Won Kim does not care that your grandma hates his food. One month into a five-month sabbatical from Bridgeport’s Korean-Polish Kimski, and the chef is feeling fine.

“I think I did a pretty good job trying to respect each culture,” he says. “I was downright fucking paranoid and scared to honor the babcias and the halmeonies out there. But what I’ve come to realize is they don’t give a shit. They just want authenticity. Grandmothers hate me and my food, and I’m OK with it.”

Six and a half years in, Kimski’s evolved far beyond its initial Ko-Po experiment, both in terms of food and its place in the restaurant community. It’s ground zero for Marz’s mutual aid food service, Community Kitchen, and it’s a prolific chef incubator, nurturing talent and launching independent careers for dozens of young chefs.

Kim’s earned some me-time.

And he’s earned this unfamiliar serenity that’s allowed him to take a walkabout in Amsterdam and Brussels without freaking out about whether he’d ordered onions. He’s been painting like mad, free from the worry about whether he left the kitchen with enough buns. And he’s been able to help out the chefs popping up at Kimski until his return without stressing that the restaurant will spiral into chaos.

It’s also allowed him to start thinking about the next phase for Kimski’s menu, which you can get a taste of on December 12, when Kim takes over the kitchen at the Kedzie Inn for Monday Night Foodball, the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up in Irving Park.

What’s that look like? It’s a lot more traditionally Korean, a little more upscale, but above all, “I want to just selfishly make food that I want to eat.”

dduk bbok ski, Kimski

That means your grandma might be weirded out by the way he tosses his chap chae á la minute with a ginger-sesame dressing instead of the standard soy-vinegar-sesame oil trio. She’ll probably serve some side-eye to the Heffer BBQ smoked brisket on his bo ssam platter, wondering where the boiled pork belly is. Her brow will furrow when she tastes his short rib marinade on the kalbi platter, which skews a lot less sweet than most, but still, “That’s the most humble fucking Korean meal. You’ve got your protein, you’ve got your pickled veggies, you got your carbs. That’s my ode to how I grew up eating at restaurants and at people’s homes. In the 80s, that’s what put us on the map. White people were like, ‘OK, we fuck with Korean food now.’”

I’m not sure what grandma can possibly dislike about his kimchi jjigae, stewed with his mom’s home-fermented cabbage, but she will likely be conflicted: “She hates it when I use her food. She makes it specifically so that I eat it. But I think she also loves the idea of it feeding strangers.”

Does change make you nervous? Don’t sweat. There will be some Kimski classics, like the Ko-Po beef sandwich dressed with charred shishitos and smothered in cheddar sauce; and the dduk Bok ski, sweet and spicy rice cakes with muenster cheese and fried egg; and the soy-sesame sour cream-drenched fries with chili oil, nori, and scallions.

Just look at his mad skills, courtesy of Tony Trimm and the Home Feed Show:

https://chicagoreader.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HF_E02_RAMEN_RIFT_WON_CUT-2.mp4

Don’t bring granny this Monday beginning at 5 PM at 4100 N. Kedzie. Just walk on in and order. No preorders necessary.

Meanwhile, there’s one more Foodball left in 2022, when MNF veteran Schneider Provisions teams up with Zeitlin’s Delicatessen on December 19, at the beginning of Hanukkah. Keep your eyes open for a brand-new Foodball schedule in January.

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The Chicago Cubs have made some significant moves so far this offseason. It has been a good start to getting back to being a good team which is all fans of this team want at this point. They have a long way to go but they are starting to build the foundation.

With that in mind, Cubs fans will always appreciate those who helped them win it all in 2016. That team ended a 108-year World Series drought so you know that they are always going to be a legendary team in town.

One of the key pieces to that team was Jason Heyward. He signed a large contract to come to the Cubs right before it and it has been met with mixed criticism.

Of course, it is hard to rip on any move that proceeded the World Series victory. That is the ultimate goal and Heyward came in as they achieved it.

The Chicago Cubs had some truly amazing moments with Jason Heyward.

His play was up and down for most of his Cubs career. He played Gold Glove defense for them but his bat was very hot and cold. He came up clutch at times but never really lived up to the contract that he signed as far as his play was concerned.

With that in mind, he did something off the field that people will always consider him a legend for. After the Cleveland Indians came back and tied game seven of the World Series, a rain delay stopped the game as the Cubs had lost all momentum.

Heyward called a team meeting in the clubhouse while they waited for the rain to drop where he gave one of the most legendary speeches in the history of Chicago sports. It is hard to think that this didn’t have anything to do with them winning in the end.

It was a very expensive speech based on his contact but they would do it all again if they could. Winning that championship and ending the drought was their only goal, any way they could do it.

As the team started to fall off, he did even more which led to them letting him go following the 2022 season. It was tough to see that knowing everything that he has done for them but that is the business of the game sometimes.

On Thursday, we found out that Heyward has found his newest baseball home. He is signing a Minor League deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and will get a big league camp invite in the spring.

It is a good deal for him as one of the best teams in the league is going to give him a look. We will see if he has more to give to the league.

He is an incredibly easy guy to root for because of who he is as a person. With a loaded team like that, he might fit in as a clubhouse guy that can get some playing time every now and then in certain situations. If he can play well enough and earn a big-league contract again, that would be really cool to see.

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Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

Won Kim does not care that your grandma hates his food. One month into a five-month sabbatical from Bridgeport’s Korean-Polish Kimski and the chef is feeling fine.

“I think I did a pretty good job trying to respect each culture,” he says. “I was downright fucking paranoid and scared to honor the babcias and the halmeonies out there. But what I’ve come to realize is they don’t give a shit. They just want authenticity. Grandmothers hate me and my food, and I’m OK with it.”

Six and a half years in, Kimski’s evolved far beyond its initial Ko-Po experiment, both in terms of food and its place in the restaurant community. It’s ground zero for Marz’s mutual aid food service Community Kitchen, and it’s a prolific chef incubator, nurturing talent and launching independent careers for dozens of young chefs.

Kim’s earned some me-time.

And he’s earned this unfamiliar serenity that’s allowed him to take a walkabout in Amsterdam and Brussels without freaking out about whether he’d ordered onions. He’s been painting like mad, free from the worry about whether he left the kitchen with enough buns. And he’s been able to help out the chefs popping up at Kimski until his return without stressing that the restaurant will spiral into chaos.

It’s also allowed him to start thinking about the next phase for Kimski’s menu, which you can get a taste of December 12, when Kim takes over the kitchen at the Kedzie Inn for Monday Night Foodball, the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up in Irving Park.

What’s that look like? It’s a lot more traditionally Korean, a little more upscale, but above all, “I want to just selfishly make food that I want to eat.”

dduk bbok ski, Kimski

That means your grandma might be weirded out by the way he tosses his chap chae á la minute with a ginger-sesame dressing instead of the standard soy-vinegar-sesame oil trio. She’ll probably serve some side-eye to the Heffer BBQ-smoked brisket on his bo ssam platter, wondering where the boiled pork belly is. Her brow will furrow when she tastes his short rib marinade on the kalbi platter, which skews a lot less sweet than most, but still, “That’s the most humble fucking Korean meal. You’ve got your protein, you’ve got your pickled veggies, you got your carbs. That’s my ode to how I grew up eating at restaurants and at people’s homes. In the 80s, that’s what put us on the map. White people were like, ‘OK, we fuck with Korean food now.’”

I’m not sure what grandma can possibly dislike about his kimchi jjigae, stewed with his mom’s own home-fermented cabbage, but she will likely be conflicted: “She hates it when I use her food. She makes it specifically so that I eat it. But I think she also loves the idea of it feeding strangers.”

Does change make you nervous? Don’t sweat. There will be some Kimski classics, like the Ko-Po beef sandwich dressed with charred shishitos and smothered in cheddar sauce; and the dduk bbok ski, sweet and spicy rice cakes with muenster cheese and fried egg; and the soy-sesame sour cream-drenched fries with chili oil, nori, and scallions.

Just look at his mad skills, courtesy of Tony Trimm and the Home Feed Show:

https://chicagoreader.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HF_E02_RAMEN_RIFT_WON_CUT-2.mp4

Don’t bring granny this Monday beginning at 5 PM at 4100 N. Kedzie. Just walk on in and order. No preorders necessary.

Meanwhile, there’s one more Foodball left in 2022, when veteran Schneider Provisions team up with Zeitlin’s Delicatessen on the first night of Hannukah, December 19. Keep your eyes open for a brand-new Foodball schedule in January.

Read More

Won Kim does not care that your grandma hates his food. One month into a five-month sabbatical from Bridgeport’s Korean-Polish Kimski and the chef is feeling fine.

“I think I did a pretty good job trying to respect each culture,” he says. “I was downright fucking paranoid and scared to honor the babcias and the halmeonies out there. But what I’ve come to realize is they don’t give a shit. They just want authenticity. Grandmothers hate me and my food, and I’m OK with it.”

Six and a half years in, Kimski’s evolved far beyond its initial Ko-Po experiment, both in terms of food and its place in the restaurant community. It’s ground zero for Marz’s mutual aid food service Community Kitchen, and it’s a prolific chef incubator, nurturing talent and launching independent careers for dozens of young chefs.

Kim’s earned some me-time.

And he’s earned this unfamiliar serenity that’s allowed him to take a walkabout in Amsterdam and Brussels without freaking out about whether he’d ordered onions. He’s been painting like mad, free from the worry about whether he left the kitchen with enough buns. And he’s been able to help out the chefs popping up at Kimski until his return without stressing that the restaurant will spiral into chaos.

It’s also allowed him to start thinking about the next phase for Kimski’s menu, which you can get a taste of December 12, when Kim takes over the kitchen at the Kedzie Inn for Monday Night Foodball, the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up in Irving Park.

What’s that look like? It’s a lot more traditionally Korean, a little more upscale, but above all, “I want to just selfishly make food that I want to eat.”

dduk bbok ski, Kimski

That means your grandma might be weirded out by the way he tosses his chap chae á la minute with a ginger-sesame dressing instead of the standard soy-vinegar-sesame oil trio. She’ll probably serve some side-eye to the Heffer BBQ-smoked brisket on his bo ssam platter, wondering where the boiled pork belly is. Her brow will furrow when she tastes his short rib marinade on the kalbi platter, which skews a lot less sweet than most, but still, “That’s the most humble fucking Korean meal. You’ve got your protein, you’ve got your pickled veggies, you got your carbs. That’s my ode to how I grew up eating at restaurants and at people’s homes. In the 80s, that’s what put us on the map. White people were like, ‘OK, we fuck with Korean food now.’”

I’m not sure what grandma can possibly dislike about his kimchi jjigae, stewed with his mom’s own home-fermented cabbage, but she will likely be conflicted: “She hates it when I use her food. She makes it specifically so that I eat it. But I think she also loves the idea of it feeding strangers.”

Does change make you nervous? Don’t sweat. There will be some Kimski classics, like the Ko-Po beef sandwich dressed with charred shishitos and smothered in cheddar sauce; and the dduk bbok ski, sweet and spicy rice cakes with muenster cheese and fried egg; and the soy-sesame sour cream-drenched fries with chili oil, nori, and scallions.

Just look at his mad skills, courtesy of Tony Trimm and the Home Feed Show:

https://chicagoreader.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HF_E02_RAMEN_RIFT_WON_CUT-2.mp4

Don’t bring granny this Monday beginning at 5 PM at 4100 N. Kedzie. Just walk on in and order. No preorders necessary.

Meanwhile, there’s one more Foodball left in 2022, when veteran Schneider Provisions team up with Zeitlin’s Delicatessen on the first night of Hannukah, December 19. Keep your eyes open for a brand-new Foodball schedule in January.

Read More

Read More

Some aging rock legends make music that feels like a shadow of the early work that cemented their fame. Not Nina Hagen, though. On Unity (Grönland), her first album since 2011, the German pop-punk icon unleashes a blast of feral camp that sounds if anything more Hagen than ever. Her distinctive theatrical voice has roughened to an even more theatrical froglike croak; on her preposterous, reverb-laden cover of Merle Travis’s workers’ anthem “16 Tons” (whose video features a series of fabulously diverse queer-coded lip-synchers wearing variations of Hagen’s famously flamboyant makeup), she sounds like she’s gargling at the bottom of a mine shaft. On her German-language cover of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” she somehow goes even further over the top, enunciating as if she’s in an opera against hyperactive synth wind effects. The original songs on Unity are great too; Hagen teams up with George Clinton for the insinuating funk of the title track, which interpolates the African American traditional “Wade in the Water” and incorporates the dial tone of a collect call from prison as a hook. Jamaican singer Liz Mitchel of Boney M. adds her mannered squeaks to Hagen’s mannered bellow on the feminist reggae anthem “United Women of the World.” The political messages of solidarity with workers, Black people, women, queer people, and victims of war are all so gloriously big and bloated that they go beyond corny and become transcendent, weird, counterintuitively hip schmaltz. When Hagen’s shouts of “Freedom!” echo away at the end of “Redemption Day,” they sound like liberation from the shackles of time, hate, and good taste alike. Unity is a joy.

Nina Hagen’s Unity is available through Grönland.

Read More

Some aging rock legends make music that feels like a shadow of the early work that cemented their fame. Not Nina Hagen, though. On Unity (Grönland), her first album since 2011, the German pop-punk icon unleashes a blast of feral camp that sounds if anything more Hagen than ever. Her distinctive theatrical voice has roughened to an even more theatrical froglike croak; on her preposterous, reverb-laden cover of Merle Travis’s workers’ anthem “16 Tons” (whose video features a series of fabulously diverse queer-coded lip-synchers wearing variations of Hagen’s famously flamboyant makeup), she sounds like she’s gargling at the bottom of a mine shaft. On her German-language cover of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” she somehow goes even further over the top, enunciating as if she’s in an opera against hyperactive synth wind effects. The original songs on Unity are great too; Hagen teams up with George Clinton for the insinuating funk of the title track, which interpolates the African American traditional “Wade in the Water” and incorporates the dial tone of a collect call from prison as a hook. Jamaican singer Liz Mitchel of Boney M. adds her mannered squeaks to Hagen’s mannered bellow on the feminist reggae anthem “United Women of the World.” The political messages of solidarity with workers, Black people, women, queer people, and victims of war are all so gloriously big and bloated that they go beyond corny and become transcendent, weird, counterintuitively hip schmaltz. When Hagen’s shouts of “Freedom!” echo away at the end of “Redemption Day,” they sound like liberation from the shackles of time, hate, and good taste alike. Unity is a joy.

Nina Hagen’s Unity is available through Grönland.

Read More