Chicago Magazine

1 week ago | chicagomag.com | Anthony Todd

“The idea came from the way we eat in the Balkans,” explains Ivan Iricanin, owner of the newly opened Ambar, a Balkan spot in River North (700 N. Clark St.). “Food is always on the table; as soon as you come, there are appetizers, cheese, cold cuts, and the table is never empty. If the table is empty, the host is doing something wrong and people are not happy!” That’s how Iricanin wants guests to feel at Ambar, which offers an all-you-care-to-eat approach and a robust menu.

1 week ago | chicagomag.com | Amy Cavanaugh

Classics are classics for a reason. But at Gus’ Sip & Dip, the new River North cocktail bar from beverage director Kevin Beary and bar manager Scott Kitsmiller, classic cocktails are rethought with such a laser focus that they can make you think about a drink you’ve imbibed for years in a whole new way. Take the gin gimlet. Typically made with equal parts Rose’s lime juice and gin, here it’s made with gin, housemade lime cordial, and a drop of absinthe that fully opens the drink up.

2 weeks ago | chicagomag.com | Jenny Hellwig

There are still tickets available for C2E2 2025, a convention held at McCormick Place focused on comics, cosplay, anime, gaming, and more. You can purchase photo ops with your favorite celebs, attend a wide range of panels, and tour hundreds of exhibition booths. You’ll want to get decked out for a cosplay showcase on Sunday. April 11-13. c2e2.comIt’s your lucky day, Swifties: A Taylor Swift-themed bar crawl is coming to Wrigleyville this weekend.

2 weeks 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.

2 weeks 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.