kind of a high point,” Miller said.

Young Joe grew up in Belfast, the son of civil servants Anne and Michael Cassidy. “There was always music in the house,” said his brother, also named Michael.

He listened to My Bloody Valentine and the Police, especially the guitar of Andy Summers. The Troubles were at their height so he immersed himself in sports, idolizing John McEnroe and playing tennis and making music.

After hearing his recordings, the Manchester, England, band BFG recruited him to perform on their 1987 release “Western Sky,” said his friend, Sarah Marmor.

The duo A.R. Kane, who helped create the hit “Pump Up the Volume,” later signed Butterfly Child, which received ravishing reviews over the years. Neil Kulkarni wrote in Melody Maker in 1995 that Butterfly Child’s “Honeymoon Suite” LP was the “record the term ‘perfect pop’ should have been invented for.”

Mr. Cassidy moved to London in the “Cool Brittania” era of the ’90s and hung out with Oasis, Blur and Pulp. For a time he lived in a flat with Alexander McQueen. Mr. Cassidy answered the phone when David Bowie called for the fashion designer. He didn’t believe it was Bowie and hung up, according to Marmor.

“He had this kind of soft swagger,” said his sister Frances Macklin. “He had this walk and he had this way of standing in a room, it wasn’t like anybody else.”

After moving to the U.S., a stranger approached him on a New York City street and invited him to a party at his home. When Mr. Cassidy arrived, he realized the stranger was Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and the other guests included Jeff Buckley, Debbie Harry and Patti Smith.

Later in life, he was a successful commercial composer for Hidden Valley Ranch, Lexus, McDonald’s and State Farm, said his former girlfriend Merritt Lear, a member of Assassins and collaborator with Butterfly Child.

Mr. Cassidy also worked on music for TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy.”

He collaborated with NOISE, a musical project with Lear, John Goff and artist Shepard Fairey, creator of the Barack Obama “Hope” poster.

And the Vienna Symphony Orchestra recently recorded one of Mr. Cassidy’s compositions.

Mr. Cassidy said on his website, “I usually work with people who have a very open mind about what they are looking to achieve with a song, an arrangement or the type of production necessary. Artists or clients who are not ‘boxed in’ to a genre are the ones I usually find knocking at my door.”

He loved animals and they loved him. When Mr. Cassidy visited a friend’s garden, Marmor said, a crow flew down and rested on his shoulder.

He once rescued a dove that somebody left inside a storage closet filled with film props. “He walked by and heard the ‘coo-coo,’ ” Lear said. He called his new pet Dovey, and “Dovey ended up happy and loved. The dove would come when Joe called.”

If Mr. Cassidy saw a bug in his house, “He would insist on picking it up and putting it outside and wishing it well on its journeys,” she said.

His rescue dog, Fozzy, made an appearance at the end of Coldplay’s “Strawberry Swing” video.

Jamie Golitko

Mr. Cassidy collected Star Wars figurines and enjoyed hunting at yard sales for midcentury modern treasures.

In addition to his parents, sister and brother, he is survived by a nephew, William Macklin. A July 31 funeral is planned in Belfast.

“He was the person who taught me the religion of making music,” Miller said. “You have to work on it every day, and sometimes it winds up in the trash or winning a Grammy or ending up in a commercial on TV.”

“What he brought was beauty to our world,” Shanahan said.

After he died, the sign at Metro was changed to reflect what Mr. Cassidy used to say in greeting.

“You lovely fella.”

Kelly Wey

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Bears radio voice Jeff Joniak can empathize with the baseball announcers who are frustrated being tethered to their home broadcast booths, calling road games off monitors because of issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Joniak and analyst Tom Thayer faced the same challenge last season, when they called one road game on site (they drove to the season opener in Detroit) and called the others from the culinary studio at WBBM Newsradio 780. As great as their setup was, it couldn’t replicate being at the stadium.

“Everybody wants to be there. That’s why we do it,” Joniak said. “We know we’re open for criticism because everybody analyses everything these days. But we had to do it.”

This season figures to be less challenging. Most important, Joniak and Thayer will return to the road. WBBM cleared them to travel, though the traveling party will be leaner. Also, sideline reporter Mark Grote will return to the field for home games.

“Things are returning to some semblance of normal,” director of news and programming Ron Gleason said, “but we continue to take many precautions to ensure everyone’s safety.”

That’s also true at training camp, which opened to a limited number of fans Thursday after being closed to the public last year. What won’t change is Joniak and Thayer’s camp coverage, which remained extensive last year despite interviews being moved to Zoom rooms.

“It’s a long list,” Joniak said. “You almost invest the most time of the season in training camp.”

The pair will post videos on the Bears’ platforms in which they break down each position. For WBBM, they’ll shoot daily videos about practice for the website. Their show “Bears All Access” airs at 6 p.m. Thursdays on The Score, barring a Cubs game, and Joniak will host the “Bears Coaches Show” on Monday nights on WBBM.

This season marks Joniak and Thayer’s 25^th together on Bears broadcasts and Joniak’s 21^st as play-by-play voice (he previously hosted the pre- and postgame shows). Joniak is looking forward to a more normal season, and it started with fans back at training camp.

“Training camp is a lot more fun when fans are there,” he said. “And I think it is that way for the players, as well. I think it does ratchet up their competitiveness. It’s gonna feel normal again.”

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Bob Costas doesn’t have outlandish goals for his new talk show. He’s at a point in his career where he isn’t concerned about the size of his audience or how often he appears on TV.

He just wants it to be good.

“What I hope to achieve is something pretty simple,” Costas said. “Somebody walks away from it, or goes to bed thinking, ‘That was interesting, it was in its own way entertaining and it was done well.’ That’s all.”

For Costas, that’s eminently attainable, and given his abilities, easily exceedable.

The 29-time Emmy winner returns to HBO with “Back on the Record with Bob Costas,” which debuts at 10 p.m. Friday. The hourlong show, which also will be available to stream on HBO Max, will air monthly through October. Beginning next year, it will air four episodes quarterly.

Costas, 69, worked with HBO from 2001 to ’09, when he hosted “On the Record with Bob Costas,” which morphed into “Costas Now” in 2005. His new iteration includes two lengthy interviews with guests, a panel discussion and a concluding commentary from Costas. His guests Friday are basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and Olympic gold-medal gymnast Aly Raisman.

ESPN’s Bomani Jones will add commentary and contribute to the panel discussion. For the first roundtable, he’ll be joined by former pitcher David Cone and former WNBA player Renee Montgomery. The show’s executive producers are longtime HBO producer Jonathan Crystal, former HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg and author and ESPN senior writer Howard Bryant.

They’ll cover big issues across the sports landscape that transcend sports. But Costas said his guests won’t always be sports figures.

“The first time around on HBO, just going off the top of my head, we had Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Billy Crystal, Tina Fey,” Costas said. “I particularly like comedians who are interested in sports because it adds some balance to the program. Bill Burr is gonna be on. If you said to him, ‘Just do an hour only about sports,’ he could easily do that because he’s got so much sports material.”

The same holds true for Jones, who hosts the ESPN podcast “The Right Time with Bomani Jones” and regularly appears on ESPN TV and radio. Costas didn’t know him personally before but had been impressed with his work.

“He can go in any direction and comment on almost anything that comes up,” Costas said. “He’s a very good and very self-assured television performer with a strong point of view. If I pick 10 sports subjects at random, he would have a knowledgeable take on all of them. And it doesn’t matter whether I agree with all of them. I don’t want an echo chamber. I want a good discussion.”

Costas continues to have a significant role at MLB Network and contributes on occasion at CNN. But he’ll be remembered most for his career at NBC, where he covered practically every major sporting event. To Chicago sports fans, he’s likely best-known for calling the Saturday MLB “Game of the Week” in the 1980s, following the Bulls’ NBA title runs in the 1990s and hosting 12 Olympics.

With the Summer Games going on in Tokyo, you might think Costas feels out of place being home.

“It’s not strange for me at all,” he said. “I had decided many years before the Rio Olympics that 2016 would be my last Olympics. I just didn’t announce it publicly. So there isn’t much to get used to. I did a dozen. I felt like that was enough.

“I’m very, very glad I did it. I’m glad that it’s an important part of my career and that people still seem to appreciate it. But not even for one second have I ever felt, Oh, if I was there, I would have said this or I would have done that. It’s completely behind me, as it should be.”

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Thousands of fans streamed into Grant Park Thursday marking the return of Lollapalooza after COVID-19 halted last year’s iteration of the 30-year-old music festival.

With COVID cases on the rise nationally and growing concerns about the virus’ Delta variant, Lollapalooza organizers this month introduced added precautions for entry to the festival grounds.

Concert-goers were asked via the festival’s website and social media accounts to present a copy of a COVID-19 vaccination card or proof of a negative COVID-19 test at the festival’s gate if unvaccinated.

Ahead of Lolla’s 11 a.m. kickoff, dozens of fans lined up outside the festival’s Ida B. Wells Drive, East Harrison and Monroe Avenue entrances off Michigan Avenue, wearing outfits featuring cutoffs, jerseys, body glitter, tie dye and more. Festival volunteers stood nearby offering masks to anyone interested.

Passersby going down Michigan Avenue glanced at the small crowds as Chicago police officers began to position themselves in different locations around the perimeter of the festival.

And while some fans said they were slightly worried about COVID-19, many expressed confidence in Lollapalooza’s new protocols.

Clutching physical copies of their vaccination cards, 20-year-old J.D. Lopez and his friends waited at the front of the line on Harrison Street, ready to make a run for the T-Mobile stage where Miley Cyrus would be performing the Day 1 closing set at 8:45 p.m. The group said Lollapalooza couldn’t have been more prepared in terms of safety protocols.

“We’re glad the festival is doing everything they can to be safe by checking vaccination cards and tests, Lopez said.

Once the gates opened, fans steadily made their way to where security personnel quickly checked printed papers and phone screens — a process taking less than 10 seconds in most cases.

Matt Moore/Sun-Times

“It was super easy — there weren’t even any lines and there were a lot of stations for people to get through, so there wasn’t any backup,” said 24-year-old Chicagoan Danielle Polk. She and her friends said getting into the festival felt surprisingly easy and efficient — a far cry from previous years, where it could take an hour to get through.

But for 18-year-old Lake Villa resident Damon Sagel and his mother, the process was not so smooth — the two were turned away because they were not vaccinated. They said they did not know they needed to be and were angry that they potentially wasted nearly $500 on tickets.

“I didn’t go to get a vaccination, so we can’t get in — we weren’t aware that you need to have a vaccination card,” Sagel said. “They didn’t say anything about a refund, but we’re still going to try going over there and get one,” he said, following his mother who bolted to the box office. “She’s not in a good mood.”

Inside the park, maskless fans ran to stages where they planned to camp out for headliners, while others stopped for food and selfies at the many Instagrammable sets set up throughout the park.

Also walking the park were staff members from the Chicago Department of Health, who also staffed an informational table. Their goal they said is to connect with unvaccinated fans and show them where they can get the jab, whether at home or at a nearby downtown location.

Sitting on the grass in front of the T-Mobile stage, 23-year-old Christine Tuscano surveyed the festival grounds and smiled.

Matt Moore/Sun-Times

“It hit me here,” she said, explaining the feeling of being at a large-scale event for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

“I sat here at the T-Mobile stage and was like, ‘Wow, we’re back!’ It seems so surreal. I didn’t feel like we were ever gonna get to this point.”

The festival will continue through Sunday.

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday hinted strongly that Chicago will follow New York City’s lead by requiring city employees to either show proof that they’ve been fully vaccinated or get tested weekly for the coronavirus.

Already, city employees must wear masks in “common areas” of City Hall and other city workplaces too tight to maintain social distance and wear masks full-time if they’re not vaccinated — not only for their own protection, but also to safeguard their colleagues.

Asked Thursday about the possibility of vaccine and testing mandates, Lightfoot said it’s “been on our radar screen for quite a long time — really going back into the spring.”

She left little doubt vaccine and testing mandates for the city’s 33,000 employees are coming in response to a troubling spike in coronavirus cases tied to the “Delta variant.”

“We’ve had more recent conversations about it. We’re starting the conversations with public unions that represent city workers and we’ll be making an announcement soon,” she said.

Lightfoot doesn’t “have a particular date” for the announcement because negotiations are ongoing. But she plans to announce the new policy “shortly.”

“We’re looking at what’s been done [around the country]. New York was probably the first big city to come out with a mandate there. It’s mandatory vaccines or weekly testing for those who are not vaccinated,” she said.

“The federal government … has or will soon be making a declaration about mandatory vaccine. So we’re looking at what’s happening in other circumstances and crafting a strategy that works for Chicago.”

Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter was asked about the status of those negotiations.

He issued a statement saying only that the federation is “currently reviewing our affiliates’ positions on workplace vaccinations. … However, we encourage everyone to make the decision to get vaccinated to protect themselves, their co-workers and their families.”

The Chicago Federation of Labor has an ownership stake in Sun-Times Media.

Earlier this week, the mayor and city Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady sent mixed messages about the troubling risk in coronavirus cases.

Lightfoot said she wouldn’t hesitate to return to a mask mandate and other safety mitigations if the daily level of coronavirus cases in Chicago “consistently go over” 200.

Arwady said the she would sound the alarm and tighten the screws if the daily case level tops 400.

Both women expressed no second thoughts about green-lighting Thursday’s start of Lollapalooza, which Lightfoot proudly declared as the “largest music festival in the world” to be held since the pandemic.

Thursday, the mayor was asked about the discrepancy.

“The goalposts haven’t moved. Our metrics have been consistent … certainly over the last year-plus, but we’re concerned about this steady creep up,” she said.

Chicago’s daily rate of coronavirus cases stands at 190. That’s up 63% from 117 cases-a-day just one week ago. Lightfoot acknowledged the city is poised to blow past her benchmark of “200-plus-cases-a-day.”

But she said “other important metrics” the city follows “do give us some reason for optimism.”

“That is, we’re not seeing a huge surge in hospitalizations. That’s important. Or ICU beds or people on ventilators. However, the people who are getting sick with the Delta variant — 97-plus percent of them are unvaccinated. And they’re getting very sick,” the mayor said.

“We need people to get vaccinated to protect themselves against the variant. Without that protection, you’re playing Russian roulette. This variant is real. It is deadly. It is devastating.”

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Lollapalooza is bringing live music is back to Chicago in a big way. The Grant Park festival is one of the country’s first large-scale events post- pandemic, and it was ushering in the tunes — and the good feels — from the start on Thursday afternoon.

Orville Peck

Orville Peck may have been the only one wearing a mask at Lollapooza on opening day, but his faithful crowd (quite substantial for the early afternoon set) did come decked out in cowboy hats. Peck, a mysterious and unidentified Canadian artist who is turning modern country on its head and taking great advantage of country’s current moment, has a shtick of wearing a long, fringed facial covering for every performance. He looked every part old-school Nashville in his accompanying fringed vest and sequined chaps while brandishing a classic Gretsch guitar, quickly moving over to the piano for his rollicking set.

Songs “Big Sky,” “Legends Never Die” (his memorable duet recorded with Shania Twain) and “Drive Me Crazy” (“about truck drivers and love”) from his acclaimed EP “Show Pony” deftly blurred the lines between country twang, indie rock and even some added psychedelic swag.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

“Hello I’m Orville Peck,” he said, conjuring the ghost of Johnny Cash to open the set, and then proceeded to show off his deep baritone, a bat signal for his many followers who sold out his pre-show Wednesday at Thalia Hall. There’s a part of Peck’s rise that feels very Gaga-like (he also wisely offered up his cover of “Born This Way” on Thursday). From the garish costume choices to the pseudonym to becoming a beloved LGBTQ icon, his career seems poised to reach that pinnacle in due time. Watch out for this one, mask and all.

Ant Clemons

It’s amazing that Ant Clemons isn’t a household name yet. Kicking around since 2016, he’s primarily been a songwriter, the Oz behind a curtain of top singles for acts like Beyonce, Camilla Cabello and Chicago’s own Kanye West, with whom he worked on the 2018 track “All Mine.”

Clemons introduced that song in his set as one that changed his life “when a gentleman from Chicago picked a poor young man up off the floor,” and then proceeded to give a sampler-platter medley of his other big numbers as a way to “get to know” him. That included H.E.R.’s “Damage” (followed by an audio snippet of her winning a Grammy) and “Better Days,” the track he did with Justin Timberlake and that both performed at President Joe Biden’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’ inauguration in January.

Early in the set, Clemons also dropped a bomb with what is presumed to be the live debut of his new song “Appreciation” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, that he announced would drop at midnight Thursday night. If his previous work — like the EP “Happy 2 Be Here,” nominated for a Grammy this year — is any indication, expect his new music to make just as much of a dent and usher in his prime-time appearance at the next Lollapalooza.

Selena Fragassi is a Chicago freelance writer.

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Lollapalooza officially returns to Grant Park this week for four days of music and good times despite concerns about how bringing together over 100,000 people each day will affect the ongoing pandemic.

The festival, which opens Thursday with vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test required for entry, represents the largest public event to date held in Chicago since the emergence of the coronavirus last March. Despite worries over the virus’ Delta variant and rising caseloads nationally, the show will go on this weekend.

Huge acts will be in town luring giant crowds to the park, including Miley Cyrus, Foo Fighters, Post Malone and Tyler, The Creator. Many surrounding streets will be closed through Sunday night.

The Sun-Times will be there all four days covering the big shows and big crowds. Keep this page bookmarked for updates throughout the festival.

Photo highlights

DAY 1: Sights and sounds from Thursday

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Check out more sights and sounds captured by our photographers on the first day of Lolla here.

First Lolla fans optimistic as 2021 festival kicks off amid COVID-19 precautions

Thousands of fans streamed into Grant Park Thursday marking the return of Lollapalooza after COVID-19 halted last year’s iteration of the 30-year-old music festival. While some fans said they were slightly worried about COVID-19, many expressed confidence in Lollapalooza’s new protocols.

But not everyone knew about the vaccine mandate in order to attend the music festival.

Read the full story here.

Lolla signs warn attendees they assume risk for COVID-19

The thousands of people entering Lollapalooza on Thursday are being greeted by signs explaining something that’s not included on their public health and safety website: By attending the festival, “you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19,” which they mention “can lead to severe illness and death.”

Read the full story here.

Must-see acts to check out

Some of the names on the Lolla lineup are a lot bigger than others. Selena Fragassi parses through the dozens of bands and artists to break down 10 must-see acts that attendees won’t want to miss this weekend. Here’s what Fragassi says about one of the festival’s earliest performers, Orville Peck:

No one exactly knows who this incognito Canadian country singer is (his trademark look is a long, fringed mask and cowboy hat) but the boudoir-looking John Wayne has heaped tons of due praise in his few years on the scene. Both for crafting a highly contagious psychedelic outlaw sound that refreshes the genre and for being an LGBTQ iconoclast whose work with Trixie Mattel and Gaga will soon put him in a new league.

Check out all of our recommended shows here.

How to watch performances live online

Unlike past years, Hulu is the exclusive live streaming partner for Lollapalooza 2021. All Hulu subscribers will be able to watch live performances for free as part of their subscriptions. Complete streaming schedules for all four days are already up on Hulu’s website, although they warn that set times are subject to change.

How will COVID-19 affect the festival?

With coronavirus case figures rising across the country amid lagging vaccination rates and the emergence of the Delta variant, Lollapalooza put in place security measures to help make the festival safer.

For those attending the festival, a vaccination card or proof of negative COVID-19 test will be required for entry. Get more information on how that’ll work here.

Chicago’s top health official, Dr. Alison Arwady, said Tuesday that the city’s virus situation is in “good control” ahead of the festival. However, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said recently that she would not hesitate to impose measures in Chicago such as face covering requirements if the city’s daily caseload keeps rising — and Arwady said she expects “some cases” of COVID-19 to result from the festival being held.

Lineup and schedule

Complete daily schedules for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday can be found here.

The after-show lineup includes Modest Mouse, Journey, Jimmy Eat World and Freddie Gibbs. Check out the complete list of official Lolla after-shows here.

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Jason Lieser and Patrick Finley talk about their first impressions of rookie quarterback Justin Fields and the young offensive players the Bears have put around him.

New episodes of “Halas Intrigue” will be published regularly with accompanying stories collected on the podcast’s hub page. You can also listen to “Halas Intrigue” wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Luminary, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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One of the biggest challenges for people that don’t eat gluten is trying to find restaurants that offer dishes they can eat. Well, it doesn’t have to be a challenge anymore – because we have rounded up 8 of the best gluten-free restaurants around the city.

2873 N Broadway St

This daytime cafe offers 100% gluten-free options of all kinds, and they pride themselves on the wide selection of tasty dishes they serve that are allergen-free. You can grab a drink and a nutritious treat without having to worry about any sensitivities. 

1 W Erie St

Good food has the power to make yourself feel better physically, and True Food Kitchen prides themselves on ensuring that each dish they serve contributes positively to the way you feel. Most menu items that they offer can be customized to accommodate your needs!

2100 W Roscoe St

This small, family-owned restaurant offers tons of gluten-free options for breakfast, brunch, and lunch that you will definitely want to try. If you’re new to eating gluten-free, Lucy’s Cafe is a great place to start – as the majority of their menu items are GF, and especially, delicious!

2465 N Clark St

We get it; you eat gluten-free, but your friend doesn’t. Basil Leaf Cafe is the perfect place for you both to enjoy fantastic food together – as there are plenty of options for the both of you. Serving classic Italian dishes, this spot is a guaranteed hit. 

1954 N Halsted St

If you’re looking for more of an upscale spot, Summer House Santa Monica is the place to be. Though their menu is not 100% gluten-free, they pride themselves in being able to accommodate GF needs in customizable ways with their dishes. They also serve alcohol!

2333 N Milwaukee Ave 

It’s no surprise that this Chicago classic made the list. They pride themselves on being meat-free since 1983, but they also have tons of gluten-free options on the majority of their menu items. We recommend the Thai Basil Stir Fry.

1477 W Balmoral Ave

Most people who follow a gluten-free diet tend to stay away from bakery items. Well, you don’t have to anymore! Defloured is a bakery that specializes in gluten-free treats. They offer cookies, cakes, pies, scones, and so much more. Feel free to indulge in the sweetness at Defloured!

5020 N Sheridan Rd

As a sister restaurant to Big Chicks, Tweet offers a great spin on a wide range of classic dishes. They believe eating is not only a way to nourish the body – but believe it should be an entire experience. We recommend the Chipotle Black Bean Burger!

What’s your favorite spot in Chicago that offers gluten free eats? Share with us in the comments!

Photo by Sonny Mauricio on Unsplash

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Someone named Natalie at something called “SeatGeek” sent me an email offering White Sox tickets for Friday’s game against the Cleveland Indians. I blinked at it.

“Didn’t they change their name to the ‘Guardians?'” I wondered. Yes they did, but only after this season. Ah.

Sure, I could get all sentimental about a century of baseball tradition being scrapped. Weep how I loved Chief Wahoo as a child and, to be honest, still do. How my mother was an Indians fan, my grandfather before her.

But you know what? Truth is, I’m an adult now, and understand the world is not all about me. I have my own sense of self-worth, one not dependent on the icons of my youth being carried into perpetuity on the shoulders of the public, like plaster saints borne aloft in some dusty village procession. Times change. Certain stereotypes fly in 2021 while others do not. I can’t explain why the Fighting Irish Leprechaun is OK while Chief Wahoo isn’t.

Though I can try: It has something to do with the Irish coming here and doing pretty well, eventually, while the Native Americans already were here and didn’t do well at all, not once the white newcomers were done with them. I bet if no Irish Catholics actually attended the University of Notre Dame, its pugnacious mascot would be seen in a very different light.

Still, when I heard Cleveland is changing the name to “Guardians,” I winced. Leave it to Cleveland to pick a dud. I had been pulling for “Spiders.” It’s such a cool name, with roots — Cleveland was the Spiders before it was the Indians. And I’d been to the University of Richmond, and was so impressed with its way-cool Spiders mascot I almost bought a Spiders t-shirt.

But the Guardians? What’s that? There was that movie with the raccoon, “Guardians of the Galaxy.” And … what else? Guardian ad litem, the attorney a court orders to make sure children or seniors aren’t being abused by those tasked with their care. Important, but not something to put on a sweatshirt.

The rationale is that the statues on Cleveland’s Hope Memorial Bridge are called the Guardians of Traffic. I grew up next to Cleveland, and they’re not exactly beloved civic icons. Heck, I didn’t make the connection, and I’ve been on the bridge relatively recently, in 2016, when the paper sent me to cover the Republican Party’s coronation of Donald Trump. A protest by medical personnel decrying his malignancy was shunted across the mile-long bridge to keep it contained. Marchers literally could not detour from their route without falling to their death.

Photo by Neil Steinberg

Sure, I noticed the things; hard to miss a quartet of 43-foot pylons, each with a pair of Art Deco figures, each holding a means of transportation — a wagon, a truck, a 1930s-era car.

“Guardians of Traffic,” sounds like the worst Marvel superheroes movie ever, a bush league Avengers where Saltman leaps to de-ice highways and The Signal projects flashing lights upon the back end of cars changing lanes.

A neutral term for a team. Isn’t that what you want? A name without many associations, upon which the club can imprint its identity. Now they can play ball without kicking over the bucket of America’s murderous past. Won’t that be nice?

I shouldn’t have to point out the obvious, but sometimes that’s my job. A segment of Chicago’s Italian American community, straddling the loathsome corpse of Christopher Columbus, pressing on its chest, hissing, “Breathe, damn you!” should stop, look up, brush a sweaty strand of hair from their face, gaze at Cleveland, and think. This is what you do when you’ve lost a cultural battle and have a financial stake. If it’s not your dime, sure, pump away. But if you need to sell tickets, eventually you give in.

Remember, everybody is free to venerate whomever they like. I could light incense before a Chief Wahoo bobblehead. No one cares. This is about bullying others to show deference to your hero. Italian American identity isn’t bound up in Columbus any more than Donald Trump actually cares about Cleveland. “Such a disgrace,” he sighed.

Do I need to point out that the Trumpy, Fraternal-Order-of-Police elements of Chicago’s Italian American community are the ones going all out for Christopher Columbus? Maybe they really do love him.

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