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Smoked meats & southern eats: Neither of these are particularly prominent in the Second City, but these are the the two pillars by which Porkchop BBQ in West Town stands upon. Porkchop’s goal was to create an “urban interpretation of a backwoods experience” And, by all means, they have accomplished this.

Porkchop was kind enough to invite us out to their media tasting day this past week. The menu, the ambiance, and the hospitality were on full display. Located conveniently in West Town at 1132 Grand Avenue, Porkchop converted a vacant corner unit into a snug, homey barbecue experience. From the moment you walk in, the aroma of the smoked meats hits, and you are transplanted out of the urban mindset and into the heaven of southern bliss. A long wooden table with benches gives you the feeling of an intimate, family dinner in the summertime south. And once you are seated, you are treated exactly as such: family. Our waitress Zoe, was incredibly friendly and helpful in getting us familiar with Porkchop and its offerings.

As for the menu, absolutely nothing missed. The cocktail drink, or ‘Pour Decisions,’ menu featured some unique drinks. The Suffering Bastard, and some familiar favorites, like a Rock & Rye Old Fashioned were crowd-pleasers. Starting courses featured fried catfish bites with tartar sauce and crispy bang bang shrimp with a spicy aioli (an absolute must for barbecue). The batter of both was done exceptionally well; not too heavy, not too light, perfectly crispy, and it stuck to the pieces well. The catfish was tender and flakey, and paired well with the flavorful Bang Bang Shrimp. 

The entrees we sampled were a Chicken & Waffle spread and a you-pick-em, two-meat platter, each served with two southern sides. The Chicken & Waffle was the ideal balance between sweet and savory, with chicken that was as tender and juicy as it was appealing on the platter. However, the two-meat platter is what really stole the showThe meats we elected to sample are two that must be executed to earn proverbial BBQ stripes: pulled pork and brisket burnt ends. The pork paired extremely well with a vinegary sauce, and fell apart, as it should. The taste had a mild sweetness and was incredibly savory; well executed. The burnt ends were a perfect compliment to the pork. The first slice will display a prominent smoke ring, which begs the question, ‘is this meat over curated or perfectly smoked?’ The first bite answers: perfectly smoked. Pairing the burnt ends with the spicy aioli sauce from the Bang Bang Shrimp will stimulate the taste buds in ways you wouldn’t expect from BBQ in Chicago. Sides of baked beans, cornbread, green beans and mac-n-cheese were perfectly fulfilling to match the flavors of the tender, smoked meats.

If you are looking to stray away from the traditional, fine dining that dominates Chicago’s Friday night dinner scene, West Town’s Porkchop says look no further. Porkchop not only will exceed your cuisine expectations, but their speakeasy will entertain you with music, magic, and even burlesque shows. Whatever you are looking for, Porkchop has it all. The opportunity to enjoy their food at their media unveil will not be our only trip! See you soon, Porkchop! 

You can follow Porkchop BBQ on Instagram at @porkchopbbq or visit their website for more information and how you can enjoy the best BBQ in the city today!

Featured Image Credit: Porkchop BBQ on Instagram

 

The post Porkchop BBQ: The Authentic Taste of the South Hits West Town appeared first on UrbanMatter.

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LONDON — All adults and children in England will be able to have routine coronavirus tests twice a week as a way to stamp out new outbreaks, the British government said Monday as it prepared to announce the next steps in lifting the nation’s months-long lockdown.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said regularly testing people who don’t have COVID-19 symptoms would help “stop outbreaks in their tracks, so we can get back to seeing the people we love and doing the things we enjoy.”

The government said free lateral flow tests will be available free starting Friday by mail, from pharmacies and in workplaces. Lateral flow tests give results in minutes but are less accurate than the PCR swab tests used to officially confirm cases of COVID-19.

The government insists they are reliable. Health Minister Edward Argar said the tests produced a false positive rate — showing someone has the virus when they don’t — in less than 1 in every 1,000 tests.

“So that is still a highly accurate test which can play a really important part in reopening our country and our businesses, because it is so simple to take,” Argar told Sky News.

Johnson is scheduled later Monday to announce the next steps on the country’s road map out of its three-month lockdown. He is expected to confirm at a news conference that hairdressers, non-essential shops and pub and restaurant patios will reopen as planned in England on April 12. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are following slightly different timescales.

Britain has recorded almost 127,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest toll in Europe. But infections and deaths both have fallen sharply during the lockdown and since the start of a vaccination campaign that so far has given a first dose to more than 31 million people, or six in 10 adults.

Johnson is unlikely to tell Britons when or where they will be able to go abroad on vacation, something that is currently banned by law. The government has said it will not lift the travel ban before May 17. British officials are considering a traffic-light system ranking countries as green, yellow or red based on their level of infections. People returning from green countries would not have to self-isolate.

The government also is considering a system of certificates, or “vaccine passports,” that would allow people seeking to travel or attend events to show they either have received a coronavirus vaccine, recently tested negative for the virus, or recently recently had COVID-19 and therefore have some immunity.

The issue of vaccine passports has been hotly debated around the world, raising questions about how much governments, employers, venues and other places have a right to know about a person’s virus status. The idea is opposed by a wide swath of British lawmakers, from left-of-center opposition politicians to members of Johnson’s Conservative Party.

Conservative legislator Graham Brady said vaccine passports would be “intrusive, costly and unnecessary.” The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, called the idea “un-British.”

The government plans a series of trial mass events in April and May, including soccer matches, comedy shows and marathon runs, to see whether large crowds can return to sports and entertainment venues. Those attending will be tested for the virus both before and after, but the government has said the events won’t initially involve vaccine passports.

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Firefighters battled a residential fire Monday morning in Cary in the northwest suburbs.

Crews were called to a fire about 6:40 a.m. in the 500 block of Holly Lynn Drive, according to an employee of the Cary Fire Department.

The fire was under control and investigators were probing the cause of the fire, department spokesman Lt. Michael Douglass said in an email. Additional details weren’t immediately available

Media reports showed at least one home completely engulfed in flames.

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Haiti does not have a single vaccine to offer its more than 11 million people over a year after the pandemic began, raising concerns among health experts that the well-being of Haitians is being pushed aside as violence and political instability across the country deepen.

So far, Haiti is slated to receive only 756,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through a United Nations program aimed at ensuring the neediest countries get COVID-19 shots. The free doses were scheduled to arrive in May at the latest, but delays are expected because Haiti missed a deadline and the key Indian manufacturer is now prioritizing an increase in domestic demand.

“Haiti has only recently completed some of the essential documentation that are prerequisites for processing of a shipping order,” said Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a Geneva-based public-private partnership that is co-managing the U.N.-backed COVAX effort.

The country also didn’t apply for a pilot program in which it would have received some of its allotted doses early, according to the Pan American Health Organization. However, a spokeswoman commended its other pandemic efforts, including reinforcing hospital preparedness.

Meanwhile, a human rights research center cited in a new U.S. State Department report found Haiti’s government misappropriated more than $1 million worth of coronavirus aid. The report also accused government officials of spending $34 million in the “greatest opacity,” bypassing an agency charged with approving state contracts.

Laure Adrien, general director of Haiti’s Health Ministry, blamed the vaccine delay on scrutiny of the AstraZeneca shots and concerns that the country lacks the necessary infrastructure to ensure proper vaccine storage, adding that his agency prefers a single-dose vaccine. AstraZeneca requires two doses.

“It’s no secret that we don’t have excellent conservation facilities,” he said. “We wanted to be sure that we had all the parameters under control before we received vaccine stocks.”

Adrien also noted all the money his agency received has been properly spent, but said he could not speak for other agencies. A presidential spokesman did not return calls for comment.

Many poorer countries have experienced long waits in getting COVAX vaccines as richer countries snapped up supplies, though most have received at least an initial shipment. Some took matters into their own hands, securing shots through donations and private deals.

Haiti’s lack of vaccines comes as it reports more than 12,700 cases and 250 deaths, numbers that experts believe are underreported.

Perceptions also remain a big challenge.

While face masks remain mandatory at Haiti businesses, airport closures and curfews have long since been lifted, and other precautions are rare.

“People don’t really believe in the coronavirus,” said Esther Racine, a 26-year-old mother of two boys whose father died in the catastrophic 2010 earthquake.

Racine once worked as a maid but began selling face masks at the beginning of the pandemic, making brisk business with some 800 sales a month. Now, she barely sells 200.

“Look around,” she said, waving at a maskless crowd bustling around her in downtown Port-au-Prince. The only customers nowadays are those who need a mask to enter a nearby grocery store, she said, adding that Haitians have other problems on their mind: “People worry more about violence than the virus.”

Ongoing protests and a spike in kidnappings and gang-related killings have some wondering how any vaccine will be administered given the lack of stability coupled with a growing number of people afraid to leave their homes.

Many also fear being inoculated, despite educational campaigns. In addition, some officials have raised concern about the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has recently come under scrutiny in Europe after a very small number of people who received it developed unusual blood clots.

“We can receive the vaccine and then discover with a heavy heart that the stocks expired a couple of months later because no one wanted to be vaccinated,” Adrien said.

Among those in Haiti who say they will not be vaccinated is Dorcelus Perkin, a brick factory owner. On a recent morning, the 60-year-old supervised more than a dozen employees working outdoors. No one was wearing any personal protective equipment.

“We can’t wear masks in the sun. We would be suffocating,” he said, adding that the sun kills the virus, something scientists have not proven.

Perkin also credited drinking a traditional green tea mixed with salt every day for his good health: “I believe more in these remedies than the vaccines. I don’t know what’s in the inside of these vaccines.”

International groups are behind most of the resources and educational campaigns related to COVID-19 in Haiti, with the Pan American Health Organization providing the government 500 test kits, along with instruction on lab diagnosis and virus detection. It also supplied thermometers, PPE and other items including megaphones and batteries as workers fanned out into rural areas. In addition, PAHO trained more than 2,800 health workers in Haiti and met with community leaders including Voodoo priests and traditional birth attendants to share information about protective measures and treatment centers.

In May 2020, the organization’s director said she was particularly concerned about the effects of a potential large-scale outbreak given Haiti’s frail health care system and the fact that many live in overcrowded households and lack access to clean water. But perplexed experts say that anticipated outbreak has not happened.

“It’s a surprise to a lot of people,” said Aline Serin, head of mission in Haiti for the international aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres. “For the moment, there is not enough research and documentation to explain why some countries were less affected by severe COVID-19 cases.”

Meanwhile, it’s unclear exactly when the country’s first vaccines, via COVAX, will arrive.

Haiti is among 92 low-income countries expected to receive them. It’s also among dozens that will be affected by last week’s announcement of a suspension of deliveries in March and April of doses made for the program by the Serum Institute of India – the world’s largest vaccine maker – amid a spike of coronavirus cases in India.

When the shots do become available, experts acknowledge it will be a struggle to get them into arms.

They would have to convince Haitians like Duperval Germain, a 55-year-old carpenter who said neither he nor his children will be getting a vaccine. He worries about falling ill from it and not being able to receive proper medical care.

“All these heads of state who have been here, any time they get sick, they all fly out of here,” he said. “If we get sick, where would we go? They can keep (the vaccines) to themselves. Use it in places that need it. Haiti doesn’t need the vaccine.”

___

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

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MINNEAPOLIS — The emergency room doctor who pronounced George Floyd dead after trying to resuscitate him testified Monday that Floyd’s heart had stopped when he arrived.

Dr. Bradford Langenfeld, who was a senior resident on duty that night at Hennepin County Medical Center, said that he was not told of any efforts at the scene by bystanders or police to resuscitate Floyd but that paramedics told him they had tried for about 30 minutes.

He took the stand at the beginning of Week Two at former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, as prosecutors sought to establish that it was Chauvin’s knee on the Black man’s neck that killed him last May.

Langenfeld said that every minute a patient spends in cardiac arrest without immediate CPR decreases the chance of a good outcome. He said there is an approximately 10% to 15% decrease in survival for every minute that CPR is not administered.

Prosecutors in the second week of the trial are also expected to zero in on the officer’s training in the use of force. The first week of the case was dominated by emotional testimony from eyewitnesses and devastating video of Floyd’s arrest.

Derek Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death May 25. The white officer is accused of pinning his knee on the 46-year-old man’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as Floyd lay face-down in handcuffs outside a corner market.

The defense argues that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s use of illegal drugs and his underlying health conditions caused his death.

Floyd’s treatment by police was captured on widely seen bystander video that sparked protests that rocked Minneapolis and quickly spread to other U.S. cities and beyond and descended into violence in some cases.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo was also expected to testify Monday. Arradondo, the city’s first Black chief, fired Chauvin and three other officers the day after Floyd’s death, and in June called it “murder.”

“Mr. George Floyd’s tragic death was not due to a lack of training — the training was there,” Arradondo said then. “Chauvin knew what he was doing.”

The city moved soon after Floyd’s death to ban police chokeholds and neck restraints. Arradondo and Mayor Jacob Frey also have made several policy changes, including expanding requirements for reporting use-of-force incidents and documenting their attempts to de-escalate situations even when force isn’t used.

Prosecutors have already called supervisory officers to build the case that Chauvin improperly restrained Floyd. A duty sergeant and a lieutenant who leads the homicide division both questioned Chauvin’s actions in pinning Floyd after officers responded to a report that Floyd had passed a counterfeit $20 bill.

“Totally unnecessary,” Lt. Richard Zimmerman, the longest-tenured officer on the force, testified Friday. He said once Floyd was handcuffed, he saw “no reason for why the officers felt they were in danger, if that’s what they felt, and that’s what they would have to feel to be able to use that kind of force.”

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Firefighters were battling a residential fire Monday morning in Cary in the northwest suburbs.

Crews were called to a fire about 6:40 a.m. in the 500 block of Holly Lynn Drive, according to an employee of the Cary Fire Department.

Media reports showed at least one home completely engulfed in flames. There was no immediate word of injuries.

A department spokesman was not immediately available to provide additional details.

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Please send additions and corrections to [email protected]

Thursday, April 8

CHICAGO LAKE STREET

Corliss vs. Butler at Gately

CHICAGO MADISON STREET

Foreman vs. Senn at Winnemac

ILLINI BIG SHOULDERS

Dunbar vs. King at Eckersall

ILLINI SECOND CITY

Julian vs. Brooks at Gately

Friday, April 9

CHICAGO LAKE STREET

Fenger vs. Bowen at Gately

CHICAGO MADISON STREET

Pritzker vs. Chicago Academy at Winnemac

CHICAGO MICHIGAN AVENUE

Dyett vs. Richards/Harper at Stagg

CHICAGO STATE STREET

Collins vs. UIC Prep at Rockne

ILLINI HEARTLAND

Kennedy vs. Juarez at Rockne

ILLINI LAND OF LINCOLN

Raby at Taft

ILLINI PRAIRIE STATE

Orr at Solorio

ILLINI RED BIRD

Simeon vs. Morgan Park at Gately

ILLINI SECOND CITY

Vocational vs. Harlan at Eckersall

ILLINI WINDY CITY

Schurz vs. Lake View at Lane

CCL/ESCC

DePaul at Providence

CCL/ESCC WHITE

Marmion at St. Viator

St. Ignatius at Marian Central

Fenwick vs. St. Patrick at Triton

CSL North

Highland Park at Deerfield

Niles North at Maine East

Vernon Hills at Maine West

CSL NORTH

Maine South at Glenbrook South

Niles West at Evanston

New Trier at Glenbrook North

DUKANE

Glenbard North vs. TBA

Lake Park vs. TBA

Wheaton North vs. TBA

Wheaton Warrenville South vs. TBA

FOX VALLEY

Burlington Central at Jacobs

Prairie Ridge at Cary-Grove

Crystal Lake South at Hampshire

Huntley at Dundee-Crown

McHenry at Crystal Lake Central

ILLINOIS CENTRAL EIGHT

Reed-Custer at Herscher

Coal City at Wilmington

Peotone vs. Lisle at Benedictine

Streator at Manteno

INTERSTATE EIGHT

Ottawa at LaSalle-Peru

Plano at Kaneland

Sandwich at Rochelle

Sycamore at Morris

KISHWAUKEE RIVER

Johnsburg at Harvard

Richmond-Burton at Woodstock North

Woodstock at Marengo

METRO SUBURBAN BLUE

Aurora Christian at Aurora Central CAtholic

IC Cathoplic at Wheaton Academy

St. Francis at Riverside-Brookfield

METRO SUBURBAN RED

St. Edward at Chicago Christian

Elmwood Park at McNamara

Westmont at Ridgewood

MSL EAST

Buffalo Grove at Hersey

Prospect at Rolling Meadows

Wheeling at Elk Grove

MSL WEST

Conant at Schaumburg

Fremd at Barrington

Palatine at Hoffman Estates

NORTH SUBURBAN

Lake Forest at Zion-Benton

Lake Zurich at Warren

Stevenson at Libertyville

Waukegan at Mundelein

NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY

Grant at Round Lake

North Chicago at Grayslake Central

Wauconda at Antioch

SANGAMON VALLEY

Dwight at Paxton-Buckley-Loda

Momence at Seneca

SOUTH SUBURBAN BLUE

TF North at Hillcrest

Bremen at Lemont

Oak Forest at TF South

Tinley Park at Oak Lawn

SOUTH SUBURBAN RED

Richards vs. Eisenhower

Argo at Reavis

SOUTHLAND

Crete-Monee at Rich

Thornton at Thornwood

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST

Plainfield Central at Romeoville

Plainfield South at Plainfield East

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE WEST

West Aurora at Plainfield North

Minooka at Yorkville

Oswego at Oswego East

SOUTH SUBURBAN BLUE

Bolingbrook at Sandburg

Lincoln-Way East at Lockport

SOUTHWEST SUBURBAN RED

Lincoln-Way West at Homewood-Flossmoor

Stagg at Bradley-Bourbonnais

Andrew at Lincoln-Way Central

UPSTATE EIGHT

Glenbard East at East Aurora

Streamwood at Elgin

West Chicago at Bartlett

WEST SUBURBAN GOLD

Addison Trial at Leyden

Downers Grove South at Morton

Proviso East at Hinsdale South

WEST SUBURBAN SILVER

Hinsdale Central at Proviso West

Oak Park at Downers Grove North

NONCONFERENCE

Cambridge-Ridgewood at Ottawa Marquette

Brother Rice at St. Laurence

Leo at Notre Dame

Mount Carmel at De La Salle

St. Rita at Marian Catholic

Thornridge at Hope Academy

Joliet Catholic at Carmel

Willowbrook at York

Saturday, April 10

CHICAGO MADISON STREET

Taft-B at Marine

CHICAGO MICHIGAN AVENUE

Little Village at Kelly

CHICAGO STATE STREET

North Lawndale vs. Clemente at Rockne

ILLINI BIG SHOULDERS

South Shore vs. UP-Bronzeville at Eckersall

Hyde Park at Lindblom

ILLINI GREAT LAKES

Ag. Science vs. Goode at Gately

Catalyst Maria vs. Comer at Stagg

Johnson vs. Bogan at Stagg

ILLINI HEARTLAND

Steinmetz at ITW Speer

Prosser vs. Rauner at Rockne

ILLINI LAND OF LINCOLN

Lincoln Park vs. Phillips at Solorio

Lane at Westinghouse

ILLINI PRAIRIE STATE

Clark vs. Payton at Rockney

Bulls Prep at Young

ILLINI RED BIRD

Hubbard vs. Perspectives at Gately

Curie vs. Kenwood at Gately

ILLINI SECOND CITY

Carver vs. Washington at Gately

ILLINI WINDY CITY

Sullivan vs. Mather at Winnemac

Amundsen vs. Von Steuben at WInnemac

DUPAGE VALLEY

Waubonsie Valley at Neuqua Valley

Naperville Central at DeKalb

Naperville North at Metea Valley

SANGAMON VALLEY

Clifton Central at Walther Christian

SOUTH SUBURBAN RED

Evergreen Park vs. Shepard at Eisenhower

SOUTHLAND

Kankakee at Bloom

SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST

Joliet West at Joliet Central

UPSTATE EIGHT

Larkin vs. South Elgin at Elgin

Glenbard South at Fenton

WEST SUBURBAN SILVER

Lyons at Glenbard West

NONCONFERENCE

Marist at Nazareth

Grayslake North vs. Lakes at Antioch

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