Chicago has been called many things: ‘the great American city’, ‘the Windy City’, ‘the second city’… And although the latter was intended as an insult when New Yorkbased writer A JLiebling penned it in a 1952 travelogue, Chicagoans have embraced the epithet, if only to disprove it by showing their city is second to none — especially when it comes to dining.
Perched on the southern shore of Lake Michigan, Chicago has access to so much fresh produce that farm-to-table isn’t so much a novelty but more an expectation — particularly at high-end restaurants. Over the past two decades, the most interesting of these have moved from the central business district, known as the Loop, to the former industrial area, now called the West Loop. Here, on weekend evenings, diners wander the likes of Randolph and Fulton Streets, stopping for cocktails while they wait for their tables.
Yet, Chicago, as the cliche goes, is a city of neighbourhoods, and some of its best and most beloved restaurants are located in residential areas, away from downtown. Many of
