John Kessler

5 days ago | knkx.org | John Kessler

Megan and Rebecca Lovell have been touring musicians since they were teenagers, first performing with their older sister Jessica as the bluegrass group The Lovell Sisters. In 2005, the Lovells appeared on the syndicated radio program A Prairie Home Companion and won the show’s Teen Talent contest. Their parents got them involved with music as children, enrolling them in classical violin lessons at age 3 and 4.

1 week ago | plateonline.com | John Kessler

Stephen Gillanders arrived in Chicago a decade ago to try out for Intro—a restaurant that served as an incubator and residency program for up-and-coming chefs. If Gillanders got the gig, it would be a huge break. After working under Jean-Georges Vongerichten for 10 years in New York, he was more than ready to prove himself as a chef with his own culinary voice. The test ran almost like a single-contestant... Join for free to continue reading.

1 month ago | chicagomag.com | John Kessler

If you order the rigatoni alla amatriciana at Il Carciofo, the cook starts with a handful of diced guanciale, cured pork jowl that looks like bacon but has a far denser texture. Over a flame it renders quickly — the fat liquefies while the flesh shrinks into porky pebbles. The cook tips white wine into the pan, and as it all simmers, the guanciale turns toothsome. Tomato purée goes in next, along with a pinch of red pepper, a splash of cooking water, and the rigatoni.

1 month ago | chicagomag.com | John Kessler

One of the things The Bear really gets right about Chicago is the way the whole world-class tasting menu thing and the whole pizza-beef-hot dog thing basically keep the conversation here going by shouting at each other across the room. Those seem to be the two subsets of our vast and varied dining culture that elicit the most opinions, the most passion, the most words. But it looks like things on the high end are starting to change — maybe even come back to earth’s atmosphere.

1 month ago | l8r.it | John Kessler

One of the things The Bear really gets right about Chicago is the way the whole world-class tasting menu thing and the whole pizza-beef-hot dog thing basically keep the conversation here going by shouting at each other across the room. Those seem to be the two subsets of our vast and varied dining culture that elicit the most opinions, the most passion, the most words. But it looks like things on the high end are starting to change — maybe even come back to earth’s atmosphere.