The Chicago Traveler

June 10th, 2008

"Top Chef: Chicago" Goes to Puerto Rico

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
The competition is almost over, down to the final four contestants. In the first part of the finale, the four chefs actually left Chicago […]

By Matt B -- 1 comment

June 3rd, 2008

"Top Chef: Chicago" Has Much at Steak

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
The last Quickfire Challenge tested the five remaining contestants’ butchering skills. Each chef was given 20 minutes to cut and clean seven “tomahawk” […]

By Matt B -- 2 comments

May 28th, 2008

"Top Chef: Chicago" Breaks a Few Eggs

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
During the last Quickfire Challenge, the competitors took turns working a short-order line at the egg station of Lou Mitchell’s during the incredibly busy […]

By Matt B -- 0 comments

April 14th, 2008

"Top Chef: Chicago" Bears the Elements

This season of the Bravo Network’s Top Chef was filmed here in Chicago, exposing competing chefs from all over the country to all the culinary treats the Windy City has to offer.
This week’s Quickfire challenge tested the chefs’ palates by a series of 15 comparisons. Each chef was blindfolded and tasted two variations of the […]

By Matt B -- 0 comments

January 13th, 2008

Bohemian National Cemetery

Call me morbid, but I find cemeteries absolutely fascinating. They’re like outdoor history museums, a direct look into the past and its people. And inside the Bohemian National Cemetery on Chicago’s north side lies the home of Helen Sclair, a.k.a. “the cemetery lady,” who’s even more intrigued by cemeteries than I am. After all, she […]

By Matt B -- 1 comment

October 9th, 2007

The Great Clocks

Chicago’s downtown Loop is always bustling as tourists hop from store to store and locals in business attire rush to their meetings and appointments. But whether it’s crunch time or the time of their lives, they all look to one of Chicago’s historical landmarks to help them keep time.

The first Great Clock at Marshall Field’s […]

By Matt B -- 7 comments

October 6th, 2007

Lou Mitchell’s

Dishing out breakfast since 1923, Lou Mitchell’s practically has the same menu that they started with. Some of the waitresses have been working there for over 20 years, and the decor? Beige booths, white-speckled black tile floors, plastic tablecloths, and plastic plants. Lou’s isn’t about fine dining; this is just good food with an old-Chicago […]

By Matt B -- 3 comments