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The game, which features prominently in the movie, was a 1985 contest between the Montreal Expos and Chicago Cubs.Read More

The Chicago Bears 2022 schedule has been released. The schedule is not as grueling as the 2021 campaign was. Last season the Chicago Bears had to take on the AFC North which featured the AFC Champions Cincinnati Bengals along with having to play the NFC West. The Bears had to open the 2021 campaign against […]

Way too early Chicago Bears 2022 season predictions – Da Windy City – Da Windy City – A Chicago Sports Site – Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Fighting Illini & More

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White Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, who was not expected to pitch this weekend against the Yankees, has been placed on the COVID-19-related injury list.Read More

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You’ve probably gone through our list of the best burgers in Chicago. But you know how Chicago’s food scene is: there are always new things happening! So, just in case you want to try something new for this year’s National Burger Day, below are the new-finds we’ve gathered this year that you absolutely should not miss out on!

Image Credit: Chicago Burger Company

Chicago Burger Company

301 E North Water St, Chicago, IL 60611

Just in time for National Burger Day, Chicago Burger Company offers the juiciest ones in town and it is now open daily for the summer from 11:00 a.m. to 7 p.m. Located on Chicago’s famous Riverwalk, the lively restaurant with an outdoor patio offers guests classic burgers and sandwiches, seasonal salads, thick shakes, and innovative cocktails. Our fave menu items include:

The CBC Burger with house-seasoned beef, American cheese, caramelized onions, applewood bacon, garlic-herb aioli and fried pickles
The Beyond Burger 2.0 that totally tricks you into believing it’s made with real meat.

The Roasted Veggie Sandwich, made with grilled portobello mushroom, roasted cauliflower, zucchini, red pepper, Parmesan cheese and balsamic glaze.

Quality Crab & Oyster Bah

To celebrate Burger Month, these juicy burgers will be on Bah’s Happy Hour for the entire month of May for $9.95, plus tax (gratuity not included), available for dine-in only..  Happy Hour is available Monday – Friday from 4:00 – 6:00 PM.

Bartoli’s Pizza

1955 W. Addison St. Chicago, IL 60613

658 N. Ashland Ave. Chicago, IL 60622

Did you know? Bartoli’s actually offers a Pizza Burger and a Nonna Bartoli’s Meatball Sub which is just as good. So, if you want something that’s going to redefine your National Burger Day celebration this year, check out Bartoli’s! They’re also doing a unique Memorial Day Weekend fundraiser. Sales over Memorial Day weekend to Homes For Our Troops, a publicly funded 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that builds and donates specially adapted custom homes nationwide for severely injured post-9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives.

Image Credit: Mustard Seed Kitchen

Mustard Seed Kitchen

49 E Cermak Rd, Chicago, IL 60616

This American Takeout concept created by James Beard-nominated Chef Erick Williams features an array of mouthwatering burgers. Located near McCormick Place at 49 East Cermak Road in Chicago, the restaurant is takeout and delivery only and focuses on everyday eats that are approachable and affordable. So, if you want the celebration vibe but don’t have other plans since this year’s Burger Day overlaps with Memorial Day Weekend, put in an order for MSK’s signature burgers! Our two faves are:

Say Cheese ($13.99): Double cheeseburger, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, seasoned mayo.
Good Afternoon ($16.99): Double Cheeseburger, bacon, pickles, onion, Swiss cheese, avocado, fried egg.

Image Credit: Elephant + Vine

Elephant + Vine

719 Church Street, Evanston, Illinois 60201

2315 Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60614

This new spot in Lincoln Park is here to impress this month with its delicious burgers. Try the classic Ele Burger that comes with American Cheese, onion, pickle, ketchup, and mustard, or something crazier like the Baja Burger or Zero Clucks. Also, all their burgers have a gluten-free option. Now that’s inclusiveness!

The post Where To Celebrate National Burger Day in Chicago This Year appeared first on UrbanMatter.

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This National BBQ Month, you can order takeout from one of our favorite bbq joints in Chicago, or you can learn from the top Chicago chefs and turn into the real grill master this year for Memorial Day. I mean… it’s your call, right? But lemme just say this: the chefs sure are generous this year! These tips include everything from behind-the-door best practices to solid recipes. So, have fun exploring!

Chef Mark Steuer from Funkenhausen
Beer Bratwurst Recipe

For those dreaming of grilling season, Chef Mark Steuer at Chicago’s Funkenhausen, a two-time Michelin Bib Gourmand winner, has created the perfect Beer Bratwurst recipe to kick off your next backyard barbeque and will leave your guests’ stomachs full and taste buds dancing while bringing German traditions to every plate. At Funkenhausen, Chef Mark draws on his German heritage and Charleston, South Carolina upbringing to create a menu that reimagines his fondest meals and memories from childhood with a soulful mash-up of cuisines, cultures and memories in an expression that is deeply personal—but doesn’t take itself too seriously. Chef Mark’s full recipe can be found here.

Chef D’Andre Carter from Soul & Smoke
BBQ Sauce For At-Home Grillmasters

Soul & Smoke has become one of Chicago’s most coveted barbeque concepts in recent years with a recent expansion into all 44 Mariano’s grocery stores in the Chicagoland area offering Chef D’Andre’s highly sought-after barbeque sauce to-go bottles for all the at-home grillmasters. This Kansas City-style barbeque sauce includes premium ingredients while still maintaining that sweet, tangy and thick profile of Kansas City sauce with an explosion of flavor.

Chef Bill Kim from urbanbelly and The Table at Crate

Award-winning Chicago Chef Bill Kim is the author behind “Korean BBQ: Master Your Grill in Seven Sauces” and he offers a simple tip to up your BBQ game this summer — it’s all about the sauce.

“Literally all you need to blow away your friends and family at the next barbecue is to up your sauces,” said Kim and he added, “the night before you barbecue, take what you’re grilling and let it sit overnight in a sauce or marinade. When you cook it and taste it, it’ll feel like it’s been prepped by ten people. Planning in advance helps you get great multi-dimensional flavors. It’s absolutely no work but makes all the difference in the end.”

One of the sauces Chef Kim holds near and dear to his heart is his Soy Balsamic Sauce. It was his first attempt at using ingredients that didn’t normally go together. Balsamic vinegar has the perfect mix of sweetness, acidity and body to combine with the brown sugar and soy sauce with his creation. Full recipe below:

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon cornstarch, or as needed

2 tablespoons water

¼ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

½ cup balsamic vinegar

½ cup soy sauce

Instructions: Makes one cup. Prep time ten minutes, cook time ten minutes

In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and water until the cornstarch dissolves and the mixture is the consistency of heavy cream, adding more cornstarch if the mixture is too thin.
Combine the brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir the cornstarch mixture briefly to recombine, then stir it into the soy-vinegar mixture and simmer over low heat for about three minutes, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove from the heat, let it cool completely, then refrigerate in an airtight container. This sauce will last for months without going bad.

Unique uses for Soy Balsamic Sauce

Hoisin and Yuzu Edamame

Drunken BBQ Lamb Chops

Honey Soy Flank Steak

Sesame Hoisin Chicken Wings

Gun Bae Soju Scallops

Sizzling Soy Balsamic Portobello Mushrooms

Hoisin Baked Beans with Bacon BBQ Crust

Chef John Manion from El Che Steakhouse & Bar:
Meat Butter Recipe

Legendary food critic Phil Vettel once called Chef Manion the “master of flame” for his incredible live-fire grilling skills, but beyond his natural talent, Manion’s flame-finished beef tastes even better with his personal concoction: Meat Butter. Unlike most other steakhouses Manion does not prefer his steak to be finished with butter, rather, he would prefer to keep beef tasting like beef by slathering the mix on steaks while they are resting. Full recipe below:

Ingredients: 

3lbs trimmed beef fat, diced

4 garlic gloves, finely chopped

Salt to taste

Instructions: Makes 2 Cups

Clean the fat of all meat scraps, and cut into very small pieces. Place it in a food processor, and pulse until it is the consistency of hamburger meat.
Transfer the fat to a Dutch oven and place over very low heat. Slowly cook the fat, stirring occasionally. Skim any impurities that rise to the top. Continue to render the fat until it looks like crumbs and you have a good amount of golden liquid. This can take 3 to 4 hours, but trust me; it’s worth the time. Keep an eye on it; you definitely do not want to scorch or burn it.
Strain the fat through a cheesecloth, then transfer it to a container. Place it in the refrigerator to cool until semi-soft. In a stand or handheld mixer, add garlic and salt to taste, and whip for two minutes. Refrigerate, covered tightly, for up to a month.

Featured Image Credit: Soul & Smoke

The post Tips from Top Chicago Chefs to Make This National BBQ Month Right appeared first on UrbanMatter.

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As we continue into the second month of the 2022 MLB season, the Chicago White Sox sitting at an even .500 record at 15-15. While the team has struggled to get things going offensively early on, the speedy-return of one outfielder should bode well for the lineup. And despite the lack of output at the plate, one player appears to be firing on all cylinders. That guy is starting pitcher Dylan Cease. 

With his sneaky slider and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it fastball, Cease’s arsenal has proven to make batter’s lives difficult when he’s out on the mound. Just ask Mike Trout, who Cease struck out three times in one game earlier this May. But just how far can his arm take him this season?

A Case For Cease Winning The Cy Young

Yep, you guessed it, the Cy Young Award. We have no reason not to believe that Cease can’t walk away from this season with the award. It would be quite the accomplishment, and his first time winning one. With the way he’s slinging the ball across the plate, it’ll be hard for voters not to include his name on the ballot. All he needs to do is keep up with the pace he’s on. That should be possible for him. Through seven appearances and 38 innings pitched, Cease has an ERA of 3.55 with 58 strikeouts. He’s on an absolute tear with a 3-1 record to his name so far.

And it’s not just the numbers on a scoresheet that add to the Dylan Cease Cy Young resume. When he’s on the mound, the entire opposing team’s lineup is bound to have a bad night. He can alter the game on one arm alone.

Plus, take into consideration that the Cy Young Award is given to the best pitchers in both the AL and NL. We mentioned Cease’s slider and fastball earlier. But, he also has a nasty knuckle curve and a change-up in his toolkit that he isn’t afraid to turn to. When it comes to pure pitching abilities, all of his different options make him one of the top talents in the game. 

Especially when they’re all working in his favor.

It’s exactly what happened the night he struck out Mike Trout three times, and Trout wasn’t the only one at the mercy of Cease. By the end of the night, he shutdown 11 batters for the Angels and notched the tenth double-digit strikeout outing of his career.

To top it all off, he has a pretty high baseball IQ with an ability to predict plays before they happen. With a mind and arm Cease has, how could he not be in contention for a 2022 Cy Young Award?

What’s Next On The White Sox Calendar?

The White Sox will finish off the week against the New York Yankees before taking a road trip to Kansas City on Monday, May 16. They’ll play five games there with a double-header on Tuesday. Dylan Cease will get the start against the Royals for the first one at 1:10 PM.

By next Friday, May 20, the Sox will finish off their season series against the Yankees with a three-game stretch. They’ll look to end the month with home series against the Red Sox, Cubs, and Blue Jays!

 

Featured Image Credit: Chicago White Sox Instagram

The post Which White Sox Ace Can Win A Cy Young This Season? appeared first on UrbanMatter.

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Chicago is the most populous city in the state of Illinois and is famed for its stunning city skylines, superb sandy beaches, and the plethora of parks, museums, and public art within its borders. But that’s not all – Chicago is also known for its fine dining and boasts an abundance of world-class restaurants offering an eclectic range of fare.

If you’re planning a trip to the ‘windy city,’ then make sure that at least one of the five eateries below is on your list of places to visit. Each of these establishments offers a truly unique dining experience, so the biggest issue you might have is choosing the one to try out first…

Bavette’s

This steakhouse is a long-standing favorite of Chicago residents and tourists alike, and its dry-aged bone-in ribeye is frequently cited as being the best in the city.

The ethos of Bavette’s Bar and Boeuf is to fuse fine dining with fun and to offer stylish eating to their patrons. The menu reflects this: choices of Hors D’Oeuvres include Tenderloin Steak Tartare, Sizzling Shrimp Scampi, and the famous range of Chilled Seafood Plateaux, while diners can choose from such Entrees as Bavette’s Spiced Fried Chicken, Double Cut Berkshire Pork Chop, or Ora King Salmon. But – for most – it’s the steak (or boeuf as it’s known here) that’s the uncontested star of the show. Whether you fancy the six-ounce Petite Duchess Cut Filet Mignon, served with tomatoes and watercress, or have an appetite for the twenty-ounce Dry-Aged Bone-In Ribeye, you’re in for a treat.

This restaurant continues to attract rave reviews for the quality of food and service as well as for its great atmosphere. The restaurant furniture has a distinctly vintage yet laid-back style, which, combined with the lighting and general mood of the establishment, hints at lingering meals enjoyed in the company of family and friends and excellent conversation over a few glasses of wine.

The Dining Room at Moody Tongue

A fine-dining space located inside a brewery may not be a traditional proposition, but here things are all about the unexpected. Multiple Michelin award winner Jared Wentworth has curated a menu that’s designed to bring food and beer together in perfect harmony. Culinary brewing is the overarching goal of this establishment, which comes down to sourcing the highest quality ingredients possible and knowing when, during the brewing process, they should be incorporated.

As well as expert beer pairings, you can also expect a changing menu that is committed to reflecting seasonal availability and a relaxed, low-key ambiance, enhanced by the historical nature of the building in which it nestles.

When it comes to the food itself, expect dishes like Veal Sweetbreads served with a cauliflower and almond puree, Alaskan Halibut with marbled potatoes and charred spring onions, and Squab, alongside French white asparagus, pine nut crumble, and liver mousse. The food is always extraordinary and always unexpected – which is just what you’d expect, really, from the world’s first two Michelin Star brewery.

Alinea

Alinea boasts a formidable horde of awards: the restaurant was awarded three Michelin stars in 2020 (only one of fourteen eateries in the whole of the US to have ever received this much sought-after accolade), has been named the Best Restaurant in the World by Elite Traveler, and the Best Restaurant in the US by Gourmet and Business Insider.

When reserving a table, guests can choose to eat in The Salon, The Gallery, or, for a really special experience, The Alinea Kitchen Table. A table in The Salon will set you back $295-365 per person, and your party will enjoy an innovative and sublimely delicious multi-course tasting menu. The three salons are located on the second floor of the restaurant and, it should be noted, are only accessible via stairs.

The Galley is located on the first floor and offers a unique multi-sensory menu that fuses fine dining with experimental cuisine and techniques. There are only two ‘showings’ a night, and a seat at a table here will cost you $395-465 per person. For the ultimate experience, consider reserving a seat at The Alinea Kitchen Table for an intimate, immersive, and cutting-edge gourmet treat. This completely private table is only for parties of up to six people, who will pay $450-475 a head.

Brindille

Brindille features in The Michelin Guide, where it’s cited as being one of the best French restaurants in Chicago. The chef’s love of French cuisine is evident in every single dish: creamy soup full of roasted chestnuts is served over wild mushrooms, compressed apple, and fluffy rice; perfectly-cooked Dover sole is served with crisps pommes-rissolees and pureed watercress. For dessert? Expect delights such as a baked-to-order almond clafoutis full to bursting with preserved cherries.

Inside Brindille, all is quiet and calm; there’s an intimate, peaceful atmosphere here that helps diners relax and fully savor their meals. The waiting staff is discreet yet attentive and professional and knowledgeable about the menu – it’s no surprise that this unassuming restaurant has been making culinary waves in the city.

Jeong

This eatery started its life in a mall food court and has now grown to be one of the must-visit fine dining restaurants in Chicago. Now located in a sleek, contemporary space in the trendy West Town area of the city, the team at Jeong serves innovative and inventive Korean cuisine to its diners, delighting Chicago residents, visitors to the city, and restaurant critics alike.

As well as the food, guests can sample the extensive wine and cocktail menus, or can choose the wine pairing option, to receive the perfect beverage to accompany each individual dish.

Guests can opt for the seven-course tasting menu to fully explore the range and artistry of the chefs here or can choose instead from the a la carte menu, which offers such tempting delights as duck confit and sashimi. Previously a Rising Chef of the Year, Dave Park, along with co-owner Jennifer Tran, are still on an upwards trajectory.

Featured Image Credit: A Life Worth Eating

The post Top 5 Best Fine Dining Hotspots to Enjoy in Chicago appeared first on UrbanMatter.

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