From Simon & Schuster, Chicago Gourmet is Sue Kupcinet and Connie Fish's guide to the best dining in the Chicago area with ratings and descriptions of over 200 restaurants. Chicago Gourmet is a comprehensive guide to the best dining in Chicago and its suburbs, with 130 complete listings and over 70 "Short Takes" for the widest possible selection.

"Featuring 130 recipes with new variations on soulful favorites, this cookbook covers the globe to capture the international flavors of comfort"--

Fine dining and the accolades of Michelin stars once meant chandeliers, white tablecloths, and suited waiters with elegant accents. The stuffy attitude and often scant portions were the punchlines of sitcom jokes—it was unthinkable that a gourmet chef would stoop to plate a burger or a taco in his kitchen. And yet today many of us will queue up for a seat at a loud, crowded noodle bar or eagerly seek out that farm-to-table restaurant where not only the burgers and fries are organic but the ketchup is homemade—but it’s not just us: the critics will be there too, ready to award distinction. Haute has blurred with homey cuisine in the last few decades, but how did this radical change happen, and what does it say about current attitudes toward taste? Here with the answers is food writer Alison Pearlman. In Smart Casual:The Transformation of Gourmet Restaurant Style in America, Pearlman investigates what she identifies as the increasing informality in the design of contemporary American restaurants. By design, Pearlman does not just mean architecture. Her argument is more expansive—she is as interested in the style and presentation of food, the business plan, and the marketing of chefs as she is in the restaurant’s floor plan or menu design. Pearlman takes us hungrily inside the kitchens and dining rooms of restaurants coast to coast—from David Chang’s Momofuku noodle bar in New York to the seasonal, French-inspired cuisine of Alice Waters and Thomas Keller in California to the deconstructed comfort food of Homaro Cantu’s Moto in Chicago—to explore the different forms and flavors this casualization is taking. Smart Casual examines the assumed correlation between taste and social status, and argues that recent upsets to these distinctions have given rise to a new idea of sophistication, one that champions the omnivorous. The boundaries between high and low have been made flexible due to our desire to eat everything, try everything, and do so in a convivial setting. Through lively on-the-scene observation and interviews with major players and chefs, Smart Casual will transport readers to restaurants around the country to learn the secrets to their success and popularity. It is certain to give foodies and restaurant-goers something delectable to chew on.

A world-class chef and restaurateur shares his secrets and reveals how to create his trio concept, where a master recipe is followed by three flavor variations. Accompanying the trios are Mina's classic and most requested recipes from his restaurants. Full color.

Ina Pinkney—the beloved restaurateur known affectionately as the “Breakfast Queen”—has been feeding Chicago for more than 30 years. When she closed her namesake restaurant’s doors in 2013, it headlined news across the Midwest. Now, the favorite dishes that thousands came to love at Ina's are showcased in the first paperback edition of her newly retitled book, Ina's Kitchen: Taste Memories and Recipes from the Breakfast Queen. Ina first self-published this book in hardcover in 2014, and it has already sold thousands of copies with minimal bookstore distribution. Ina's Kitchen is part cookbook part memoir, collecting 39 of Ina’s favorite recipes with stories from her life. From milestone moments and warm memories to the “truth” about owning a restaurant, readers will gain a deeper understanding of one of Chicago’s best-known culinary icons. Ina views her life as a recipe, and the book’s chapters reflect that notion. From “Ingredients” and “Preparation” to “Clean Up,” readers will come to understand what inspired and drove Ina’s love of food—and her culinary success. Recipes include everything from Ina’s signature Blobbs and Heavenly Hots to Foolproof Pancakes and Baked French Toast. In addition to breakfast favorites, Ina has also included savory dishes and dessert recipes. Ina's Kitchen is a love letter to the diners Ina has fed over the years. In it, she shares her wisdom with the same generosity—both of food and of spirit—that kept people coming back to her restaurant for decades.

The past 25 years has seen Chicago transformed from a heartland stronghold of meat and potatoes into a major culinary center. Chicago Cooks chronicles this story through the eyes of the Chicago chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, female leaders in the food and dining world. They tell how the Chicago food scene grew and evolved, touching on landmark restaurants like Charlie Trotter's and Frontera Grill, the rise of ethnic cuisines imported from around the world, and the proliferation of shops, markets, and classes serving the ever more sophisticated home cook. The book also includes a bounty of 75 recipes for entertaining from this unique group of Chicago food authorities, gathered specially for this book.